Community colleges: Reaching higher by reaching beyond higher education

  Junior colleges are no longer simple institutions of higher education.

  Today, these schools are repositories of education at every level — from basic literacy and GED preparation to trade training and criminal repatriation, said Michele Vaughn, associate dean for community education at the College of Lake County in Grayslake, Ill.

  But making those sorts of educational offerings doesn’t come cheap or easy. So Vaughn said it is important for colleges — and everyone involved in providing services to a wide range of learners — to develop partnerships with individuals and institutions who have similar goals.

  In her first year facilitating programs for adult basic education, GED and English second language learners at the college, Vaughn said, “I spent the whole year in my car.”

  She visited pastors, high school principals, corrections officials and other community leaders to better understand what educational roles the college could fill for their constituencies.

  “You need to take the time to understand each stakeholder,” she said. 

  Those partnerships, she said, sustain programs that have helped make a difference in the lives of hundreds of adult learners — even in the face of resistance from those who believe in a more traditional role for institutions like hers.

  “There’s always resistance,” Vaughn said. “But we have proven ourselves. We’ve proven that what we’re doing works. So you can’t resist that.”

For more information, visit www.clcillinois.edu