Looking back over the 14-year history of Oakton Community College (OCC) with its cluster system of organization, this paper examines the distinctions between discipline-oriented organization and the cluster system, and discusses the current rationale for OCC's maintenance of this approach. First introductory material describes how the president…

The unit of faculty-student grouping at Oakton Community College (Illinois) is the learning cluster. Four learning clusters, led by appointed deans, serve 4700 students. The basis for assignment of faculty and students to a cluster is not homogeneity, but variety and balance. (Author/NHM)

Oakton Community College is organized into four learning clusters, each comprising a group small enough to maintain "recognizability" and a sense of belonging. Each cluster has approximately 600 FTE students, 30 full-time faculty members, one learning resource faculty member, three counselors, and its own dean. The first of these…

Stresses that community colleges must be designed for a broader segment of the population and must expand to deliver more than traditional educational services. The college is viewed as the cultural, learning, and recreation center of the community. A variety of instructional programs, building plans, and college organizations are examined. (TP)