ORLANDO, Fla. — Nearly 2,400 community college chancellors, presidents, deans and faculty members descended upon the Orlando World Center Marriott Resort and Convention Center for the 92nd annual American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) convention. Amid a community college’s moment in the sun, as an economic downturn has highlighted community colleges’ value proposition, the Orlando World Center Marriott is buzzing with activity, and community college leaders and faculty members of all stripes seek to propel their respective institutions to higher levels of success.
AACC President Walter Bumphus said this year’s AACC convention “may be the largest one we’ve ever had. We’re just so thrilled with the interest in community colleges right now.”
Over the weekend, the AACC released a report from its 21st-Century Commission on the Future of Community Colleges titled “Reclaiming the American Dream: Community Colleges and the Nation’s Future.” The report, which was spearheaded by Bumphus, who served as chairman of the commission, calls for fundamental shifts in the leadership orientation of community colleges, from just being focused on access to a focus on completion.
“We always talked about getting more and more and more. We saw ourselves and valued ourselves on getting more, not necessarily getting [students] out,” says Dr. Ronald Williams, who serves as vice president with the College Board and sits on AACC’s board of directors.
“It’s not that we ignored [completion], but it was not where our validation came,” said Williams. “We told people how big we were, and I think what Walter is trying to do is refocus that conversation, in such a way that now we shift from that entry point … to this notion of rather to see our value as the end point, rather than the entry point.”
The current economic challenges require significant action, according to the AACC. “In a rapidly changing America and a drastically reshaped world, the ground beneath the nation’s feet has shifted so dramatically that community colleges need to reimagine their roles and the ways they do their work,” the report said.
For low-income students and students of color, an inability to finish a certificate or degree and inadequate job preparation can have a devastating effect on those with the greatest need for community college programs.
