CC mission: Writing new mission statement
Southeastern Copperfield Community College will suspend instruction to devote its full resources to rewriting the mission statement and strategic goals, according to a parody on The Cronk of Higher Education. “I’m convinced that, with the right vision statement we can divorce ourselves from the grades 13-14 ashtray image and become a globally recognized higher education [...]
High costs for high dropout rate
Fifty-one percent of New York City’s community college students drop out, concludes a new report by the Center for an Urban Future. Six years after enrollment, only 20 percent have completed an associate degree and 8 percent a bachelor’s degree. Twelve percent have transferred, but haven’t earned a degree and aren’t likely to do so. [...]
Squeezed out
Thirty-seven percent of community college students were unable to enroll in a class this fall because it was full, according to a Pearson Foundation survey. Twenty percent said they had trouble enrolling in the courses they needed to complete their degree or certificate. Part-time and remedial students had the hardest time getting into classes. College [...]
Teaching immigrants English through art
New York City’s Queensborough Community College will work with museums to teach English to adult immigrants through art, reports the Times-Ledger. Culture and Literacy through Arts for the 21st Century will be a partnership among community colleges in the CUNY system, Queens College’s Godwin-Ternbach Museum, the Rubin Museum of Art, the Katonah Museum of Art and [...]
Few immigrants thrive without English
Few immigrants thrive without learning English, wrote Gail Mellow, president of LaGuardia Community College, in response to a New York Times story, Moving to U.S. and Prospering, Without English. Yes, a tiny group of immigrants will thrive without learning English, but mastering English is a prerequisite to becoming part of the middle class in today’s [...]
Hispanic women lead college surge
Second-generation Hispanic young adults — especially women — are closing the college enrollment gap, but not the graduation gap, concludes the Migration Policy Institute in Up for Grabs: The Gains and Prospects of First- and Second-Generation Young Adults (pdf). . . . while Hispanic second-generation women are enrolling in college at the same rate as [...]
‘Professor of the Year’ teaches math, engineering
This year’s community college professor of the year is Kathryn Wetzel, who teaches math and engineering classes at Amarillo College in Texas. Wetzel was honored by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). Wetzel, who also chairs AC’s math, sciences and engineering department, established [...]
Seattle CC tires of ‘Occupy’ campers
“Occupy” protesters may be evicted from the Seattle Central Community College campus due to crowding, poor sanitation, drug use and complaints of sexual harassment, reports the Seattle Times. The college also faces added security and cleaning costs. A draft of an emergency rule prepared for the state says the college needs to take action because [...]
Focus on completion — and counseling
California community colleges will focus on student completion, if task force recommendations are implemented. California’s reforms are good, but don’t go far enough, write Thomas Bailey, Melinda Mechur Karp and Davis Jenkins of the Community College Research Center. The new plan pushes students to pursue academic or vocational “programs of study” that lead to a [...]
A green energy ‘champion’ at Wake Tech
Raleigh’s Wake Technical Community College is preparing students for green energy jobs, reports Community College Times. Leading that drive is Richard Cregar, a sustainable transportation technologies instructor honored by the White House as a Champion of Change. A biofuels expert, Cregan is co-director of the Code Green Super Curriculum Improvement Project launched last year by [...]
