Reflection
400-500 words
You will explore many community college issues and trends in attachment. Discuss which of these issues and trends are most meaningful to you in your future career as a leader in community college education. Identify the trend and what you would do as an administrator to ensure that students are the central focus of the improvements that you will make as a leader.
Running Head: COMMUNITY COLLEGES PROPOSAL
Community Colleges Proposal
Xavier Williams
Unit 3 Assignment 1
It is apparent that a significant number of students attending community colleges have to deal with various challenges that impede their goal of graduating. This puts them in a unique position relative to their predecessors. As an example, technology has changes much of the aspects of community colleges besides making the job market very competitive for those graduating from such institutions (Levin & Kater, 2012). This means that students anticipating to join community colleges should be conscious of the issues, challenges and trends affecting community colleges today. These are discussed below;
Issues, Challenges and Trends Facing Community Colleges
Work-School-Life Balance
The life demands of the 21st century means that individuals have to grapple with high living costs. As such, individuals, including community colleges students have to seek for employment to earn their means of survival and cater for their living expenses. Data shows hat about two-thirds of these students work at-least on a part-time basis. This implies that they spend at least approximately 35 hours each week working (Wyner & Carnevale, 2014).
While work offers these students a means of meeting their living expenses and even paying for their tuition fees, it takes a toll on some of them. Thus, some find themselves working for so many hours that they struggle with allocating adequate time to attend to their class assignments, attend classes and study for their examinations. Hence, busy work schedules for most students prevents them from allocating quality time to gain knowledge and skills as per their chosen academic study (Kelsay & Bulger, 2014).
Low Completion Rates
Most community colleges are faced with the analogy of the revolving door; implying that a significant number of students who attend these colleges rarely finish their coursework and graduate. The main reasons why such students fail to graduate is the relatively expensive tuition fees as well as the demands and pressures of life that confines them to busy work schedules. As such, a staggering 61% of students in these community colleges do not graduate within six years of enrolling for their courses. The lower completion rates translate to a low-quality professional base of the country as well as diminished earning potential due to low employability. This also makes the job market more competitive for community colleges students as opposed to those graduating from universities (Boggs & McPhail, 2016).
Image Issues
For those graduating from community colleges, the general perception is that they are of less quality than their peers who graduate from universities and other colleges. This is because the stereotypical perception of community college studies is that they are less intensive than university education. Thus, this is a factor affecting their employability index from the eyes of prospective employers. Hence, the bias against community college students is a stumbling block for their earning potential after graduation (Cohen & Brawer, 2013).
Community colleges will continue to be a critical part of higher education, especially in the USA. Below are the trends expected to reflect in community colleges over the next decade;
Future Trends and Best-Practices for Community Colleges
Increased enrollment into Community Colleges by High School Students
More and more students who are still in high school are likely to enroll in community colleges nearly. Such early enrollment places high school students at an advantage as they are able to earn college credits and thus able to increase earn prospects for completing their college degrees in the future. Thus, early enrollment empowers high-school students to be prepared for collegiate education (Levin & Kater, 2012).
Increase in Online Programs
Going to the future online programs shall continue to offer convenience for college students. Online programs are increasingly the preferred mode of study for students in higher education. It empowers them to undertake distance learning while still tending to their busy work and life schedules. Therefore, more and more community colleges should adapt their programs to enable online learning (Boggs & McPhail, 2016).
Student-Directed Learning
As more and more community-college students enroll for online learning, the learning process will be defined more by the students than the administrators of the programs. This implies that self-pacing as well as competency programs shall become critical aspects of courses offered by community colleges. Student directed-learning is expected to enhance the practicability of the courses taught in the professional lives of the students (Boggs & McPhail, 2016).
References
Boggs, R, G., & McPhail, J, C. (2016). Practical Leadership in Community Colleges: Navigating Todays Challenges. Jossey-Bass.
Cohen, M, A., & Brawer, B. F. (2013). The American Community College (6th Ed.). Jossey-Bass.
Kelsay, S, L., & Bulger, R, S. (2014). Working with Students in Community Colleges; Contemporary Strategies for Bridging Theory, Research and Practice (Higher Education). Stylus Publishing Lane.
Levin, S, J., & Kater, T, S. (2012). Understanding Community Colleges (Core Concepts in Higher Education (1st Ed.). Routledge.
Wyner, S, J., & Carnevale, P, A. (2014). What Excellent Community Colleges Do: Preparing All Students for Success. Harvard Education Press.
