Innovations Library

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Justin Hoehn June 2020
Volume: 33 Issue: 6
Count all 285
At this point in any normal year, the campuses of Kirkwood Community College, like those of colleges across the U.S. and beyond, would be enjoying the relative quiet of another summer term. There would be some campus and classroom activity, of course, but compared to the hustle and bustle of fall and spring, the hallways would have a serene and peaceful quality to them. In many ways, it would seem as if the college itself was resting as it prepared for the grind of another fall semester. But this is 2020—and it is not a normal year.
Michael H. Gavin May 2020
Volume: 33 Issue: 5
Count all 325
In spring 2016, Anne Arundel Community College (AACC) began what would be a transformational process catalyzed by its participation in the Association of American Colleges and Universities’ (AAC&U) project, Committing to Equity and Inclusive Excellence: Campus-Based Strategies for Student Success. Using the framework of examining student success outcomes from an equity perspective, AACC developed a strategic plan—Engagement Matters: Pathways to Completion—with a central goal to “eradicate achievement gaps.”
Ian Crookshank April 2020
Volume: Issue: 4
Count all 524
Over the past twenty years, I have had the good fortune of working with and leading strong teams. One of the benefits of starting a career in student affairs and services is that very early in my career, I was tasked with building and developing teams and managing complex issues, all with the intention of best serving students in postsecondary education. This means that I was able to hone my leadership skills at a foundational point in my career journey.
Elisa Waldman March 2020
Volume: 33 Issue: 3
Count all 325
What is the role of the community college in development of technology to benefit the warfighter and the federal government? Many may assume this is not an initiative that the community college typically supports, but Johnson County Community College (JCCC) in Overland Park, Kansas, begs to differ. Presented with the opportunity to lead a collaborative effort involving multiple federal agencies, the Kansas Small Business Development Center (SBDC), 100+ business owners, private equity partners, and college staff, JCCC has hosted Encountering Innovation Week for the past two years.
Amy Bosley, Carla McKnight, and Katie Tagye February 2020
Volume: 33 Issue: 2
Count all 209
As Valencia College neared the 50th anniversary of its founding in 2017, the pace of work and change was increasing at an exponential rate in higher education, the community college sector, our local community, and within the college itself. In reflecting on, and struggling through, some of the critical challenges to our work, it became clear that we would need new ways of thinking and solving problems to advance the college’s ability to achieve its mission.
Ann Beheler and Mark Dempsey January 2020
Volume: 33 Issue: 1
Count all 390
A good illustration of the value of communities of practice (CoPs) involves a group of passionate Xerox repairmen in the 1990s who spent their lunches discussing lessons learned from their time in the field working on machines and dealing with customers (Hoadley 2011). What might appear to be the sharing of amusing war stories was, in fact, a method for joint problem solving. The repairmen realized that, collectively, they could teach each other far more about Xerox repair and customer service than a printed manual ever could.
Victor Kuo and Daihong Chen December 2019
Volume: 32 Issue: 12
Count all 338
Thanks to the rise of technology-enabled data collection and analysis, higher education institutions are starting to develop strategic plans with realistic, yet aspirational, goals; clear performance standards; and more interactive means to communicate with and engage stakeholders throughout the strategic planning process. Seattle Colleges, a system of three institutions, recently developed a strategic plan based on solid data and evidence and now utilizes advanced tools to better communicate with and engage stakeholders.
John J. Delate November 2019
Volume: 32 Issue: 11
Count all 377
Monroe Community College (MCC) has traditionally focused on student engagement, retention, and graduation rates. Multiple academic support services are provided to students to assist with classroom learning. Despite these comprehensive efforts, persistence and course success rates have not increased significantly. With 91 percent of MCC students residing in Monroe County, which includes Rochester, a metropolitan area with the 5th highest poverty rate in the U.S., the college began to examine student needs beyond the classroom.
Rebecca Corbin and Ron Thomas October 2019
Volume: 32 Issue: 10
Count all 242
Reduced budgets, higher accountability standards, and the waning number of professionals prepared for community college leadership created a crisis in the first decade of the 2000s. A new leadership model was needed for community colleges to meet these challenges. In response, NACCE unveiled the Presidents for Entrepreneurship Pledge (PFEP) in 2011.
Lisa Williams September 2019
Volume: 32 Issue: 9
Count all 408
As both a community college graduate and a community college leader for the past twenty-five years, I appreciate the value and critical role my community college experience has played in shaping me into the person I am today. While earning my associate degree in a technical program at a community college, I understood the importance of the humanities and how my coursework in that subject area helped prepare me for my future leadership roles.
Andrea C. Wade August 2019
Volume: 32 Issue: 8
Count all 456
Over the past several years, guided pathways reform has been embraced by community colleges nationwide, and elements of the model have begun to spread to four-year institutions. In the absence of structured pathways, students may struggle with a “cafeteria model” that leads to their having too many options and too little information about alternatives. A lack of clear road maps can result in students deferring important milestones, such as declaring a major, which further derails educational attainment.
Aimee Belanger-Haas July 2019
Volume: 32 Issue: 7
Count all 275
Nearly a decade after completion surpassed access as the primary goal of community colleges, completion statistics for community colleges are still not encouraging. Three years after enrolling, only 32 percent of first-time, full-time community college students have graduated with an associate degree or certificate (National Center for Education Statistics, 2019). At the same time, state budgets have become more restricted, and state lawmakers are carefully considering how to allocate their limited funds to higher education (Miao, 2012).
Stephen Lancaster June 2019
Volume: 32 Issue: 6
Count all 377
At Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC), Student Affairs professionals have always played an integral role in the development of students, providing an authentic learning experience outside of the classroom leading to student success. They are recognized for helping students to learn in real-life settings and to reflect on the meaning of what has been learned in the context of their own lives.
Cynthia Wilson May 2019
Volume: 32 Issue: 5
Count all 353
First lines of articles are supposed to be inducements to keep reading, but at the risk of losing you right away, here’s an up-front admission: You’ve probably heard or read all this before. It’s an old trick for grabbing the reader’s attention, but it’s also true. In presentations to and conversations with community college leaders, “I’ve heard all this before” has been a frequent response to findings from the League’s Faculty Voices Project.
Eugene Giovannini April 2019
Volume: 32 Issue: 4
Count all 274
Entrepreneurial ecosystems that innovate and thrive can only excel when we as community college leaders leverage assets in new and creative ways and structure strong support systems to help such ideas flourish. Wearing the entrepreneurial hat enables you to be imaginative, original, innovative, and even a little outlandish – all in the noble pursuit of finding better and more efficient ways to craft new solutions. And, these are not just solutions you need today, but a year, three years, or a decade in the future.  

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