The society around us is changing dramatically yet we continue to think in timid and wallflower-like ways. Those who are so engaged believe they have a compelling agenda for fundamental change. Whether or not they do and they will be successful is not clear. Nonetheless, the scale of their efforts alone challenges the community college and all of higher education to reexamine purpose with a similar sense of urgency and concern. Structured sequential liberal arts and career education offerings dominate the curriculum.
Emphasis is on college-level work.
The campus environment strongly encourages students to pursue education beyond the community college and it is not content with the associate degree. The community college is a full partner with other higher education institutions, enabling students to transfer with ease. The two-year college defining its educational role in this way has the greatest chance to be a successful democratizing institution. Recall the three aspects of hope with which I began opportunity, success through hard work, and education as central to both. I want to replace course taking as the primary educational experience of community college students with structured, sequential education or degrees.