In The Know With Acct

On this episode of In The Know, I spoke with Tamar Jacoby, President and CEO of Opportunity America. We spoke about Opportunity America’s national survey, currently underway, to profile noncredit workforce programs at community college. We discussed the survey’s early results, and how community colleges can get involved if they haven’t already participated.  For more information on Opportunity America and survey participation, please visit the Opportunity America website. 

 In this episode, Strada Education Network Consumer Insights Director of Research Andrew R. Hanson talks about the implications of Strada's ongoing Public Viewpoints study. The conversation covered a wide range of findings from the study, including: How self-doubt gets in the way of assessing the challenges of education and training for half of Americans. Why confidence in the value of education has fallen among aspiring adult learners. How much the pandemic has affected interest in nondegree studies.  How connecting education to career convinces students that their educations will be worth the cost. And much more. Related information:  Public Viewpoint One-Pager: COVID-19 Work and Education Survey Insights from 2020, Implications for 2021 Webinar: Public Viewpoint: Insights, Trends, and Implications for 2021

In this episode, Strada Education Network Consumer Insights Director of Research Andrew R. Hanson talks about the implications of Strada's ongoing Public Viewpoints study. The conversation covered a wide range of findings from the study, including: How self-doubt gets in the way of assessing the challenges of education and training for half of Americans. Why confidence in the value of education has fallen among aspiring adult learners. How much the pandemic has affected interest in nondegree studies.  How connecting education to career convinces students that their educations will be worth the cost. And much more. Related information:  Public Viewpoint One-Pager: COVID-19 Work and Education Survey Insights from 2020, Implications for 2021 Webinar: Public Viewpoint: Insights, Trends, and Implications for 2021

Season 4, Episode 2: ACCT Chair David Mathis has been a member of the Mohawk Valley Community College board of trustees since 1977. In this episode, Mathis reflects on how community college and how public higher education governance have evolved over the past four decades, including challenges, opportunities, and changes that have taken place. As he takes the helm of the association during one of the most tumultuous years of American history, and when ACCT is undergoing its own major changes, Mathis discusses his many goals, including pandemic recovery; making meaningful progress in diversity, equity and inclusion at community colleges; finding the best person to lead ACCT into the future, and more.

Season 4, Episode 1: ACCT Chair David Mathis has been a member of the Mohawk Valley Community College board of trustees since 1977. In this episode, Mathis reflects on how community college and how public higher education governance have evolved over the past four decades, including challenges, opportunities, and changes that have taken place. As he takes the helm of the association during one of the most tumultuous years of American history, and when ACCT is undergoing its own major changes, Mathis discusses his many goals, including pandemic recovery; making meaningful progress in diversity, equity and inclusion at community colleges; finding the best person to lead ACCT into the future, and more.

This episode of In The Know features conversation with Veena Jayadeva, Director of Corporate Responsibility at Guardian Life Insurance, Hannah Gregory from Capital Community College in Connecticut, and Allison Beer and Jacob Bray from ACCT. Our discussion focuses on ACCT's most recent report, Bridging Financial Wellness And Student Success: Effective Models for Community College. Major takeaways from the report include: Community college students’ expenses often exceed available grant aid. Community college tuition is known for being relatively affordable; however, the cost of tuition and living expenses is typically greater than the amount of their available resources and grant aid. Sufficient federal and state financial aid resources are necessary to meet students’ financial needs. Colleges can also support students with financial aid interventions such as emergency grant aid, institutional balance forgiveness, and improved financial aid information. Financial education can be critical for students as th

In response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and protocols banning social interactions in the state of California, the San Diego Community College District Board of Trustees convened for the first time by virtual meeting on April 9. In this episode, ACCT President and CEO J. Noah Brown speaks with SDCCD Board President Dr. Maria Nieto Senour about how the district board met, what they learned, and what considerations will be made as future board meetings are convened. The board meeting discussed during this podcast is available for viewing via YouTube.    

In this episode of In The Know, David Conner and Jacob Bray spoke with John Clark. John is a consultant at Gallup and has done extensive research on the public perception of postsecondary education, and how community colleges can distinguish themselves positively from other sectors of higher education. His presentation at our most recent National Legislative Summit was well-received, so we thought it would be a good idea to catch John for an episode and discuss his work a little more.    

This episode of In The Know is about how to best reach Generation Z students. ACCT's David Conner and Jacob Bray spoke with Ted Tedmon and Casey Wilhelm, professors at North Idaho College who have researched how Gen Z students learn, what special considerations colleges should be making to adapt to their needs, and what questions community college trustees should ask to make sure their colleges are making the investments needed to make their youngest students as successful as they can be. This is the first part of a two-part conversation. Part one was published on March 31.

This episode of In The Know is about how to best reach Generation Z students. ACCT's David Conner and Jacob Bray spoke with Ted Tedmon and Casey Wilhelm, professors at North Idaho College who have researched how Gen Z students learn, what special considerations colleges should be making to adapt to their needs, and what questions community college trustees should ask to make sure their colleges are making the investments needed to make their youngest students as successful as they can be. This is the first part of a two-part conversation. Part two will be published on April 7.

