Facing changes in funding game, CCs define new rules

Community college systems, which have increasingly seen their state funding shift away from the number of students they enroll to how many they graduate, seek to influence the way their performance is gauged by redefining the rules of accountability. Two states have adopted the Voluntary Accountability Framework, an initiative of the American Association of Community Colleges, as a system to report how how their colleges are performing, and several other states are considering adoption. The framework seeks to broaden accountability metrics beyond a narrow focus on degree completion and to consider the performance of part-time, not just full-time, students. Community colleges have long argued that federal accountability systems place too much emphasis on the types of degree completion metrics that favor the 4-year university model. By contrast, they argue they serve a more diverse set of students who have a more complex set of goals and educational pathways.

CCs and Udacity focus on Corporate Training

The vast Maricopa Community College system in Arizona has responded to reduced state support by expanding its contract training business with local industry. This article mentions Global Corporate College (GCC), a small Ohio woman-owned startup to help colleges capture this business. I met with GCC founder, Denise Reading, and her team, last year as part of some exploratory technology work with my employer. Additionally, this article refers to Udacity founder, Sebastian Thrun's, announcement some months back about his interest in seeing MOOCs support corporate training. There are some technological hurdles to clear to design and develop the content for online learning materials, particularly to ensure the quality of the learning experience.