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Delaware Voice Shows Value of Community Colleges and Wimba for Local Workforces

Evolution, technology drive today's community colleges

Read the original article in the Delaware Voice here
by Stephanie Smith

Last July, when President Obama declared community colleges “one of America’s most under-appreciated assets,” you could almost hear a collective “Yes!” from graduates and employees of these institutions across America. For decades, community colleges have been educating a highly skilled work force of nurses, lab technicians, police officers, accountants, paralegals and auto mechanics—to name just a few, yet they often have struggled for the respect they deserve.

Like many provosts, I was pleased to hear the president recognize on a national level the extraordinary work performed by these institutions and their graduates. And I know that one of the keys to success has been—and will continue to be—the ability of community colleges to continually reinvent themselves to meet the needs of the residents and businesses they serve. Although the core values of access and opportunity remain unchanged, today’s community colleges are not your parents’ community colleges.

Here are two important reasons why:

Evolving programs
Today’s community colleges uniquely are positioned to meet rapidly changing local work force needs. In fact, students enrolling at a college in Los Angeles likely are to find a different set of educational offerings available to them than those in Philadelphia.

Why? Because the local businesses that hire their graduates are different. And the businesses and industries that dominate any geographic region will ultimately evolve or be replaced by new ones ... providing community colleges with the challenge of ensuring there always is a job-ready work force upon which employers can depend.

Delaware Tech is no stranger to this challenge. Over the years, the college has stayed connected to Delaware’s businesses through our advisory committees. More than 1,000 industry experts serve on 68 committees collegewide to ensure our graduates have the skills employers need. If there is no longer a job market for graduates in a particular field, we discontinue those academic programs. Conversely, in less than five years, Delaware Tech has brought three new educational offerings to life: an FAA-certified airframe maintenance program to meet the needs of Delaware’s aviation industry, energy management to support a burgeoning green economy and training for those who will work in Delaware’s new gaming industry.

Cutting-edge technology
Continually infusing new technology into the classroom is another factor in community college success. Imagine a nursing course where a mannequin complains of pain while a monitor displays changing vital signs in reaction to the treatment provided by the student.

Imagine an energy course where a student learns about renewables by attending classes in an “energy house” designed with see-through walls revealing the solar, wind and geothermal technologies working to supply power to the home.

Community college students, like those enrolled at Delaware Tech, don’t have to imagine. Today’s institutions have embraced cutting-edge technology to provide hands-on simulated training for students in a variety of fields such as health care, engineering technology and energy. For example, rather than study a picture in a textbook, Delaware Tech’s biology students use software that allows them to dissect a three-dimensional digitized human body. We were the first college in the country to implement the software in a 3-D format. Harvard was second.

This is not a matter of using technology for technology’s sake ... it’s how we fulfill the needs of the businesses and communities we serve.

In fact, as part of their coursework, Delaware Tech’s engineering technology students—using the same software as professionals in the field—have designed structures, such as the Bethany Beach Fire Station, for local nonprofits. Community colleges also use technology to meet the demand for distance education. One example is a new virtual learning environment called Wimba Classroom that mimics the physical classroom but allows students to participate remotely in online and hybrid courses which blend on-campus meetings with online classes.

As President Obama said, “Community colleges are an essential part of recovery in the present—and our prosperity in the future,” and it’s precisely because of their ability to adapt in response to those they serve.

More Americans are realizing that today’s community colleges are not their parents’ community colleges ... except maybe for Matt Stevenson, a recent Delaware Tech alumnus.

When Matt walked across the graduation stage, he was followed by his father, Bill. Father and son carpenters, they chose a new career path when the economy changed and earned associate degrees in nursing. When community colleges reinvent themselves, they make it possible for families like the Stevensons to do the same. It’s key to our success and the success of those we serve.