Wednesday, May 9, 2012

The Three R's

In the aftermath of the Great Recession, as had been predicted, college enrollment is leveling off while state funding continues to decline. Historically, these are the worst times that our College has seen in terms of available resources and the expectations of us. In the most recently published Reclaiming the American Dream:  Community Colleges and the Nation's Future report, they state:
“Community colleges are not funded at a level permitting them to perform the monumental tasks expected of them…community colleges must make better use of the resources they have. Most of the necessary changes in these institutions and in student outcomes will come not through an influx of new or restored funding; rather, they will come through the leadership commitment and skill to reallocate existing resources to fund effective educational practice at scale.”
We are facing significant challenges in the future sustainability of the College; therefore, significant changes are needed to better align us with the realities of our current operating environment. Unfortunately, raising student expenses has been a difficult but necessary measure for us to take. We continue to evaluate other options to determine additional measures that will be needed.

As the Reclaiming the American Dream report recommends to community colleges, we must Redesign students’ educational experiences; Reinvent institutional roles; and Reset the system to create incentives for student and institutional success.  This is why your input in evaluating our strategic themes is so important. I take our strategic themes very seriously and your feedback helps us to know how to best set course for the next five years. Please make sure you take the time to complete the planning questionnaire by Friday, May 11.