The Evolving Mission of the American Community College

1. The Evolving Mission of the American Community College Kenneth P. Walker, Ph.D. Council for the Study of Community Colleges AACC Annual Convention April 13, 2007

2. “The revolution in American education, in which the two-year college played a leading role, is almost over. Two years of post-secondary education are within the reach — financially, geographically, practically — of virtually every American.”

3. Education in America Revolution: Almost over Evolution:Continues in full force

4. New movement…new revolution Baccalaureate degrees awarded by some community colleges will continue the democratizing process for access to the bachelor’s degree. Joliet Junior College America's oldest public community college

5. Why Baccalaureate Degrees at Community Colleges? Globalization of the economy Demands of business and industry Increased job competition Exporting of jobs Increasing demand by students Limited university access Rising costs

6. Benefits of Baccalaureate Degrees at Community Colleges Maintains family and employment relationships Increases access to higher education Promotes cost efficiencies Maximizes human resources Supports success of non-traditional students Promotes articulation and upward mobility Provides cooperative facility use for work-based learning Expands commitment to economic development Responds to local need for specialized programs Capitalizes on facilities, faculty, staff and programs

7. Community College Mission: Responsive, Adaptive, Growing

8. “The institution must be able to change as communities change with new conditions, demands, or circumstances. Any time we can describe the community college in definitive, specific terms, we will destroy it. It has to change. It has to be different in different areas.” Ed Gleazer, Jr. The Community College: Values, Vision & Vitality

9. “Responding to the Crisis in College Opportunity” National Council for Public Policy and Higher Education “ The nation should provide a space for every eligible student to enroll in higher education.” YET…

10. Financial barriers prevent… 48% of college-qualified low-incomehigh school graduates from attending a four-year college, and 22% from attending any college at all 43% of college-qualified middle-income high school graduates from attending a four-year college, and 16% from attending any college at all. Study by the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance

11. Why Baccalaureate Degrees at Community Colleges? 4.4 million 2 million

12. Why Baccalaureate Degrees at Community Colleges? “The vibrancy of our democracy and our knowledge-based economy is dependent upon ensuring access to college for high school graduates.” --Empty Promises, 2002

13. Access to the Baccalaureate Degree “Access to the baccalaureate degree must be expanded so that future generations will be equipped to cope with the magnitude of change instigated by technology, industry, finance, commerce, and government.” Frank Newman “Changes in the marketplace for higher education are … producing a new vision for the delivery of higher education that has not yet become fully understood.”

14. Access to the Baccalaureate Degree NOW Vision for four-year colleges becoming universities not understood at the turn of the century Vision for community colleges offering baccalaureate degrees not currently understood THEN

15. Higher education mission … …always has and always will adapt and conform to the changing needs and demands of society. Graphic: National Conference on Teacher Quality

16. 75 Years of the University Transformation Era “The most prominent element in the transformation was the emergence of the university.” – Arthur M. Cohen

17. Slow introduction of universities Colleges had to modify concepts adhered to since colonial days including expanding the educational experience from four years to a greater length of time by organizing graduate schools and awarding advanced degrees.

18. Mission Creep Mission Adaptation or

19. Idea: Offering baccalaureate degrees at community colleges Began in Canada over a decade ago Idea: Converting colleges to universities Attributed to men familiar with German higher education

20. University evolution Added master’s degrees, doctoral degrees, postdoctoral studies, new majors: Community College evolution Adding baccalaureate degrees in areas of need

21. “Unless the old rural colleges revive themselves, it was argued, they stood in danger of slipping into oblivion.” --Christopher J. Lucas • Same factors which are driving baccalaureate degrees as community colleges • Restructuring driven by “a potent combination of social, political, cultural, and economic factors” • Today, no clear understanding of what constitutes a four-year community college

22. “Ultimately, the outcome of decades of ferment and turmoil…, would be the supplanting of the ‘old-time’ college as a dominate institutional model by that of the modern university. Existing colleges—some of them at least—would be transformed in succeeding years to entirely different kinds of academic institutions. The rise of the American university, marked though it was by false starts and much trial and error, was to prove itself a momentous phenomenon of almost revolutionary proportions.” “American higher education would never be the same again.” --Christopher J. Lucas

23. Baccalaureate degrees at community colleges now authorized in 15 states! Tremendous opportunity for university faculty and graduate students to study, research and write about this new type of institution, still in its infancy Graphic: ASHFoundation

24. “Continuing democratization of access to the bachelor’s degree will result in a higher standard of living and a higher quality of life.” --Kenneth P. Walker