A 2005 MetLife Foundation/Civic Ventures New Face of Work Survey found that many baby boomers are eager to make career changes that can launch a new chapter in their working lives while they make social contribution. The survey found that 50 percent of Americans age 50 to 70 want jobs that contribute to the greater good. It found that more than 53 percent of this population plan to work in retirement because they need continued income, and they want greater flexibility in retirement jobs....
Topics: ERIC Archive, Career Change, Retirement, Community Colleges, Baby Boomers, Access to Education,...
Many students of Mexican descent must learn how to be successful students. This study describes 5 students of Mexican descent from situationally marginalized lives who were a part of a support and retention scholarship program (College Assistance Migrant Program--CAMP). These case studies document how they perceived their learning and how they changed as students after their first college experience and involvement in CAMP. Through her involvement in CAMP, Laura, a high school dropout without a...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Mexican American Education, Mexican Americans, Dropouts, Success, Academic...
There is no formal mandate for or tradition of inter-sectoral collaboration between community colleges and universities in Ontario. Following a regulatory change introduced by the College of Nurses of Ontario in 1998, all Registered Nurse educational preparation was restructured to the baccalaureate degree level through province-wide adoption of a college-university collaborative nursing program model. Despite complex sectoral differences in organizational culture, mandates, and governance...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Foreign Countries, Organizational Culture, Nursing, Nurses, Governance, Nursing...
This paper documents the development of a unique institution in Canadian higher education, the university college in British Columbia. From its roots as a comprehensive community college, the university college was confronted with numerous legislative and policy changes which culminated in its current claim to be called a regional university. In support of this assertion, a number of issues are addressed, including the role and mandate of the university college, academic freedom and tenure,...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Foreign Countries, Community Colleges, Universities, Undergraduate Study, Academic...
Results of a Canada-wide and a Quebec based study of students with a variety of disabilities in Canadian postsecondary education are presented. Study 1 involved 156 professionals. They represent 80% of the population of professionals who provide on-campus disability support services. Results indicate that (1) 8% of postsecondary institutions reported not having any students with disabilities, (2) overall, 2% of students are registered to receive disability related services from their...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Disabilities, College Students, Postsecondary Education, Distance Education,...
The urban mission of two-year community colleges with open enrollment policies is to train, retain and graduate students from all walks of life, including the poor, displaced, under-employed, and unemployed. This mission can be undermined if management decisions are not informed by detailed enrollment data, especially on how the timing of student decisions affects their academic success. This paper explores enrollment flow at a large urban, community-based technical college to recommend and...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Urban Areas, College Applicants, Student Behavior, Technical Institutes, Community...
In the past, an honors program at a community college may have seemed like a contradiction in terms. After all, honors students at four-year colleges are thought to be the best of the best, while community college students are often considered "diamonds in the rough." Many community college honors students have intellectual abilities that may not have been developed in their high schools, or they weren't encouraged to develop their abilities by their parents and friends, or they don't...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Honors Curriculum, Academically Gifted, Community Colleges, Colleges, Liberal Arts,...
Community colleges enroll nearly half the undergraduates in the U.S. These institutions play a significant role in the academic, social, political, and economic future of our nation. As historically open admission institutions, with a primary focus on providing access to higher education, they have been pressed in recent decades--as has all of higher education--to be more accountable and demonstrate the benefits they offer and at what cost. A common measure of accountability is student...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Higher Education, Access to Education, Community Colleges, Open Enrollment, College...
While admission to a community college is simple--"apply and you're in!"--the institution itself is quite complex. Community colleges serve several purposes: transfer, vocational, recreational, and remedial. Community colleges see students through many lenses. Can we bring clarity and focus to the picture of the community college student? What should counselors know in order to help their community college-bound students make the successful transition from high school? This article...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Community Colleges, College Admission, College Transfer Students, Remedial...
This article presents two stories that represent a common paradigm shift at the community college level. The life journeys of Tony and Mary Ann are very different. Tony, a traditional-aged student, reluctantly entered his local community college because he was unable to prove, scholastically, that he was capable of handling the coursework at his choice flagship institution in the state. After spending four semesters at the community college, he not only proved he was able to compete...
Topics: ERIC Archive, College Students, Community Colleges, Adult Education, College Transfer Students,...
