Innovations
Harrisburg Area Community College (HACC), Central Pennsylvania’s Community College, has been serving the firefighting community through its 14-week fire academy—the only open enrollment career fire academy in Pennsylvania—since 1989.
Fire departments from across Pennsylvania send their newly hired firefighters to the Sen. John J. Shumaker Public Safety Center (PSC) at HACC to train alongside pre-service cadets. HACC has conducted an average of two fire academies each year, resulting in almost 300 career firefighter graduates.
In June 2015, HACC celebrated the graduation of eight cadets in its...
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The Fast Track to Manufacturing Program at Indian River State College is just what its name implies: quick, efficient, and effective training for manufacturing jobs. The two-year-old program has proved to be a valuable resource for companies throughout Florida’s four-county Treasure Coast and individuals wanting to gear up for employment as manufacturing rebounds on Florida’s East Coast.
One reason for the program’s success is involvement of the college’s Manufacturing Advisory Council, composed of manufacturers sharing real-world experience. In addition, Career Source Research Coast, a...
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This fall, Joliet Junior College (JJC) was recognized for its efforts in sustainability and awarded a bronze rating from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS) earlier this summer.
The college was scored in four specific categories: planning and administration, engagement, operations, and academics. More than 40 JJC faculty and staff on the college’s Sustainability Committee representing departments and offices across the college (including its extended campuses) worked to gather all the...
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March
2016
Community colleges throughout the United States serve students from a variety of backgrounds. Many of these students need assistance to successfully navigate the course enrollment and financial aid processes, and to complete their chosen degree or certification programs. Strong academic advisement is essential to students’ abilities to navigate course requirements, financial aid requirements, and degree expectations (Strayhorn, 2015). Structuring and implementing a strong advisement process requires a multifaceted, collaborative approach that includes input from advisement staff and faculty,...
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March
2016
Community colleges throughout the United States serve students from a variety of backgrounds. Many of these students need assistance to successfully navigate the course enrollment and financial aid processes, and to complete their chosen degree or certification programs. Strong academic advisement is essential to students’ abilities to navigate course requirements, financial aid requirements, and degree expectations (Strayhorn, 2015). Structuring and implementing a strong advisement process requires a multifaceted, collaborative approach that includes input from advisement staff and faculty,...
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March
2016
Community colleges throughout the United States serve students from a variety of backgrounds. Many of these students need assistance to successfully navigate the course enrollment and financial aid processes, and to complete their chosen degree or certification programs. Strong academic advisement is essential to students’ abilities to navigate course requirements, financial aid requirements, and degree expectations (Strayhorn, 2015). Structuring and implementing a strong advisement process requires a multifaceted, collaborative approach that includes input from advisement staff and faculty,...
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Tyler Hill, a Sierra College Electro Mechanical Engineering major from Lincoln, CA, got a job working for NCR Corporation in part because of his participation in the Hacker Lab Startup Hustle, a boot camp for entrepreneurs held in fall 2015. Students and Sacramento area entrepreneurs are encouraged to apply for the next Startup Hustle by March 17. Sierra College students can join Hacker Lab for $12 per month and participate in Startup Hustle for free.
When Sierra College and the Center for Applied Competitive Technologies joined Hacker Lab in establishing a maker and co-working space, it was...
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Last September, Chandler-Gilbert Community College (CGCC) was awarded a Latino Americans: 500 Years of History grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the American Library Association (ALA). As one of 203 grant recipients selected from across the country, CGCC received an award of $10,000 to produce public programming about Latino history and culture.
Beginning last fall, CGCC began hosting a variety of program activities to engage students and the community about the history and cultural impact of Latinos in the United States. Activities featured a Latino American art...
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A bachelor’s degree in criminal justice paved the way for Leticia Cervantes to become a licensed private investigator. But after a few years in the business, usually checking on unfaithful spouses for local attorneys, she craved a more reliable income and regular work hours. Her solution: Go back to school and learn cosmetology.
“I made the move because the economy is so unpredictable,” said Cervantes, 37, who in December received a certificate in cosmetology from Del Mar College. “My sister has always taught me that in times of economic crisis, people won’t hire a private investigator, but...
