The Future Trends and Challenges of Community Colleges

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Management trends and challenges
The use of technology
Job market demands
Problems in funding
Conclusion
References

Introduction

Community colleges are marred with inefficiency in leadership, problems in financial administration, changes in technology usage and other challenges. It is therefore imperative for these institutions to embrace change in order for them to remain viable in the distant or near future. Nonetheless, sustainability cannot be achieved without a struggle; community colleges need to prepare for this change. The paper shall look at the challenges that lay ahead for these establishments in different areas of their functioning.

Management trends and challenges

A number of analysts have asserted that community colleges lack sound management structures and this is often depicted through weak delivery systems prevalent within such organizations. On top of this, students lack adequate support services. Their operations are rarely subjected to scrutiny and they seldom reflect the rate at which the country’s population is changing. More often than not, even the general purpose for establishing these community colleges is often forgotten. This implies that the future looks bleak for these organizations unless something is done quickly to change them.

At the root of this management crisis is failure in leadership. If there is firm leadership, then actions will be well planned and strongly executed. In order for this to occur, then community colleges must address the challenge of accessing transformational leaders. As is the case currently, the number of candidates who are either ready or willing to become community college leaders is drastically reducing. This is depicted by the high rate of turnover in community college administration staff. (Duree, 2009)

Studies carried out by the Association for community colleges in 2001 revealed that approximately fifty percent of community college leaders planned to leave their positions in six years time. In this year – 2009 – it has been found that the numbers have plummeted to about seventy five percent. Participants in this survey said that they would leave their community college administrative positions in three years time. These statistics are quite alarming and therefore present a huge problem for the future of community colleges. To add insult to injury, it is a known fact that a large portion of persons who take up presidential positions in community colleges are the institutions’ chief instructional officers. This would have been workable if there were significant age differences between these two types of positions. However, research has shown that the gap between them is reducing thus creating a leadership vacuum. This is likely to increase if both potential and actual community college presidents decide to retire.

It is essential to understand the fact that getting to these top positions at community colleges requires a lot of time and patience, individuals must start as faculty members and then work their way to the top. These complex processes allow them to be familiar with the management skills and networks required to make community colleges function. These days, it has been shown that more and more community colleges are hiring older staff members thus implying that there may be very little room for such persons to climb up the institutional ranks. What this means is that there may be leadership shortages in the near future for these colleges. (Duree, 2009)

In order to come up with effective solutions to this problem, it may be essential for community colleges to address some of the issues that could have led to these shortages in the first place. Research shows that too much emphasis is being given to top level administrative jobs while very little goes to mid level posts. One reason for this is the misguided assumption that top leadership positions are the only ones that substantially affect functioning of a community college. These biases could create huge problems for these organizations in the future if they are not addressed. Therefore one of the major challenges that should be overcome in the future is the lack of support for mid level administrators. These institutions need to develop support mechanisms. Most importantly, community college should work out solutions for modifying selection criteria for their administrators. This means that in the future there will be no room for rigid career paths as the situation will demand for more flexibility. (Mecca, 2007)

Another administrative challenge that community colleges face is failure to carry out organizational change. This is quite puzzling especially given the fact that such institutions usually operate independently. Unlike public schools, community colleges generally posses the right to curve out their own paths yet they have chosen not to do so. This is because these institutions tend to favor the status quo. Transformational change is frowned upon as most of them keep looking for short term solutions to the long term problems that they may be facing. Consequently, the future may not be very bright for these institutions if they are reluctant to deal with such a problem. One way in which they can turn around this issue is by reconsidering how leaders go about implementing their duties. Community college leaders are too caught up in day to day operations that they often loose sight of the bigger picture. Consequently, the major challenges here are keeping their eyes on long term institutional goals and dealing with all the operational challenges that they have to deal with especially when it comes to creation of a sound academic culture.

Studies have also shown that that there is a very serious problem in the recruitment of staff and this problem may be propagated into the future if nothing is done about it. More often than not, community colleges tend to hire candidates who are designed to fill in temporary positions and little consideration is given to those individuals who may possess the ability to adequately handle long term challenges of community colleges. In the end, these institutions tend to fail in terms of being forward looking. Another challenge that must be overcome in the future of community colleges is the tendency to have interim appointments. As community colleges look for persons to fill in administrative vacancies in the long run, they tend to rely on interim appointments for deans’, vice presidents’ or other administrative positions to proceed with day to day operations. What this does is that it creates a situation in which leaders are hesitant to take bold steps in creating institutional change. It is likely that the latter problem could persist in the future if no change is instated.

