Enrichment programs make up a small but significant part of a community college's offerings. In some cases, their impact can be enormous--especially in rural areas where a community college might be the only source of enrichment for residents. Community enrichment programs also can be challenging to administer. For instance, it can be hard to find…

Many college students experience mental and behavioral health challenges that can impede them from achieving their education and career attainment goals, especially if they lack access to appropriate care and resources. Responses to the HMS survey highlight a critical need for readily accessible mental health services at community colleges. While…

This chapter offers strategies for creating support resources for students who face nonacademic barriers such as housing insecurity, food insecurity, lack of transportation and dependable childcare, and the need for mental health care and illness. These strategies should be viewed as ideas to help retain students and create lasting partnerships…

With state funding and student enrollment on the decline, community colleges are looking for creative ways to grow revenue. To meet this challenge, community colleges are becoming more entrepreneurial in nature. Successful colleges understand their strengths, recognize the needs of their community and develop programs that marry these for…

This chapter describes the cocurricular activities offered through The Democracy Commitment at Allegany College of Maryland and the impact of these civic experiences on its students.

"Collective impact" is a new place-based model of educational and social intervention that aims to shift responsibility for improvement in outcomes from individual organizations to entire systems that affect the lives of people in a particular location. CCRC's "Corridors of College Success Series" provides insights into…

This chapter describes a diversity and democracy curriculum and faculty development collaboration among the Association of American Colleges and Universities, The Democracy Commitment, and 10 community colleges.

Service learning is one of the most effective teaching methods for engaging and retaining community college students, but it comes with its challenges. For many students, the added requirements of a service learning experience can become one more responsibility in an already too-long list. In addition to being responsible for children, holding…

This brief examines the continued underrepresentation of African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, and women of all racial and ethnic backgrounds in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields; explains the benefits of collaboration around broadening participation; and offers guidance on building partnerships as a strategy…

This chapter explores elements that should be included in a service learning style internship program in urban community colleges. It provides theoretical background and descriptions of best practices for forming community partnerships, collaboratively developing learning outcomes, and aligning program design with institutional general education…

This article provides the reader with information regarding forming a community emergency response team (CERT) at a community college. College public safety departments are efficient entities in ordinary times. However, recent events at community colleges across the country have shown that there have been situations where their capabilities have…

When the deepwater horizon offshore oil drilling rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico in April 2010, 11 crewmen were killed; the accident led to the largest oil spill in U.S. history. Forty workers on the rig managed to escape the catastrophe, thanks largely to a safety-training program they had taken at community colleges in the Louisiana Community…

Learning communities are common on two- and four-year college campuses. Estimates suggest that they exist on four to five hundred campuses and can be found in most states. Such numbers signal that interest in learning communities is going strong, and there are indications that on two-year college campuses, interest continues to grow. As…

Teng's (2007) article entitled "Lessons Learned from Initiating a Community College Learning Community Program" provided a foundation for community college leaders who are interested in working with faculty in creating a learning community on campus. Teng (2007) listed the five lessons that may be useful guidelines to other colleges who…

This report discusses the implementation of the Opening Doors Learning Communities and its effects on students up to two years after they entered the study. Freshmen in this "learning community" at Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn, NY, moved more quickly through developmental English requirements, took and passed more courses,…