Transforming America's Community Colleges: A Federal Policy Proposal to Expand Opportunity and Promote Economic Prosperity

This May 2009 policy brief from the Brookings Institution's Blueprint for American Prosperity series offers policy suggestions on how the federal government might reinvest in community colleges across the nation. The brief offers a number of concrete suggestions for the federal government, including the recommendation that they should establish national postsecondary goals and also devote a significant portion of existing funding to improve and evaluate teaching practices in these institutions. These recommendations offer a possible window to the future of community colleges.

http://www.brookings.edu/reports/2009/~/media/Files/rc/reports/2009/0507_community_college_goldrick_rab/0507_community_college_brief.pdf

Higher Education and Community Research Partnerships

More and more organizations have become interested in partnerships forged between institutions of higher education and local community-based organizations. Released in late 2003, this 48-page report from the Pew Partnership for Civic Change investigated university-community research partnerships at 19 sites around the United States. Some of these community organizations included groups working in the areas of job training, commercial revitalization, youth mentoring, and job transportation. This report contains a variety of examples for possible future projects at the college.

http://www.pew-partnership.org/pdf/university_and_community.pdf

Monmouth County Profile 2009

The Monmouth County Planning Board's 2009 profile provides a concise, current overview of Monmouth County with accompanying statistics. Brookdale is discussed on page 18 of this report:

"For the past three years, Brookdale Community College has achieved its
fastest rate of growth, currently serving over 15,000 full and part-time
students. The American Council on Education reports that approximately
one out of three Monmouth County high school students chooses to attend
Brookdale Community College, with annual enrollment expected to
increase 2.5% through 2011. "

Click below to read the full report.

http://co.monmouth.nj.us/documents/24/2009%20Profile.pdf

Developing the 2011 Matrix

What are the top three things that Brookdale should concentrate on in the next 5 years? Please post your responses here or email agelfman@brookdalecc.edu Thank you for your help in developing the Matrix.

Student Engagement

CCSSE report on the expectations of community college students and the essential elements of engagement can be found in this report:

http://www.ccsse.org/publications/2008_National_Report.pdf

College Costs

College May Become Unaffordable for Most in U.S.
From the New York Times December 3, 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/03/education/03college.html?ref=education

College Costs

Growing Gap Is Found in College Affordability and Grants to Needy Students
From the New York Times November 18, 2008
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0DEFD71F31F93BA25752C1A96E958260

Call for Equity for Community Colleges

Gail O. Mellow, President of LaGuardia Community College gives her perspective on community colleges and higher education in the United States in this article from The Chronicle of Higher Education and posting from Inside Higher Education.

http://chronicle.com/daily/2008/02/1581n.htm

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/02/11/ace

Top Ten State Policy Issues for Higher Education in 2008

http://www.aascu.org/policy_matters/pdf/topten2008.pdf

Community Colleges Are Key to Shoring Up U.S. Economy, Report Says

http://chronicle.com/daily/2008/01/1464n.htm

New York Times reports fewer young adult readers and lower test scores

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/19/arts/19nea.html?ex=1353214800&en=13a4a38384b44a75&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

How Choice, Co-Creation, and Culture Are Changing What It Means to Be Net Savvy

Technology and the way information is created, used, and disseminated have changed, as has the definition of "net savvy"