Community colleges have a long a history of ties to local business and industry and to the broader communities they serve--in most cases it is part of their formal mission. Dougherty (1994) notes that local initiatives gave rise to most community colleges. Business professional organizations such as the Chamber of Commerce saw colleges as instruments of economic development (p. 127).[6] As college functions expanded, so did the opportunities for connections to the local labor market and community through vocational and community education. Cohen and Brawer (1989) detail the expansion of vocational activities particularly during the last third of this century as spurred by the 1963 Vocational Education Act and the subsequent infusion of federal funds.
Today, a significant proportion of two-year college students are undertaking some form of vocational training, although pinning down the exact number is problematic given that student intentions are often unclear (see Cohen & Brawer, 1996, pp. 228-235; Grubb & Kraskouskas, 1992). Although, many students take only one or two vocational courses, occupationally specific programs are offered by most community colleges. How are these established? "The college staff presumably initiate programs by perusing employment trends in the local area and by surveying employers there" (Cohen & Brawer, 1989, p. 212, emphasis added). Lynn and Wills (1994) have argued that schools tend to offer courses more driven by the knowledge and interests of their faculty rather than the changing demands of the labor market.[7] Many programs include some element of work-based learning at an employer or internship or cooperative education type component. The programs themselves are often the major method by which students get placed into jobs in local businesses.[8]
A key type of college-community linkage, at least in principle, is standing advisory committees for specific programs. For example, Bowles and Gintis (1976) have argued that "the connection between the needs of business and the curricula of community colleges is fostered by business representation on advisory boards" (quoted in Dougherty, 1994, p. 31). They meet several times a year to discuss program design and the details of the curriculum. There are also informal avenues for business-college connections, such as faculty presentations to business; administrators' participation in civic, community, and business associations; and student assignments requiring interaction with employers.
In the 1970s, colleges greatly expanded "community education," a range of activities including adult education, basic education, continuing education, contract training, and community services (Cohen & Brawer, 1989). These include courses for occupational upgrading, direct arrangements between an industry or government agency and the college for employee training, apprenticeship training, JTPA programs, and economic development services. While there is anecdotal evidence that these types of operations have proliferated--particularly contract training partnerships--they are difficult to quantify (e.g., Doucette, 1993; Lynch, Palmer, & Grubb, 1991). However, they represent examples of a highly connected college-labor market relationship.
There is some evidence that linkages have improved as part of recent vocational education reforms which emphasize work-based learning. For example, a study of school-to-work programs found that "the range of direct linkages with outside organizations has become remarkably wide" (Stern et al., 1994, p. 1). More than two-thirds of two-year schools now offer co-op or work experience and one in six offers the classroom component of apprenticeship training. However, relatively small numbers of students actually participated in such highly connected activities. In a survey of 675 institutions, Stern et al. found that only 7.3% of full-time day enrollment students were in co-op programs and 3.1% were in apprenticeships. They also suggest that "despite the efforts of community, junior, and technical colleges to provide inexpensive, flexible, high-quality training programs, the future of their relationship with industry is unclear . . . the tie between employers and colleges is often too tenuous to sustain the training program" (p. 2). Bragg et al. (1994), in a survey of 400 Tech Prep consortia coordinators around the nation, found that 92.5% stated collaboration between educators and employers as an important focus of their efforts, 67.7% said some form of work-based learning experiences (e.g., youth apprenticeships, cooperative education, school academies) was important, and almost 40% were providing work-based learning. Grubb and Kraskouskas (1992), in research focusing on the integration of academic and vocational education, found a slow proliferation of various types of integration (e.g., a general education requirement for occupational students, and development of academic courses in occupational areas like technical writing or business math).
In fact, relatively little is known about the nature and extent of college and labor market linkages which occur through vocational programs. In all likelihood they differ greatly by college and by type of program. Understanding linkages to the labor market is important in understanding the implementation and success of vocational education reforms and for the future design of policies to improve the labor market preparation of students.
Given the broad array of connections between faculty and the labor market that are likely to exist, we developed (prior to our site visits but based on a review of the literature) a simple schema for categorizing faculty activity. Most behaviors fall into one of four domains: curriculum and pedagogy, career assistance, institutional service, and professional and community service activities. We organize our discussion on the types and extent of faculty linkages to the labor market around these four domains in the section entitled, "The Nature and Extent of Labor Market Connectivity."
First, instructors may bring aspects of the labor market into their classroom via pedagogical/curricula activities. For example, they may integrate academic and vocational learning in class or develop student assignments requiring interaction with or work in the community. Second, students may receive career assistance from their instructors, ranging from getting information about needed skills and available jobs to direct placement with an employer. Third, faculty may undertake various institutional activities such as taking the initiative in developing programs, or serving on departmental or program advisory committees which include industry input. Fourth, faculty undertake various professional/community activities, including work outside the college (particularly part-timers) and membership in civic or professional organizations. While there is some overlap among these domains, they provide a convenient way of examining the wide diversity of connections between teachers in two-year colleges and their communities.
[7]In a study of school-to-work programs, Lynn and Wills (1994) found that where work-based learning programs have been developed there is often a weak link between students' experiences at the workplace and at the school or college.
[8]The NAVE survey (1994) found that the major responsibility for finding jobs for vocational/technical graduates fell on the students themselves, or with individual faculty in the student's specialty area. Stern (1992) notes that while career counseling and job placement offices have become almost universal at two-year colleges, they have not been successful at facilitating students' entry into the labor market.