Re-imagining Community Colleges in the 21st Century

AP Photo/Michael Conroy

Re-imagining Community Colleges in the 21st Century

A Student-Centered Approach to Higher Education

Brian Pusser and John Levin December 2009

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Re-imagining Community Colleges in the 21st Century

A Student-Centered Approach to Higher Education

Brian Pusser and John Levin December 2009

Contents

1 Executive summary

4 The essential functions of America's community colleges

6 The challenge of transformation

8 Multiple missions, multiple understandings

10 The community college as a divided entity

12 The challenge of understanding student needs

16 New approaches to understanding students

17 Vocational and occupational education and training 24 Developmental education 31 University transfer education

38 The role of power and politics in re-imagining community colleges

41 Re-imagining the functions of community colleges

41 A student-centered understanding of community colleges 42 A student-centered re-imagining of basic skills education 43 A student-centered re-imagining of vocational education 44 A student-centered re-imagining of the transfer function

46 Federal and state policy recommendations

46 Federal policies 47 State policies 48 Institutional policies

49 Conclusion

52 About the authors

53 Endnotes

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