Abstract
It has been more than 30 years since the publication of the first edition of The American Community College. Much has changed in the intervening years, yet this expanded volume continues to serve as a seminal text for those with an interest in community colleges. In this edition, Carrie Kisker joins Art Cohen and Florence Brawer as an author. The intention of the book is to provide an overview of key functions of the community college, and the authors accomplish this goal in a broad assortment of topics covered in the text’s 15 chapters. Each chapter presents a host of facts to help create a portrait of community colleges. The chapter topics include background on the evolving priorities and expectations of the community college, student composition, faculty identity, administrative issues, finance, instruction, student services, developmental education, liberal arts and transfer education, integrative education, occupational education, community education, scholarship and commentary, student progress and outcomes, and future trends. Also, an appendix dedicated to for-profit institutions rounds out the book.
For the novice reader, an historical grounding of each topical area provides a valuable context to interpret the information presented and shows how the past drives current issues. Each chapter contains ample citations that allow interested individuals additional resources to pursue a topic in more depth. Finally, each chapter provides an issues section that summarizes key questions leaders, stakeholders, and others can answer based on their own situations and needs. For unit leaders, these questions can spur self-reflection to aid organizational change and can provide information on what others are doing when faced with similar challenges.
A key strength of the book is the variety of college and state examples offered in each chapter. For example, the first chapter describes the founding and spread of community colleges in the United States and notes how the West provided a fertile climate for the expansion of community colleges. The authors noted, “California became the leader in community college development because of support from the University of California and Stanford University, a paucity of small denominational colleges, and strong support for public education at all levels” (p. 20). Other founding stories are related for states such as Arizona, Mississippi, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, and New York to name a few. First, this technique showcases a host of approaches to similar problems facing community colleges. Second, it helps readers across the country situate their understanding by recognizing specific examples in their own states or in the college examples presented. Finally, the differences highlighted among colleges and states underscore the need to look at individual college and state data to inform decision making versus assuming that a solution applied in a neighboring college or region will automatically work. Issues of paradox become evident in the tensions inherent in community college operations, and it is in these tensions that opportunities for critique should emerge.
The text showcases how the community college sector provides organizational slack to the system of higher education in the United States in the quest to accommodate expanded college enrollment. The community college stands on a long history of open access for those students not meeting admission requirements at other colleges or universities or those needing a second chance. The following important questions are raised regarding the paradox of access and quality: Should community colleges have an impact on society writ large? What should be the colleges’ level of responsibility in addressing societal problems? In particular, what does the future of the community college hold now that it is a mature system of post-secondary education? For example, academics and vocational technology are long-standing components of the fabric of the community college. Yet, these institutions are now more complex entities as functions intersect, global connections increase, and accountability pressures build. What remains of the historic college mission, and should this change given new public demands? How do you measure quality, and are traditional terms appropriate? The text provides tools that readers can use to answer this range of questions based on their individual community context and institutional needs. Demands for accountability raise a host of additional questions to which institutions must respond, and thoughtful inquiry into responses is best supported when leaders and campus members understand college operations better.
A major issue with the accountability movement and associated outcome requirements is that the demands do not take into account the uniqueness of community colleges and the fact that 4-year measures do not fit for the 2-year sector. The authors address these questions by arguing on one hand “that the institutions can’t be understood in traditional terms” defined by 4-year college norms (p. 40). Based on student demographics and preparation, faculty composition, and institutional mission, the portrait created in the book shows how the community college experience differs in many ways from that found in university settings. On the other hand, the current public attention on the 2-year sector anticipates that community colleges will provide a low-cost solution to the vexing problems of society. If the moral obligation of community colleges is to meet the needs of students and the community, a central question remains—what students and what part of the community?
The authors continue to emphasize how community college leaders, scholars, and policy makers need to ask questions differently, but they also emphasize the need to offer critique of often spouted and accepted claims. For example, the current rhetoric of college completion emphasizes the need for a degree, but the authors point out that “the Bureau of Labor Statistics says that 31 percent of Americans hold a bachelor’s degree even though only 14 percent of jobs require one” (p. 443). Thus, a valuable perspective presented in this book is the need to push back against assumptions of what the community college is or should be.
One shortcoming of the book is a lack of analysis of intersections of college operations and how various functional areas exert influence on other areas. The span of coverage in each chapter does not provide opportunity to investigate these intersections more fully or to synthesize the interactions of the many moving parts of the institutions. For example, how does the size and location of the college create particular pathways for students? How do faculty roles influence leaders? The authors state, “the universe of community colleges is especially fluid” (p. 52), emphasizing the malleable nature of the institutions juxtaposed with the needs of their communities. Yet, it is just this complexity of operations that must be better understood from a systems perspective.
Leadership throughout the institution creates a linchpin for change and achieving the college mission and vision. The role of leadership is woven throughout the book, but a scant four pages are devoted specifically to the role of leaders. This volume provides a general administrative and organizational overview for readers studying community college leadership but does not target leadership practices per se. The questions framed at the end of each chapter begin to push leaders to think more deeply about various topics, but leaders vested in community colleges must also begin to recognize complexity and more importantly, consider how to move forward in the future. Therefore, the strength of the breadth of topics covered in the book also contributes to a weakness, namely, the inability to provide more depth on subject materials.
The range of books on the topic of community colleges has expanded over time, giving readers more choices. Yet, The American Community College achieves a goal not often met by other authors—providing a user-friendly read that contains rich data to highlight trends in functional areas of the community college over time. The accessible writing style of the book provides a means for the general public and policy makers to learn more about community colleges. The authors correctly point out that we know a great deal about what works and what does not, who will be successful and who will struggle, and how history set us on the path to the future. Reading this book cover to cover provides a comprehensive overview of the issues community colleges face but more importantly, showcases the passion that the authors possess for the essential contributions that community colleges add to society and, pointedly, to changing student lives.