A dominant theme that emerged from The Conversation was a profound sense that we as a country, state and city are headed in the wrong direction. In many different ways people were saying that what has made this country great is a middle class and the real hope that anyone can make a better life for him or herself and their family. For example, one individual said: “We need to deal with the disparities in this city and this state and this country—the haves and the have-nots. It is just getting too great. Good people who used to have hope and were a part of a middle class are falling behind.” Many of the references were pure economics: “The gap is growing every year. Yes, there is wealth but there is also a growing sense of hopelessness and what is becoming a permanent underclass in this city—unemployed, underemployed, and uninsured” and “An hour-glass economy is not sustainable over time.” Other references were more along the lines of social inequality: “If we don’t educate our children over the next several decades then you won’t recognize Houston in the future—it will be more like a third world country.” But the clear message being sent by the participants was that they didn’t relish the idea of a future of “gated communities” in their city.

Further, this theme was not only prevalent in the many set of dialogues, there was real passion—depth as well as breadth—around this issue. It was almost as if to say, “This is not the reality we grew up in and this is not the vision we have for our children’s future.” One person said it this way: “We are better than this.”

There were many comments around the perception, if not the reality, that four-year institutions were capping enrollments, being more selective and not willing or able to respond: “We have a kid in our neighborhood who was #21 in his class. He wants to be an engineer. He applied to 15 different schools in Texas. The most he received in grant money—he is from a single parent household—was $5,000. That may buy you books and meals at a four-year university. Well, he is going to HCC.” Most of the discussion centered on the increasing cost and debt burden of a four-year degree: “I think we are going to be seeing more and more four-year educations that start with two years at a community college. I am seeing it with friends of mine. It is both economics and not knowing what they want . . . Go to a community college and figure it out before I shell out the big bucks.” There was also a sense that many universities were losing touch: They are focusing more and more on research and graduate programs and pursuing what they believe is a more prestigious future.

At the other end of the spectrum are the crushing challenge of dropouts and lack of preparation—not college ready, not career ready. Questions and concerns dominated the dialogue about how many of HCC’s students were in developmental education. Moreover, there was a lot of discussion around failing schools. As one individual said, “If you don’t fix public education, nothing else will matter. That is the fundamental problem. And it isn’t going away.” There was also a sense that high schools were actually receding, “With a 50% drop-out rate, how can you even stay in business? If my business discarded half of the raw materials I used, I’d be out of business. Where does this end up?”

A dominant corollary to this theme was that, not only was this divide or chasm growing, but that Houston Community College needed to fill the void, “HCC has the potential to be ‘on the ground.’ You have access to the community. You are a natural facilitator. You are a hub.” Another person put it more starkly, “If you don’t do it, who will? You guys have a huge space to occupy.”

Our guests were also clear that HCC could not do this work alone. The first bridge to be built involved the College digging deeper into the K-12 system. Compared to four-year colleges and universities, community colleges have less of an issue of hiding behind “ivy-covered walls.” They tend to be more responsive and more connected to their communities. But they—and HCC—need to do much more. The suppliers are the high schools, and we need to be more actively engaged. There need to be more dual credit, more early college high schools, more recruitment, and more real partnerships or, as one individual labeled them “upstream alliances.” This sentiment was expressed in many different ways. For example, “HCC shouldn’t be building any additional stand-alone campuses. They should all be attached to high schools.” Also, there was also a sentiment that there needs to be less of the “blame game” and falling back on the rhetoric that things would be great if only K-12 would do its job: “Yes, K-12 has its problems but you guys do, too. Stop blaming each other and roll-up your sleeves.”

The second bridge would be the “downstream alliances.” The question was asked, “Where do your students go?” The discussions that followed centered on building strong partnerships with four-year institutions and making “seamless” transitions. The sense was that often the two sectors of higher education acted more like competitors than collaborators. The other lane on the bridge needed to go to industry. Here, there was one voice: “There isn’t a jobs’ gap, there is a skills gap.” Also, there was a palpable sense of frustration that HCC was not listening: “I often wondered why HCC hasn’t strived to make a direct connection to the oil and gas industry.” This theme was stated over and over again: “The community college has to anticipate what the needed skills will be. And because they will change, those listening posts are increasingly important.” Another person said, “Too often you have programs and courses that are based upon job descriptions that have been in place for 20 years.” And finally, a singular observation: “Business can help the College understand where the future will be rather than where the present is.”

