“College Enrollment Tops Projected Figures for 1988.”
That was the top headline for the first issue of the Community, Technical, and Junior College Times on January 3, 1989, the biweekly newspaper of the American Association of Community and Junior Colleges. The organization is now known as the American Association of Community Colleges, and the publication also shed a few words in its name, transitioning into an online Monday-Friday news service called Community College Daily.
Thumbing through that first issue shows how many of the topics that were top-of-mind then are still there today: enrollment, federal funding, workforce and economic development, partnerships with businesses and universities, and more. Of course, the first issue had articles related to AACC business, such as spotlights on the association’s annual convention, its slate of board candidates and its Alumnus of the Year (cartoonist Doug Marlette).
There also are reminders (and maybe a few chuckles) of how far we have come with technology. Do you remember the Community College Satellite Network? Or maybe you purchased a discounted fax machine through the association?
Take a moment to peruse through that first issue of “The Times” and see what grabs your attention! (By the way, the “Ten Good Reasons for College Professionals to Read The College Times” on Page 10 still holds today. 🙂 )
