1st Edition

Alternative Pathways to the Baccalaureate Do Community Colleges Offer a Viable Solution to the Nation's Knowledge Deficit?

Edited By Nancy Remington, Ronald Remington Copyright 2012
    224 Pages
    by Routledge

    224 Pages
    by Routledge

    “This book does an excellent job of tracing the history of the movement and where it stands today. It discusses the political context when these discussions happen in states and the education implications when institutions take on this additional mission. This book may or may not convert those who are concerned about ‘mission creep’ of community colleges, but it sure will give them something to think about. Clearly we cannot continue to do business as we have always done and expect to meet the growing demand for college educated citizens. This book provides some thoughts on how to create a new model going forward and it deserves serious consideration.”—from the Foreword by Carol D’AmicoThe premise of this book is that, in a globalized economy dependent on innovation and knowledge, higher education must provide greater, more affordable access to the acquisition of higher-level skills and knowledge for a greater proportion of the population.The purpose of this book is to open up a debate about the status quo. Should four-year institutions remain the near-exclusive conferrers of the baccalaureate? Or is there a legitimate role for community colleges who already educate over half the undergraduate population of the United States, at lower cost with few barriers to access?The contributors examine the capacities of four-year colleges to deliver training for technical occupations; the ability of community colleges to deliver rigorous, high-quality courses; and issues of access, affordability, faculty development, and responsiveness to changing needs. A chapter devoted to student voices provides the critical perspective of this constituency.The book concludes by describing examples of implementation across the United States, reviewing different models of articulation as well as promising practices that include eliminating the need for transfer altogether.Alternative Pathways to the Baccalaureate provides vital information and new research for policymakers, community college leaders, and scholars of higher education to provoke much-needed debate.Published in association with the Community College Baccalaureate Association

    Acknowledgments Foreword—Carol D’Amico Introduction—Nancy Remington and Ronald Remington Part One. Needs, Implications, and Politics 1. THE HISTORY OF THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE BACCALAUREATE MOVEMENT. MEETING THE EDUCATIONAL NEEDS OF THE 21ST CENTURY—Kenneth P. Walker and Edith Pendleton 2. THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE BACCALAUREATE. PROCESS AND POLITICS—Linda M. Thor and Chris Bustamante 3. MISSION METAMORPHOSIS—John Patrick Rice 4. STUDENT VOICES. THE IMPACT OF ACCESS ON INDIVIDUAL LIVES—Edith Pendleton 5. IMPACT ON ACCREDITATION STATUS WHEN COMMUNITY COLLEGES OFFER BACCALAUREATE DEGREES—Belle S. Wheelan and Tom Benberg 6. UPDATE ON THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE BACCALAUREATE. EVOLVING TRENDS AND ISSUES—Alene Bycer Russell Part Two. Models and Contexts 7. THE BACCALAUREATE MOVEMENT IN FLORIDA. A DECADE OF CHANGE—Deborah L. Floyd and Angela M. Garcia Falconetti 8. APPLIED BACCALAUREATE DEGREES IN THE CONTEXT OF BACCALAUREATE EDUCATION—Collin M. Ruud and Debra D. Bragg 9. REFLECTIONS ON THE NATURE AND STATUS OF THE APPLIED BACCALAUREATE DEGREE. DRAWING UPON THE CANADIAN EXPERIENCE—Michael L. Skolnik 10. A VIRTUAL PATHWAY TO BACCALAUREATE COMPLETION—Lisa Romano-Arnold 11. THE UNIVERSITY PARTNERSHIP AT LORAIN COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE—Marcia J. Ballinger and John Crooks 12. THE COMPREHENSIVE COLLEGE BACCALAUREATE. AN IDEA WHOSE TIME HAS COME!—Andrew K. Koch and John N. Gardner About the Contributors Index

    Biography

    Nancy Remington holds a PhD from the University of Nevada in educational leadership. Her 30-year teaching experience in Nevada spans the spectrum of preschool through graduate school. As an English and education faculty member at Great Basin College, she developed and implemented the ?rst baccalaureate degree program in teacher education. Particularly passion-ate about effective professional development for teachers and administrators, she was the founding director of the Great Basin Writing Project and the Nevada Regional Professional Development Program. She has worked as an evaluator for the Northeastern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program, and currently, she serves on the Board of the Nevada Women’s Fund, as an editor for the Community College Baccalaureate Association online journal The Journal of the New Comprehensive College as well as working as an educational consultant and as a ?eld director with the National Writing Project. Ronald Remington holds a PhD from the University of Nevada in cognitive psychology. With 35 years’ experience as a faculty member and administrator in higher education in three states, he has served as a commissioner for Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities and as president of two Nevada community colleges. During his tenure at Great Basin College and the Community College of Southern Nevada, he pioneered innovative baccalaureate degrees in education, applied sciences, professional studies, and dental hygiene. He currently works as an educational consultant and serves on the Board of Directors for the Community College Baccalaureate Association.

    "The authors provide both opinions and evidence to support the cause, as well as case studies from various successful programs. The strength of the book lies in its ability to help the reader imagine a new, less traditional view of higher education. While the CCB may not be the ultimate solution, readers will be given the freedom to unabashedly consider new options. No matter your role in an institution or your opinion of the CCB, this book will ask you to consider the future of higher education. Will we be willing to change or will we require our students to find ways to conform to the status quo? Will we take the challenge to 'suspend...categorical thinking and unstuck' from our traditional ways (Remington & Remington, p. 4)?"

    Alyssa Mittleider, Department of Psychology Iowa State University

    NACADA