This article reports on four synthesis findings from the Credentials to Careers (C2C) initiative -- a consortium of seven community colleges working to create and implement innovative programs to train or retrain unemployed and displaced workers for STEM, advanced manufacturing and health-care-related careers. These are 1) collaborating with…

This paper highlights how inter-institutional faculty relationships can strengthen student transfer between two-year and four-year programs. This article stresses the value of such efforts and some of the opportunities, benefits, and challenges of getting started. This type of relationship is important to ensure that courses will transfer…

The community college is an excellent place for the creation of a special, more empowering learning context. Unlike the university, where students are supposed to adjust to the world of scholarly erudition, the community college is the crazy academic brother that has the freedom to be different and to liberate students to build upon their own…

We, as community college English teachers, have the opportunity to empower students who have been subjected to years of top-down, teacher-directed education. We have the obligation to make them critical thinkers, improving their chances of being thoughtful and successful adults. It all begins with the way we teach writing and the respect we have…

In 1989, Congress passed the Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act Amendments to address illegal alcohol and drug abuse on college campuses. To receive federal funding, each college must comply by implementing an alcohol and drug prevention program, but the federal government and some colleges have paid little attention to this policy. Recently,…

This study synthesizes lessons learned about the promising role of "career navigators" at community colleges to aid students in the transitions through disjunctures in their careers. Career navigators are student support personnel who follow students from recruitment, through their studies or training programs, to job placement. Findings…

Community colleges act as the gateway for students to higher education. Many of these colleges realize this mission through open-door policies where students lacking in basic reading, writing, and mathematics skills can enroll. But, this open-access policy often creates challenges when meeting academic standards. Based on data collected from…

Since the 1990s, federal programs for workforce training have aimed to transform the role of community colleges from narrow contract training to a broader role that encompasses strategic instructional program planning and innovation to support lifelong learning for a changing workforce and economic development (Jacobs & Teahen, 1996). Yet, to…

The Virtual Theatricality Lab uses media innovations such as digital video, stereoscopic 3D projection, motion capture, and real time virtual reality navigation. These resources nurture the daring creative visions of theater artists who will embrace the multidimensional technological performance arena of the 21st century and beyond. (Contains 2…

Prediction models using graduation rate as the performance indicator were obtained for community colleges in California, Florida, and Michigan. The results of this study indicated that institutional graduation rate could be predicted effectively from an aggregate of student and institutional characteristics. A performance measure was computed, the…

Identifies key events that influenced the development of two-year colleges in Michigan, reviewing the beginnings, the expanding missions, and the recent struggles for independence and increased access. Summarizes historical and contemporary funding issues, examines current and future challenges facing the state's community colleges, and discusses…

Provides an overview of the 2+2 Tech Prep movement, including a summary of the U.S. Labor Department publication "What Work Requires of School," and Michigan's Tech Prep efforts. Describes a technical foundation or bridging program designed for individuals who desire an associate degree in a practical field but were inadequately prepared…