The new leader of the nation’s main community college association on Wednesday called on member colleges to position themselves more prominently in serving the nation’s educational and workforce development needs and to cast a brighter spotlight on their work.
DeRionne Pollard, who is six weeks into her tenure as president and CEO of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), issued the call to action at the opening session of AACC’s Fall Meetings, which include commission and committee meetings to discuss trends and to inform AACC leaders on key issues for member colleges.
Pollard said the country faces many challenges — from rapid changes in technology and workforce needs, to federal and state reforms and polarizing politics — but community colleges can lean on one of their hallmarks to navigate through them: nimbleness. And two-year colleges need to put themselves in the center of national discussions in order to “reclaim the narrative.”
“We’re not going to let them talk around us, talk about us or even fail to talk about us,” Pollard said. “This is a redefining moment for us.”
While community colleges’ workforce and economic development efforts get the bulk of public attention, Pollard noted the importance of the colleges’ humanities programs and civic practice in strengthening communities and democracy. She mulled that community colleges are even vital to national security, from workforce and economic development, to civic engagement, which continues the principles of democracy during uncertain times.
Pollard said the sector’s entire body of work is something to tout.
“We need to lean into this and own our value — brag about it, shake the haters off — and know that we do the work that our nation needs us to do right now,” she said.
Pollard added that community colleges are usually so deep into their work that they don’t have the time to talk about what they do.
“That’s got to change,” she said.
AACC’s refocus
The transformational changes that Pollard called for require a strategy. She said she envisions AACC using a “strategic compass” that is anchored but nimble enough to adapt to change. She said AACC would be set by five “directional anchors”:
- Ecosystem orchestration: Position community colleges as critical to infrastructure, innovation and civil society.
- Student advocacy and agency and lifelong learning: Empower every learner to design and sustain their personal journey.
- Innovation for all: Embed access and equity into new practices.
- Voice and advocacy: Focus on AACC’s “authentic national voice for community colleges and the students that they serve.”
- Data insight and adaptive governance
Pollard emphasized the anchors are not stand-alone but interconnect in guiding the sector’s work. Over the next four to five months, AACC will build a plan to implement the strategy, from vision to action, she said.
Pollard also noted the association’s recently released “Resilient by Design” report, which provides a scan of the sector as well as ideas to address some of its main challenges. The report was the main topic of discussion for the AACC commission meetings this week.