According to many participants, the expectations for community colleges have been far too low. For many, many years the passive focus has been “access.” Indeed, whenever other issues were brought forth—graduation rates, for example—the default has been, “But we are open admissions institutions,” “Our students need remediation,” and so on. Yes, there are many challenges associated with not being able to restrict admissions to only students who are well- prepared and academically motivated to succeed. But as one person stated, “You take their money. You have an obligation to help them succeed.” One attendee put it in stark terms, “What concerns me is the large numbers who come to HCC and drop out. We can’t afford that anymore. We need them to succeed.” The emergent theme here was that community colleges needed to get beyond their equalitarian veneer. Yes, it is great that you are open access institutions; and, yes, it is great that your tuition is low compared to four-year institutions. But you don’t get a free pass. “Opening the doors and turning the lights on isn’t enough anymore,” is how one person stated it.

Again, in addition to this theme being discussed at numerous tables, there was also a real passion around this topic. The term “turnstile” was used by one frustrated respondent to reflect what she saw was going on. Another person said it in a more skeptical way, “You have 75,000 students at a two-year institution. Right? So, that must mean you have 20 or 30,000 at graduation every year.”

Another theme emerged involved a real attitude adjustment. This was stated in many different ways. For example, “If I were to go around this room and take ‘community’ out of everything you have on these walls, people would think you were talking about a university on the move” and “You guys are more than a community college in the traditional sense that I know it. Why aren’t you telling that story?” Another person said, “One of my pet peeves is that state legislators wear their A&M or UT rings. Where are their community college rings? They don’t stand up for community colleges even though every legislator has a community college in his or her district.”

And the solution? Many people thought it was just a matter of advocacy: “The Associate Degree needs a PR person.” Another person put it more starkly, “Nobody is going to get anything today by behaving nicely—get mad, get results, make a racket.” Specific suggestions included, “The legislative equation has been: We have x amount of money to spend on higher education and so the battle is one between four-years and two-years. You need to blur the lines and grow the pie” and “Go to industry. There is a lot of money sitting on the sideline. They have a human capital problem. Offer them a solution.” Also, there was an argument made about strength in numbers: “If the CC’s would work together you’d have enormous power. The universities don’t hesitate to throw their weight around.”

The bottom line seemed to be described by one person who said, “HCC is going to have to assume more risk. It is going to have to stretch itself. It is going to have to lead” and “HCC needs to ‘claim a leadership role’ in this city. Don’t wait. Be aggressive.”

Many attendees acknowledged the lack of resources being devoted to community colleges, especially at a time when the expectations associated with these institutions seem to be growing day by day. The prevailing mantra from some has been “do more with less.” But while this standard rhetoric was conceded as part of the broad drumbeat of “efficiency” and “productivity,” an interesting counterpoint emerged. At what point do we—Houston Community College—simply accept this unsustainable equation as our fate versus pursuing a more positive future? One person stated: “Seriously, how much longer can we expect you to do more—you’ve almost doubled in size—while cutting your budget?” So, what is that more affirmative future? The alternative was described as such: “The paradigm shift should be: Getting better and better results without necessarily spending more and more money.” This is a very different mindset. Rather than buying into a defensive, negative, uninspiring future, a more aspirational approach is to: (1) combine a vision to commit to pursing aggressively continuous quality improvement with (2) an argument that states clearly what investment resources are minimally needed to generate those results.

Two comments reflect these realities. First, “I know you guys are looking for every possible way to improve. You have to. You can’t sit still.” The other reality is, “You are a far better investment than jails. It is dollars and cents, yes. But it is also the return. How does society benefit?”

While many of the challenges and opportunities that emerged from The Conversation were informed opinions, the topic of shifting demographics was stated as fact. The nationwide trend of retiring baby boomers creates an obvious challenge: Who will fill their jobs as they leave the workforce? In Texas, and Houston in particular, this challenge is balanced by an opportunity with a growing minority population: “Houston is considered a land of opportunity. It is a melting pot. And we need to work hard to keep it that way.”

