Michigan State University Extension
Diversity and Pluralism - 02150018
12/95/
ERIC TITLE NUMBER: ED301262 AUTHOR: Smith, Janet D.
TITLE: Access, Excellence and Student Retention: The
Challenge of Leadership, Public Trust and Institutional
Effectiveness in Urban Community Colleges.
YEAR PUBLISHED: 1988
NOTE: 23 p.; Paper presented at the Annual Convention of the
Association of Community College Trustees (19th, Louisville,
KY, October 5-9, 1988).
ABSTRACT: Though community colleges have long been committed
to providing equal access and equal opportunity to all
persons in their service districts, the need to meet the
education and training needs of underserved racial and
ethnic minorities in urban communities remains a significant
challenge to educational leaders. Several books and reports
issued between 1982 and 1988 have offered recommendations on
how best to address this challenge, many focusing on the
role of college trustees and governing boards. Fundamental
to coordinated efforts to enhance minority access,
retention, and achievement are the following imperatives:
(1) the stragegies must be part of an overall plan for
institutional advancement; (2) cooperative relationships
must be developed with urban high schools and 4-year
institutions; (3) a sound theoretical framework must govern
the development of efforts at change; and (4) though
executive leadership is important to institutional change,
there must also be clearly defined structural relationships
and accountabilities within the staff. An example of these
imperatives in operation is Cuyahoga Community College's
Greater Cleveland Area Urban Demonstration Laboratory Model,
in which access and retention are seen as touchstones for
institutional advancement; "bridge" programs of learning and
support services are being developed; the "effective school
theory" is used as the basis upon which to organize and
assess programatic efforts; and clearly defined operational
responsibilities have been established. (AJC)
KEY DESCRIPTORS: Academic-Achievement; College-School
Cooperation; Community-Colleges; Educational-Assessment;
Long-Range-Planning; Self-Evaluation-Groups; Two-Year
Colleges
KEY DESCRIPTORS: *Access-to-Education; *Affirmative-Action;
*Equal-Education; *Governance-; *Minority-Groups
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