Innovations Library

Search results ordered by: Relevance, Date Descending. Keyword search results do not display in date descending order.

Career by Design: Disrupting Practices That Reinforce Regional Talent Gaps
Marisa Vernon White April 2026
Volume: 39 Issue: 4
Count all 13
Community colleges are central to economic and workforce development, providing direct connection to upward mobility through access to education and training. As a uniquely American structure within our higher education ecosystem, these institutions strive to broaden access and are notably resilient, adaptive, and community-informed.
Tags: Economic Development, Student Services, Community Relations, Organizational Culture, Workforce Preparation, Innovations
It Takes a Campus: Elevating Employee Connectedness as a College Priority
Jamee Harrington March 2026
Volume: 39 Issue: 3
Count all 24
Community college employees are all in for students, yet many are stretched thin. They believe in the mission, show up for students and each other, and keep the wheels turning through constant change. At the same time, the pace and weight of the work can leave people feeling isolated from one another and distant from the decisions that shape their daily reality. When that happens, connectedness becomes more than a morale issue; it becomes a strategic leadership issue.
Tags: Leadership and Organization, Organizational Culture, Innovations
Next Generation Sector Partnerships: An Innovative Road to Meaningful Credentials and Regional Economic Success
Justin Lonon February 2026
Volume: 29 Issue: 2
Count all 522
For 60 years, Dallas College has been committed to preparing learners for workforce success in the dynamic landscape of North Texas. As technology advances and industry transforms, the college is challenged to find the most effective ways to assess workforce needs and design programs that prepare students with both immediate and future-ready skills.
Tags: Economic Development, Corporate Training, Partnerships, Workforce Preparation, Innovations
An Innovative Approach to Transfer Pathways at Delta College
David P. Hopkins, Jr. January 2026
Volume: 39 Issue: 1
Count all 423
In an October 2024 issue of Member Spotlight, the author detailed how Delta College rethought transfer efforts to better impact its students through agreements with four-year partners. As the new Dean of Transfer Programs and Online Learning, he was also charged with exploring transfer pathways to improve the college’s ability to better track students along their journey.
Tags: Student Services, Partnerships, Student Completion, Innovations
The Overlooked Outcome: How Simulation Training Develops Leaders, Not Just Technical Skills
Thomas Ackerman December 2025
Volume: 38 Issue: 12
Count all 463
Although simulation training has long been recognized as an effective strategy for the development of fundamental technical skills, trainers, educators, and administrators often overlook a critical secondary outcome of training simulation that is hidden in plain sight—the profound leadership development that occurs when students navigate complex, high-pressure scenarios with incomplete information and time constraints.
Tags: Leadership Development, Learning and Organization, Community Relations, Leadership Development, Learning Environments, Workforce Preparation, Innovations
Recentering on the Student Experience: Student Engagement and the College President
Madisson Younglove November 2025
Volume: 38 Issue: 11
Count all 482
As higher education has evolved, so has the role of the college president. Community college presidents shoulder the expectations of the faculty, staff, board, alumni, politicians, and other community stakeholders. A changing political landscape demands flexibility, societal expectations demand empathy, socioeconomic turmoil demands creativity, technological advancements demand innovation, emerging crises demand alacrity, and the prevalence and permanence of information demands perfection.
Tags: Leadership and Organization, Access, Organizational Culture, Innovations
Shared Governance in Action: An Empowering and Collaborative Approach to LMS Review and Implementation
Delia Ann Pfister October 2025
Volume: Issue: 10
Count all 485
In an era where technology plays an increasingly critical role in education, community colleges face significant challenges when it comes to integrating new systems that enhance student learning and outcomes. Large-scale technology transitions, such as the implementation of a new learning management system (LMS), require careful leadership, strategic planning, collaboration, and strategic communication across diverse stakeholder groups.
Tags: Leadership and Organization, Innovations
Empowering Campus Stakeholders Through Strategic Planning
Ashley Van Heest September 2025
Volume: 38 Issue: 9
Count all 435
