California Community College Seeks a More Diversified Board of Trustees

The Associated Press reported that Cerritos Community College has changed its trustee election system so that it will be more culturally inclusive:
Posted: 10/05/2011 08:33:01 PM PDT

NORWALK, Calif.—The Cerritos Community College board of trustees has moved to change its trustee election system a week after a lawsuit was filed charging that the current system discriminates against Latino voters. A statement from the college says the board introduced a resolution Wednesday night to change to a system where trustees are elected from their own residential areas. Currently, trustees are elected at-large. The board anticipates the change will take effect in December. Last month, three Latino voters sued the college, saying the at-large system does not give Latinos fair representation on the board and violates the California Voter Rights Act. The college says it wants the lawsuit withdrawn since the change, which was already under consideration, is now being adopted.

College Graduation Rates Are Stagnant Even as Enrollment Rises

A recent New York Times article speaks about the work of Complete College America, which has gathered data with the cooperation of 33 governors.  It reports how many of the students in states completed their degrees, whether enrollment is full- or part-time, or at a two- or four-year institution.
"In Texas, for example, of every 100 students who enrolled in a public college, 79 started at a community college, and only 2 of them earned a two-year degree on time; even after four years, only 7 of them graduated. Of the 21 of those 100 who enrolled at a four-year college, 5 graduated on time; after eight years, only 13 had earned a degree."

The following link provides the full article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/27/education/27remediation.html
 
In New Jersey, overall graduation rates are among the lowest in the nation.  According to data reported by NCHEMS, The National Center for Higher Education Management Systems, of the 26,580 students beginning at a New Jersey community college in Fall 2006, only 4,456 had graduated by Summer 2009.  This is a graduation rate of 16.8.  To see NCHEMS national data, see the following link:
http://www.higheredinfo.org/dbrowser/index.php?submeasure=24&year=2009&level=nation&mode=data&state=0
 
How should Brookdale interpret and act upon these reports?  Are there other indicators of success beyond graduation rates which should be examined and stressed?  As we plan 5 years ahead to 2017 it is crucial to consider national expectations of what constitutes college student success. 

Committee on Measures of Student Success Issues Draft Report

The Committee on Measures of Student Success advises the U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, in assisting two-year degree-granting institutions of higher education in meeting the completion or graduation rate disclosure requirements.  Here's the draft of their report about measuring student success released on September 2, 2011:
http://www2.ed.gov/about/bdscomm/list/cmss-committee-report.pdf

To learn more about the members and work of the Committee on Measures of Student Success visit their website:
http://www2.ed.gov/about/bdscomm/list/acmss.html

Testing and Improving Gauges of Student Learning

Read about The Quality Collaboratives Project; the three-year, $2.2-million effort seeks to help the states chart a path by which they can raise, and document, students' level of achievement.

http://chronicle.com/article/Project-Will-Pay-for-8-States/129259/