Juggling Roles: Where do community colleges fit?

February 17-18, 2006, San Antonio, Texas

They teach almost half of all students enrolled in higher education but receive scant press coverage. Yet some analysts believe community colleges have never been more important to the health of the American economy.
Facing surging enrollments, often limited budgets and demands to
develop a more highly skilled workforce, can community colleges adapt while still providing postsecondary access to low-income and nontraditional students? Will community college graduates be able to shrink the gap between the demand and supply for highly skilled labor?

Among the community college issues reporters must cover: two-year schools offering four-year degrees, the forming of partnerships with industries in need of highly trained workers, widespread need for remediation, rising tuition costs and the difficulty in assessing student achievement.

To see the brochure, go here.

To see bios of the speakers, go here.

To view slideshows of topics covered at the seminar click on the titles below:
Engaging Students, Challenging the Odds
Kay McClenney, Community College Survey of Student Engagement, University of Texas at Austin

The University Center: An Innovative Partnership between Two and Four-Year Institutions
Jim Jacobs, Macomb Community College and Community College Research Center, Columbia University

Helping Low-Income Students Persist and Succeed in Community College
John Hutchins, MDRC

Assessing Student Outcomes in Community Colleges
Thomas Bailey, Community College Research Center, Columbia University

A National Study of Community College Finance, 1980-2001
Billy Roessler, Tarant County (Texas) College District

Working Adults at Community Colleges
Jerry Rubin, Jobs for the Future