White House Plans Community College Summit

WASHINGTON — The White House says Vice President Joe Biden's wife, Jill, will convene the first-ever White House summit on community colleges on Oct. 5.

President Barack Obama wants the U.S. to lead the world in awarding college degrees by 2020, and he's counting on community colleges to help meet that goal.

The White House said Wednesday that the summit will provide a forum for community college administrators, business leaders, philanthropists, government officials and students to discuss how these schools can help the U.S. have the most educated work force in the world.

Obama asked Jill Biden to organize the summit. She has taught at community colleges for the past 17 years and now teaches at one not far from the White House.

Comments

[Alant]

04:15 PM on 09/16/2010

How is it that adjunct and contingent faculty, who do the lion's (lioness's, really—the adcon ranks are tilted female) share of the teaching at the nation's community colleges, are not explicitly and respectfully included in this summit? It's like discussing mine safety only with the owners of the mine: we know how that sort of thing works out. Why were national organizations, such as New Faculty Majority: The Coalition for Adjunct and Contingent Faculty—not consulted? This is a very odd way to hold an important summit on education, to leave out the instructors who do most of the teaching and who do so for about 1/3 the wages of a dwindling and overburdened "regular" faculty, and do so for the most part with no benefits and no job security. It's a peculiar ad for the economic importance of education, and cannot in its present form help our students who are looking for the colleges to do so much. We urge the President and his advisors to pay attention to the problems of all faculty members as they work for full inclusion in institutional governance, curriculum development, and equity in compensation. The various press releases mention "educational experts", but unless we are there it's all false advertising.

[Demarcus Jackson]

08:49 PM on 09/15/2010

I really want this to happen. I teach full-time at Columbia State Community College in Columbia, TN. Community colleges are a major player in our higher education system, and I do not believe that they get the credit they deserve.

[Kurfco]

03:15 PM on 09/15/2010

Please, please make sure there is one key issue on the agenda: "What is the proper role for Community Colleges?"

If they are cheaper and just as good as four year colleges and have no entrance requirements, why do we have more expensive schools with entrance requirements? Why shouldn't all kids go there? What proportion of students attending CC's in the last 10 years have actually used them to either graduate or transfer to a four year college? I will hazard the guess that over 50% of the students who enter CC's intending to graduate or transfer at the end of two years don't make it through two semesters. Why? Because they coasted through high school, got a poor high school education and no study skills, in part because they planned from the beginning to attend the local CC. When they got there, they squealed in anguish that it is hard there too and dropped out.

For each Community College success story, I think there are five tragedies that are much less visible and vocal.

[isadora]

08:19 PM on 09/15/2010

Hey troll with a big ego who likes to put others down in order to feel superior: Before you make such guesses come up with some information to support these shallow, unkind assertions. I work at a Community College (though we dropped the word "community" from our name last year). We added some four year degrees prompting the name change. Many assertions-no proof. If you aren't in the Republican party go there. I think they'll love you.

[Kurfco]

11:02 PM on 09/15/2010

It's just this kind of empire building -- going from a two year to a four year institution -- that should be looked at hard. Check out the Public Policy Institute of California studies on what's happening in California's 112 Community Colleges.

[lecloche]

01:02 PM on 09/15/2010

Please, please! Somebody make sure Wick Sloane is there!!
http://www.insidehighered.com/views/sloane/sloane33

[ilovemyprez]

11:10 AM on 09/15/2010

Dr. Biden is amazing!

[isadora]

08:21 PM on 09/15/2010

Isn't she? We Democrats have the greatest women in the world in our ranks as opposed to bona fide snobs and anti womens rights types often seen in the other party's first and second ladies.