It's not terribly hard to figure out why there has been so much national media attention on community colleges lately. First, there's the current recession, with policy makers and pundits declaring, at long last, that two-year schools are crucial to the economic health of the nation. In response to the downturn, President Obama has announced a major initiative to bring more resources to community colleges (the subject of the previous post). Toss in the bonus of Dr. Jill Biden, spouse of the Vice President, as an adjunct faculty member at a two-year school.

Virtually all the media coverage has been beneficial, in terms of bringing attention to the importance of our colleges, and in pointing out the current dilemma of enrollment surges coupled with declining appropriations in many states. Reportedly, the impact of the recession has been less severe in Texas. Housing prices in the Lone Star State were never as inflated as in other areas (and hence contained less propensity to fall drastically). Also, the devastation rampant in the manufacturing sector has affected populations in the industrial heartland more than down here. Of course, that's an oversimplification, and we may be headed for unforeseen shocks more specific to the Texas situation.

Below are some links to media reports underscoring the recent national publicity, followed by a brief note of caution on all the good vibrations emanating from the cultural capitals of America.

A Time Magazine article: "Can Community Colleges Save the Economy?" Austin Community College is profiled in the piece.

An article in Slate, on President Obama's efforts as "Community College Organizer." 

A column by the Washington Post's E.J. Dionne, praising the efforts to increase funding for two-year colleges. The article is called "America's Silent Education Crisis."

A powerful piece along similar lines by David Brooks of the New York Times. (Mr. Brooks and Mr. Dionne are regular commentators on the PBS "News Hour" program.)

So far so good. However, we might want to keep on eye on a forthcoming comedy series from NBC, "Community." It takes place at a fictional community college, and stars Chevy Chase. Here's an excerpt from the promotional material for the series, which premieres September 17: 

It's been said that community college is a "halfway school" for losers, a self esteem workshop for newly divorced housewives, and a place where old people go to keep their minds active as they circle the drain of eternity. Well, at Greendale Community College...that's all true. Community focuses on a band of misfits, at the center of which is a fast-talkin' lawyer whose degree has been revoked (Joel McHale, The Soup). They form a study group and, in "Breakfast Club" fashion, end up learning a lot more about themselves than they do about their course work.

From Emmy Award-winning directors Joe and Anthony Russo (Arrested Development) comes a smart comedy about higher education...and lower expectations.

It is not uncommon for presidents and presidential candidates to praise the work of the nation's community colleges. There are also existing federal programs designed to promote their mission, under the Workforce Investment Act, the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act, and the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act—all of which provide funding to help states develop the job skills of youth, adults, and dislocated workers. Then there is student financial aid, of course. But it has been a long time since a major new initiative has been proposed. 

“All too often, community colleges are treated like the stepchild of the higher-education system,” Mr. Obama said. “They’re an afterthought, if they’re thought of at all.”

So when he hears Mr. Obama set down the goal he did on Tuesday—five million more Americans earning college degrees and certificates over the next decade—his questions run from financial to purely logistical.

If the proposed $12-billion were divided among the country’s 1,000-plus community colleges, can that realistically produce the five-million number? And if you bring in more students, where will you put them?

Mr. Obama addressed the topic directly in his speech, calling for an online, open-source clearinghouse of courses so that “community colleges across the country can offer more classes without building more classrooms.”

The bulk of the money Mr. Obama proposed is for a pair of new grant programs for states and two-year institutions to test promising programs and practices, including those meant to improve student learning and training, increase completion rates, and better track student progress.

Students are learning quickly that you don't have to purchase textbooks, but can rent them instead. As reported here earlier, a number of companies have started to specialize in rentals, with students ordering books online to be distributed through the mail, for a full term, at a fraction of the cost of purchasing texts. The new approach is not suited for everyone, and the savings depends upon the availability and the original cost of each book. Not surprisingly, there are restrictions on marking up the texts.

E-commerce was all the rage with investors during the Internet boom of the late 1990s. Of course, many start-ups failed. In recent years, most of the successful ideas in e-commerce have been refinements or variations of models that had been tried before.

In the case of Chegg and some budding competitors, the inspiration was Netflix.

“We benefit from the comfort zone that people have with renting things online from Netflix,” said Colin Barceloux, the co-founder of BookRenter.com, a Chegg rival that is also based in Silicon Valley.

Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, is an adjunct professor of English at Northern Virginia Community College, and has been an educator for 28 years.

Gather a group of experienced college instructors around the campfire and it's probably inevitable that the conversation will turn to today's students, particularly their presumed lack of preparation and/or motivation.

“I build houses. The studs are never quite straight; the nails are imperfect and the plans mistaken. Contractors screw up schedules, suppliers deliver late, clients change their plans. I could complain about these blunders every day but I’d never build anything.”

State and local governments are in serious financial trouble, and not just in California. The current recession is also having a disastrous effect upon the nation's community colleges, according to a recent article in the Washington Post (registration).

At Prince George's Community College, where enrollment has increased by at least 4 percent each of the past two years to more than 37,000 students, officials are holding staff vacancies open longer than usual, freezing some positions and delaying hires -- all of which is aimed at saving about $500,000, said school spokesman Deidra Hill.

