Leaders of Pennsylvania’s 14 community colleges say they are ready to meet the challenges set forth in forward-thinking AACC report
Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges
May 1, 2012
Community College of Allegheny County president Alex Johnson Pennsylvania’s community college leaders said today that the 14 colleges are
ready to meet the challenges set forth in a new report and are already implementing many of the recommendations the report proposed to strengthen the community college system and student success.
The report, “Reclaiming the American Dream: A Report from the 21st-Century Commission on the Future of Community Colleges,” released this weekend by the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), calls for dramatic changes to America's community colleges to ensure U.S. competitiveness.
“This report provides an honest perspective on the community college system and its role in the future competitiveness of the United States,” said Dr. Alex Johnson, president of the Community College of Allegheny County and a member on the board that helped develop the report. “It is noteworthy that Pennsylvania’s community colleges are already implementing many of the recommendations the report detailed, from improving college readiness to being held accountable for completion rates.”
The report's recommendations center on "Three Rs" of reform: Redesign, Reinvent and Reset. These are defined as a redesign of students' educational experiences, a reinvention of institutional roles, and a resetting of the system to create partnerships and incentives for student and institutional success.
The strategic five-year plan developed by Pennsylvania’s community colleges sets the stage for reforming and rethinking the colleges’ role in higher education and their impact to the state and U.S. competitiveness.
