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Over the past couple of months, I have been engaged in redecorating and modernizing my home. About halfway into the project, I realized the value of reframing. My art work actually looked different, better, with its fresh matting and frames and hung in new locations throughout my house.
This project reinforced the value of bringing new perspectives to an endeavor, of reframing the way we see things. No doubt there is a metaphor here for problem solving, decision making, prioritizing, and planning. After all, how we look at things generally affects our attitudes, opinions, and behaviors.
California has a proud heritage related to higher education. The adoption of the California Master Plan of Higher Education in 1960 promised access to all individuals desiring a college education. By viewing higher education as an equilateral triangle, community colleges have served as the foundation. Another perspective is that the community colleges have provided the safety net by providing access to literally millions of people moving through the system over the years. We all know the numbers: while the aggregate number of students is on the rise, the financial support per student in real dollars declines, making California 45th in the U.S. in financial support of community colleges. Thus, keeping this promise becomes harder—but not impossible.
This particular issue of the iJournal is designed to reframe the way we look at California Community Colleges, especially in light of many of the state issues looming on the horizon, including the potential implications of the CPR—California Performance Review. We approached four key community college leaders in the state to seek insight and perspective on the future. Each of these leaders has had exceptional experience and incredible impact statewide. Each served at multiple institutions holding executive positions. They have been highly active in the legislative process and as representatives on state and national commissions. All received a multitude of awards for their outstanding contributions to the field of community college education.
Conversations with these leaders gave rise to observations made over several decades. They remind us that there is a BIG picture with a long history, and that it is important for us to know how we arrived where we are right now. They emphasize that we have survived tough times and still thrived over the years. And, they unanimously agree that the community colleges have been a tremendous benefit to the economic and social development of the state of California and provided life changing experiences for our students. All understand the challenges ahead yet appear to be optimistic about our future. While the roles of these individuals may change over time, I suspect their wisdom and involvement will continue to shape the destiny of our system for many years to come.
Another way to reframe the challenges we face in community colleges is to examine them through the eyes of data. Most colleges have an Institutional Research Office, and the information they provide has been remarkably useful to the colleges in their planning and decision-making processes. To that end, beginning with this issue, the iJournal is reframing its structure by incorporating a section devoted to Research & Planning. Many thanks to the co-editor of this issue—Robert Gabriner.
Beginning with the last issue, the iJournal has garnered support from the business community. This issue is co-sponsored by Student Insurance and Keenan & Associates. These two enterprises have been very generous in their contributions to community colleges over the years and we are very appreciative. Please be sure to read the two articles introducing them to you, our readers.
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