At the 57,000-student Anne Arundel Community College, officials are trying to deal with enrollment increases while working with a 2009-10 budget that has the same funding as two years ago, said Linda Schulte, director of public relations and marketing. Still, she said, circumstances would have been worse if the state had not directed $1 million in federal stimulus money to the school. About 15 staff positions have been frozen, she said.

The largest community college in the country, Miami Dade College, announced that it is effectively capping enrollment at the current 167,000 students for the first time because of deep budget cuts by the Florida legislature. Because no class sections can be added, officials there say they expect more than 5,000 students to be unable to enroll in any classes this fall and at least 30,000 more to miss out on classes necessary for graduation.

Education Sector measured states in 21 categories of accountability, analyzing any systems that might be in place to assess areas like affordability, degree production, research and scholarship. States that promote or require the use of assessment tools, and take steps to publicize the information, were given the highest marks. Those that had few tools for assessment and did little to spread information were graded lower.

Education Sector graded 50 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia on a three-grade scale. The highest grade, “best practice,” was given to 10 states with well developed reporting mechanisms. The second ranking, “in progress,” was given to 27 states that have less complete efforts underway. The lowest category, “needs improvement,” went to 13 states, D.C. and Puerto Rico, where little is being done in the way of accountability, according to Education Sector.

We are a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization committed to achieving measurable impact in education policy, both by improving existing reform initiatives and by developing new, innovative solutions to our nation's most pressing education problems. The ultimate beneficiaries of our work are students. Our mission is to promote changes in policy and practice that lead to improved student opportunities and outcomes.

Gov. Perry has kept the agenda for the Special Session extremely limited, with plans for a fix of some unresolved issues regarding agency authorization, toll roads, and highway bonds. But that hasn't stopped Sen. Judith Zaffirini (D-Laredo) from trying again to abolish proportionality. On the last evening of the Regular Session, on June 1, she had a measure prepared for a vote that had already passed the House, but failed to get recognized before adjournment. She certainly made a valiant effort to help all community college educators, along with Rep. Burt Solomons (R-Carrollton), who sponsored the House version.

(AUSTIN) – Senator Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, Friday (June 26) pre-filed Senate Bills (SB) 7, 8 and 9, which would provide health benefits for graduate students who receive prestigious fellowships and resolve the issue of “proportionality” for community colleges by defining the eligibility of personnel for state-funded health benefits.

On June 19 the Senator wrote to Gov. Rick Perry, asking him to include or to add the issue of proportionality to the call for the special session that begins Wednesday (June 30). Her three bills are identical to SB 41, SB 42 and House Bill (HB) 2083, which she authored with Rep. Burt Solomons, R-Carrollton, during the regular legislative session.

SB 41 died in the Senate Finance Committee without a hearing, and HB 2083 died there without a vote. SB 42, however, was passed by the Senate and amended in the House to include proportionality. In spite of overwhelming support, it died when the legislature adjourned without concluding its business.

“These three bills focus on the needs of higher education faculty, administrators, and graduate students,” Senator Zaffirini said. “They would not only allow universities to recruit the most able graduate students, but also resolve the issue about which community college employees are eligible for state health benefits."

"Proportionality," or the practice of paying health benefits only for employees whose salaries are funded by the state, became a major issue in 2007 after the governor vetoed $154 million in group health insurance benefits for community colleges.

Differences were resolved in May by the governor, community college personnel, and legislators. Their compromise was reflected in HB 2083 and in the amended SB 42, but senators never had the opportunity to concur with amendments.

Senate Bill 7 would define any instructional and administrative employee as eligible for state-funded health benefits and would allow universities to pay the health benefits of graduate students who receive a fellowship of at least $10,000. It is identical to Senator Zaffirini’s SB 42, after it was amended during the regular session.

Senator Zaffirini also filed SB 8, which addresses only the issue of proportionality and is identical to House Bill 2083 (Solomons/Zaffirini) from the regular session. Her SB 9 addresses only the issue of graduate student health insurance and is identical to her SB 42 before it was amended.

"During the 2009 regular legislative session, Rep. Solomons and I worked tirelessly with community college representatives and the governor's staff to forge a compromise to resolve proportionality," Senator Zaffirini said. “Although we prevailed in removing the negative impact of proportionality from the appropriations bill, we failed to secure a permanent solution by not passing the bill. Unless we do so during the special session, the controversy undoubtedly will be visited anew in 2011.”

A Minnesota community college faculty member tried an experiment recently, attempting to find out if students reacted differently based on what she wore to class. 

The data showed that Ms. Konheim-Kalkstein's clothing made a small difference in perceptions of her on the first day of class, with those students in the "formal" classes finding her more qualified and approachable than did those in the informal classes. But four weeks into the semester, wearing less-formal clothes had about the same effect on student perceptions as wearing formal clothes.

Ms. Konheim-Kalkstein says she still prefers teaching in formal clothing, but now she feels more comfortable wearing casual clothes in lectures as well. She says she'd like to do further research that takes into account gender differences, as well as the environmental context of the college or university.

"I work at a college where professors wear a variety of things," she says, "Some wear suits and ties and others wear shorts, so regardless of which class I was dressing for, I didn't really stand out."

That would not be true at every institution, Ms. Konheim-Kalkstein observes. "My husband is going to start teaching at West Point," she says. "If he showed up in sneakers, I think he would have a much stronger reaction there from his students."