This chapter introduces effective strategies and practices for working with secondary and postsecondary schools to advance rural Latinas into engineering and other STEM-related fields.

Notwithstanding variation in institutional missions, two-year colleges are the gateway to postsecondary education for the majority of college and university students in this country. As institutions of choice for many and institutions of necessity for others, two-year institutions are constantly challenged to meet the rapidly changing needs of…

Community colleges have a storied history of successfully providing pathways and access to credentials and degrees through various models of delivery and in diverse programs of study. Until recently, the highest degree offered by community colleges was the associate degree. During the past decade, major changes have occurred in the landscape of…

The experience of technology change pervades people's lives. Sometimes it comes in the guise of a new smart phone, e-reader, or patch for a leaky artery. Other times, it appears as a new way to track packages, connect with others through social networks, or find one's way around an unfamiliar place. Or it reveals itself as a new surgical…

There is a growing consensus that the United States and its regions, including the Midwest region, will increasingly compete on innovation. This also is widely recognized in the business world. There is also growing consensus that innovation talent--the human talent to drive and support innovation--will be a major key. Despite this consensus,…

This article explores the general education needed by newcomers to higher education that will enable them to contribute in multiple ways in the twenty-first-century workplace. In an effort to become more precise about the kind of general education that Midwestern community colleges need to create, this article approaches two questions: (1) In what…

Shifting Gears was launched in 2007 by the Joyce Foundation, a Chicago-based organization focused on improving the quality of life of citizens residing in the Great Lakes region of the United States. The primary goal of Shifting Gears is to increase the number of low-skilled, low-income Midwestern adults who obtain college-level occupational…

In this article, separate sections examine the anchoring ingredients of the regional strategies through which two-year colleges are responding to local, regional, and in some cases broader needs deemed critical to generating and sustaining economic productivity and other forms of social and civic capital. First, drawing on recent European…

The mighty heartland of the United States, the American Midwest, is certainly struggling economically. This region was the epicenter of America's industrial revolution, the arsenal of democracy in World War II, and the builder of the great blue-collar middle class that personified the American Dream. This important region made America a global…

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 state, "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance". This provision paved the way for student-initiated lawsuits…

Although most community colleges do not have on-campus housing, many rural two-year colleges do. Relying on federal institutional survey data, this chapter discusses issues related to the operation of residence halls and implications for both students and rural community college leaders. The chapter concludes with recommendations for policy and…

Part-time faculty members at community colleges are customarily understood from an institutional perspective that is based on traditional conceptions of the community college as a component of a tiered educational system. This conception places the community college in the role of either a junior college or a training school. However, the…

Our understanding of the funding of public junior colleges prior to 1940 has been strongly influenced by the ideology of current scholars. A close reading of the historical record reveals that early junior colleges were rarely subsidized by states. Rather, their costs were met by approximately equal contributions of local tax revenue and unaided…

This document discusses how community colleges have become a vital and perhaps permanent aspect of the United States higher education system, and how it must maintain a competent leadership in order to maintain its integrity. It emphasizes the importance of effective leadership development within the community colleges as they continue to develop…

This journal issue focuses on the role of the community college in training K-12 teachers. The chapters included in this volume are as follows: (1) "Community College Roles in Teacher Education: Current Approaches and Future Possibilities," by Townsend and Ignash; (2) "Transfer Issues in Preservice Undergraduate Teacher Education Programs," by…