Guest Column: Consider Your College Options

September 3, 2010 at 10:56 pm · Filed under Higher Education

The first of what will be a monthly column for the SUN newspapers in our college service area on national and local  higher education topics.  View the full column here: Sun Guest Column 081210

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College, Inc.

May 7, 2010 at 9:57 am · Filed under Higher Education

Watch the Frontline program “College, Inc.” on for-profit colleges.  The recent Chronicle article is also eye-opening and occasionally jaw-dropping.  Whatever your opinion on for-profits,  public higher education needs to better understand what’s going on, learn from it, and respond appropriately.  Summary of the Frontline program from PBS site:  Even in lean times, the $400 billion business of higher education is booming. Nowhere is this more true than in one of the fastest-growing — and most controversial — sectors of the industry: for-profit colleges and universities that cater to non-traditional students, often confer degrees over the Internet, and, along the way, successfully capture billions of federal financial aid dollars.  In College, Inc., correspondent Martin Smith investigates the promise and explosive growth of the for-profit higher education industry. Through interviews with school executives, government officials, admissions counselors, former students and industry observers, this film explores the tension between the industry –which says it’s helping an underserved student population obtain a quality education and marketable job skills — and critics who charge the for-profits with churning out worthless degrees that leave students with a mountain of debt.

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Higher Education, Community Colleges, and the Future

May 4, 2010 at 8:35 pm · Filed under Higher Education

Published in New World Trends on May 6, 2010.

CREDO

I believe that community colleges make a powerful difference in the lives of our students. Staff and faculty work together, collectively creating a teaching and learning environment that engages students and changes lives—in the classroom, outside the classroom, at our service counters, and in the conversations that take place in our hallways and parking lots.

I believe that community colleges reach out farther and deeper than any other educational enterprise in our nation to provide access and opportunity to college students. Some come to us because of our reputation for quality, convenience, and affordability. Others come to us because we invest more than most in meeting the needs of under-served or under-prepared students. Regardless of their reason for walking through our open doors, we welcome them all, and we encourage and expect them to work hard, plan for success, and take responsibility for their future.

I believe that community colleges uniquely strengthen the fabric of our communities. We depend on our local community, and we connect with them in meaningful ways through internships, student life activities, service learning, and so much more. In turn, our communities, businesses, and organizations depend on us to send them talented and well prepared students. Community colleges serve as a valued resource for career information and opportunities, and we are a hub of scholarly and arts activities. As colleges, we unapologetically promote skills for employment and the life of the mind.

I believe that building and strengthening relationships and partnerships will be more critical in the future than ever before. Within our colleges, we must foster strong relationships built on mutual respect and trust and sustained by genuine collaboration and consultation. In our broader communities, we must improve connections with community organizations, foundations, alumni, businesses, and others. In particular, we need to become closer partners with our K-12 colleagues to improve college readiness and success. Our missions are mutually supportive, and our futures will be increasingly interconnected.

I believe that experiencing diversity must be a fundamental part of college life for employees and students alike. Making a campus ever more welcoming in this way will not happen by itself or through rhetoric or good intentions. College leadership must bring passion, enthusiasm, and deliberate effort to expanding intercultural sensitivity and global awareness. We must prepare our students to succeed in a global society and continuously kindle our natural curiosity about people and cultures that are new to us.

I believe that innovation is required to deal effectively with challenges and opportunities in the years ahead. Strong community colleges are those that are not satisfied with stability but are investing in the future. Thriving community colleges don’t just listen to new approaches to old problems but encourage and expect innovation. When a spirit of openness prevails, new ideas and solutions can emerge throughout the college, and national best practices can be piloted on campuses as part of a continuous improvement approach such as AQIP. Technology innovation offers promising opportunities for creating more interactive and flexible learning resources and online services for students, but faculty and staff involved must be given the support needed to be successful.

I believe that community colleges in Minnesota and across the country face some significant challenges in the years ahead:

Like so many other states, Minnesota has stepped away from its historical investment in higher education. Facing financial hardship of its own, the legislature has reduced its contribution to higher education over the last decade, and students have had to bear an increased burden in higher tuition and more student debt than ever before. It is even possible that our unique mission of access and opportunity may not be sustainable if these trends are allowed to continue. And even with all of these budget uncertainties, what is certain is that higher education will be asked to demonstrate its stewardship in new and more visible ways.

Further cuts to higher education are inevitable given the economic forecast for the next three years. Funding is down at the same time as colleges are experiencing their largest enrollments, creating a painful perfect storm. Our communities are hurting, and students who have lost jobs and need retraining rely on us now more than ever. We can’t control the cuts imposed on us, but this crisis can encourage us to be more active in retaining and graduating the students we currently lose. Improving retention and graduation rates will not only improve student success, but also help to offset some of our budget losses. We can and must find creative ways to make our limited resources last, and we must seek out external resources and actively support our community college foundations.

We must acknowledge that accountability is not merely an idea discussed by administrators and accrediting agencies. Accountability is a fact of life. Community colleges must visibly measure and demonstrate the difference we have always known we make. As evident from the national Measuring Up report or the Minnesota Measures report, higher education is under scrutiny, and legislators and others are insisting on evidence of results, not just activity. When reports like these show that less than half our students graduate or transfer, policymakers and others are not satisfied—and some will seek to link higher education funding to completion measures. We must replicate best practices that will help students achieve their academic goals without lowering our academic standards or limiting access. At the same time, we need to tell our story more effectively to shed light on the incomplete picture painted by some accountability measures.

Even with the clouds on the horizon, I believe the future of community colleges is bright. The president of the United States has spoken passionately about the value of community colleges, and he has followed up words with action, creating the American Graduation Initiative that will invest billions in our work. The Gates Foundation, the largest private philanthropic organization in the world, is similarly investing in community college innovation. Never before has the mission of community colleges been so widely understood, broadly appreciated, and seen as a critical catalyst for change.

I believe that those of us who are part of the on-going community college movement and who are working at the 1,500+ two-year colleges in America are lucky to be part of a vibrant community that is making such a crucial difference in the lives of our students and our communities.

I believe in community colleges.

John O’Brien
March 2010

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