Red states, blue states. Maybe in politics there are differences, but when it comes to progressive transfer policies, the color-line division disappears. From the Northeast to the mid-Atlantic states to the Florida peninsula, across the Great Plains to the Southwest and on to California, state public higher education systems have made, and continue to make, great strides in recognizing the value of community college education. More importantly, they are taking leading roles in demonstrating how...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Higher Education, Community Colleges, Articulation (Education), Transfer Policy,...
The third recommendation in ACTE's postsecondary reform position statement is to develop curriculum and instructional offerings that link to careers, foster lifelong learning, and encourage completion. Concrete linkages must be developed between middle and high school, postsecondary education and work, with lifelong postsecondary learning a part of this cycle. In this article, the author discusses how the Construction Apprenticeship Program at Central New Mexico Community College (CNMCC) and...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Lifelong Learning, Educational Change, Case Studies, Student Educational Objectives,...
"The New England Journal of Higher Education" (formerly "Connection") presents its "Annual Directory of New England Colleges and Universities," providing a wealth of information on New England higher education. For more than a quarter of a century, this college and university directory has been the publication of record for those seeking important information about New England colleges and universities. The "Annual Directory of New England College and...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Higher Education, Colleges, Universities, Community Colleges, Enrollment, Endowment...
"Connection" presents its "Annual Directory of New England Colleges and Universities," providing a wealth of information on New England higher education. For more than a quarter of a century, this college and university directory has been the publication of record for those seeking important information about New England colleges and universities. The "Annual Directory of New England College and Universities" features vital information on each of New England's...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Higher Education, Colleges, Universities, Community Colleges, Enrollment, Endowment...
"Connection" presents its "Annual Directory of New England Colleges and Universities," providing a wealth of information on New England higher education. For more than a quarter of a century, this college and university directory has been the publication of record for those seeking important information about New England colleges and universities. The "Annual Directory of New England College and Universities" features vital information on each of New England's...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Higher Education, Colleges, Universities, Community Colleges, Enrollment, Endowment...
"Connection" presents its "Annual Directory of New England Colleges and Universities," providing a wealth of information on New England higher education. For more than a quarter of a century, this college and university directory has been the publication of record for those seeking important information about New England colleges and universities. The "Annual Directory of New England College and Universities" features vital information on each of New England's...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Higher Education, Colleges, Universities, Community Colleges, Enrollment, Endowment...
This review of literature was written in preparation for conducting a research study on the U.S. community college system as a potential model for developing countries, and using Vietnam as a specific case. It is divided into four sections: (a) a discussion of the purposes of higher education (HE), (b) an examination of problems faced by the HE systems in developing countries, (c) a description of Vietnam's HE context, and (d) perspectives concerning U.S. community colleges. The literature...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Teacher Salaries, Higher Education, Community Colleges, Institutional Autonomy,...
The tradition of using giant puppets in dance rituals is widespread throughout Africa. Huge puppets can communicate spiritual and moral authority, which is all the more easily accepted because it is delivered with a sense of playfulness. Giant puppets also create unique movement possibilities. This potent combination of symbolic meaning and choreographic challenge make the use of puppets a valuable tool for teaching African dance, and for creating a sense of unity in an educational setting....
Topics: ERIC Archive, Puppetry, Dance Education, Interdisciplinary Approach, Foreign Countries, Cultural...
Massachusetts alone needs an estimated 5,000 nurses, and the shortage is deepening. Nurses are retiring and quitting faster than new nurses can be trained. In this article, the author describes Bunker Hill Community College's Welcome Back Center, a workforce development program that has thus far helped 47 internationally educated nurses from 29 different countries to obtain licenses and return to work. In partnership with Roxbury and Massachusetts Bay Community Colleges, and the University of...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Community Colleges, Nurses, Foreign Countries, Program Effectiveness, Labor Force...
There is a growing gap between Maine high school graduates' "college intentions" and their actual college enrollment, according to a recent study by the Senator George J. Mitchell Scholarship Research Institute. A follow-up to a similar study the institute conducted five years ago, the new research is based on enrollment data from colleges and Maine public high schools, surveys of more than 3,000 Maine parents, students, young adults and educators and group interviews in 19 high...
Topics: ERIC Archive, High Schools, High School Graduates, Young Adults, Enrollment, College Bound...
