2009-2014

While it is essential to track the progress and effectiveness of higher education in this country, current standards that apply across the board to both two and four-year institutions do not paint a complete picture of the state of postsecondary education today. There are significant differences between four-year universities and two-year community colleges that are not addressed in the standards as they are currently written. In most cases, current assessment standards do community colleges an injustice, providing an inaccurate view of how well these schools educate their students.

The AACC and the VFA

The American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) is hoping to change the view of the community college system through a set of defined assessment standards designed just for them. According to the AACC website, the new Voluntary Framework of Accountability (VFA) is the first national accountability system created just for community colleges, considering their unique student demographics and purpose. The new metrics will initially be tested by 58 community colleges, according to a brief report in the Chronicle of Higher Education, with the hope that other schools will adopt the framework.

The VFA is a three-phase initiative encompassing many aspects of community college success or failure. When the framework is completed, it will include:

• A technical manual that will offer an overview of measurement calculations
• A college framework to guide schools in assessing student learning outcomes
• A blueprint of data collection to provide an assessment model to participating colleges
• Preliminary results of the

To save money and streamline the higher education process, Connecticut has merged the state’s college system to create a central governance board for 12 community colleges, four universities, and Charter Oak State College – an online college. The only state school that will remain independent under the new structure is the University of Connecticut. While many applaud this change as an effective way to improve the state’s college system overall, others are concerned about exactly how this new merger will impact individual schools with very different missions.

How the Merger Happened and What Students Can Expect

According to a report at Inside Higher Ed, Connecticut state legislators launched the merger in July, when they created the new Board of Regents for Higher Education to oversee the institutions in the state. Two of the primary reasons for the decision were to save money on higher education overall, as well as to coordinate higher education in the state to ensure students received an education that would prepare them for a lucrative and available job in the future.

“The State of Connecticut has to look across higher education,” Gena Glickman, president of Manchester Community College, told Inside Higher Ed. Glickman added that the state needs to determine “whether or not we’re facile enough to meet the needs of each student.”

The new Board of Regents will consist of 19 board members who have not yet been appointed,

Community colleges have been fertile breeding grounds for students who want to exercise First Amendment rights over the years. However, one group in Seattle that is trying to do the same may be overstaying its welcome on a local community college campus. Seattle Central Community College has become the makeshift campground for the newly formed movement Occupy Seattle. However, after weighing the costs involved with added security and clean-up crews that have become necessary since the group moved in, community college officials are now looking for a way to oust Occupy Seattle from their campus.

Strange Bedfellows

According to a report in The Seattle Times, Occupy Seattle moved onto the campus of Seattle Central Community College after city officials told them they were not allowed to pitch their tents in a municipal park. The community college appeared to be a prime location for the movement since the school had no rules regarding camping on campus. According to Seattle Pi, a local teachers’ union even invited the movement in and offered them free classes to help expand their cause.

The publication also reports that community college officials were never warm to the idea of allowing members of the movement to set up shop on their grounds and tried to ban the group at first. However, without a rule in place to prevent it, the response to Occupy Seattle eventually had to be a reluctant “yes.”

The Examiner

“The president has made it really clear that, of course,

The community college system in Massachusetts received a “double whammy” this month, with two different reports citing similar problems with the state’s schools. The first report was released by the Commonwealth Corporation and the second, released just a few days later, was completed by the Boston Foundation. Both reports found the statewide community college system to be lacking in terms of preparing Massachusetts residents for industries in demand throughout the state. The good news is that the reports also issued recommendations to make community colleges a better deal for state students.

The Commonwealth Corporation Report

The primary concern of the Commonwealth Corporation report, titled “Critical Collaboration,” was the fact that Massachusetts community colleges are not properly aligning their training programs with the specific needs of the healthcare industry, according to a report at Sentinel and Enterprise. Currently, healthcare is the number one industry throughout the Boston area, accounting for 19 percent of all of the jobs in the city. However, while healthcare jobs are abundant in Massachusetts, both students and employers are finding the community college network increasingly difficult to navigate for the purpose of preparing students for employment and providing employers with adequately trained healthcare workers.

According to the report, community colleges are not creating important standards that ensure sufficient academic performance from students. Despite the fact that more students than ever are graduating from community colleges in the state, those with degrees are not properly matched to the workforce needs of the

Community colleges that are a part of Achieving the Dream have shown they are committed to student success through various proven methodologies. Those named leader colleges each year demonstrate exceptional standards of performance and practice, even among schools that have already been named as some of the top performers in the country. This year’s list of leader colleges provides a broad spectrum of community colleges from coast to coast. We’ll look at some of the top community colleges on the 2011 Achieving the Dream Leaders list and explore what it takes to become a part of this prestigious organization.

Four Principles Emphasized by Achieving the Dream

When it comes to improving student outcomes at community colleges across the country, Achieving the Dream subscribes to four basic principles that are highlighted on the organization’s website:

• Committed Leadership—This principle states that community college leaders are committed to the success of students across all demographics rather than simply focusing on enrollment numbers.
• Use of Evidence to Improve Programs and Services – Schools use data collected to determine gaps in student success and formulate effective strategies for bridging these gaps.
• Broad Engagement – Students' success at a community college depends on collaboration between faculty, administration, student services, and constructive feedback from students.
• Systemic Institutional Improvement – Using the data collected, Achieving the Dream schools create and regularly evaluate programs designed to enhance student success.

While these four principles apply to all of the Achieving the Dream community colleges, some of the schools