In 2012, the American Association of Community Colleges released its 21st Century report, “Reclaiming the American Dream: Community Colleges and the Nation’s Future.” Last week at the AACC annual meeting, all of us on the strategic implementation teams associated with this report were a bit taken aback when every single session (and there were many) on “Reclaiming the American Dream” drew overflow crowds. In fact, I’ve never before been part of a session where the background soundtrack was the non-stop delivery of chairs to handle the growing crowd.
Since those of us on the implementation teams have been engaged with the report from day one—designing frameworks and identifying promising practices on a very aggressive timeline, we may not have realized the depth and breadth of the interest in this work. We learned our lesson: people have read the report and they want to know the next steps.
As I look back over the annual meeting, it seems that lots of threads were woven throughout: the need to engage more faculty voices and expertise in course and college redesign; the call to reclaim the opportunity agenda; the need to improve student success, especially among minority males and displaced workers; the (surprisingly) rapid rise and acceptance of competency-based models; the need to diversify and expand community college leadership; the increasing demands from all sectors for higher education affordability, accessibility, evidence and accountability; the central role community colleges have come to play in workforce development and college readiness. Yet, every one of these threads is also found in “Reclaiming the Dream.”
The report is likely not at the top of your spring reading list, but I would encourage you to download a free copy, grab a seat in the warm sunshine, and dig in. Then, share your thoughts—with your colleagues, with your department, with your dean, with me.
Anne M. Kress
President's Office
05/01/2013 |