Adjusting to the speed of change
I try to stay up to date on trends that affect our work at the nation’s community colleges. Certainly, we have all heard about the Great Resignation, remote learning and working and other sticky changes…
Opinions
Is it time to expand your distance learning program?
As community colleges plan to return to more in-person classes this fall, a number of distance learning programs are exploring the possibility of expanding their online programs going forward. After all, almost all of our…
Washington Watch: Advocates in Action returns this fall
After a two-year hiatus due to the Covid pandemic, the American Association of Community Colleges’ (AACC) Advocates in Action meeting is back, set for September 22-23 in Washington, D.C. Register today! Community college presidents, trustees,…
Washington Watch: House plan includes $107M in earmarks for community colleges
The fiscal year (FY) 2023 Labor, HHS, and Education appropriations bill approved by the House Appropriations Committee on June 30 includes millions in new federal dollars for 89 community colleges, setting up many institutions to…
Supporting the mental health needs of rural students
According to a report from the Association of Community College Trustees, roughly 3.4 million students currently attend rural community colleges in the United States. Couple that fact with data from 2021 that shows 50% of…
Washington Watch: House appropriations report accompanies funding bill
The House Appropriations Committee has released report language to accompany the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) fiscal year (FY) 2023 funding bill. The report details funding allocations and Congressional justifications,…
How’s your RSI?
As far back as 2005, the federal government began differentiating correspondence courses, which are ineligible for Title IV financial aid, from aid-eligible distance education courses using the term “regular and substantive interaction” (RSI). In brief,…
Washington Watch: How community colleges have used HEERF money
The American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) recently asked some of its member colleges how they have used their allotment of federal funds through the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund, which ranged from commonly reported…
Improving equitable transfer
About 80 transfer professionals met last week in Chicago as part of the Equity Transfer Initiative (ETI) to explore ways to improve equitable transfer on community college-to-university baccalaureate pathways. ETI is a two-year national initiative…
Personal approach helps Michigan college boost enrollment, retention
Declining enrollments and low retention rates are issues plaguing many institutions, and there are no perfect solutions. There are just too many factors: diverse populations, family and work commitments, financial distress, lack of support, housing,…