Since the founding of Framingham Normal School in 1839 as the first state-supported school in the United States for training teachers, Massachusetts state colleges have evolved in response to the changing needs of the regions they serve. The Massachusetts state Legislature and Gov. Deval Patrick are now considering whether to move from the existing state "college" system to a state "university" system. The state colleges (Bridgewater State, Fitchburg State, Framingham State,...
Topics: ERIC Archive, State Colleges, Community Colleges, Liberal Arts, Higher Education, Institutional...
The seventh recommendation in ACTE's postsecondary reform position statement is to pilot innovative approaches to funding. Public postsecondary providers are expected to fulfill a number of educational missions linked to separate funding streams, such as academic coursework, workforce education and training, distance education and research. These diverse missions host a variety of outcome expectations that can challenge those involved in directing the institution. Thoughtful consideration of...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Credentials, Noncredit Courses, Community Colleges, Distance Education, Postsecondary...
For the first time in many years, Massachusetts has an "Education Governor." Swept into the corner office on the strength of an historic grassroots movement and a mission of civic renewal, Governor Deval Patrick has put education at the top of his list of priorities--and it is little wonder why. Like so many who have experienced success in the Commonwealth, and so many more who anxiously await their chance to do great things, Patrick understands the awesome transformative power of...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Higher Education, Educational Policy, Elementary Secondary Education, Academic...
Twenty years ago, Middlesex Community College (MCC) in Massachusetts decided to add a global focus to its programs. Since then, the college has garnered worldwide recognition for the range of international initiatives it has integrated into its curriculum across academic disciplines. Today, Middlesex offers unique opportunities for international study and professional development for its students, faculty and staff, as well as training programs for foreign businesses, intercultural training for...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Community Colleges, Foreign Countries, Immigrants, College Curriculum, Curriculum...
Ask one community college leader if hiring individuals who have not come through the ranks makes sense, and he will say absolutely not, the cultural adjustment is too difficult. Ask another, and she will say that with the right guidance and orientation, "outsiders" make excellent hires. Ask another, and you will hear that there is an adequate but underrepresented pool of potential leaders among women and minorities already in community colleges. Half of the nation's nearly 1,000...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Community Colleges, Personnel Selection, College Presidents, Educational...
Undergraduate transfer is a messy and too-often frustrating part of college for faculty, staff and, above all, the students themselves. Students are discouraged by unclear and complicated curriculum requirements. Faculty are reluctant to accept courses from another institution and question the preparedness of transfer students. Advisors are diverted from assisting students by the administrative minutia of course equivalencies and articulation agreements. As a result, transfer is often perceived...
Topics: ERIC Archive, College Students, Community Colleges, Articulation (Education), Transfer Students,...
Emphasis on the individual is reshaping the business models of today's firms as they gear up to compete, not on products and services, but through innovation and the insight of individual workers. In the coming decade, meeting the human capital development needs of these firms and individuals will challenge New England's education and workforce development institutions. Indeed, education institutions need to likewise refocus on enabling the insight of individual learners. This article describes...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Higher Education, Human Capital, Innovation, Education Work Relationship, Community...
According to a February 9, 2006 "New York Times" story headlined, "Panel Explores Standard Tests for Colleges," a new accountability era is descending upon a resistant higher education domain. The story describes the deliberations of a Bush-appointed commission considering imposition of standardized tests on college students. Ten days earlier, the "Boston Globe" reported that Massachusetts community colleges have a three-year graduation rate of 16 percent. Last...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Colleges, Graduation Rate, Outcomes of Education, Standardized Tests, Accountability,...
Over the next decade, businesses in New England will be facing a complicated set of problems in finding a reliable and prepared workforce. Businesses are now spending as much as $23 billion a year to train their employees. Community colleges have believed from their inception, that, given the opportunity, they could offer the solution to business' labor-supply problem. However, while community colleges have been the educators and trainers of choice in some fields, they have not always been able...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Community Colleges, School Business Relationship, Student Educational Objectives,...
The impact of performance funding on community college student outcomes is a contested issue. Performance funding policies in most U.S. states involve too small a proportion of funding to change college behavior. English further education colleges are similar to U.S. community colleges. 1992 policy reforms in England centralized policy control, and implemented a per-pupil funding formula; 10% of all funding is based on student success but other components of the funding formula pay colleges...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Foreign Countries, Community Colleges, Postsecondary Education, Educational Policy,...
