White House Holds Historic Summit on Community Colleges
By Kathy Amoroso
October 18, 2010
Plenary Session in the East Room
The first ever White House Summit on Community Colleges was convened on October 5 by Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, to highlight the role community colleges play in developing the U.S. workforce and reaching national educational goals. U.S. Conference of Mayors Workforce Development Council (WDC) President Baltimore Office of Employment Development Director Karen Sitnick attended this historic Summit on behalf of the Conference.
Biden opened the Summit by welcoming approximately 150 attendees in the East Room of the White House. At a time when the Administration is concentrating on a mix of K-12 reform initiatives, Biden has worked hard to train public attention on these institutions, which educate some 40 percent of the undergraduates in the country. “Community colleges are America's best kept secret,” she said. The Summit was designed to change that by showcasing the important role community colleges play in educating and training Americans for the jobs of the 21st century, according to Biden.
The audience was then privileged to hear from President Barak Obama, who described community colleges as the “gateway to good jobs and better lives.” The President told the attendees that the increasingly competitive global economy requires a highly educated and well-trained workforce and that his economic advisors recommended a significant expansion in both education and job training. “In order to keep pace with the demand of industry's fastest growing jobs, we need to ramp up the number of people with post secondary education,” he said, adding, “By 2020 America will again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world, and community colleges will produce an additional five million graduates.”
President Obama highlighted the role community colleges play in helping more Americans acquire the education and skills needed to fill jobs in our growth industries.
The President also acknowledged it is time to “reform our community colleges” and usher in innovative ways to increase completion and graduation rates. Today, only 25 percent of community college participants earn a certificate or an AA degree within three years.
To that end, the President, Biden, Melinda Gates of the Gates Foundation, and Penny Pritzker, a member of the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board, announced several new funding opportunities to promote postsecondary completion and improve graduation rates including:
Community College and Career Training Initiative – funded under the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act, this $2 billion four year grant through the Department of Labor is designed to build the capacity of community colleges to accelerate learning and improve retention. The first competition of $500 million will roll out this year.
Completion by Design – a $35 million investment by Bill and Melinda Gates over a five year period aims to dramatically improve community college graduation rates by building on evidence-based practices that demonstrate positive outcomes.
Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence – will offer a $1 million annual prize to recognize, award and inspire exceptional results in student completion and graduation rates. The first winners will be announced in 2011.
Skills for America's Future – this initiative will build high-impact partnerships with industry, labor unions, community colleges and other training providers to ensure training is relevant and leads to jobs.
Break Out Sessions
Following the plenary session, Summit participants moved into one of six working break-out sessions: Industry-Community College Partnerships, Increasing Community College Completion, and Pathway to a Baccalaureate, Affordability/Financial Aid, Community Colleges in the 21st Century and Importance of Community Colleges to Veterans.
Sitnick participated in the Industry-Community College session, moderated by Department of Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and Pritzer, Skills for America's Future. Participants included DOL Employment and Training Administration Assistant Secretary Jane Oates, Department of Education Assistant Secretary Vocational and Adult Education Dr. Brenda Dann-Messier, several community college presidents, deans and instructors, business CEOs, labor union representatives— and Sitnick, representing the public workforce system's Workforce Investment Boards and One'stops.
The discussion focused primarily on promoting better linkages with business so that “what is taught in the classroom reflects what is needed in the boardroom” and the importance of becoming more innovative in supporting students throughout their matriculation.
Wrap-Up Session
After the breakout sessions, Summit participants gathered back together to hear the highlights of each work group. ”We need to do better and find better ways of being creative because only one quarter of our students are graduating after three years. We need to get dramatically better at a faster pace,” observed Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.
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