Many community college leaders are seeing the positive impact providing a global education can have in their community. Much of it boils down to economics: student employability, the ability to live and work successfully in diverse environments, and the prosperity of local communities. In response, some community colleges have created innovative and promising practices for […]

Karen Wosczyna-Birch is still feeling the “Wow!” effect of the first Greater Hartford Mini Maker Faire in Connecticut. “The excitement that you feel at these maker faires is contagious,” Wosczyna-Birch said. “It really captures the attention of little kids up to senior citizens.” The Regional Center for Next Generation Manufacturing (RCNGM) that she leads organized […]

In Howard County, Maryland, 18.2 percent of residents are foreign born and 22.5 percent speak a language other than English at home. This has created a demand for interpreters. Nationally, job growth for interpreters and translators is growing faster than average, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. About 17,500 new jobs will be […]

There are more than half a million unfilled jobs in information technology across all sectors of the economy. In March 2015, President Obama announced the TechHire initiative to expand local tech sectors by building tech talent pipelines in communities across the country. This past June, the U.S. Department of Labor awarded 39 grants totaling $150 […]

During a conversation last year with Dawson Community College (DCC) administrators, a representative from the oil and gas industry mentioned the industry needed corrosion technicians who could prevent or repair the internal corrosion of pipelines. Industry representatives could count on one hand the number of U.S. colleges that offer a corrosion technology program, and none […]

The Culinary Arts Institute at Richland Community College in Illinois opened in the fall of 2008; 48 students were enrolled. At a Chamber of Commerce meeting months later, a chamber member cornered a college administrator and essentially asked, “Is that all?” “It became clear we needed to add features to the program to make it […]

In 2011, Paul Kirchgraber, director of development for Arizona’s Yavapai College Foundation, approached the local Jewish Community Foundation (JCF) to discuss a partnership. Their conversations revolved around this question: If a cohort of 10 nursing students and two radiologic-technology students were offered full tuition and fees, given wholehearted and personal support from academic advisers and […]

The Aviation Maintenance Technician program at Lake Superior College (LSC) in Duluth, Minnesota, just graduated its first cohort of 17 students, who will have no trouble putting their new skills to work. In fact, most of the program’s graduates already work for AAR Corp., one of several aviation-related companies in the Duluth area. AAR, which […]

In the early and mid-2000s, Southern Maine Community College’s (SMCC) enrollment was growing quickly, but the college, which sits on a peninsula in South Portland, had no land for expansion. Meanwhile, the town of Brunswick, about 45 minutes northeast of Portland, was about to experience the potentially devastating loss of 7,000 jobs with the closing […]

This June, California’s Glendale Community College (GCC) will begin offering a computer numerical control (CNC) technicians certificate program specifically for students on the autism spectrum. CNC technicians program machines to shape and cut materials for a variety of manufacturing industries. The Uniquely Abled Project, a group made up of educators as well as representatives from […]