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For the nine community colleges in California’s San Diego and Imperial counties, “strength in numbers” is more than just an axiom. Through combining their forces—and their voices—college leaders have found that they are able to deliver a powerful message to legislators, the media, and the public.
Representatives from the San Diego and Imperial County colleges meet monthly as part of a consortium known as the San Diego and Imperial Counties Community College Association (SDICCCA). The six college districts, serving a total of more than 200,000 students, range from the San Diego district, the...
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In the fall of 2009, the first cohort of more than 100 ninth-grade students were admitted into Early College High School at Midland College (ECHS@MC). The school focuses primarily on serving first-generation college students, those with a low socioeconomic status, and/or those whose ethnicities are underrepresented at the college level.
Today, Midland College (MC) and the Midland Independent School District (MISD) have recognized three cohorts of graduates from the successful program. Over 85 percent of those students received associate degrees from Midland College at the same time they...
January
2016
Two things posted last fall in Inside Higher Ed (week of 11/15/2015) caught my eye about college completion. The US Department of Education has submitted proposal language giving them the authority to force accrediting agencies from approving colleges where students are not completing at acceptable rates. At the same time, the National Student Clearinghouse is reporting decreasing numbers of student completing across the board in higher education. Before us then is the big problem: Student completion is a huge agenda in most circles and try as we might, it is tough to improve the rates at...
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Snead State Community College began its Presidential Scholars program in 2009 as a leadership development opportunity for incoming students who demonstrated academic excellence. Including the 2015-2016 group, 62 students have received the distinction of Presidential Scholars, and the graduation rate among those completing courses at SSCC is 97 percent.
Presidential Scholars represent Snead State at a variety of events, including donor recognition and alumni functions. The students participate in two signature activities each year—completion of the BOLD team building ropes course at Berry...
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January
2016
“California dreaming” is a theme in American folklore. California’s Upward-Mobility Machine (David Leonhardt, The New York Times, Sept. 16, 2015), discussed how educational opportunities in the Golden State provide a catalyst for economic empowerment. “The big challenge for American higher education,” said the chancellor at the UC Irvine, “is that it has to be a gateway through which talented young people can thrive, regardless of their background.”
In this regard, California is a national leader. As the College Access Index indicated, a measure of economic diversity at institutions of higher...
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January
2016
Student Success is certainly on our collective mind these days.
On community college campuses we have long been concerned about our students and working with them to achieve their goals. I expect that nearly all colleges have specific efforts underway, falling under the big category of Student Success. Faculty are definitely critical to the execution of these efforts and thankfully many have stepped up to provide leadership in the work.
As a faculty leader on your campus focusing on students and improving their success—including their staying around to complete a degree or certificate—...
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American College Testing, with over fifty years of college readiness research, defines college readiness as students having “a 50% chance of obtaining a B or higher or about a 75% chance of obtaining a C or higher in the corresponding credit-bearing college courses, which include English Composition, Algebra, Social Science and Biology” (ACT, 2012, p. 3). Unfortunately, the majority of students graduating from high school are not college ready, and the need for improvement in the American high school educational structure is clear. Test results from 2015 give the percentage of high school...
January
2016
At the end of each workday, when American community college educators reflect on their day, it’s the little successes and setbacks that stand out.
I got my papers graded before dinner? Cool!
The student who flunked the last exam just turned in a great assignment? Awesome!
The electricity went out just as I was presenting today? Chocolate – stat!
My point is that these daily high notes and low notes are loud in an educator’s life. By comparison, the voices of policy makers and college leaders calling for student success and completion can seem like a distant Greek chorus. It is natural to...
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2016
Karen Hattaway, an English professor at San Jacinto College, discusses the Student Voice program at her college and how it contributes to student completion.
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December
2015
The Maricopa Community Colleges has announced a new program that will help children who are aging out of the foster care system to get into and complete college. The Bridging Success Initiative, funded by the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust, was introduced at an event with partners from across the Valley.
The initiative advisory board has representatives from Arizona State University (ASU), Children's Action Alliance, Arizona's Children Association, Arizona Friends of Foster Care, College Success Arizona, College Depot, Florence Crittendon, and the Arizona Department of Child Safety.
The...
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