Community College Curriculum

Community College Curriculum

Introduction

Community college administration curriculums are becoming wildly popular among Higher Education graduate programs at North Carolina (NC) colleges and universities. The prevalence of community college administration curriculums is vitally important as the number of community colleges continues to increase across the state of NC. Currently, the North Carolina Community College System is a statewide network of 59 public community colleges that serve approximately 779,000 students annually (NC Community Colleges, 2016). This number is likely to increase as tuition rates at four-year institutions continue to rise. The heightened number of community college students calls for more qualified faculty and staff that can help meet the needs of community college students.

The purpose of this paper is to summarize key findings from investigative research on community college administration curriculums at 17 colleges and universities. Additionally, this paper will aid in the development of a community college administration curriculum for the Higher Education Leadership (EDL) graduate and doctoral programs at the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW).

Curriculum Selection

The selected 17 colleges with community college administration curriculums are: Appalachian State University (ASU), Ball State University (BSU), George Mason University (GMU), Iowa State University (ISU), Lenoir-Rhyne (LR), Michigan State University (MSU), North Carolina State University (NCSU), Old Dominion University (ODU), Teacher’s College (TC), University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UN), University of North Carolina Greensboro (UNCG), University of North Texas (UNT), University of Southern California (USC), University of Virginia (UVA), Virginia Tech (VT), Western Carolina University (WCU), and Wingate University (WU). Colleges and universities selected for this research were chosen based on proximity to UNCW and prestige of popular, well-known programs.

The Council for the Study of Community Colleges maintains a listing of degree-granting and non-degree graduate programs focused on community colleges. The online listing acts as a directory that serves as a resource for professionals interested in community colleges. It is recommended that this directory be used for future research into community college administration curriculums. A full list of colleges and universities with community college degree-granting programs can be found in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Degree Granting Programs. This figure lists the colleges and universities in the Council for the Study of Community Colleges’ directory for degree-granting programs focused on community colleges.

Arizona State University Arkansas State University California State University, Fresno California State University, Fullerton California State University, Northridge Central Oklahoma University Colorado State University Eastern Michigan University East Tennessee State University Ferris State University Fielding Graduate University Florida Atlantic University Florida State University George Mason University Illinois State University Iowa State University Lenoir-Rhyne University-Asheville Michigan State University Mississippi State University Morgan State University National American University National-Louis University New Mexico State University New York University North Carolina State University Northern Arizona University Nova Southeastern University Oklahoma State University Old Dominion University Oregon State University Pennsylvania State University Portland State University San Diego State University Southern Illinois University Teachers College, Columbia University Texas A&M University, Commerce

Texas Tech University University of Akron University of Alabama University of Arizona University of Arkansas University of California, Berkeley University of California, Los Angeles University of Florida University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign University of Kentucky University of Iowa University of Louisville University of Michigan, Ann Arbor University of Missouri, Columbia University of North Carolina, Greensboro University of North Texas University of Oklahoma University of Oregon University of San Diego University of South Florida University of Southern California University of Southern Mississippi University of Toledo University of Virginia University of Wisconsin-Madison Virginia Tech University Walden University Western Carolina University

Findings

The research provided three distinct trends: popular and common courses, certificate programs, and concentrations and sequences. Several courses emerged as common courses across the 17 higher education programs. While the title of the course varied, the most prevalent course was an introduction to community college course. One hundred percent of the programs researched listed an introductory course that acquaints students with the field of community college administration. There were no other courses that surfaced across the every program; however, several other courses are deemed common based on the number of times they appeared. A finance related course appeared in 76.5 percent of the curriculums researched. This percentage includes courses with the words finance, budgeting, economic, or grant in them.

The third most popular course among the 17 programs researched was a required law, policy, or ethical issues course. Approximately 52.9 percent of the programs researched listed a legal issues class and 100 percent of those listed included it in the program’s core curriculum. The remaining frequently occurring classes are programming, planning, or evaluation courses and adult learning, adult learner, or adult fieldwork courses. Both programming and adult learner courses appeared in 47.1 percent of the curriculums researched. Additional courses that were in at least two program curriculums include: Social Justice and Diversity, Counseling Skills, Research Methodologies, and Assessment. Table 1 highlights the common courses found in this research.

Table 1

Common Courses in Curriculums Focusing on Community College Administration

Common Course Commonality

Introduction to Community College 17/17 – 100 percent

Finance, Budgeting, Economics, Grant 13/17 – 76.5 percent

Law, Policy, Ethical Issues 9/17 – 52.9 percent

Programming, Planning, Evaluation 8/17 – 47.1 percent

Adult Learning, Adult Learner, Adult Fieldwork 8/17 – 47.1 percent

Social Justice, Diversity > 40 percent

Counseling Skills > 40 percent

Research Methodologies > 40 percent

Assessment > 40 percent

Certificate Programs

The research indicates that Community College Leadership Certificate programs are very popular. Each Certificate Program is approximately 15 credit hours and is entirely made up of classes tailored to community college leadership. UN, BSU, LR, UNCG, UNT, and USC currently have well-established certificate programs. ISU is in the process of creating a certificate program that is due to launch Fall 2016; this brings the percentage of certificate programs in the curriculums researched to 41.1 percent. The most interesting certificate programs that are worth researching further are LR’s two available certificate programs. The first one is tailored towards students interested in administration positions at community colleges and the second one is tailored towards students interested in faculty positions at community colleges. The LR website recommends contacting Doctor Molly Duggan, Director of the Community College Administration Program at molly.duggan@lr.edu for additional certificate program information. Overall certificate programs are a popular curriculum option among graduate-level programs.

Concentrations and Sequences

Majority of the colleges and universities researched have a community college leadership and administration concentration or sequence rather than a full major. While most of the colleges and universities researched structure their community college curriculums with concentrations or sequences, WU has a distinct full major. WU offers a Doctoral Program, Doctor of Education in Community College Executive Leadership. The program takes a cohort approach where students work through courses in a prescribed pattern along with other members in the program, or cohort, for three years while earning doctoral degrees. Additionally, the program has a core curriculum comprised of Educational Leadership courses and specialized courses such as Workforce and Economic Development. The final components of WU’s full major are a doctoral capstone project, six to ten contact hours at a community college, a final portfolio, and a comprehensive exam. If the Watson College of Education (WCE) at UNCW is interested in creating a full major, then it should explore WU’s doctoral program further.

Conclusion

There are three key trends that emerge from the research: common courses, certificate programs, and concentrations or sequences. Overall the most common courses in community college administration curriculums are introductory courses, finance courses, and policy courses. Additionally, community college leadership certificate programs are growing in popularity as more institutions like ISU continue developing them. While several of the colleges and universities researched have certificate programs, they also have a significant number of concentrations or sequences rather than full majors in community college administration. This research as well as additional research will be used to help shape the development of a potential community college curriculum at UNCW.

References

North Carolina Community Colleges. (2016). About us. Retrieved from http://www.nccommunitycolleges.edu/about-us

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