Discussion about "Good to Great" in Professor Thornton's leadership class.

PROFESSOR THORNTON'S CLASS ON LEADERSHIP

Last Thursday, December 10, Professor Paul Thornton invited me to speak to his leadership class about “Good to Great”, a book by Jim Collins (http://www.jimcollins.com/). I had used this work as a guide to improve performance at STCC with administrators asked to read and discuss it. Like so many of our students, those in this class were articulate, bright and focused. I know that they have a great future in front of them. They questioned everything I said adding examples from their own experience.

Professor Thornton’s students were interested in how a college like STCC could use the lessons of Good to Great. They agreed that hiring the excellent people – what Collins calls getting the right people on the bus in the right seats – was important. Furthermore, we talked about the need for discipline, a key principle of Good to Great was applicable to any organization. We spent time discussing what Collins in a companion monograph calls executive vs. legislative leadership. Collins argues, I think correctly, that in a for-profit business the CEO and top management exercise executive power that enables them to make a decision and make sure it is carried out. In a non-profit such as a college because of the diffusion of authority among faculty and other stakeholders, administrators must consult and build support for new initiatives. This makes the change process more difficult but also potentially more meaningful in social sector institutions.

Holiday E-Card from Springfield Technical Community College

At Springfield Technical Community College we are always seeking ways to use technology to improve our effectiveness. Exploiting electronic media, the college designed a holiday greeting that, in a photo essay, celebrates the year of 2009.

Our staff and faculty took the pictures, built out the software and designed the presentation. Total cost to the college: $29.00 for the music which we had to purchase.

I think you will enjoy this look at STCC by going to:

http://www.stcc.edu/yearinphotos/

Happy Holidays from the students, faculty, staff, alumni,Trustees and friends of STCC!

REVIEWING PROPOSALS AT NSF

Last week I served on a National Science Foundation peer review panel for community college proposals involving Advanced Technology Education (ATE). Twenty-two panels convened for a three days in Arlington, Virginia assisted by NSF staff.

At a plenary session ending the meeting, panel leaders discussed ways to improve submissions. Here are the key points mentioned to which anyone writing an NSF grant, especially from community colleges, should attend:

1) Generally, planning grants are necessary (and usually sufficient) for development of a fundable ATE center proposal.

2) Proposals should include and emphasize metrics and objectives on student outcomes- program graduation data, job placement, enrollment, retention, under-represented students served.

3) Investigators should contact existing centers that relate to the field before submitting a proposal and that connection should be documented in the proposal.

4) Authors should conduct a data review to learn about the research on proposed activities.

5) An evaluation plan should link to objectives and provide a measure of accountability.

6) For a regional center that aims to increase the production of technical workers, the investigators should have data about workforce demand locally, not just nationally.

7) For continuation grants, include an evaluation report to document progress.

8) Focus on student learning outcomes, not just workforce needs. Try to find answers to the questions: What are students learning; how do we know?

9) Describe what success would look like. How would we know if project success is achieved?

10) Focus on soft skills, not just technology.

To find out more about NSF opportunities in undergraduate education, visit the website

http://www.nsf.gov/funding/education.jsp?fund_type=1

Students at STCC's Admission Office

Aligning High School and College Mathematics

At STCC like other community colleges, the majority of incoming students place into developmental mathematics. This means that they have to take preparatory courses – algebra or arithmetic – before beginning college level mathematics.

Looking at this issue, Steven Davis of the Davis Foundation and former owner of Lenox Saw commented recently that this is rework since students should have acquired those mathematics skills in High School. And to address this problem will require cooperation between high schools and colleges. Although traditionally, there has been a gap between these two segments of education, there are signs of new cooperation. An important example has taken place at Seminole State College of Florida, a community college near Orlando, where area high schools have worked with the college to improve mathematics preparation. As reported by Bill Maxwell in the St. Petersburg Times,

“The main problem was obvious: Florida was requiring high school students to take only three years of math. Most did not take math in 12th grade. The chairman offered the principals a special 12th-grade course he would bring to their campuses to reduce the number of students needing remediation when they entered the college.

Only one school, Oviedo High, initially accepted the challenge. Seminole State College provided the course content and mentoring, and Oviedo's teachers taught the course.

Within a few years, Oviedo High reduced its remediation rate from 70 percent to 10 percent. A team of SSC and Seminole County public schools administrators began meeting once a month for breakfast at a local Denny's to collaborate and replicate the Oviedo program in all Seminole high schools.”

(Go to http://www.sentinelandenterprise.com/editorial/ci_13710499?source=rss for the full article.)

This example is encouraging; we are trying to institute a similar program here at STCC.

COMMUNITY COLLEGES AND THE GREAT RECESSION OF 2008

Twenty months into the most serious downturn since World War II, the economic mavens have agreed on a name: the Great Recession of 2008. Whatever it is called, this economic has put community colleges in a vise: enrollment is up sharply just as state support declines. Moreover, the community college role of linking students to jobs is undermined as employment dries up in industry after industry. What are the prospects for employment?

Erica Groshen, an economist with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, outlined the labor market prospects in a presentation on September 16. According to Groshen, there is a dramatic increase in long-term unemployment per the chart from her presentation below:

Moreover, unemployment varies by demographic group with men, teenagers, minorities and the less educated the hardest hit:

Finally, Groshen documents that male-dominated industries have lost the most jobs with government, education and health the only areas to gain employment since the recession.

What will be the affects, then, of the Great Recession of 2008 on community colleges?

First, the downturn has exacerbated the funding shortfall for community colleges. Already, some colleges are turning away students as classes fill and others are reducing services to students. As is usual in economic declines, the poor and working-class – in this case community college students – are most affected by cuts in public college funding. Colleges will struggle for some time in trying to serve more students with less governmental support.

Second, high and persistent unemployment brings into question the value of particular college programs. Colleges will have to examine program offerings to ensure that education leads to the prospect of decent paying jobs. Colleges will want to align offerings to support local economic development efforts. In this regard, the value of dialogue over economic planning with state and local officials will increase.

Finally, the most important affect of the Great Recession of 2008 will be to convince Americans that college is a pre-condition for a decent paying job. The community college role will be permanently enhanced as more and more Americans view them as the portal for obtaining a college credential.