But many of the participants were well-armed with other facts: “I don’t think we know how to solve the Latino education gap. The latest stats from the CB [Coordinating Board] show the average attainment rate of 9.5 years. Clearly, what we have done in the past is not working for this population.” Another individual said, “If the Hispanic population continues to grow—as indications are it will—and they continue to have the highest dropout rate, that is a collision course that we need to address now.”

There were deep feelings, and frustrations, expressed as well: “We have some specific issues in our Hispanic community. It is a shame but education is just not seen as a priority. Our strength, which is family, is our weakness because they reinforce the dominant work ethic.” And, again, the expectation was that community colleges had an important role to play. For instance, one individual noted, “Hispanics are less inclined to send their sons and daughter off to someplace for four years. They want to keep the family close. So, HCC’s strong partnership with a four-year university is an ideal way to both keep the cost of an education low and respond to a cultural reality.”

Most planning efforts in the last decade have spoken to the impact of increasing globalization. But, also, much of that dialogue has been reactive—that is, what will be the effect of globalization on us? The interesting dynamic that emerged from The Conversation was that Houston is very much a protagonist in this international story line. “We have a natural advantage,” is how one person said it, “With the energy industry here there is a great multi-cultural vibe to this place.” Again, the interesting part about this theme is that globalization was not discussed in terms of something that we had to figure out or be ready to respond to. It was much more, we are in it, we are part of it, and how can we take advantage of it.

Specific references were made to Houston Community College and its large number of international students: For example, “I knew you guys were in Qatar and Vietnam but I just didn’t realize you had 7,000 foreign students. That’s terrific. You’re bringing the world here.” Other references were made to the expansion of the Panama Canal and whether HCC was in position to take advantage of that new opportunity.

Overall, these references reflect a theme that kept coming back to Houston as an international city. “It’s interesting,” noted a participant, “I travel a lot and when I mention I am from Houston, people in other countries don’t even know, or care, it is in Texas. It is like they know New York, London and Paris. And now . . . Houston.”

While many people acknowledged the tremendous strides HCC has taken in the last four years, there was also a lot of story-telling around a perceived burgeoning bureaucracy. Much of it was quite personal. There were stories about friends, neighbors, and sons and daughters. One person started out a series of remarks by saying she was “a big fan of HCC” but then went on to list a series of incidences that were, as she remarked, “discouraging.” They involved unreturned phone calls, lack of parking and an admissions process that seemed designed to discourage people from attending. Another person, reflecting on a friend’s experience, said: “The mechanics of getting through the system are a challenge to anyone, let alone a first generation kid who has no one to ask for help.”

To many the mere size of Houston Community College represented both an opportunity and a challenge. While there were many positive comments about the breadth of HCC’s reach throughout Houston and the number of programs, the scope was also a source of perceived intimidation. “Somehow you have got to figure out how to make these kids—many of whom need a little extra help—feel like they are more than just a number.” Or, “75,000 students? How are you going to give students anything like a college-going experience?”

Some of our attendees came armed with their own statistics; others quoted back to us some of the numbers from the gallery walk regarding high school dropout rates. Often, this translated into statements that reflected the need to do something now: “If we don’t change things radically, we will be a poorer city with an incredible disparity of wealth” or “Unless Houston figures a way to deal with the educational issue now, we are facing a pretty bleak future—Detroit.” Perhaps the most profound words offered were, “If you don’t prepare kids to get through middle school and high school and into higher education, then you are not going to have a viable workforce. And if you don’t have that, you don’t have a viable economy. And if you don’t have that, you are sliding towards a third-world country right here in the middle of Texas.” Indeed, this sense of urgency permeated the language. There were few statements that included terms like “you might want to consider,” or “you should think about” a particular course of action. “Want” was usually replaced by “need” and “today” was much more prevalent than “tomorrow.” As an example, one person said, “We need to stop with the minor changes. We need massive change and we need to start now.”

But there was also a sense of self-determination. We aren’t like other cities that are reacting to overwhelming outside forces. As someone said, “We have options in this city. We can imprison a lot of people or we can educate a lot of people. But the choice is ours.” In fact, many people were resolute to the point of simply saying, “We can do this.”