 The report's advice centers on the "Three Rs" of reform: redesign,
reinvent and reset. These are defined as a redesign of students'
educational experiences, a reinvention of institutional roles, and a
resetting of the system to create partnerships and incentives for
student and institutional success."We need to completely
re-imagine community colleges for today and the future," said Dr.
Walter G. Bumphus, AACC's president and CEO, who commissioned the
report. "It is important that college graduates be not just globally
competitive, but also globally competent, understanding their roles
as citizens and workers in an international context. In today's
knowledge economy, intellectual capital is a nation's greatest, most
renewable natural resource."
Bumphus continued: "Higher education is struggling with low
student success rates, and employers complain about inadequate
student preparation for the job market. Our underinvestment in
higher education not only wastes our human capital, it threatens
U.S. global economic leadership, contributes to the erosion of our
middle class and calls into question the viability of the American
dream, with its promise of upward mobility for each generation."
The report says that low student success rates and inadequate job
preparation hinder middle-class students and have a devastating
effect on low-income students and students of color -- those often
in greatest need of what community colleges have to offer.
In a rapidly changing America and a drastically reshaped world,
the commission notes, sustaining the American dream is at risk. The
ground beneath the nation's feet has shifted so dramatically that
community colleges -- which had their greatest growth period to
respond to societal needs in the 1960s and 1970s -- need to
re-imagine their roles and the ways in which they work. A highly
educated population is fundamental to economic growth, and community
colleges play a significant role in ensuring the American dream.
Stepping up to this challenge will require dramatic redesign of
these institutions, their mission and, most critically, their
students' educational experiences.
The report's recommendations are:
1. Increase
completion rates of community college credentials (certificates and
associate degrees) by 50 percent by 2020, while preserving access,
enhancing quality and eradicating attainment gaps associated with
income, race, ethnicity and gender.
2. Dramatically
improve college readiness. By 2020, reduce by half the numbers of
students entering college unprepared for rigorous college-level
work, and double the rate of students who complete developmental
education programs and progress to successful completion of related
freshman-level courses.
3. Close the
American skills gaps by sharply focusing career and technical
education on preparing students with the knowledge and skills
required for existing and future jobs in regional and global
economies.
4. Refocus the
community college mission and redefine institutional roles to meet
21st-century educational and employment needs.
5. Invest in
support structures to serve multiple community colleges through
collaboration among institutions and with partners in philanthropy,
government and the private sector.
6. Target public
and private investments strategically to create new incentives for
educational institutions and their students and to support community
college efforts to reclaim the American dream.
[to top of second column] |
7. Implement
policies and practices that promote rigor, transparency and
accountability for results in community colleges.
The report also includes implementation strategies for each of
the seven recommendations.
"This report is intended to be a bold road map -- a working
document -- for community colleges to use as they implement these
recommendations. To assist in this challenging work, AACC will
establish the 21st Century Center to assist members with strategic
planning, leadership development and research," said Bumphus.
The report is the culmination of the second phase of AACC's
21st-Century Initiative. The overall goal of the initiative is to
position community colleges to educate an additional 5 million
students with degrees, certificates or other credentials by 2020.
The initiative enjoyed the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation, the Kresge Foundation, ACT and the Educational Testing
Service.
The report was written by the 21st-Century Commission on the
Future of Community Colleges, which was co-chaired by Augustine "Augie"
Gallego, chancellor emeritus, San Diego Community College District;
Kay McClenney, director, Center for Community College Student
Engagement, The University of Texas at Austin; and Jerry Sue
Thornton, president, Cuyahoga Community College.
___
The American Association of Community Colleges is the primary
advocacy organization for the nation's community colleges. The
association represents nearly 1,200 two-year, associate
degree-granting institutions and more than 13 million students. AACC
promotes community colleges through five strategic action areas:
recognition and advocacy for community colleges; student access,
learning and success; community college leadership development;
economic and workforce development; and global and intercultural
education. Information about AACC and community colleges is
available at www.aacc.nche.edu.
Follow AACC at
www.facebook.com/CommCollege and
twitter.com/Comm_College
___
Additional resources:
"Reclaiming the American Dream" full report:
http://www.aacc.nche.edu/AboutCC/
21stcenturyreport/21stCenturyReport.pdf
Report video:
http://www.youtube.com/
watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Ijzdohq15fs
Report website:
http://www.aacc.nche.edu/AboutCC/
21stcenturyreport/index.html
[Text from news release from the
American Association of
Community Colleges] |
