Report Examines Biggest Issues Facing Community Colleges

Eleven community college leaders' answers to 'Eight Important Questions' shed light on college readiness, remediation, technology adoption, funding issues, and other challenges

      SALT LAKE CITY, May 25, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Reflecting its important relationship with the nation's community colleges and an ongoing commitment to driving innovation in higher education, Western Governors University (WGU) announces the release of "Eight Important Questions for Eleven Community College Leaders: An Exploration of Community College Issues, Trends & Strategies."

      The report was published this month by The SOURCE on Community College Issues, Trends & Strategies, a new online resource. The research was conducted with the support of WGU, the Salt Lake City-based nonprofit online university that serves students seeking bachelor's and master's degrees in more than 50 degree programs nationwide.

WGU provided its support to this research because of the important role community colleges play in providing educational options and opportunities for post-secondary students. The WGU approach is particularly well-suited to the community college graduate or student who has completed substantial college already. More information on opportunities for community colleges to partner with WGU can be found at www.wgu.edu/partners.

      "We based this extensive Q-and-A project on many of the key issues that community colleges are dealing with these days," said George Lorenzo, author of the report and publisher of The SOURCE on Community College Issues, Trends & Strategies. "The community college leaders who participated had plenty to say. The report, which is extremely valuable and available for free, is only the beginning of a much more expansive dialogue and sharing of important information that we are starting to publish on a regular basis. Many thanks go out to WGU for helping us with our overall effort to publish relevant and timely information about the community college sector."

The report found that there exists a broad and varied outlook among the nation's community college leadership on some of the most important issues facing their industry, including college readiness, remedial education, workforce development, educational technologies, student services, data analysis, funding and grants, and the future. But despite the diversity of opinions expressed, some common themes rose to the top as challenges many community colleges face as they plan for the future: Keeping up with technology and the so-called "completion agenda" were chief among them.

      The full report is available for free download at www.wgu.edu/eightquestions. It features interviews with leaders from Guilford Technical Community College, the League for Innovation in the Community College, Imperial Valley College, Shoreline Community College, Dallas County Community College District, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the University of Texas at Austin Community College Leadership Program, Valencia Community College, Ivy Tech Community College, and Foothill-DeAnza Community College District.

About Western Governors University

"[WGU is] the best relatively cheap university you've never heard of."– TIME magazine

Featured on the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, WGU is the only university in the U.S. offering competency-based degree programs and the only nonprofit, fully online university with students in all 50 states. WGU offers 50 degree programs in Business, Education, Information Technology, and Health Professions, including Nursing. Since its inception in 1997, WGU has grown into a national institution, serving more than 25,000 students. WGU is self-sustaining on tuition, and does not rely on state or national support to fund its operations.  

On June 11, 2010, WGU Indiana, referred to by Governor Mitch Daniels as Indiana's eighth state university, was formed through a partnership with the state. WGU Washington was established by the Washington State Legislature on April 22, 2011.  Subsidiaries of Western Governors University, WGU Indiana and WGU Washington are state-endorsed and offer degree programs that are accredited through Western Governors University.

WGU is regionally accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities and nationally accredited by the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC). WGU nursing programs have been accredited by the Commission for Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE), and its B.S. in Health Informatics is accredited by CAHIIM (Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education). WGU's Teachers College is the first and only exclusively online provider of teacher education to receive accreditation for its degree programs that lead to teacher licensure from NCATE, the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education.

In 2011, WGU received its second 21^st Century Award for Best Practices in Distance learning from the United States Distance Learning Association, (USDLA). In addition, WGU President Robert W. Mendenhall was recognized for his achievements in higher education when he received the 2010 McGraw Prize in Education.

The university has earned the support of more than 20 leading corporations and foundations. They include institutions such as AT&T, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Dell, Lilly Endowment, HCA, Hewlett-Packard, Lumina Foundation, Microsoft, Oracle, Qwest, SunGard Higher Education, and Zions Bank. More information is available at www.wgu.edu or by calling 866.225.5948.

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SOURCE Western Governors University