Through the collaborative effort, Howard Community College has been able to offer ASL, upper level foreign language, paralegal and social problem courses. Anne Arundel was able courses with low enrollments and was able to offer an interactive section of an Oceanography course that would have been canceled because Anne Arundel could not locate a qualified instructor. FirstClass, the electronic conferencing software, opens up new avenues of training for credit and noncredit courses. In Fall 1997, Anne Arundel will offer Introduction to Sociology, Introduction to UNIX, and Business Communications using this software. There are some cultural and organizational barriers to collaboration among the colleges.
Cost is another factor that was mentioned.
Collaborate with local business and industry to develop a course outline for a business communications course. Bringing together focus groups from the business community provided an opportunity for the college to learn what industry needs are. The business community wants students to be computer literate. Business representatives said that communication skills made the difference between a successful and unsuccessful employee. Listening to the needs of the business community, Anne Arundel restructured the entire course which made it more useful for the students.