Can we all work together to help community college students?

In a recent Chronicle article titled “Who Do I Think I Am?”(http://chronicle.com/article/Who-Do-I-Think-I-Am-/135968/?cid=cc&utm_source=cc&utm_medium=en), the main topic seems to be one professor’s struggle with an extremely persistent student. In my opinion though, there seems to be another underlying factor that California community colleges need to work on, and that is lack of classes for students.

Community college has been a boon used by many people including high school students getting a leg up on their upcoming freshman year of college, students getting their A.A degree in hopes of transferring to a four year institution, and folks wanting a better future testing the waters with a class here and there.

This past summer, a large majority of San Diego community college cancelled summer classes altogether, and while some private schools in the county scrambled to try and pick up the slack by offering “special summer classes”, it was too little too late for a lot of students and that is a pity. Therefore, one of my recurring themes in many of my writings reemerges here, and that is collaboration.

Community colleges, instead of waiting for the private schools to come to you, why don’t you go to them and say you need help and we want to work with you? Private schools would of course have to lower the cost of these special classes and some of them have been (but no one can beat California community college prices). There would also have to be some good articulation agreements put in place that make it easy for students to know what will transfer and what will not., but all this can been done with the proper will. Get it done because it can be done!  Just take the politics out of the equation.

Remember, in the end it is all about helping the student succeed.

 

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam Educational Consulting Group

http://www.theeteamconsulting.com/