At least half of community college faculty say their institution is doing a good job in five areas supporting improvement of student completion rates, according to a survey conducted for the League for Innovation’s Faculty Voices Project and fielded by Public Agenda. The fall 2017 survey was conducted among U.S. community college faculty to gain insight into faculty perceptions about efforts at their colleges to increase the percentage of students who complete. Completion was defined in the survey as students who “earn a certificate or degree or transfer.” Of the 1,179 respondents, 782 were full-time and 397 were part-time community college faculty.

The future of education is up for grabs. It is changing on virtually every dimension that matters—the design of schools, the role of faculty, and above all, the learning experience. These changes are inevitable because a tsunami of new technologies is driving profound shifts in education fundamentals—the relationship between teachers and the taught, the location and timing of educational activities, and the very definition of what it means to learn. They are also inevitable because today’s rising generation was born into a world of turmoil that demands the ability to design one’s life with an eye to personal as well as professional fulfillment.

Managing and maturing innovation can lead to significant and lasting transformation in community colleges, resulting in agile institutions that implement multiple types of innovation in an intentional, coordinated fashion continuously over time. Higher education institutions fall within a broad spectrum of innovation maturity ranging from non-existent to transformative (see graphic), with a majority falling somewhere between non-existent and emerging. Few mature their innovation beyond the emerging point, which we refer to as the “innovation valley of death,” largely because they lack systematized innovation management and execution.

The cost of higher education is rising at an alarming rate, with course materials and textbooks seeing some of the most dramatic increases. Along with increased costs, fewer students are buying textbooks and course materials. A 2011 survey by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, as reported by Molly Redden in The Chronicle of Higher Education, found that 70 percent of students had not purchased a textbook because of the price. Of these, 78 percent believed they would perform worse in class as a result. Although instructors expect students to use course materials for their classes, many do not. This can greatly impact student success.

For Excellence in Public Health and Health Navigation Education in Community Colleges

A Selection of League Projects, Initiatives, and Events Over Five Decade

It was supposed to be about developing the leaders of tomorrow. That was the intent when the San Diego Community College District laid the groundwork for a series of Leadership Academies serving faculty, staff, and administrators in 2009. The academies, however, have been building more than leaders. The program also has helped hundreds of employees—ranging from groundskeepers to academic department heads—network with each other and build lasting working relationships in a sprawling district that includes three college campuses and San Diego Continuing Education, as well as support services and district headquarters.

For the past two years, Midland College (MC) has been designing and implementing a pathways model with clear, educationally coherent program maps that are aligned for program completion, quality credentials, workforce skills, and transferability for baccalaureate and graduate degrees. As a result of MC’s efforts, the college has been recognized as a leader in the Texas Success Center’s Texas Pathways initiative, and the MC developmental math program has been named as exemplar in its efforts to redesign curriculum for the new pathways approach.

Today’s employers know that skilled workers don’t grow on trees. Sometimes, you have to grow your own talent.