Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/766038
BACK TO SCHOOL | WEAnews 18 Higher Ed Update Steve Thulin WEA Higher Education Representative A number of years ago, in 2002, when I was first on the Board of Directors representing "Higher Ed" members in the WEA, the Director of Government Relations at that time made a comment to me that has resonated ever since. "It isn't that lawmakers have a 'bad' opinion of the colleges – the problem is that they have no opinion at all." They knew little about us, beyond what were the common stereotypes and often misinformed popular impressions of "community colleges" acquired through the media. A couple of years later, when I was for a time myself the GR Director in 2003-2004, I learned that was true. Unfortunately, that is also often true of fellow educators, whether they are in the public schools or at the university. In all my years on the Board of Directors, I have come to know that my chief task was to gently weigh in, where and whenever appropriate, to explain the ways in which the professional lives of college faculty and staff are sometimes similar, but also very different from, our colleagues in K-12 and at the university. In other words, to establish a genuine "identity" for us at our seven colleges that connects us to the association, but distinguishes our circumstances in a meaningful manner. It isn't easy. We are so intimately connected to high schools, through concurrent and dual enrollment programs, through the "community" aspect of our mission within our service areas, and increasingly also through statewide efforts to understand and facilitate the "school- to-college" dimensions of what is now the "completion" movement. At the same time, we are also just as intimately connected to not only the University of Wyoming, but also to other four-year transfer institutions with whom we have complicated "Two-plus-Two" academic arrangements for transfer programs. Our missions also involve connections to workforce training, and Applied Science or certificate programs that take graduates straight into skilled occupations. In our world, those things are what is done by a "comprehensive" community college. How we do all that, who does it on any campus, and the qualifications needed per directives from our accreditation agency are matters that sometimes involve misperceptions as some folks assume we must be rather like university employees, and others presume we are something more like the last two years of what they call "K-14." Explaining – sometimes frequently – that Wyoming has seven "comprehensive community colleges," and that it is a concept with its own identity, its own culture, and a very tangible role in the educational foundation of our state and the whole nation, distinct from as well as linked to the missions of our public schools and the university, can be a delicate issue. Those of us at community colleges sometimes wonder why we find ourselves needing to explain ourselves so often. After all, most post-secondary students in the United States are in two-year colleges, whether or not they are "comprehensive." And most post- secondary faculty are also at two- year institutions. Sadly, though, you wouldn't know this easily from reading even most publications devoted to "Higher Education," or even from our own well-intentioned NEA publications. Perhaps it is because faculty and staff at such institutions are simply too tired to engage in written explanations of their perspectives. But frankly, that is what must somehow happen, written or otherwise conveyed. And starting on their own campuses for those who might be characterized as "decision makers." It can be surprising, for instance, how little our trustees actually know about workloads for faculty and staff. What exactly does it mean to say that a professor teaches 15 or 18 or 20 "hours" in a semester load? Do trustees, or the public, or even our colleagues elsewhere in the education community know how much time is spent researching, building, and maintaining, quite apart from teaching, even one course? And just what does it take to understand and use the many dimensions of technology – internet-based or not? Why does it matter how many "preps" are in any configuration of any professor's workload? How is that different from the life of a university professor, who might teach 6 or 9 "hours," and who gets "credit" to their load for research and even "governance" responsibilities? College faculty still do research, and can have huge "governance" assignments, but almost always on top of a minimum 15-"hour" teaching requirement. And then there are lab hours – counted at half the weight of other hours, as though such time was not in fact "real" teaching. What do people know about the time, effort, and professional development needed to be effective "advisors?" What exactly is "advising" on a community college campus? What passes for "accountability" for faculty on a college campus? How much weight do student evaluations of courses play in that process? So many issues. And then there are the staff. So many types of them on a college campus that they typically outnumber full- time faculty by two or three to one. And crucial to the success of students – even to the effectiveness of faculty. Are we explaining, even to our trustees, how counselors, disabilities coordinators, First Year Experience coordinators, admissions and financial aid staff, secretaries, housing personnel, custodial and physical plant staff, and others work so hard in such meaningful ways with our faculty to improve student success – to reach those statistical goals set by politicians, commissioners, trustees, and administrators for "completion?" Just how does all that happen? Who does it? As I have been telling the trustees in monthly reports that I submit on my own campus, in my capacity as a faculty and association leader, "it ain't elves." I have learned, after decades in the business that, surprisingly, they don't know unless you tell them. But I also know that we need to make our own case for our own identity as comprehensive community college professionals even within the ranks of education. We must do it with love, with patience, and in solidarity with all our colleagues – but do it nonetheless. No one else can.