Strategic planning serves as a cornerstone for institutional success, providing a clear road map that aligns organizational goals with the needs of the local community. In today’s dynamic educational landscape, the involvement of employees and stakeholders is critical, as their insights and contributions foster a sense of ownership and accountability. Empowering campus stakeholders through inclusive processes not only enhances engagement but also cultivates a culture of collaboration and innovation.
Tags: Leadership and Organization, Strategic Planning, Innovations
Academic Transformation at Southern Alberta Institution of Technology
Maureen Toews and Jayne Steffler August 2025
Volume: 38 Issue: 8
Count all 347
Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) is committed to innovation and transformation. We are focused on achieving the priorities identified in our strategic plan—New World. New Thinking. 2020-2025—which is built on change for the future of postsecondary education, student success, and aligning education with emerging careers.
Tags: Leadership and Organization, Organizational Culture, Innovations
The Strategic Imperative: Enhancing Student Enrollment and Success at Seattle Colleges
Cedric B. Howard July 2025
Volume: 38 Issue: 7
Count all 346
The landscape of higher education is continually evolving, demanding innovative approaches to student access, retention, and success. Community colleges serve as crucial gateways to higher education and workforce development for diverse populations. Ensuring that these institutions effectively meet the needs of their communities requires a proactive and data-driven approach to enrollment management. This article details the establishment and initial impact of the Office of Strategic Enrollment Management (OSEM) at Seattle Colleges, a pivotal initiative launched in late spring 2024.
Tags: Leadership and Organization, Access, Diversity, Enrollment Management, Student Completion, Student Retention, Innovations
For Student Success, Mental Health Matters
Itzel Seidel and Poppy Fitch June 2025
Volume: 38 Issue: 6
Count all 415
Mental health has increasingly become a significant barrier to student success in community colleges, second only to the growing cost of tuition (Gallup & Lumina Foundation, 2024). According to The State of Education 2024 by Gallup and the Lumina Foundation (2024), 64 percent of students who considered dropping out of higher education cited stress or mental health struggles as a primary reason.
Tags: Leadership and Organization, Student Services, Access, Diversity, Strategic Planning, Innovations
Middlesex Community College: Centering Equity at Its Core
Philip J. Sisson, Arlene Rodríguez, Matthew Olson, and Noreen McGinness Olson May 2025
Volume: 38 Issue: 5
Count all 386
Middlesex Community College (MCC), with campuses in Bedford and Lowell, Massachusetts, has a longstanding mission of educational access and success for its diverse communities, but this commitment was deepened with the adoption of its 2022-2027 strategic plan: With Equity At Its Core. This plan outlines ambitious goals for addressing systemic and persistent disparities in educational outcomes by rooting work across the college in the equity agenda.
Tags: Leadership and Organization, Student Services, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Strategic Planning, Innovations
The Skills of a Leader
Judy Korb April 2025
Volume: 38 Issue: 4
Count all 343
Leadership can be exciting, rewarding, challenging, and stressful. It requires the ability to think critically, be decisive, show compassion, and build trust daily. Every leader is in a unique situation defined by their role, their team, and the resources available to them. As an executive leadership coach, I have explored leadership roles, challenges, and opportunities from a variety of perspectives. What I have discovered is this: While situations may differ significantly, the challenges and opportunities that meet today’s leaders are often surprisingly similar.
Tags: Leadership Development, Leadership Development, Innovations
Leading Through Change
Monique Umphrey March 2025
Volume: 38 Issue: 3
Count all 367
Change is inevitable in higher education, presenting both challenges and opportunities. Leading effectively through change requires courage, innovation, and compassion. Leaders in higher education must not only navigate these transformations but embrace them as opportunities for growth, innovation, and meaningful progress.
Tags: Leadership and Organization, Innovations
The Strategic Advantage of Internal Hiring in Higher Education
Michelle Kloss and Rosalie Mince February 2025
Volume: 38 Issue: 2
Count all 412
Recent headlines about recruitment and hiring in higher education lament the staffing crisis, an age of interims, and that hiring challenges are only getting worse. In an era in which opinion articles are titled “You Could Not Pay Me Enough to Be a College President” (Drezner, 2023) and “The College Presidency Is Broken” (The Chronicle of Higher Education, 2024), institutions may struggle when faced with turnover in executive and senior-level administrative positions.
Tags: Leadership and Organization, Innovations

Pages