The Role and Identity of Community Colleges

What is a community college?  What was and is its mission?  Will its mission change in the near future?  How does a community college differ from a four year institution of higher learning?  How do you see your role as someone who works at a community college?

If any or all of these questions are of interest to you check out the February 14th choice  in the link below called "Walker Says Obama `Punted' Budget; Snyder on Education"  The segment with Tom Snyder, President of Ivy Tech Community College, discusses the dynamic and challenging role of community colleges in our country today.  It is about halfway through pocast.

http://www.bloomberg.com/podcasts/hays-advantage/

Video Books -- A New Format For Learning

Learning From YouTube, presents a new medium for college students.  It is a video book by Pitzer College professor Alexandra Juhasz being offered for free by MIT Press.  A recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education discusses this innovation : 
http://chronicle.com/article/Free-Video-Book-From/126427/?sid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en  (authentication required for off-campus access to this publication)

To "read" Learning From YouTube:
http://vectors.usc.edu/projects/learningfromyoutube/index.php

Ocean County College Troubles Bring Lawsuit By Employees

The February 15, 2011 Asbury Park Press carried the following article about litigation against Ocean County College by its faculty association.

"OCC faculty sues trustees, claims OPRA refusal is a cover-up"
The Faculty Association of Ocean County College is suing the college's board of trustees, accusing it of violating the state Open Public Records Act.  Filed in Superior Court on Friday, the lawsuit stems from public statements the outgoing purchasing manager made to the board on Dec. 6, when he told the trustees that procurement procedures at OCC were not being done according to the law.  Joseph Reilly, the purchasing manager, who is also a former state deputy attorney general, had gone before before the board in a last-ditch effort to plead for his job. Because of a projected $1.5 million budget deficit anticipated for fiscal year 2012, Reilly was one of 13 staffers who stand to lose their jobs on June 30 as part of a larger financial restructuring plan.  On Jan. 19, Chris Berzinski, a field representative with the New Jersey Education Association, filed an OPRA request on behalf of the faculty association for copies of all memos, e-mails, letters and correspondence that Reilly wrote regarding procurement and purchasing problems at OCC.  But in two letters to Berzinski dated Jan. 26 and Jan. 31, the college rejected the request on the grounds such memos under the OPRA law are considered "advisory, consultative, or deliberative material, therefore . . . exempt" from public access.  "Their refusal to supply what are clearly public documents appears to be an attempt to cover up a situation that may be embarrassing, or perhaps illegal," Berzinski said. "Mr. Reilly appears to be a whistle-blower who is being punished for bringing legitimate matters to the attention of his bosses."  OCC President Jon H. Larson was in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, meeting with congressional representatives in an effort to secure federal funds for the college. He said the board investigated Reilly's Dec. 6 statements and has concluded that no law has been broken.  "We know for a fact that there has been no improper purchasing and procurement practices at the college," Larson said. "Quite frankly, this falls under what I would call "the rubric of union hijinks.' "  The Larson administration has been at odds with the college's three bargaining units on campus, represented by either the NJEA or the American Federation of Teachers. The college's 456 permanent employees, almost all of whom are unionized, are working without new contracts.  Larson said what Reilly cited Dec. 6 as illegal purchasing and procurement procedures were in fact practices Reilly simply did not agree with from a professional standpoint. That is a bureaucratic distinction, not a legal one, he said.  As for the rejection of the OPRA request, Larson said his administration has followed the law, having consulted with its legal counsel. The documents requested are privileged information under OPRA, he said.  "These documents are internal memorandums that are consultative, advisory or deliberative, and they are not entitled to that information," Larson said. "We are not going to change our point of view for the union."  Berzinski said if taxpayer and tuition money are being improperly used, the public has a right to know what Reilly warned his superiors and what his superiors wrote back to him. 
"That right to know is even more acute for the staff and faculty who are being asked to accept the administration's claims that they are managing a fiscal crisis that calls for some employees to sacrifice their jobs," Berzinski said.

