I saw four articles in the last 24 hours about how schools are reacting to the shift in the economy.  For example, Southeastern Louisiana is cutting jobs, Duke is offering early retirement packages, furloughs are being introduced in the University of California System, and partial paychecks are being distributed at Lambuth.  Simultaneously, there are just as many articles focusing on how community colleges are bursting at the seams with higher enrollment numbers than ever before, younger students than ever before, and more full-time students than ever before.  Yesterday, in Michigan, where the car industry woes have produced a grim employment scene, President Obama announced a proposal to give $12 billion over the next 10 years to two-year institutions to teach and train more people for "the jobs of the future."

Community colleges are changing before our eyes and if this initiative is passed, these institutions will change even more quickly and drastically. The economy is begging for new training for the large numbers of unemployed people and the job market is changing with the fallout in the economy as is the case near Detroit.  I read a very interesting article about how the President of Ivy Tech Community College in Indiana, Thomas Snyder (one of four finalists), has taken himself out of the running for the Chancellor of the State University System of Florida, an assumed "step-up" in the world of higher education administration.  Ivy Tech is viewed as a model success story in the community college realm.  With the push to support community colleges coming at the federal level, apparently Snyder did not want to leave that success with a very optimistic future while many four-year institutions are not nearly as confident about tomorrow. 

In Virginia, Tidewater Community College is breaking ground for a new student center.  Because the typical community college student is now younger, they want a more traditional college experience.  Instead of going to community college on a part-time basis, many students are either unemployed or right out of high school and have the time to hang out at school.  If community colleges are to meet the needs of the changing enrollees, they will need the money Obama is proposing in order to update rundown facilities and create new facilities never needed before like aquatic centers and fitness centers when child care centers were the only centers needed previously.

 Be on the lookout for even more changes to community colleges!

Dana Edwards