As community colleges rely more heavily on part-timers, some try new strategies to improve teaching.
Above, Jan Brown, an adjunct who teaches English to immigrants and refugees at Lone Star-CyFair, consults with Sunnye Pruden, a speech-communication professor who helps adjuncts develop their skills. (Photograph by Paul S. Howell)

The efforts of proven professors have become more and more important in community-college classrooms. Here are the stories of five of them:

• M. ELAINE TAGLIARENI: A high-profile 'living example" for nursing students.
• DONNA K. DUFFY: An open-door policy for psychology students.
• JAMES L. PRESTON: Finding ways to hook students early.
• PAULA CLARKE AND W. TED HAMILTON: A commitment to asking the hard questions.
• M. VALI SIADAT: Demonstrating the power of group math.

Colleges are seeking experienced nurses who are willing to return to the classroom.

As enrollments soar, some colleges offer round-the-clock classes — and still run out of space.

Work, scrimp, save: One family's plan to put two children through college — with three more to go.

Commentary

Washington has stereotyped and underfunded community colleges, writes Diane Auer Jones. It has also flubbed the collection of data that would represent just how valuable the institutions really are.

Professional training is valuable. A well-rounded education is invaluable. Community colleges need to provide both, writes Rob Jenkins.

Offering residence halls at community colleges isn't mission creep, writes Robert E. Ritschel, it's mission leap — and an ill-considered one at that.

Transferring to four-year colleges can and should be made much easier, says Bob Laird.

Why does so much corporate support go to four-year colleges instead of two-year colleges? asks Drew A. Bennett.

Rural colleges need presidents now — and Pamela L. Eddy knows where to find them.

Community colleges' diversity is their greatest strength, and their biggest obstacle. After nearly four decades teaching at one, Trum Simmons wonders how viable the whole project is.

Some community-college presidents are taking their institutions in new directions; some are using their expertise and accessibility to build stronger ties to their communities. Here are the stories of seven of them.
Students from a study-abroad program offered by Georgia Perimeter College gather in Machu Picchu, Peru. More two-year colleges are offering such programs. (Photograph by Ernie Guyton)

• THOMAS J. SNYDER
• MARIE FOSTER GNAGE
• MONTE E. PEREZ
• DAISY COCCO DE FILIPPIS
• STEVEN LEE JOHNSON
• DEBORAH M. DICROCE
• JOHN J. SYGIELSKI

For many community colleges, global is the new local as they begin study-abroad programs and other international strategies.

Some two-year colleges are taking bold steps to increase their share of grant money.

A number of two-year institutions have sought out architects to create impressive new projects as well as imaginative renovations of humdrum buildings from the 1960s and 70s buildings.

• FROM THE GROUND UP: A sampling of recent construction and renovation projects at community colleges.

One transfer student got the help she needed from a community college to pursue her dream of medical school.

As the most democratic institutions in this country, community colleges must set their sights lower, dig deeper into their communities, and work with a sense of urgency, writes Daniel Seymour.

Nearly 80 college leaders gathered with Education Department leaders to discuss issues urgent to community colleges. Pat Stanley discusses some of their ideas.

George B. Vaughan, a former community-college president, emeritus talks about how to get such a job-and succeed.

America's community colleges are a key link in the chain of upward mobility, and they need more support than they're getting, Paul Lanning writes.

Two-year colleges are sanctuaries for generalists, says Chad M. Hanson. Switching from a university to a community college helped him discover the purpose of postsecondary life.

In 1971, Garrett Bauman taught his first community-college class, at age 23. His experiences with conflicting cultural values have lessons for today.

Faculty members could learn a lot about how to become better teachers by becoming students again, Caroline Calogero writes.

Some students arrive at community college with the hope that they can reinvent themselves. Instructors have the privilege of helping them make that happen, says Ellen A. Laird.

Two competing visions of education help explain the tension between jobs and ideas that all community colleges grapple with, M. Garrett Bauman writes.

Some colleges are trying new ways to move students more quickly and smoothly through remedial math.

Instructors at City College of San Francisco make the college's Diego Rivera mural an everyday part of the curriculum.

In rural areas, arts programs at colleges provide a rich diet for culture-starved residents.

12 TEACHING TIPS: Community-college instructors offer ideas for the classroom.

GOOD CITIZENSHIP: Most community-college leaders give little thought to the role their colleges play in their communities, George B. Vaughan says.

NONTRADITIONAL LEARNERS: Colleges are not keeping up with changes in the way adults pursue their education, says Charlene R. Nunley.

SCARCE INFORMATION: Students need to know much more about how to transfer to four-year institutions, Stephen J. Handel writes.

BOILING POINT: Bob Blaisdell reflects on the day he lost it in front of his students.

A SPECIAL ROLE: Rural community colleges are meeting the needs of a changing and increasingly diverse population, Stephen G. Katsinas says.

INFLUENCE OVERSEAS: Community colleges can play an important role in fostering world peace, writes David J. Smith.

CLASSROOM OBSESSIONS: Charlotte Laws says that too many instructors emphasize grades and attendance, to the detriment of creativity and responsibility.

CHALLENGES OF POVERTY: Kathleen Sheerin DeVore says it is her job to help students complete their assignments amid the chaos of their lives.

ATTENTION BILLIONAIRES: Big donors should consider giving to community colleges if they really want to help the nation's students, writes Catherine Stukel.