Erik Larsen: 732-557-5709; elarsen@njpressmedia.com

Fort Monmouth End Looms As More Partner Businesses Downsize

NJ BIZ reports that two Fort Monmouth related companies, CTSC and Tecom-Vinnell Services have filed so-called WARN notices, effective April 11, indicating they plan to undergo massive layoffs.
http://www.njbiz.com/article-multiple/85915-warn-ftm

Freshman Attitudes Which May Limit Academic Engagement

In their recently released National Freshman Attitudes Report, higher education consulting group Noel-Levitz describes some prevailing attitudes and behaviors of many first generation college students.  These include irregular study habits, difficulties with math, and a lack of interest in books.  What strategies does Brookdale need to employ to change these attitudes among students and encourage them to become more academically engaged?
http://blog.noellevitz.com/2011/02/08/3-freshman-attitudes-limit-academic-engagement/?utm_source=Strategies02092011&utm_campaign=optin&utm_medium=email

New Study on Latinos' Use of Technology

"Latinos are less likely than whites to access the internet, have a home broadband connection or own a cell phone, according to survey findings from the Pew Hispanic Center, a project of the Pew Research Center. Latinos lag behind blacks in home broadband access but have similar rates of internet and cell phone use."  To see this report and other research by the Pew Center:
http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1887/latinos-digital-technology-internet-broadband-cell-phone-use

Gang Presence Documented by the N.J. State Police--Monmouth and Ocean Counties Report High Numbers

The 2010 Street Gang Survey marks the fourth gang survey conducted by the New Jersey State Police in the past nine years. Nine New Jersey counties reported the presence of 90 or more gangs within their borders: Essex (166), Monmouth (132), Middlesex (126), Ocean (114), Bergen (108), Camden (107), Burlington (101), Atlantic (97), and Union (95).  To read the full 161 page report:
http://njsp.org/info/pdf/gangs_in_nj_2010.pdf

New Report From Harvard University States That A Baccalaureate Degree Is Not Right For Everyone--Some Profit Better From Vocational Education

Pathways to Prosperity: Meeting the Challenge of Preparing Young Americans for the 21st Century is a 52 page report from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education.  In it they discuss the current challenges facing today's youth; such as more demanding labor markets, along with widening skills and opportunity gaps.  They stress the importance of a vocational education for the "forgotten half," those who will not seek or obtain a baccalaurate degree.  The Georgetown Center, for example, projects that 14 million job openings—nearly half of those that will be filled byworkers with post-secondary education—will go to people with an associate’s degree or occupational certificate.  This discussion has clear implications for both credit and OBCD vocational programs offered at the College.
http://www.gse.harvard.edu/blog/news_features_releases/2010/02/pathways-to-prosperity-seeks-to-redefine-american-education-system.html
To read the full report:
http://www.agi.harvard.edu/projects/Pathways_to_Prosperity_Feb2011.pdf

In response to the report, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan offered remarks including the following:
 The Pathways to Prosperity study envisions a new system of career and technical education that constitutes a radical departure from the vocational education of the past.
 I am not here today to endorse the specifics of your policy recommendations. I want instead to suggest two takeaway messages from your study and the Department's reform efforts.
 First, for far too long, CTE (Career and Technical Education) has been the neglected stepchild of education reform. That neglect has to stop. And second, the need to re-imagine and remake career and technical education is urgent. CTE has an enormous, if often overlooked impact on students, school systems, and our ability to prosper as a nation.
 I am admittedly impatient for reform. But patience is not called for in the face of opportunity gaps. Children get only one chance at an education. They cannot wait on reform. It is time to finish the transformation of the old vocational education system into the new CTE.
http://www.ed.gov/news/speeches/new-cte-secretary-duncans-remarks-career-and-technical-education

Does Class Size Matter?

As economic pressures appear to force the college's hand in increasing class sizes, the time is right to really consider the importance of maintaining the size of classes that are taught at BCC.  From recruitment promises to the community that our classes are small to the college commitment to the significance of addressing the individual needs of students as a cornerstone to learning, how far will we go before larger class sizes begin to erode student success and retention? How far will we let economy drive decisions that impact valuable educational tools like discussions, interaction with peers, group work, cooperative learning, conferencing that provides frequent and timely feedback, and hands-on experiences that foster critical and reflective thinking that create a valuable and memorable classroom dynamic where students actively engage in their learning processes and are not looked upon as passive receptacles to deposit knowledge and information into?

The article below from Inside Higher Ed perhaps can fuel important discussion relative to the significance of class size in college, but more important for the Brookdale Community.

"Does Class Size Matter" by Daniel W. Barwick