Community Relations
Community college faculty, staff, and administrators face many challenges as they work to support student success, and the mental health of students ranks high on the list of concerns. In fact, suicide is the second leading cause of death among 10- to 34-year-olds (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2019) and the tenth leading cause of death across all age groups in the U.S. (National Institute of Mental Health, 2019). Colleges have a unique opportunity to support student success through targeted efforts to reduce the suicide rate.
House Bill 28 (Anielski, R-Walton Hills, OH), passed...
Leadership at Mesa Community College (MCC) and Mesa Public Schools (MPS) worked together to strategize methods to increase persistence and college attendance for high school students, with an emphasis on populations facing the most challenges. The resulting Mesa Community College High School Advisor Program creates a one-stop enrollment experience and is increasing the number of Mesa public high school students enrolling at the college.
Through the partnership, an MCC college advisor is embedded in each of the six MPS high schools to recruit students, provide seamless transition to MCC,...
Over the past few years, Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) has prioritized the implementation of an institutional youth engagement strategy. Reliably producing skilled, work-ready graduates in demand by industry is SAIT’s core contribution to the provincial economy (SAIT, 2019).
The youth engagement strategy’s overarching vision is as follows: Southern Alberta Institute of Technology is a leader in creating the future workforce by delivering life-changing experiences for youth. To achieve this mandate, the institute recognizes and embraces its unique support role in overcoming a...
Two years ago, student and Valencia Technology Club member Richard Haynes asked if club members could take Valencia College’s obsolete computers and refurbish them for students who need a computer and can’t afford to purchase one. At the time, the project did not move forward. A year later, however, representatives from the Information Technology (IT), Legal, and Finance departments; the Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP); and the Valencia Technology Club met, and, collaboratively, developed the club’s computer donation and repair programs. Now, selected LSAMP students...
Breaking Down Nonacademic Barriers: Outcomes From the First Two Years of a Community School Approach
Historically, community colleges have lower completion and retention rates than their four-year counterparts. Hongwei (2015) suggested that this is in part due to the fact that leading retention models were designed for four-year institutions, not community colleges. Community college students often face unique nonacademic barriers which impact their retention and persistence rates (Goldrick-Rab, Broton, & Eisenberg, 2013; Goldrick-Rab, Broton, & Gates, 2015; Hongwei, 2015; Troester-Trate, 2017). Such barriers include, but are not limited to, a lack of resources such as food,...
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Only 25.9 percent of individuals residing in Aims Community College’s taxing district in Northern Colorado have earned a college degree or credential. In order to assist parents, families, and prospective students who are interested in college, but have no experience with the application process, Aims Community College hosts College 101 for anyone who would like to learn more about going to college. The free one-hour session is held at various locations, including the college campuses, local libraries, and community outreach centers. Dinner is provided.
At College 101, attendees learn about...
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Before Tallahassee Community College (TCC) founded the Institute for Nonprofit Innovation and Excellence, there was no safety net for nonprofits in Florida’s Big Bend region, limited access to specialized training and resources, and no way for nonprofits to speak with a unified voice to local decision makers.
Leon County, where TCC is based, is home to more than 2,000 nonprofit organizations. These nonprofits are a critical part of the Big Bend’s economy, generating more than $3.1 billion in annual revenue and employing 1 in 10 workers. However, many nonprofits—particularly small ones—face...
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Students and community members were invited to the Aims Community College Fort Lupton campus to celebrate National Agriculture Day and participate in the Future Farmers of America (FFA) career development event in March 2018.
Guests who attended the National Ag Day event saw baby chicks hatch; rode on the Precision Agriculture Mobile Educational Technology Unit (a John Deere gator equipped with auto-steer and GPS technologies); learned about dairy farming from June the Cow, an animatronic full-sized fiberglass Holstein that was provided by the Western Dairy Association; and interacted with...
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a virtual reality (VR) tour must be worth a million. Portage College has seven campus locations throughout northeastern Alberta, a vast rural region in which it is difficult to provide potential students an on-location experience. Since one of the primary ways an individual chooses a college is by visiting it, we decided if students can’t get to us due to distance and travel time, why not bring it to them?
Portage College produced a 360 VR tour video to show potential students our campuses, program labs, and local areas. The Corporate...
South Louisiana Community College (SLCC), the board of directors for Local Workforce Development Board #40, and area parish presidents are partnering to improve workforce development in the region. The collaboration—a first for a community college in Louisiana—falls under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) enacted in 2014.
Through a competitive selection process, SLCC was chosen to serve as the One-Stop Operator and Career Services provider for Local Workforce Development Area #40, which includes Acadia, Evangeline, Iberia, Lafayette, St. Landry, St. Martin, St. Mary, and...