In 2002 a new Ontario college charter signaled a new era for higher education in Ontario. The charter was presumed to usher in a new way of doing higher education, one that provided greater freedom for Ontario colleges and presumably greater access for communities to higher education. Coupled with the Post-Secondary Choice and Excellence Act of 2000, which provided colleges the opportunity to offer degrees, the colleges appeared well set for the freedom they sought. With the decentralization of...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Higher Education, Freedom, Global Approach, Discourse Analysis, Foreign Countries,...
This paper reports and discusses the results of a study that was undertaken to determine factors that influence choices that secondary school students make between enrolling in community college or university, and in particular whether or not those choices are affected by the degree of "articulation" within a public system of post-secondary education. There are several studies that have emerged recently in the United States and Canada that examine factors that influence the choice of...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Student Attitudes, Community Colleges, College Choice, Institutional Cooperation,...
This article focuses on how a worker's relationship with either a place of work or employer--or with what the skilled worker does very well--contributes to very different forms of work identity. Work identity that reflects a determination on the employee's part to commit to the values of the work group is vocational identity, which is important for the employee's well being as an adult. According to a European research group, how workers accept or reject challenge and change will determine...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Foreign Countries, Well Being, Skilled Workers, Family Work Relationship,...
In an attempt to find ways to improve persistence rates in its distance courses, the Cegep@distance introduced different forms of collaboration (peer interaction and collaborative learning activities) in selected courses. A mixed methodology was used to understand the effects of these interventions, relying on a quasi-experimental design for the evaluation of the effects of peer interaction. The objective of the study was to understand the impact of peer interaction and collaborative learning...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Quasiexperimental Design, Control Groups, Evaluation, Context Effect, Interaction,...
National activities focus on priority areas and are often designed to develop, improve and identify the most successful methods and techniques for providing career and technical education (CTE) programs under Perkins. One of these priority areas under the 2006 Perkins Act is the integration of academic and technical education. Since the early 1990s, this has been a pillar of federal CTE legislation, and continues to be a major topic of discussion around the country. The recent attention to STEM...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Integrated Curriculum, Mathematics Education, Agriculture, Food, Natural Resources,...
According to the American Council on Education, more than 1 million community college students failed to receive financial aid for which they were likely eligible. This is a startling statistic. Given that financial aid is such a critical determinant of college-going and that academic counselors are among students' most important advocates, discussing financial aid with students is essential. In many instances academic counselors avoid this topic, preferring instead to refer their students to...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Community Colleges, Student Financial Aid, College Transfer Students, Academic...
An estimated 1.1 million students were homeschooled in the United States in spring 2003, according to the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics (2006). This figure represents a sizeable increase from the homeschooling rate of 1.7 percent--or 850,000 students--in 1999. With the popularity of homeschooling strengthening, particularly homeschooling at the secondary level, the prevalence of homeschoolers attempting to enter higher education is escalating. Despite...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Home Schooling, College Admission, Community Colleges, Admissions Officers, Higher...
Over the past several decades, college tuition has nearly tripled, adjusting for inflation, and federal student aid has shifted from a predominantly grant-based system to one dominated by loan aid. These two factors have conspired to create a debt-for-diploma system, affecting young adults' choices about college, including where they enroll and whether or not they complete degrees. With two out of three undergraduates leaving school with student loan debt averaging $19,300, the debt-for-diploma...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Student Loan Programs, Debt (Financial), College Graduates, Young Adults, Student...
During the 2002-03 fiscal crisis in Massachusetts, Gov. Mitt Romney proposed sweeping changes for public colleges in the state. Among them was a proposal to privatize three highly specialized colleges, including the Massachusetts College of Art and Design (MassArt), the nation's only independent public college of art and design. The rationale was that the college could not only survive, but also "soar" with an independent status. But when trustees and administrators examined Romney's...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Visual Arts, School Maintenance, Public Colleges, Educational Finance, Trustees,...
New Englanders have been well-served by the region's higher education legacy. They tend to be better-educated and more prosperous than the rest of the nation, and the cultural life in their cities and towns is exceptionally rich. But New England dares not rest on its laurels. The growing demand for even greater levels of educational attainment in the 21st century requires a re-examination of public policies for postsecondary education finance. In this article, the author discusses the three...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Higher Education, Educational Attainment, Public Colleges, Public Policy,...
