Business Question

Post ID: 3520832

DISSCUSIOIN #1

Access to higher education is the central theme that runs throughout the history of community colleges. This holistic, equity-driven entrance has mapped the way for the community to gain access to technical and vocational education, certifications, two-year junior college degrees, associate's degrees, and even four-year degrees. Many community college students are balancing multiple family and work obligations above and beyond the typical college student. For this initial post, briefly share with your classmates what interests you about community colleges. Then, write a 3–5 sentence statement about the historical importance of open access to community colleges.

DISCUSSION #2

Possible Points: 20

Higher education institutions are led by a combination of a president, the president's team (vice presidents and deans), and a board of trustees. Today's community college presidents need to be strong in the areas of fundraising and community–campus partnerships (including K–12 and other area colleges) and must also be politically savvy. Presidents and their teams oversee the day-to-day operations, but the board works with the president to guide the mission, vision, and values of the college. Review the list of key skills for a community college president below. Choose what you believe are the top five most important skills and share why you choose them.

In response to your classmates, review their top five rankings and discuss how their rationale is similar or different from yours.

The following are key skills of a college president:

has positive relationships with the board
gifted budget manager
has vision for the college
ethical decision maker
has politically savvy
strong fundraiser
creates and maintains positive community–campus partnerships
strong, positive social media presence
highly regarded by the faculty
higher regarded by the students
has strong Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion statements
takes powerful Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion actions
has strong ties with area K–12 administrators
has strong ties with four-year schools for transfer
connected to industry for workforce development pathways
has powerful connection to healthcare
has positive connections to state legislatures and the governor's office
has previous community college leadership experience
effective public speaker
exceptional interpersonal skills

dDISCUSSION #3

Consider the impact of financial aid as a form of revenue in regard to the support of a community college. Discuss the relationship between student financial aid and state funding formulas, and the impact that the relationship has on decisions that a college makes regarding student tuition and fees. What impact do tuition and fee changes have on a campus with regard to revenue and enrollment? What factors should a college consider before making changes to tuition and fee schedules?

ASSIGNMENT #WEEK 2

In Milestone One, you will submit a draft of the Justification section (Section I) of your written recommendation for the final project. This exercise will facilitate your ability to understand the progression of community colleges in the United States from vocational and technical colleges to degree-granting institutions. This milestone will allow you to analyze the reason behind this transition and how the transition benefits the diversity of learners. This milestone will also ask you to describe how the transition would facilitate both the enrollment to degree-granting institutions and the transfer of students to a degree-granting institution. Lastly, you will analyze state funding formula decisions and how these inform community colleges to move to degree-granting institutions.

Prompt

You have been hired as a member of the President’s Cabinet at Our Community College (OCC). The OCC Board of Trustees is exploring the idea of moving OCC to a degree-granting institution and has tasked the president and his cabinet to make a recommendation. Using the provided profile of OCC, you will make a recommendation to the cabinet that will outline the progression of OCC from a vocational and technical college to degree-granting institution.

For this milestone, submit a document that analyzes the current landscape of regionally accredited degree-granting community colleges in regard to their common mission and vision. Analyze how that landscape impacts commonly accepted student outcomes of modern-day community colleges. Additionally, discuss how this justification relates to the scenario provided in the Final Project Document.

Specifically the following critical elements must be addressed:

Justification
1. Analyze why a board of trustees would look to transition the institution from a vocational and technical college to a degree-granting institution. What are some current reasons why vocational and technical colleges have transitioned to degree-granting institutions? What beneficial impacts to the community have you identified?
2. Analyze how this transition benefits the needs of traditional and nontraditional learners. Compare and contrast traditional and nontraditional learners. What are some relevant challenges both types of learners must overcome? Which adult learning theories support your analysis?
3. Describe how this transition would better facilitate matriculation to degree-granting institutions from a student perspective. What are some current realities for students when they matriculate from a vocational and technical college to a degree-granting institution? What are some current trends in bridging the two types of colleges to foster an easy transition for students?
4. Describe how this transition would better facilitate transfer from the perspective of the educational leaders of four-year institutions. What are some current realities for educational leaders in higher education when students transfer from a vocational and technical college to a degree-granting institution? What are some current trends in bridging the two types of colleges?
5. Distinguish how state funding formula decisions inform community colleges to move to degree-granting institutions. What are some current state funding issues that states have addressed and the methods they utilized? Determine whether these methods would be appropriate and predict their impact on the community college.

What to Submit

Your paper must be submitted as a two- to four-page Microsoft Word document with double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, one-inch margins, and at least six sources cited in APA format.

ASSIGNMENT VWEEK 3

Write a personal statement regarding the role of state funding in higher education and its impact. This statement should describe your philosophy in terms of what type of funding formula you support and justification for how this formula best supports education and student outcomes.

Journal assignments are only shared between you and the instructor and are not viewable by other students.