The purpose of academic advising is to help students select a program of study to meet life and vocational goals. As such, academic advising is a central activity in the process of education. Academic advising occurs at least once each term for every student in the college; few student support functions occur as often or affect so many students.…

Almost every institution of higher education engages in late registration. But evidence is mounting that the practice, originally intended to keep the doors of opportunity open for students as long as possible, wreaks havoc on the ability of colleges to achieve the goals of the emerging completion agenda. Despite best intentions, late registration…

The Completion Agenda has emerged as the overarching mission of the community college. Never in the history of the community college movement has an idea so galvanized stakeholders--from the White House to the state house. Never has so much funding from philanthropic groups, such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Lumina Foundation, been…

For more than 100 years, the Student Access Agenda has been the driving force of the community college movement. In the past two decades, the Student Success Agenda has emerged and become the single most important goal for community colleges. As it has evolved, it has morphed into the Completion Agenda, a more sharply focused goal of student…

More than 6,500 trustees serve the nation's community colleges. The overwhelming majority of these trustees are exceptional community leaders, elected and appointed to champion the community college mission for the community and students they represent. These local trustees serve the greater good, and as the guardians of their local community…

With funding from MetLife Foundation, the League for Innovation in the Community College engaged in a yearlong study in 2009 of the nature of innovation in the community college. Using recipients of the League's Innovation of the Year Award at 19 community colleges during the period from 1999 through 2008 as a data set, the authors used document…

This article describes the League for Innovation in the Community College which will be celebrating throughout 2008 its 40th anniversary as one of the oldest and most significant organizations in the community college world. Created in 1968, when community colleges were being established at the rate of one per week, the League became a beacon for…

As we approach the second decade of the new millennium, there is a renaissance of innovation in education, a resurgence of interest and experimentation that begs for analysis and review. To that end, the League for Innovation in the Community College proposed to conduct a national study on the nature of innovation in the community college using…

Fifty-nine community college presidents and chancellors in 16 states report on the damage caused by rogue trustees. While the damage to presidents, other trustees, and faculty and staff is alarming, the damage these trustees cause the college suggests that the rogue trustee may be the single most destructive force ever to plague an educational…

In the two previous articles in this three-part series the author reported on the motivations and damage caused by rogue trustees. The articles are based on a study of 59 community college CEOs from 16 different states. In this final article the author addresses the strategies that presidents and their board chairs have used to curtail the…

Approximately 6500 elected or appointed trustees govern local community colleges in 36 states. The great majority of these trustees are extraordinary citizens motivated by the opportunity to provide service to their communities and to their colleges. On occasion, a trustee emerges whose motivations do not support the common good; some of these…

Online learning has become a well-respected alternative to traditional bricks and mortar. Almost every institution of higher education in the United States, and many secondary educational institutions, feature opportunities for students to take courses, if not earn an entire degree, online. Community colleges have been at the forefront of this…

The publication of "A Nation at Risk" in 1983 triggered a series of major reform efforts in education that are still evolving. As part of the reform efforts, leaders began to refer to a Learning Revolution that would "place learning first by overhauling the traditional architecture of education." The old architecture--time-bound, place-bound,…

The community college has carved out a well-deserved role in higher education as "democracy's college." The yoke of responsibility carried by community colleges today--and the scope of the challenges they can anticipate in the future--requires the dedication of visionary, skilled leaders who understand how to make good on the promise of their…

As community colleges begin their journey to become more learning centered, they can capitalize on some of the experiences that such institutions have accumulated in a 100-year history of constantly coping with change. This article presents 10 observations about the challenges and 10 observations about the opportunities community colleges face as…