The number of articulation agreements between Canadian colleges and universities has been increasing steadily since the early 2000s. Though various implications of these agreements have been discussed, missing are the students' grounded transfer experiences. This paper discusses the academic and social experiences of college transfer students at a Southern Ontario university. Using multiple methods, this paper identifies the following issues regarding the college transfer experience: transfer...
Topics: ERIC Archive, College Transfer Students, College Students, Community Colleges, Graduation Rate,...
Most instructors and administrators will refer to a student's lack of study and organizational skills to explain why so many freshmen students drop out or fail to continue with their educational goals. Often students graduate high schools without having to vigorously study and apply themselves in order to pass. As a result, many students enter post secondary education with a severe lack of knowledge and ability to study and learn effectively. Considering that population of non-traditional...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Community Colleges, Reading Improvement, Study Skills, Postsecondary Education,...
In this essay the author discusses the effects of globalization on Canadian community colleges. She applies contemporary social theories culled from the fields of feminism, geography and political science to understand one hidden manifestation of globalization in community colleges: involvement in global civil society via participation in international development projects. She begins by discussing the history of community colleges, highlighting their flexible missions, as a way of...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Community Colleges, Global Approach, Economic Climate, Social Theories,...
One of the most important goals the author has for students in his introductory-level physical geology course is to give them the conceptual skills for solving geologic problems on their own. He wants students to leave his course as individuals who can use their knowledge of geologic processes and logic to figure out the extended geologic history of areas they live in or visit. Field trips therefore serve as a critical evaluation tool of his students' performance and overall learning. In this...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Field Trips, Geology, Evaluation Methods, Science Instruction, Student Evaluation,...
Achievement and retention of students are significant concerns for American community colleges. While 86 percent of the students surveyed by the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) indicated a goal of completing a certificate or associate's degree program, less than a quarter of those enrolled in the 1995-1996 academic year earned this credential in the subsequent six-year period. For students entering college underprepared, these risks are magnified, increasing the...
Topics: ERIC Archive, First Generation College Students, Community Colleges, Low Achievement, Academic...
Instructors at community colleges around Virginia have been assessing student learning informally and formally since their opening, but recently, with renewed emphasis on accountability and documentation, a group of faculty and administrators were brought together to study the assessment process and develop procedures to ensure that student-learning objectives (SLOs) are at the forefront of instruction. At Lord Fairfax Community College (LFCC), instructors hoped to build a culture of assessment...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Community Colleges, Student Evaluation, College Outcomes Assessment, Total Quality...
Many of the community-college faculty hired during the 1960s and 1970s had initially embarked on K-12 teaching but moved into community-college instruction after discovering they preferred adult education and college schedules. While these former K-12 teachers had little to no instruction in how adults learn, their formative teaching years were amply filled with fundamental educational philosophies and pre-service teaching internships. Other instructors who intended to become university...
Topics: ERIC Archive, College Instruction, Role Models, Elementary Secondary Education, Teaching...
Perhaps one of the most underemphasized strategies for achieving student success within the community college is the development and implementation of an intentional, comprehensive approach to orienting new students to the college environment. Orientation can be considered as any effort by an institution to help students make a successful transition from their previous environment into the collegiate experience. The goals for such programs may include academic preparation, personal adjustment,...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Community Colleges, School Orientation, Adjustment (to Environment), College...
Two national studies of Americans' changing reading habits, published by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), quantified the grounds for concerns that college and university educators have expressed in recent years based on their own anecdotal evidence from observing students. "Reading at Risk: A Survey of Literary Reading in America" (2004) documented a decline in literary reading among adults in over two decades of longitudinal studies conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. More...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Community Colleges, Reading Habits, Reading Comprehension, Reading Skills, Time on...
At the time the author began working as an English instructor at Germanna Community College (GCC)'s Locust Grove Campus in the fall of 1993, like almost all the faculty, staff, and students, he had no idea of the rich and fascinating local history of their campus--or that it would soon become his overriding passion, lead to many student activities, and blossom into an ongoing series of events with local community groups that continues to flourish today. In this article, the author shares the...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Local History, Community Colleges, Higher Education, College Faculty, Campuses,...