Community colleges will also have substantial problems in the future if they do not handle the problem of the perpetual job hopper. Most of these institutions fall prey to those kinds of individuals who lack long term insight into the future of the colleges. Consequently, they may hire persons who posses the right credentials but who may have no intention to grow with their organization. In the future, it may be necessary for these institutions to overlook such applicants. (Morrison, 1999)

Overly, it can be said that there are several leadership challenges in the future but the main route to deal with these challenges is by setting up a change agenda that will allow community colleges to stop the blame game. This can only be established through strong and influential leadership. Such individuals need to realize that their fate is in their hands and that short term strategies can only get their institutions so far. There is no formula or full proof method that will ensure all community colleges address their leadership deficits at once. Care should therefore be taken to ascertain that community colleges become more strategic in the future. (Mecca, 2007)

The use of technology

Community colleges do not operate in isolation; they are affected by the myriad of social and economic factors facing our world today. Failure to incorporate these changes in the institutions’ operations could lead to redundancy of community colleges. In the 21^st century, any college worth its salt needs to be aware of certain technological elements such as virtual classrooms, distance learning, international communications, corporate classrooms and many others. These new developments have already been harnessed by community colleges and incorporated into their curriculum. However, the colleges need to do more to improve the role that technology plays in their operation.

The use of technology for the purpose of education has become a common phenomenon not just in community colleges but in almost all tertiary institutions of learning. This has a number of implications that affect the financial, operational and academic functions for community colleges. For example, technology places a strain on the amount of resources prevalent within an institution. In the end, this implies that less money will be available for enactment of other developmental projects such as construction. Therefore, one major challenge for these colleges in the future is the process of juggling between their technological needs as well as other equally important developmental projects. Community colleges can pave the way for their future by first reexamining and allocating their resources. Besides this, they could also find ways of working with building architects so that when a certain project has been completed, then there would be no need to revisit it again. Negotiations with architects can also allow special contracts that give the community colleges ample time to meet their financial end of the bargain.

While technology has tremendously improved the efficiency of most community colleges, there is still the challenge of including all students, faculty and staff in this new wave of change. Not all community colleges have exploited the advantages that come with technology use and in the future they need to do this so that they can be better equipped to survive in the cut throat economic arena. One major challenge is the process of training their members on how to use this technology to their advantage. In order to deal with this challenge in the future, these colleges need to first assess the level of awareness that their faculty, students and staff members have with regard to the use of technology. Thereafter, administrators need to create training programs to meet the technological gaps prevalent within their institutions. This can only be effectively done through adequate planning by community college administrators. (Smart, 2006)

There are several interactions that technology facilitates between several institutions. This means that now more and more students are taking courses from institutions other than their present organizations. In the future, there may be a need to smoothen these interactions or look for ways in which those interactions can be fully maximized. One way in which community colleges can achieve this is by partnering with other community colleges or tertiary institutions in order to share ideas as well as resources. There are numerous stakeholders within the field of technology in education and they must all be included in this new drive.

A number of concerns have been put forward by analysts and critics alike concerning the results that may emanate from community colleges through the use of new technologies. For example, some have asserted that distance learners do not possess the same credentials as their regular college counterparts and it may therefore be essential to think of ways of addressing these shortcomings in the future. Therefore the major challenge for community colleges would be production of competent individuals through these technology specific pathways. (Smart, 2006)

Community colleges can eliminate such concerns by first carrying out an analysis of the effectiveness of their technology. After the shortcomings have been identified, stakeholders need to be told how they can remain up to date with recent technological developments and what implications those ones hold for their future. Generally speaking, it will be imperative for faculty members to attend workshops and/ or interactions that teach them how to make technology work for them in more ways than one. Also, in the future, community colleges need to collaborate with technology developers to ensure that advantages being witnessed in other industries are also reflected in the day to day operation of community colleges as well. Faculty wide development programs need to be done on a regular basis to harness these advantages as well. If community colleges can implement those changes then they may turn around the current problems surrounding the use of technology and thus be effective learning institutions in the future.

