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Book Description:
The Community College Labor Market Responsiveness (CCLMR) Initiative was created to develop and disseminate information and tools enabling community colleges to keep pace with the needs of a diverse student body and a dynamic labor market. This report draws upon profiles (Appendix B) and statistical evidence (Appendix C) to describe the factors that affect labor-market responsiveness. First, it examines the effects of the external environment, the characteristics of local residents and the nature of the local economy. Second, it examines the effects of the external organizational structure, the state and local community workforce, education, and economic development infrastructure. Third, it examines colleges’ external governance structures, which affect their mission, resource base, and flexibility. Finally, it examines the effects of factors under the college’s control, presidential leadership, internal organization, strategic planning to design and fund programs, use of data, and programmatic base. Each stage in the progression has strong, if not decisive, effects on the successive stage, and ultimately on each college’s potential to be market-responsive, and the nature of the obstacles that need to be overcome to realize its potential. The progression is emphasized to make it clear that more should be expected of colleges located in environments that are favorable to development of labor-market responsive programs than where external conditions are unfavorable, not that colleges in favorable environments should complacently compare themselves to colleges in less favorable environments. This emphasis also helps clarify what colleges can do regardless of their external environment to overcome obstacles to become more responsive and reach their own unique potential. |
