Inflexible hours? Where I teach down here in Georgia we schedule on-campus classes seven days a week in addition to providing hundreds of online class opportunities. And I don't think we're all that unusual. Financial support is a barrier? Once again, not where I teach. It's extremely rare to find a student in one of my classes, and I teach both day and evening, who isn't receiving some form of financial support. Again, I don't think this is unusual for community colleges. Trying to schedule classes at employers' sites sounds like a logistical nightmare. We have satelite campuses spread throughout the metro Atlanta area. If students can't take classes at one of those campuses maybe they are not all that interested in taking classes. Where I teach almost 50% of the students need and receive remedial support. And we should provide child care as well? Wow!

I'm sure redweather and colleagues in Georgia work hard, but the comment shows the problem with current community college practices for working adults, especially low-income people. The response cited online classes, which presupposes access to the internet and ability to work on it effectively. It says scheduling classes at employers would be a "logistical nightmare," but leading community colleges do this all of the time, and if CC's don't do it, then working adults have to come to their campus, on the campus' schedule. And the comment "if students can't take classes at one of those campuses maybe they are not all that interested in taking classes" illustrates the attitude that CC's have to change--working, low-income adults need CC's to accomodate to their needs, and not be dismissed for the CC's needs.

If students don't have an Internet connection, then online classes don't seem like a good choice. But maybe they have transportation and childcare issues as well. So they need to decide what makes the most sense for them. Maybe it's buying an inexpensive laptop and getting an Internet connection; or maybe using public transportation and attending classes on campus is more cost-effective. There are any number of "maybes" that might apply, just as there are any number of factors that students might decide are most important to them. Expecting students to evaluate their situations and make decisions accordingly is what everyone must do, not just low-income adults.

I would like specific examples from the author of community colleges being inflexible in hours and approach. My community college offers online, hybrid, TV, face to face, day, evening, weekday, weekend, main campus, and branch campus courses. And we are not special in this respect.

Additionally, community colleges are not just about training workers. I don't teach philosophy, history, literature, or art, but I'm happy that my colleagues do, and I believe our community is richer as a result.

It would be a good idea for community colleges to get over their baccalureate lust since they have more important things to do. And having good occupational/professional programs is one of those things. But it's not an easy mission. Industries are difficult and unreliable partners. They know what employees they need now, but it takes a year or two for the college to prepare qualified candidates, by which time the industry may well have closed, exported the jobs, automated them, or done something to make the skills obsolete or unnecessary. (My university and our area community colleges have been burned in this way more than once.) It's pretty safe (and very expensive) to build a good nursing program or certificates in some health science areas. But just about anything in manufacturing, electronics, computer science, biotech, and so on is going to be a big risk for the college and for the students. It is possible to deliver a certificated phlebotomist in 6 months or less, since that is a very focused and narrow specialization. But a qualified medical technician is something else. The challenge for community colleges is to determine what a good occupational/professional program might be-- perhaps, a program that is broad enough that the graduate takes away more than a narrow technical qualification for which the demand has disappeared.

I think this argues for a major rethinking of the "silo" phenomenon that has been created across all levels of the existing educational system in the country and the finger pointing at each other or blaming the student as the victim for lack of achievement and success. We have given reinforcement
to a system of remediation that is sucking the talent that we need. Perhaps we need to come to
table and once again better define who we teach, why we teach, what we teach, and where and when we should teach? Clarity in the educational field in this area is sorely needed. Let's give life to
an instructional system for the 21st Century and move away from the past since it is certainly not providing the levels of success the society now needs in a consistent and reliable manner. HT Ingle, San Diego

This article appears to be written by someone who has no clue about, or experience with, community colleges, especially in the state of California. Perhaps if the state funded the community college system at a level equivalent to K-12 or the 4-year institutions, more could be accomplished beyond the day, night, weekend, and online classes that are available to community college students; and let us not forget the corporate and community services programs that work with local businesses. Hmmm...perhaps we could design an in-home personal tutorial program for those students who find parking to be inconvenient.

Right now community colleges are burdened with a growing student demand, a declining budget, and demands from people like Teresa who appear to lack understanding of the work involved in providing basic skills to students who need a waiver to get passed a high school exit exam.

You want reform? Put politicians in office that understand the *real* value of community colleges and are willing to let them educate their communities without the political influences of the "I don't give a damn about you, just re-elect me" politicians.

It is not "about time we examine community colleges. Thank you, Mr. President." It is about time we started supporting and funding them!

As a community college English teacher, a big problem I notice with this article is that the writer has at least one sentence fragment in paragraph one and a very nasty run-on leading into paragraph 2. Chronicle, how are you going to maintain your credibility as a journal of education with this kind of editing?

If I read the article correctly, Ms. Ghilarducci is advocating that community colleges ignore their missions of preparing students for entering baccalaureate programs, and serving the community with enrichment programs and non-credit offerings. The sole mission would be to prepare students for a place in the workforce (which certainly is one important mission). To this agrument, I would add that community colleges cannot continue to be all things for all people,but such dramatic "reform" must thoughful and universal; perhaps best accomplished at the state level.

The author clearly does not understand community colleges very well. I wonder if she's ever set foot in a community college!

She says "some of us" partner with local employers? I've worked in community colleges in three states, and keep in touch with the national scene, and I would say the community college that does not partner with local employers is the rare exception. As another writer notes, she also misses the part of our mission that has to do with transfer to baccalaureate programs, where our graduates, on average, do very well -- as well or better as the so-called "native" student who begins at a 4-year college. Irrelevant courses and inflexible scheduling? Madame, what planet do you live on? I invite you to visit my community college, and you'll see a microcosm of what community colleges do everywhere.

Oh yes, as the Obama administration knows, we need to improve our graduation rates. That is clear. But coupled with that fact, know this: we offer opportunity to the neediest of students -- both academically and financially -- and yet we are funded less per student than any other sector of public higher education. Can you starve a race horse and expect it to win the race? We do remarkable things with thin funding, and it is very refreshing to have President Obama recognize both the job we do and the fact that we are underfunded.

Kathleen Schatzberg, President
Cape Cod Community College