The latter challenges may not be too complicated for community colleges to deal with in the future because there may still be some positive factors that work in the favor of these tertiary institutions. For instance, analysts claim that the cost of computers is going to decrease tremendously in the future as the latter resource will no longer be scarce. They also claim that the amount and quality of services offered through technology will also be on the increase. This also implies that wireless transmissions and applications in businesses may go down. Not only will society embrace these advantages but it has also been shown that the number of users will dramatically increase. The major challenge for community colleges is harnessing the benefits associated with these positive changes. They can do this by collaborating with practical businesses and also conducting regular staff training to keep members abreast of any new developments.

Job market demands

Community colleges have been put into place to prepare or facilitate students to join the workplace and make their contribution towards building the nation. This means that if community colleges cannot meet the changing demands in job markets then they could become redundant in the future. (Strauss, 2001)

In order to respond to the latter demands, then there ought to be frequent changes in the curriculum to mirror those changes. Students, faculty and staff members ought to be educated on what the job market is looking for and how they can then prepare to meet those demands. These curriculum changes cannot just be done without a sound investment – therefore community colleges should think of different ways in which they can obtain funding for such types of projects. The latter aspects will be a crucial challenge in the future because most of these changes will be done through technological avenues. Original community college funders need to be told about these job market demands as well so that they can understand why there may be a need for them to increase their levels of investment.

Nonetheless, community colleges should not just work in isolation; they need to look for ways in which they can include other stakeholders in the corporate arena. For example, they could have frequent dialogues and interactions with employers in order to understand what those employers are looking for.

Problems in funding

A number of analysts have put forward the notion that in the future it may be possible to witness elimination of financial aid for community colleges. This prediction has been backed up by the contract signed by community colleges and the state currently. If this occurs without adequate preparation then any of the following things can take place: Marginalization of students from poor backgrounds, reduction in enrollment of students and general ineffectiveness of community colleges which were created to eliminate such barriers in education. In fact, there may be no benefits to the institutions or to the public if student aid is eliminated in the future. These colleges therefore have to look for ways in which they can address such a scenario once it occurs. (Alfred, 2003)

Industry experts can first educate parents and students about some of the viable alternatives that are out there with regard to student funding. This can cause them to work towards such goals even before such policy is implemented. Conversely, the education institutions themselves need to prepare for reduced intakes because it would be very difficult for them to cope with such problems if they do not have any plan in the near future.

Community colleges need not accept this fact with their heads facing down. Since it has been established that there is a strong possibility for this occurrence, then the institutions themselves could start being politically active. They could rally the public behind them and inform them on what they stand to loose if student financial aid is eliminated. By doing so then the latter group will not be operating in isolation. The process of being proactive is likely to prevent a situation that could impede educational development for both the public and the institutions as well.

Developing close ties with various educational alumni can go a long way in mitigating the effects of inadequate financial aids. This means that the contributions made by the community, businesses and industries ought to be strengthened so that the institutions may be adequately prepared to handle these constraints. (Alfred, 2003)

Conclusion

Community colleges are operating in a dynamic environment characterized with tremendous challenges. It is likely that the trends the institutions are witnessing today will be amplified in the future. Consequently, failure to address these problems in the near future could lead to inefficiencies or redundancy in the long term.

Community colleges currently lack sound management structures and these are likely to worsen with time. The challenge for them is to change their recruitment procedures and refrain from short term pursuits. Technological changes may also be a big problem in community colleges if they do not incorporate them in their operations. Ways in which this challenge can be handled in the future is by looking for alternative funding as well as training staff, students and faculty on how to harness these advantages. Funding problems are likely to appear in the future and community colleges will be adversely affected by this. It is their duty to forge closer ties with stakeholders and to be politically proactive. Lastly, these institutions are also faced with the challenge of meeting changing demands within the job market in the future. They can handle the latter problem by looking for effective ways of interacting with employers and other industry stakeholders who will provide them with actual solutions on what is required.

References

Duree, C. (2009). Iowa study on community college residents finds looming national shortage. Web.

Alfred, R. (2003). The wolf – critical pathways to performance. Journal of community College, 16 (24): 56

Strauss, L. (2001). Trends in community college financing. Education Research and Improvement Paper, ED467983

Morrison, J. (1999). The primer for institutional research. Tallahassee: Association or institutsional research

Smart, J. (2006). Managing uncertainty. Ne York: Agathon Publishers

Mecca, V. (2007). Strategic planning in tertiary institutions. Theory and research in higher education, D4579

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