Goals and Types of Community College Partnerships

Refer to the following information to learn more about goals and review types of community college partnerships.

Goals of Partnerships

Although their specific goals vary, community college partnerships typically help students and gain access to higher education, and prepare people for the workforce (attaining and transferring skills). Partnerships can help students understand and effectively use the educational options available to them.

1. Providing Access to Higher Education

Community college partnerships can support students in receiving financial aid, getting education grants, and supporting other “access” initiatives.

One example of a Federal initiative is the Neighborhood Networks program, which promotes self-sufficiency and helps provide computer access to low-income housing communities. Neighborhood Networks is addressing the “digital divide” between groups of people based on their ability to use and access technology.

A different example of supporting student access to education is iTransfer, an Illinois state initiative to enable students to move from one participating Illinois college/university to another to support students in getting a degree.

2. Preparing People for the Workforce

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Center for Workforce Preparation reports that 90 percent of the fastest growing jobs will require some form of postsecondary education. To respond to this need, the Center for Workforce Preparation has worked to develop the capacity of community colleges to meet the local employment needs of business.

The Center for Workforce Preparation has published Working Together: Creating Market-Responsive Workforce Solutions, which highlights promising practices, key tactics, and resources identified during regional forums held in four areas across the country during 2003–04.

Types of Community College Partnerships

Since Community College goals will differ, you will find a variety of different types of partnerships. Refer to the following examples of partnerships with other academic institutions, partnerships with local industry, and local/regional partnerships.

Partnerships with other Academic Institutions

Partnership	Focus
Center for Authentic Science Practice in Education (CASPiE) --a National Science Foundation multi-institutional collaborative effort	Addresses major barriers to providing research experiences to younger undergraduate science students
The Intersegmental Major Preparation Articulated Curriculum (IMPAC) –a California initiative.	Faculty-designed and run project to ensure students who transfer from state community colleges are prepared (and won’t need to repeat coursework)
Maryland Online, a statewide consortium of 19 Maryland community colleges and senior institutions	The Quality Matters project created a set of review criteria based on the research literature and national standards.

Partnerships with Local Industry

Partnership	Focus
AgrowKnowledge, the National Center for Agriscience and Technology Education	Goal to strengthen the nation's agriculture technology curriculum and instruction Works with business, industry, education, government and professional associations to improve the math, science and technical competencies of agriculture technology students across the country.
Automobile Manufacturing Technical Education Collaborative, a multi-college multi-state collaborative of community and technical colleges	Partners work together to prepare high skill technicians and manufacturing engineers for successful work in automobile manufacturing. The organization emphasizes competencies-- a standards-based workforce development system that meets industry skill requirements.
Bio-Link (National Advanced Technological Education Center for Biotechnology)	Emphasizes education of skilled technicians for the bio-technology workforce. Originated in late 1998 with a grant from the National Science Foundation
Center for the Advancement of Process Technology (CAPT) -- a National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education Center	Goal to lead education, industry, and government policymakers in developing the skilled process technology workforce necessary for U.S. process industries to remain globally competitive.

Local/Regional Partnerships

Partnership	Focus
Illinois Articulation Initiative (IAI) --partnership of Illinois Board of Higher Education, Illinois College Board, and two- and four-year institutions in Illinois.	Developed iTransfer to facilitate student transfer from one participating Illinois college/university to another to support students in getting a degree.