EducationNews.org

1) I understand that several community colleges will be participating in a special mentoring program. What is all this about?

The mentoring program is a just-launched component of the Community Colleges CAN initiative (http://communitycollegescan.org/), which is designed to help community colleges better meet students' academic needs so they can be successful in college and the workforce. The mentoring program is a fast-track, collaborative learning experience that allows participating colleges to share knowledge and experiences, receive technical assistance and expert advice, and develop effective and practical intervention strategies that improve student achievement. The colleges will focus on critical issues or challenges commonly faced by community colleges, such as program planning and design, building community partnerships, staff training and professional development, evaluation and assessment, data collection, and funding strategies. The program is funded by the US Department of Education's Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE) and administered by JBL Associates.

2) I understand that eighteen colleges have been chosen to participate - 6 as mentors, 12 as mentees – Could you tell us about these community colleges and how they were chosen?

The colleges are from all over the nation – urban, suburban, and rural areas. The mentor colleges were selected based primarily on the success of a specific initiative that will be the focal point for the mentoring relationship. Each mentee college was selected based on its interest in developing a specific initiative that closely matches its mentor college's program.

3) What do you mean by a "mentoring community?

In recent years, many community colleges have developed innovative interventions for improving student access to, preparation for, and persistence in postsecondary education. Mentoring can be an effective method to share knowledge about successful practices and find ways to address challenges. The mentoring communities are simply a structure that helps colleges with similar interest develop valuable relationships that can help them find new ways to better serve their students. Each mentoring community consists of one mentor college, two mentee colleges, and a facilitator with strong professional experience working with community colleges. The facilitators provide guidance, coaching, and technical assistance to the communities. Each college has a team of three or four members — consisting of faculty, program staff, and administrators — participating in the mentoring program.

4) I understand that there have been certain program areas chosen. Who choose these programs and why were they deemed important?

Each mentoring community focuses on one program area and centers on a relevant initiative that was successfully implemented at the community's mentor college. The mentoring communities are: Academic and Student Support Centers, Career Pathways, Developmental Education Learning Communities, Innovations in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math), P–20 Educational Partnerships, and Teaching and Learning Centers. JBL and OVAE selected these program areas because they address issues common to community colleges, and we wanted the lessons learned from the mentoring communities to be broadly applicable. More information about the mentoring communities and the college programs is available here: www.communitycollegescan.org/about/factsheet.cfm.

5) What do Academic and Student Support Centers need to do that they are not currently doing?

According to the Community College Survey of Student Engagement, community college students consistently report that they value academic support services more than they use these services. The Center for Academic Success at Parkland College in Champaign, IL, is a comprehensive, one-stop learning support center that is successful because students use it. Parkland uses a variety of strategies to bring students into its center, and as a mentor college, it will share information about these strategies and help its mentee colleges build on them. Parkland will be mentoring two colleges that are working to improve the delivery of their developmental education offerings – Lake Superior College in Duluth, MN, and Macomb Community College in Warren, MI. These colleges plan to deliver support through learning centers, and they are well paired with Parkland because its learning center, while open to all students, has a particular focus on at-risk students including those taking developmental education classes.

6) What do you mean by "Career Pathways" and why do you seem them as important?

Career Pathways refers to community college initiatives that use academic program design, counseling, and other interventions to help high school students and adults design and follow a clear path to higher levels of employment in their chosen industry. Many community college students are non-traditional, such as adults re-training or re-entering the workforce and high school students whose career ambitions are best serves by a vocational certificate or associate degree. The Career Pathways mentoring community will help participating community colleges design and implement programs which help their students meet these goals. Southwestern Oregon Community College in Coos Bay, OR, has developed a statewide model in this area – it will be mentoring Jefferson Community and Technical College in Louisville, KY, and Laramie County Community College in Cheyenne, WY.

7) Some individuals do not understand what you mean by "Developmental Education Learning Communities." Does this refer to students with special needs or students needing some remedial education or students who have problems with reading, writing, term paper writing?

Many community college students are underprepared for college-level work. Developmental education, which is provided for reading, writing, and math, prepares these students for college-level classes. There is evidence showing that developmental education students, like most students, have greater success when they are part of learning communities. There also are data showing that developmental education students have greater success when they take study skills or life skills courses, which address a range of skills from note-taking and test preparation to time management, critical thinking, and goal setting. Skagit Valley College in Mount Vernon, WA, has combined these two ideas in its counseling-enhanced developmental learning community. In this learning community, counseling and teaching faculty members work collaboratively to incorporate college success skills into course content. Both Aims Community College in Greely, CO, and Delta College in University Center, MI, plan to implement developmental education learning communities and will be mentored by Skagit Valley College.

8) What do you mean by "Innovations in STEM?"

Educators and economists alike point to the need to increase our nation's capacity to educate students in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Many schools are seeking innovative ways to engage students in these subjects. Salt Lake (UT) Community College has had great success with its InnovaBio program, which is a student-run contract research organization that provides students with industry-based biotechnology research experience for credit. Students benefit from the hands-on experience and contact with industry members, and of course, we all benefit from having better-prepared students in the STEM pipeline. Salt Lake will be mentoring Miami-Dade (FL) College in developing new biosciences curriculum and laboratories and Hagerstown (MD) Community College in developing a new biotechnology career pathway.

9) How many schools are actively involved in the P–20 Educational Partnerships and what do you mean by this?

P-20 Educational partnerships refer to collaborative relationships between a community's community colleges, secondary schools, and four-year colleges and universities. These partnerships can be effective in ensuring smooth transitions for students through their education careers. Three colleges are participating in the P-20 Educational partnership mentoring community. The mentor college, El Paso (TX) Community College, has developed a systemic partnership among itself, University of Texas at El Paso and 12 local independent school districts. It will mentor Ashland (KY) Community and Technical College and South Texas College in McAllen, TX.

10) I have spent a lot of time in community college "Teaching and Learning Centers." Why are they needed, who is involved and what do we need to address in the future?

Community colleges across the country are increasingly adopting more interactive and active teaching practices because evidence shows these practices more effectively engage students in their education. Successful Teaching and Learning Centers support this effort in two ways: First, they provide a central location for students to interact with instructors to share ideas and receive extra support, thereby helping students better engage with faculty members, build relationships, and get extra help with their work. Second, they provide professional development opportunities for faculty and staff — to learn new teaching practices and build other skills so they can better serve their students. Pasadena (CA) City College has developed a successful teaching and learning community in which students and teachers engage in the learning process together; students receive extra academic and personal support; and faculty members can use and evaluate new ideas, teaching strategies, and services. Pasadena will mentor Mount San Antonio College in Walnut, CA, and Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College in Cumberland, KY.

11) What question have I neglected to ask? 

How this program will benefit community colleges on the whole. The knowledge gained through the mentoring program will be shared with the community college community through six issue briefs which will be developed and disseminated in 2009. Each will focus on a critical issue or challenge commonly faced by community colleges and will reflect the work being done in the mentoring communities. When they are published, the issue briefs will be available at the Community Colleges CAN Web site, www.communitycollegescan.org.

Published December 23, 2008