Transcript The Evolving Mission of the American Community College

The Evolving Mission of the
American Community College
Kenneth P. Walker, Ph.D.
Council for the Study of Community Colleges
AACC Annual Convention
April 13, 2007
“The revolution in American
education, in which the two-year
college played a leading role, is
almost over. Two years of postsecondary education are within
the reach — financially,
geographically, practically — of
virtually every American.”
Education in America
Revolution:
Evolution:
Almost over
Continues in full force
New movement…new revolution
Baccalaureate degrees awarded by
some community colleges will
continue the democratizing process
for access to the bachelor’s degree.
Joliet Junior College
America's oldest public community college
Why Baccalaureate Degrees at Community Colleges?
Globalization of the economy
Demands of business and industry
Increased job competition
Exporting of jobs
Increasing demand by students
Limited university access
Rising costs
Benefits of Baccalaureate Degrees at Community Colleges
Increases access to higher education
Promotes cost efficiencies
Maximizes human resources
Supports success of non-traditional students
Promotes articulation and upward mobility
Provides cooperative facility use for work-based learning
Maintains family and employment relationships
Expands commitment to economic development
Responds to local need for specialized programs
Capitalizes on facilities, faculty, staff and programs
Community College Mission:
Responsive, Adaptive, Growing
“The institution must be able to change as
communities change with new conditions,
demands, or circumstances. Any time we can
describe the community college in definitive,
specific terms, we will destroy it. It has to
change. It has to be different in different areas.”
Ed Gleazer, Jr.
The Community College: Values, Vision & Vitality
“Responding to the Crisis in College Opportunity”
National Council for Public Policy and Higher Education
“ The nation should provide a space for
every eligible student to enroll in higher
education.”
YET…
Financial barriers prevent…
48% of college-qualified low-income high school
graduates from attending a four-year college, and
22% from attending any college at all
43% of college-qualified middle-income high school
graduates from attending a four-year college, and
16% from attending any college at all.
Study by the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance
Why Baccalaureate Degrees at Community Colleges?
Present
Unable to attend a
four-year college
Attend no college
at all
Next decade
400,000
college-qualified
students
4.4 million
170,000
college-qualified
students
2 million
Why Baccalaureate Degrees at Community Colleges?
“The vibrancy of our
democracy and our
knowledge-based
economy is dependent
upon ensuring access to
college for high school
graduates.”
--Empty Promises, 2002
Access to the Baccalaureate Degree
“Access to the baccalaureate degree must
be expanded so that future generations will
be equipped to cope with the magnitude of
change instigated by technology, industry,
finance, commerce, and government.”
Frank Newman
“Changes in the marketplace for higher education are …
producing a new vision for the delivery of higher education
that has not yet become fully understood.”
Access to the Baccalaureate Degree
Vision for community colleges offering
baccalaureate degrees not currently understood
Vision for four-year colleges becoming
universities not understood at the turn of the
century
Higher education mission …
Graphic: National Conference on Teacher Quality
…always has and always will adapt and
conform to the changing needs and
demands of society.
75 Years of the University
Transformation Era
“The most prominent
element in the
transformation was the
emergence of the
university.”
– Arthur M. Cohen
Slow introduction of universities
Colleges had to modify
concepts adhered to since
colonial days including
expanding the educational
experience from four years to a
greater length of time by
organizing graduate schools and
awarding advanced degrees.
Mission Creep
Mission Adaptation
Idea: Converting colleges to universities
Attributed to men familiar with German
higher education
Idea: Offering baccalaureate degrees at
community colleges
Began in Canada over a decade ago
University evolution
Added master’s degrees, doctoral degrees, postdoctoral studies, new majors:
Business
Journalism
Engineering
Architecture
Pharmacology
Dentistry
Agriculture
Mining
Forestry
Psychology
Sociology
Education
Community College evolution
Adding baccalaureate degrees in areas of need
“Unless the old rural colleges revive themselves, it was
argued, they stood in danger of slipping into oblivion.”
--Christopher J. Lucas

Restructuring driven by “a potent
combination of social, political,
cultural, and economic factors”

Same factors which are driving baccalaureate
degrees as community colleges

Today, no clear understanding of what constitutes a
four-year community college
“Ultimately, the outcome of decades of ferment and turmoil…,
would be the supplanting of the ‘old-time’ college as a
dominate institutional model by that of the modern university.
Existing colleges—some of them at least—would be
transformed in succeeding years to entirely different kinds of
academic institutions. The rise of the American university,
marked though it was by false starts and much trial and error,
was to prove itself a momentous phenomenon of almost
revolutionary proportions.”
“American higher education would never be the same again.”
--Christopher J. Lucas
Baccalaureate degrees at community
colleges now authorized in 15 states!
Graphic: ASHFoundation
Tremendous opportunity
for university faculty
and graduate students to
study, research and write
about this new type of
institution, still in its
infancy
“Continuing democratization of access to the bachelor’s degree will
result in a higher standard of living and a higher quality of life.”
--Kenneth P. Walker