This study aimed to provide a quantitative analysis of industry's perception of the effectiveness of community colleges, specifically from industries in the advanced manufacturing sector, within the state of Michigan. This study investigated interactions, awareness, and perception of effectiveness by industry leaders with community college CTE…

As state political leaders look toward a postpandemic era, they are being presented with complex economic and workforce development challenges that will require intensive, intentional collaboration between business, higher education, and state government. Workforce participation rates remain far below prepandemic levels, businesses continue to…

Software Verification and Validation (SV&V) is proven to be an effective approach to ensure software quality. Yet it is not commonly deployed in industry practices. We started a project intent on building a sustainable community skilled in SV&V. The fundamental objective is the transformation of undergraduate education in software…

For this case study, the author describes the successful collaboration between Michigan Technological University and Herman Miller in the creation of a learning studio within an emerging learning commons. This recently opened learning studio provides faculty and students a place to develop their level of understanding in active teaching and…

The skills gap--the disparity between job openings and job seekers in an employment category--is wider in some sectors and parts of the country than others. The disconnect between community colleges and employers perpetuates the skills gap. Despite the current push among educators, politicians, and employers to increase completion rates, that…

Industries in every state are struggling to find qualified applicants for jobs, while job seekers too often find they lack the skills needed to enter or move along a career pathway to a good job. Preparing a workforce that is poised to meet the needs of businesses and ultimately to make the state more economically competitive is a top priority for…

With the leadership of community college educators and their industry partners, the National Science Foundation's Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program has achieved an impressive record of incubating innovative science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs. ATE's mission to increase the quality of technicians working…

The 2016 edition of "Education Week's" long-­running "Technology Counts" report combines in-depth reporting and insight from an original national survey to reveal teachers' confidence levels in ed tech, how teachers approach integrating technology into the classroom, and decision-making behind tech products. Contents include:…

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…

Partnerships between community colleges and employers to create apprenticeships have been around for decades. These traditionally have covered fields like the building trades--electrical, construction and others--as well as heavy manufacturing like the automobile industry. Inspired partly by a new federal apprenticeship consortium--and $175…

Coursera has been operating for only a few months, but the company has already persuaded some of the world's best-known universities to offer free courses through its online platform. Colleges that usually move at a glacial pace are rushing into deals with the upstart company. But what exactly have they signed up for? And if the courses are free,…

Given the stakes and the current economic climate, U.S. higher education officials across the country are stepping up their advocacy efforts, making their voices louder and more persistent than ever. They are vying for the attention of states struggling with increased demands for limited revenues, most choosing to divert dollars from higher…

Growing numbers of colleges and universities, as well as independent schools, are targeting parents, grandparents, and other nonalumni friends for gifts to meet institutional needs and, at many public institutions, replace appropriations lost to Draconian state cuts. Such efforts have taken root despite parents shouldering ever-climbing college…

Community colleges in the United States have become major providers of human resource development services, particularly through offering workforce development training to local employers. The addition of workforce development services to community colleges is a fairly recent phenomenon. Some see workforce development efforts as diluting community…

This article describes how Wayne State University's TechTown is helping revive Detroit's hard-hit economy. TechTown got its start when then-Wayne State President Irvin Reid and a small group of business leaders in the city and state officials decided Detroit needed to embrace the business incubator idea that had been so successful in other regions…