Hardly anyone can have failed to pick up on the recent flurry of stories in the national press about the Big Society, sparked off by Dame Elisabeth Hoodless's remarks that funds for volunteers are disappearing at an alarming rate, and that this is undermining the very idea of a "Big Society". At the same time, under the government's…

Evaluation of public service programs uses language and techniques inimical to community development. Key elements of a better approach are as follows: (1) community participation; (2) emphasis on qualitative measures of success that complement the quantitative; (3) strong awareness of the importance of process goals; (4) concern with sustainable…

The Australian state of Victoria has adopted a privatization approach to human services that is destroying the infrastructure of community services. Without a dynamic community services core, it is difficult for social citizenship to flourish. (SK)

Explores ways in which community development can be integrated into community colleges through their outreach programs, such as community services and community education. Clarifies the importance of the role of community development in community colleges and the relative ease with which it can be incorporated. (NRJ)

Cites literature published in the 1970s illustrating the long-held goal of integrating community services and continuing education into the mission of the community college. Argues that the goal has been realized. Urges community service educators to become leaders of the movement to help communities become self-renewing through outreach and…

Outlines the development of a leadership-training center at James Sprunt Community College. A community-based programming (CBP) model was followed to encourage community input, support, and participation in the process. CBP is recommended as a way for other colleges to collaborate with their communities on issue definition and resolution. (VWC)

The Llano Grande Center is a non-profit education and community development organization founded in the mid-1990s by youth and teachers out of a public high school classroom in a rural South Texas (USA) community. The Center was created, in large part, to cultivate youth voices as important elements of curriculum development and teacher training…

Trustees from four prototypical community-based institutions in Virginia, Colorado, and Florida discuss how community and junior colleges serve the needs of their communities. Concerns include community access, responsiveness to change, and diverse opportunities. (DMM)

Presents an interview with the President-Designate of the American Association of Community and Junior Colleges in which Parnell discusses community services, continuing education, and community development with respect to needs for national policies, legislation, and institutional support; potential new roles; and individual college programs…

A switchover by any government to a more integrated, community-based approach to rural development will inevitably require the recruitment, training, and effective "backstopping" of large numbers of front-line workers. (SSH)

Perceives the community college's image as distorted by the provision of hobby and recreation courses. Advocates linkages with other community organizations offering adult and community service programs. Calls for college involvement community development and the solution of urban and suburban problems. (DMM)

The American system of higher education consists of public and private institutions, of which there are three segments: universities, four-year institutions, and two-year colleges. Further, there are three types of two-year colleges: comprehensive community colleges, offering a broad array of programs and services; junior colleges, focusing on…

Presents several definitions of community services. Argues that community colleges will offer different community services depending upon their missions, and that community services should be designed to meet individual, institutional, and community needs. Proposes an adaptive community services model designed to respond to community needs, while…

Disengagement, the final phase in the community development process, receives little attention in the literature. Many community development practitioners make decisions regarding disengagement intuitively. This exploratory study of disengagement from community units was based on interviews with eleven University of Missouri Extension Community…

Reviews findings from a 1971 study of the structure and design of community services/continuing education (CS/CE) in community colleges; and from a 1989 study of the tasks that CS/CE administrators perform. Assesses CS/CE administrators' leadership role in helping people build communities and other aspects of the community college mission. (DMM)