Snapshots
A few photos from colleges that are members of the American Association of Community Colleges. (Send your photos to the editor.) Ivy Tech Community College President Sue Ellspermann (center) guides First Lady Dr. Jill Biden…
Technology
Dog saliva and DNA
In-person visits to two California community college biotechnician programs significantly influenced the expansion of a Nebraska community college’s biotech program. Those visits — and the on-site visit of a mentor to Southeast Community College’s campus…
The future of online education: Invest in your adjuncts
Picture it: a college basement adjunct lounge, 2017. In four years, I never saw anyone be able to print anything from the printer. There was a random toy castle on one of the shelves —…
Using MentorLinks to revamp biomed tech program
North Arkansas College (North Ark) restarted and revamped its biomedical electronics program using MentorLinks connections to information, educators and professional development for its faculty. “The [MentorLinks] grant has helped establish and direct the biomed program…
Snapshots
Photos submitted by institutional members of the American Association of Community Colleges. Feather River College in rural Northern California weathers the recent snowstorms that hit the northwestern United States. (Photo: FRC) Louisiana Higher Education Commissioner…
The solar energy connection
Energy and environmental injustice have been persistent issues in the U.S., disproportionately affecting minority populations. To combat these issues, community colleges can play a crucial role in training minority students to become advocates for renewable…
ChatGPT: Or how I stopped worrying and learned to love the bot
Higher education seemed to embrace the concept of AI for administrative systems and student relations support. There was a lot invested in technologies that could “personalize” systems and connect students with departments, divisions and support…
The trickle-down effect
The two faculty members on South Arkansas Community College’s (SouthArk) MentorLinks team had high expectations of their MentorLinks mentor Elizabeth Hawthorne based on the positive things they had heard about her from information technology instructors…
10 trends to watch in distance learning
As we all know, prior to the Covid pandemic, the growth of online enrollments at colleges and universities had been phenomenal. As late as 2019, online enrollments were on average 25% of overall community college…
Metal meets mettle
Stacy Yonnone remembers working on cars with her father in the family garage, a radio nearby belting out tunes from a local rock station. World-renowned heavy metal band Metallica was on constant rotation back then,…