Spring 2023 ISSUE
Letter From the Chair
The past few years have required community colleges to grapple with the effects of a worldwide pandemic, economic uncertainty, and social upheaval. Responsibility has fallen on the shoulders of leadership, faculty, and staff to enhance institutional…
Fueling Dual Enrollment Momentum to Combat Declining College-Going Rates
Since 2020, enrollment at community colleges has declined 5.4 percent, which has prompted institutions to reflect on practices that impact student success and on barriers students face in their pursuit of higher education.
Designing Our Colleges for Change: The Leadership Challenge of Processes
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, many educators recognized that higher education is operating in an increasingly complex and volatile world. While leaders aspire to turn uncertainty into a clear vision for the future, we are often doing so during tumultuous times, such as during significant leadership and funding model changes or while our biggest competitors are simultaneously overhauling their strategies.
San Carlos Apache College’s New Traditional Vision of Enhancing Student Support Services
San Carlos Apache College (SCAC), one of the newest tribal colleges in the U.S., has become a major player in efforts to build an innovative, yet traditional, community college of tomorrow. During a League for Innovation “Community Colleges and Communities: Collective Workforce Development and Wraparound Services” project convening in June 2022, the SCAC team presented a concept that provided new insight to creatively connecting student support services with a college’s community, students, and staff.
Can AI Actually Bring Instructors and Students Closer Together?
In today’s community college classrooms, technology is everywhere you turn. As higher education institutions embrace the role of emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) in everything from sprinkler systems to lecture delivery, it’s clear that the question for many instructors is no longer whether to use tech in the classroom—it’s how to use it well while also maintaining their authentic teaching style.
Wellness at the Intersection of Retention and Student Support
Higher education has been in upheaval for the last two years due to the pandemic. Broader funding for higher education has increased, but funding for wraparound services has not only decreased, but not fully recovered from the cuts made during the 2008 economic recession. There is evidence that investment in wraparound services can help increase retention and graduation rates for students who attend community colleges.
A New Model: How Community Colleges Are Centering Learners and Their Skills
As we look back at how the pandemic has shifted higher education, the message moving forward is that the learning and upskilling experience must evolve to better meet the needs of a rapidly changing world. Within a new learn-to-work era, there are three clear signals that require attention.