In general, communities tend to lean politically left or right, which reflects the views of most of their residents. Oregon’s Linn-Benton Community College (LBCC) pulls from both sides. Residents of Linn County lean right and support Donald Trump; the county hasn’t voted for a Democratic president since Jimmy Carter. Meanwhile, residents in Benton County — […]
Leaders and Training Articles
Design for dual enrollment
The rise of dual-enrollment programs for high school students provides a creative opportunity for recruitment and retention at many community colleges. While many students may see these programs as a quick way to get ahead or gain some college experience, institutions can use their resources to broaden the scope of a college student-centered environment to […]
Everybody is a leader
Collaborative leadership is becoming more common in community colleges and other organizations, replacing traditional top-down approaches to management—and for good reasons. In leveraging the ideas of a broad range of people, collaborative leadership often leads to innovative methods. It also boosts employee morale, as team members feel a greater sense of satisfaction when they have […]
Four leadership strategies
When I began my career in 1978 as an adjunct faculty member and counselor at Cedar Valley College in southern Dallas County, Texas, higher education was profoundly different than it is today, but it was beginning a period of immense change and transformation. Fall enrollment at colleges and universities nationwide was about 11.3 million students, compared to […]
Support for distance education practitioners
You are not alone! Spoken in a sinister whisper these words could strike fear into the hearts of horror movie characters. But spoken by a colleague they are an assurance that help is forthcoming. Connecting practitioners to share best practices is central to the mission of the Instructional Technology Council (ITC). However, these connections can […]
Make the most of your digital marketing
Twenty months ago, Covid-19 flipped our worlds and drove us to rely even more on digital technologies to communicate, learn, work, shop and stay connected. During the early months of the pandemic, higher education moved to mostly remote learning, making digital tools and technology more critical than ever. Now, even as college campuses open more […]
Mentor-Connect continues to tap new faculty teams
Mentor-Connect welcomed 25 teams led by two-year college faculty as its 10th cohort of mentee colleges during a virtual meeting this month. Twenty states are represented in the 2022 cohort, including South Dakota. It is the first time a South Dakota college has been involved in Mentor-Connect. Broadening the geographic diversity of mentee colleges is […]
Building a futures mindset
Predicting the future doesn’t require a crystal ball. By looking for signals and disruptors – and using some creative thinking – MiraCosta College is building a futures framework to shape the next 15 years and beyond. The California college is working to train staff, students and board members to think like futurists. The college’s core […]
A unique opportunity to leverage updated facilities master plans
There is no doubt that the Covid pandemic has resulted in a myriad of leadership lessons for community college presidents and governing boards across the nation. At Rogue Community College (RCC), located in southern Oregon, the lessons we learned from our facilities master planning provided college leadership with critical tools for coping with budgetary challenges […]
Deconstructing a historical construct
Community colleges making the diversity, equity and inclusion journey must recognize that one-size-fits-all support for “studentsof color” doesn’t get the job done. The higher education sector has historically excluded people, ranging from Black to Native American to LGBTQIA+—and community colleges, as open access institutions, have a responsibility to deconstruct these barriers, Hennepin Technical College (HTC) […]