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Becoming proximate to the American Dream

Community colleges have long been the means to better oneself through higher education. Indeed, we have a storied history of being a clear conduit to the American Dream. Recently, our community colleges have stood at…


My, how the tables have turned – Recording classes

Near the end of the last millennium, 1996 to 1998 to be exact, I was the administrator primarily responsible for developing the infrastructure necessary for videoconferencing (also known as interactive television or iTV) between classrooms…


Washington Watch: A recap of Advocates in Action

The American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) hosted its Advocates in Action meeting last Thursday and Friday, an event that hasn’t been held since 2019 due to the Covid pandemic. More than 70 community college…


Evolving opportunities, new spaces at two-year colleges

Community colleges must look beyond the near term to address the converging challenges of declining enrollments and great economic uncertainty. Another pressing challenge is successfully integrating the hybrid on-campus/offline learning model that’s bloomed in the…


Classroom ‘TechKnowledgy’

Institutions are dealing with a variety of staffing challenges on both the administrative support and classroom sides. Many instructors are exhausted from the paradigm shift on their approach to teaching, regardless of modality — some…


Washington Watch: Foxx stakes out higher ed positions

U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-North Carolina) on Tuesday voiced blistering criticism of President Joe Biden’s loan cancellation policies and outlined her own vision for higher education policy, as reflected in part in the REAL Reform…



Creating a cybersecurity talent pipeline

As the workforce rapidly evolves, it’s paramount for colleges and universities to create market-aligned curriculum and accessible pathways that can keep up and lead to future jobs for students of all backgrounds and walks of…


Washington Watch: More info on student debt cancellation

The U.S. Education Department (ED) has released new details on the Biden administration’s plan to offer targeted relief to millions of student borrowers, including a one-time student loan cancellation of up to $20,000 for borrowers…


FEMA and other bureaucracies

Editor’s note: This article is an excerpt from the book Overcoming Disaster: What Colleges Learned from Catastrophe and Recovery (Rowman & Littlefield), which provides lessons learned from the experiences of three community colleges — Lone…