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…

U.S. rural community colleges serve approximately 3.4 million students, yet there is very little research on these institutions. We conducted a mulitple case study to develop a typology of rural community college locations. We gathered and analyzed publicly available data (n = 25) and private institutional data (n = 6) and conducted in-person…

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…

In this article, we present a new critique of the Completion Agenda as inscribed in "Reclaiming the American dream," a policy document published in April 2012 by the American Association of Community Colleges. Our critique is grounded on the premise that community colleges should improve completion rates, but this should be motivated by…

A level of consistency between community college leaders and community leaders is necessary to demonstrate behaviors, actions, and beliefs that shape, represent, and support expected community values. Likewise, communities, which are collectives of suborganizations, play an important role in aiding individual development, especially related to…

In recent decades, many institutions of higher education have responded to community and student learning needs through the development of service-learning programs (Sapp & Crabtree, 2002). Community colleges have been noted as leaders in the establishment of service-learning programs. The purpose of this study was to better understand the…

In this article, we explore the functions of the traditional community college and its expanding mission in regard to its responsiveness to changing economic conditions and workforce development needs. To date, few researchers have specifically addressed market responsiveness in community college settings across the United States. In addition, we…

Diversifying the faculty in community colleges, especially with faculty of color, continues to be problematic as we move through the first decade of the 21st Century. National statistics show that overwhelmingly the faculty continues to be Caucasian, even at a time when more and more students are coming from diverse ethnic backgrounds. This…

In the Casper College Legal Service (CCLS) program, Casper College paralegal students, under supervision of pro bono attorneys, use paralegal skills to provide legal services and work product. CCLS is different from other legal clinics; it is not law school based, bar based, or court based. CCLS is paralegal based.

Bergen Community College (BCC) created an institutional focus that allows faculty, staff, students, and administrators to join forces in understanding the suburban sense of place that defines the communities it serves. Bridging the various college departments enables BCC to connect local issues to regional, national, and international matters…

Community colleges in rural environments provide a variety of services. There is a great deal of documentation supporting those services that are academic and economic. The noneconomic and nonacademic results of community college activities, however, have an undocumented yet significant impact on local communities. The current study focused on how…

Maui's unique geographic location, culture, economy, and ecology provide a year-round sustainable living laboratory for the development of sustainable solutions to local and global challenges. Maui Community College's mission, goals, and actions are guided by the Native Hawaiian reverence for the ahupuaa, the traditional land management practice…

Reviews current criticisms of community services programming in community colleges, focusing on the services' overexpansion of college mission and funding restraints. Argues that colleges cannot effectively intervene in every aspect of community life. Suggests that colleges redefine the notion of community services, retaining the educational…

Describes the status of two-year college development in the 1950s, tracing events that led up to the overwhelming demand for two-year colleges in the following decades. Asserts that if a college is to truly serve its community, it must comprehensively and continuously assess the community's needs. (AUTH/EMH)

Compares two surveys of new community college presidents. Finds that most presidents serve in order to "make a difference," and that 56% of survey participants followed an academic pathway to community college presidency, rather than coming from administrative or student services. (NB)