Every department at a community college has a responsibility to provide the type of customer experience that will contribute to student success. All too often, managers hear questions like, “How does my job really contribute to student success?” from employees who rarely, if ever, work directly with students. When these questions come from Information Technology (IT) personnel, what managers are sometimes hearing is a lack of understanding about how technology influences and impacts what instructors do in their classrooms, online, and after hours. In addition, many students are very...
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SUNY Erie Community College’s (ECC) Information Technology Program was recently honored as the Best Tech Team in Non-Profit/Education by InfoTech WNY as part of the organization’s annual Buffalo Emerging Technology Awards Showcase (BETAS) at Buffalo RiverWorks in May 2017.
“This award is exciting news for a program that’s been thriving for years,” said ECC President Jack Quinn. “Its faculty and staff have done a tremendous job in preparing our students for technology careers across Western New York, so this acknowledgement is deserved, and much appreciated.”
Competing in a category that...
Today’s employers know that skilled workers don’t grow on trees. Sometimes, you have to grow your own talent.
With rapid advances in technology, job titles like Smartphone Application Developer and Patient Care Technician simply didn’t exist a decade ago, so qualified candidates are few.
Employers scrambling to find workers with the right stuff often turn to Norwalk Community College (NCC) in Norwalk, Connecticut. That’s because NCC tracks industry trends and readily deploys associate degree and certificate programs to produce workers who can hit the ground running.
Employers serve on the...
Pikes Peak Community College’s (PPCC) website was in sad shape. Designed in 2010, it was not mobile first, its navigation confusing, and the feedback from students and others universally negative.
In May 2015, a four-person PPCC marketing team decided to take on a redesign in partnership with the IT department. The first question team members asked themselves as they designed the new website was: Who is our primary audience? But finding an answer to that question was tougher than they expected. PPCC, like other community colleges, has many audiences: faculty, staff, students, prospective...
Bob Klepac is breaking down the notion that architecture means four walls and a roof. For example, he told a Del Mar College class one morning last summer that one of his former students is designing a meal tray for passenger jets at Boeing. “He’s making over $120,000 a year doing that,” he said.
Klepac, a technical drafting instructor, was a lively observer that day as students in his Technical Animation and Rendering class presented their final projects. The 12-week course introduced them to three-dimensional (3D) computer modeling and the software language of computer-aided design. Their...
It’s a pitch meeting on Music Row in Nashville, the center of the city’s music industry. Young people are presenting a complete package for a new rap artist, Malik Deshaun, known professionally as Vantage. They screen a video, show features of a website, discuss the social media pages they have created for the release, and run through a business plan. Then, it’s off to the listening room to play the tracks. The bass rumbles and the drum beats are sharp. Heads nod in the room in sync with the rhythm. But these aren’t Nashville music pros presenting—they’re students from Volunteer State...
Nearly 30 percent of high school juniors and seniors in Colorado participated in concurrent enrollment, ASCENT (Accelerating Students through Concurrent ENrollmenT), or other dual-enrollment programs during the 2014-2015 academic year.
Arapahoe Community College (ACC) served more students (3,614) than any other two-year institution in the state during that time. ACC’s concurrent enrollment program is designed for high school students looking for a challenging academic experience while simultaneously earning high school and college credit.
“Concurrent enrollment is a great way for students to...
Many studies have shown over the years, and leave little room for doubt, that increases in risk factors such as negative personal health practices (e.g., unhealthy eating, lack of exercise, sleep deprivation, drinking, smoking, coping with high levels of stress) have a direct correlation on workplace environment, productivity, absenteeism, and associated health care costs to a company (Shane & Kramer, 2004). SnowFit is a Snow College employee health and wellness program that combines the benefits of step counting and education on healthy lifestyle choices, with support at the workplace,...
December
2015
Established over thirty years ago to recognize significant community college innovations, the League’s Innovation of the Year awards are designed to honor faculty, staff, and administrators at member institutions who have created and implemented innovative programs, practices, partnerships, policies, and activities that improve the college’s ability to serve students and the community.
The following descriptions of four 2015 award-winning innovations reflect the diversity of programs and projects honored last year, which range from improving student success and promoting sustainable education...
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November
2015
The League for Innovation in the Community College has two awards programs each spring that recognize and celebrate community college innovation and excellence. League Alliance member institutions are encouraged to participate in this year’s awards season to showcase outstanding faculty, staff, and administrators and the creative programs and practices they have developed.
Innovation of the Year
Submission Deadline: April 18, 2016
www.league.org/ioy
Established over 30 years ago, the League’s Innovation of the Year award was devised as a way to recognize significant innovations at Alliance...
