Community colleges traditionally have been a nexus for transitions to and from the workforce. This article examines horizontal and vertical workforce transitions and how a global economy and the need to train new subpopulations of future workers will cause community colleges to approach their roles in workforce training differently. There are too…

Describes how customized training (i.e., contracted training provided by college personnel for individual firms in exchange for a fee) has evolved in the United States. Discusses links between customized training and three specific economic development strategies. Presents an operational definition of customized training to provide a basis for its…

Discusses the impact of technological change on the technical and "employability" skills required of the modern labor force. Outlines specific content and faculty upgrading areas that general education programs should address to meet workforce needs. Discusses the current crisis in vocational education and the relationship between general…

This paper continues a long-standing process, expressed in current practices of reauthorizing federal legislation every 5 years, of examining the rationale for federal involvement in occupational (vocational) education. Past discussions of this issue have come to a broad set of conclusions that the federal government should fund what states cannot…