On this episode of In The Know, ACCT’s Director of Strategic Communications David Conner talks with me and Allison Beer, ACCT’s Senior Policy Analyst about the paper we just published about Prior Learning Assessment. We dive into why we chose to profile Dallas County Community College District and Eastern West Virginia Community and Technical College, and the benefits of Prior Learning Assessments. The full report is available here. 

This is the question-and-answer component of a two-part episode on strengthening rural community colleges. In this episode, Jee Hang Lee, ACCT’s Senior Vice President, and Casey Sacks, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Community Colleges at the Department of Education, talk about ACCT’s Strengthening Rural Community Colleges Initiative, supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The project will focus on California, Iowa, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Texas, but will take into account information from rural community colleges nationwide. This episode was recorded at our annual Congress in San Francisco.  For more information, please visit rural.acct.org. 

On this episode, Jee Hang Lee, ACCT’s Senior Vice President, and Casey Sacks, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Community Colleges at the Department of Education, talk about ACCT’s Strengthening Rural Community Colleges Initiative, supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The project will focus on California, Iowa, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Texas, but also will take into account information from rural community colleges nationwide. This episode was recorded at our annual Congress in San Francisco. This is a two part episode with part two being the question and answer section. For more information, please visit rural.acct.org. 

In this episode of In The Know, ACCT’s Senior Policy Analyst Allison Beer talks with Dave Clayton, Strada Education Network’s Senior Vice President for Consumer Insights. Allison and Dave dive into what students actually think about higher education, guided by a recent Strada consumer insights survey. Visit StradaEducation.org for more information. This episode was recorded during the 50th Annual ACCT Leadership Congress in San Francisco, California.  

In an ideal world, an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system would help your institution operate like a well-oiled machine, bringing campus processes, people and the institutional strategic plan together. Unfortunately, these powerful and complex technologies come with powerful and complex systems, processes and procedures that can cause the kinds of operational inefficiencies they were designed to eliminate, according to CampusWorks, a company that specializes in supporting ERP for community colleges. In this episode, ACCT's Jacob Bray and David Conner spoke with CampusWorks Senior Vice President for Client Development Keith Myers about what community college trustees should know about ERP. Drawing from experiences at Educause's 2020 Trend Watch, Myers demystifies the technical aspects of ERP, offering a market context and walking through the preparation, evaluation and implementation phases.  To learn more, visit https://www.campusworksinc.com/capabilities/enterprise-resource-planning-support 

In an ideal world, an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system would help your institution operate like a well-oiled machine, bringing campus processes, people and the institutional strategic plan together. Unfortunately, these powerful and complex technologies come with powerful and complex systems, processes and procedures that can cause the kinds of operational inefficiencies they were designed to eliminate, according to CampusWorks, a company that specializes in supporting ERP for community colleges. In this episode, ACCT's Jacob Bray and David Conner spoke with CampusWorks Senior Vice President for Client Development Keith Myers about what community college trustees should know about ERP. Drawing from experiences at Educause's 2020 Trend Watch, Myers demystifies the technical aspects of ERP, offering a market context and walking through the preparation, evaluation and implementation phases.  To learn more, visit https://www.campusworksinc.com/capabilities/enterprise-resource-planning-support 

This episode of In The Know is about serving the new traditional student. It features a panel of James Elliott, the International President of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, and student at Delaware Technical Community College, Klayre Guzman, former student at San Jose City College and University of California-Davis, and Rosie O'Neill, trustee at Northern Virginia Community College and ACCT board member, moderating the panel. This episode was recorded at our most recent annual congress in San Francisco.

This episode of In The Know features Kim Hunter Reed, Commissioner of Higher Education for the State of Louisiana, Joseph Garcia, Chancellor of the Colorado Community College System, and Sandy Caldwell, Executive Director of the Wyoming Community College Commission discussing the intricacies and future of public higher education governance.  This episode was recorded at our annual congress this past year in San Francisco. 

This episode of In The Know features Kim Hunter Reed, Commissioner of Higher Education for the State of Louisiana, Joseph Garcia, Chancellor of the Colorado Community College System, and Sandy Caldwell, Executive Director of the Wyoming Community College Commission discussing the intricacies and future of public higher education governance.  This episode was recorded at our annual congress this past year in San Francisco. 

Since 2015, over 25 community colleges throughout the United States have been offering college programs in prisons funded by the Department of Education’s Second Chance Pell Grant experiment. Part of ACCT’s congressional advocacy has been to support a repeal of the ban on using federal financial aid in prisons. This episode, recorded live during the 50th Annual ACCT Leadership Congress, explains how trustees can help to bring their colleges' educational resources to area prisons. The episode features colleges that have been offering college in prison programs and campus reentry services. You will also hear from two students whose participation in college in prison transformed their lives. Panelists include: Moderator: Brian Walsh, Senior Program Associate, Vera Institute of Justice, NY Norma Cumpian, Student, Chaffey Community College, CA Steve Grabowski, Trustee, Metropolitan Community College, NE Robert Ryan, Trustee, Tacoma Community College, WA Genaro Sanchez, Student, Skagit Valley College, WA A