This document focuses on how effective grant development and management can help generate added revenue for community colleges. Some general tips for grant management include: reviewing and maintaining the college's mission; aligning the grant department with all other development departments of the college; and using an experienced grant…

Drawing from a bibliographic survey of statistical data on two-year colleges, this digest indicates what kinds of data are available, what data are not readily accessible, and the limitations that affect the available information on two-year college finances, curriculum, students, and personnel. The digest recognizes the availability of data on…

Alternative scheduling provides community colleges with a means to adapt to declining enrollments and fiscal exigencies, and to respond the demand for accountability to students. Strategies such as departing from traditional semester- or quarter-length courses and developing weekend programs have been implemented at certain institutions to…

An overview is provided, examining the types of associate degrees that are awarded, the number that are awarded, the students who receive them, and the problems related to associate degree curricula. First, a list is provided of the different types of associate degrees awarded, followed by an enumeration of the vocational and non-vocational…

Community colleges, because of their late arrival in the development of American education, have suffered from an image and identity problem since their inception. To deal with this problem, community colleges should position themselves as unique community-based service-oriented colleges and market a specific focus to the general public. The first…

This digest reviews some of the recent literature about adult female students at community colleges. Their motivations, unique needs, and barriers to entry are discussed, as well as ways institutions can enhance the educational experience for adult women. Female students have outnumbered male students in higher education for nearly 30 years. In…

This digest is drawn from the spring 2002 issue of New Directions for Community Colleges, titled "Next Steps for the Community College." It summarizes three overlapping challenges facing colleges in the coming decade: educating a more diverse student body, assessing student outcomes, and maintaining the educated workforce needed to meet…

In this day of increased competition for students, educators need to know what makes their institution exceptional or how it is perceived as providing something of value that other institutions in the local area do not. Without this information, community colleges will find it difficult to thrive and adapt in the future. Efforts to determine the…

This digest discusses service learning programs on community college campuses. Service learning integrates community service with academic instruction as it focuses on critical, reflective thinking and civic responsibility. Projects can range from brief, one-time-only experiences to a student commitment of 15 or more hours during a semester.…

This digest offers community college professionals insight into the culture and language driving the news media, with an emphasis on newspapers. In an era of increased accountability for resource expenditures, educators may stretch budgets by engaging the mass media as willing and helpful partners in promoting the institutions' identity, programs,…

This digest presents a discussion of key policy issues confronting higher education in the age of distance learning, and discusses implications for the community college. Existing educational practices cannot accommodate distance education without corresponding shifts in the fundamental views of teaching and learning as well as in state, federal,…

The emphasis in community colleges on teaching as a primary faculty responsibility has frequently caused classroom teaching to be divorced from scholarship. Although the teaching role is not a necessary condition for successful scholarship, some form of scholarship appears to be a necessary condition for successful teaching over an extended period…

Criticisms have been raised about large scale community college involvement in developmental education. A number of these criticisms seem valid, while others clearly are not. Some of the most commonly voiced concerns include the following: (1) "The community college is the wrong place to provide developmental education"; (2)…

General education is the process of developing a framework on which to place knowledge stemming from a variety of sources. Its goals are to help students think critically, develop values, understand traditions, respect diverse cultures and opinions, and, most importantly, put that knowledge to use. Even though its goals parallel socially supported…

This digest provides a review of current literature relating to sexual minorities and the ongoing dialogue surrounding multiculturalism and inclusiveness on community college campuses. A 1998 study conducted on the six San Francisco community college campuses indicated that more than 1 in 3 of 484 community college students surveyed had engaged in…