Community College Librarian

Obama is my favorite person right now. This from Inside Higher Ed, College for the Unemployed:

“‘The president also said that he would soon ‘lay out a fundamental rethinking of our job training, vocational education, and community college programs,’ designed ‘to move beyond the idea that we need several different programs to address several different problems — we need one comprehensive policy that addresses our comprehensive challenges.’”

I’m all for anything that makes financial aid easier to get but I’m worried about changes to Perkins and the Workforce act. I’m sure we will not get screwed over but there should be a plan in place to make sure that if these programs are indeed changed or canceled that no CC (read: students) that currently relies on them will fall through the cracks. CC’s rely heavily on these programs in career and tech ed.

Some community colleges moved quickly and started offering programs and discounts for people effected by the economic downturn.

Warren Community College is offering free job training in retail sales and customer service: http://www.nj.com/warrenreporter/index.ssf/2009/05/warren_county_community_colleg_27.html

Northampton CC in New Jersey is offering free tuition to the unemployed: http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/bethlehem/index.ssf/2008/12/ncc_to_aid_the_unemployed.html

So is Normandale CC in Minnesota, Mott CC in Flint, MI, Klamath CC in Oregon and all of the Kentucky CC’s and all of the Maine CC’s have programs for the unemployed too. Some colleges offer free tuition for the recently unemployed such as Luzerne CC in PA under their New Choices-New Options Program. In my home state, Oakton CC is offering free retraining for displaced workers, as is South Suburban CC in South Holland.

What is my college doing for displaced workers? We raised (nearly doubled) tuition for Nursing and Dental Hygiene students because these students will make a decent salary when they graduate. (If they can afford to finish and if they can find work afterward). We also raise tuition for all other students nearly every year! Oh, but we are generous with our President who has only been with us for 4 traumatic months. I’m just SO proud.

NBC is coming out with a sitcom set in a community college. It will star Chevy Chase and a bunch of other people I’ve never heard of. I’m sort of disgusted by the description of the show from NBC and would have much preferred a dramatic show over this has-been ridiculousness. I’m sure this thing will be packed with insane students, ignorant teachers and mishaps in “woodshop.”

From the NBC “Community” website
“It’s been said that community college is a “halfway school” for losers, a self esteem workshop for newly divorced housewives, and a place where old people go to keep their minds active as they circle the drain of eternity. Well, at Greendale Community College…that’s all true. Community focuses on a band of misfits, at the center of which is a fast-talkin’ lawyer whose degree has been revoked (Joel McHale, The Soup). They form a study group and, in “Breakfast Club” fashion, end up learning a lot more about themselves than they do about their course work.

From Emmy Award-winning directors Joe and Anthony Russo (Arrested Development) comes a smart comedy about higher education…and lower expectations.”