Community Colleges

Cuyahoga Community College (Ohio) has tapped Alex Johnson, who led the college’s Metropolitan Campus from 1993 to 2003, as its next president. Dr. Johnson, who currently serves as president of the Community College of Allegheny County in the Pittsburgh area, will replace Jerry Sue Thornton, who has led Tri-C through a period of marked growth over the last 21 years.

Under Gov. Jerry Brown's revised budget released on Tuesday, California community colleges will receive millions to begin restoring cut classes, rebuild flagging enrollment, and strengthen student support services.

Chicago poet Lisa Donahue is training for a new career as a solar equipment installer. The 27-year-old is the new president of the Santa Fe Community College solar club and is working on her associate degree in environmental technology.

The Stella and Charles Guttman Foundation is giving $15 million to New Community College, which will change its name to Stella and Charles Guttman Community College.

The Council of Independent Colleges is leading a public information campaign for the liberal arts and liberal arts colleges. The organization hopes to persuade the public that the liberal arts are fundamental to the education of all Americans and that these subjects will help young people achieve their legitimate aspirations to stimulating careers, good salaries, personal fulfillment, and a sense of contributing to the common good.

Many institutions with a single, traditional brick-and-mortar campus are diversifying their methods for delivering programs by going online, developing hybrid courses, and even establishing centers at locations off-campus. Alan Walker, former president of Upper Iowa University, discusses the challenges and cost benefits of strategic diversification.

As a readily accessible labor pool, student workers have long been an integral part of most institutions’ human resource planning, as well as a basic component of financial aid work-study programs. At Oakton Community College (Ill.) orientation sessions, new student employees get a crash course in business etiquette. 

Sharing information on the go is second nature to today’s college student. That reality is pushing higher ed leaders to leverage that connectivity to build a more interactive learning environment. In fall 2012, Dodge City Community College (Kan.) began requiring every student to have an iPad. The idea grew from conversations about how to boost retention. And every suggested strategy seemed to boil down to engagement and how to keep students interested.

College presidents in the Los Angeles Community College District will get a lower car allowance, but a higher salary under a plan approved Wednesday by the Board of Trustees. The action by the governing board was approved on a vote of 6 to 1, with Trustee Scott Svonkin dissenting.

Vance-Granville Community College
Henderson, N.C.