The faculty holds national meetings to share information on how to start classes quickly without compromising curriculum standards. Hiring and retaining qualified faculty members for technical courses is an ongoing challenge. Corporations are helping West Valley and Mission meet the student demand for classes by loaning us executives. Both Sun and Cisco have managers teaching technical courses in the evenings and online. Some critics of our innovative partnerships with industry complain that tech firms should be footing the bill for training.
Businesses do pay for specialized, private instruction.
But classes open to the public must remain independent of private influence. And if community colleges can't meet the demand for skilled workers, businesses may relocate to less expensive areas. Despite these formidable challenges, we are flourishing. The West Valley-Mission Community College District has the second largest number of economic development programs in California. In this hot job market, corporations often snap up students before they can even complete their programs.