This study provides empirical evidence that PhD graduates working at community colleges feel less prepared than their counterparts employed in research universities. In addition, we find that perceptions of skills related to research are not predictive of feelings of job preparation for community college faculty. We offer recommendations for…

Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) grant program was an unprecedented investment in community colleges. This chapter describes the history and context for this grant program, as well as its strategies and outcomes.

West central Georgia has become a burgeoning center for advanced manufacturing and logistics. With facilities for global brands across automotive, agriculture, tech, and biotech industries, the region (which includes Carroll, Coweta, Douglas, Haralson, Heard, Meriwether, and Troup counties) has experienced a 100+ percent surge in job demand for…

In this chapter, we explore statewide tuition-free college programs which encourage students to earn Career and Technical Education (CTE) credentials. To map the current landscape of statewide Promise programs, we conducted a policy discourse analysis of all statewide Promise programs while focusing on policy features relevant to workforce…

Students enroll in community colleges nationwide for various reasons. Some intend to earn a degree and transfer to four year colleges and universities. Some students plan to enter a program that can lead to industry recognized certification. Others enroll to acquire non-credit short-term training to develop workforce required skills. Community…

Many public workforce training programs lead to industry-recognized, third-party awarded credentials, but little research has been conducted on the economic benefits of these credentials in the labor market. This paper provides quasi-experimental evidence on the labor market returns to industry-recognized credentials connected to community college…

Across the country, as technology continues to advance rapidly, the labor market exhibits a growing need for workers who receive frequent and ongoing skill development. Employers in many fields struggle to find adequately trained workers to meet their needs. Community college noncredit career and technical education (CTE) programs are an important…

Advancing technologies such as artificial intelligence and robots are steadily replacing jobs in the USA. Continuous skill-upgrading and re-skilling are critical for workers to remain employable throughout their careers. In these social and economic contexts, community colleges play significant roles to provide workforce education and training…

Barriers to education and training can have a generational impact on socioeconomic status and economic development. Post-traditional students have been shown to experience a variety of barriers to education and family-sustaining employment. Social capital has been shown to help alleviate some of the barriers for students, resulting in stronger…

This chapter describes how Clark State Community College used its TAACCCT grant in manufacturing to help drive organizational changes in the college to better serve local workforce needs.

People often do not have sufficient time or resources to attend a training that could help them become successful or implement a career change. Community colleges require a lengthy and substantial time commitment away from work and family while attending class. To best help those with limited incomes gain necessary skills that can improve their…

The United States is currently experiencing a decline of skilled talent in the workforce, with healthcare occupations suffering the most due to a loss in workforce talent and the onset of an aging population. This talent shortage is attributed to a "skills gap." The current case study used qualitative methodology to examine the expansion…

Ensuring that the federal investment in TAACCCT has a lasting legacy is important to community colleges and the nation. Exploring the notion of transformative change, this chapter describes research and development associated with the Transformative Change Initiative (TCI), including seven guiding principles to sustain and scale change in…

Get A Skill, Get A Job, Get Ahead (G3) is a state-funded last-dollar scholarship program for students enrolling in eligible associate degree, certificate, and noncredit occupational training programs in the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) in five high-demand fields: early childhood education, healthcare, information technology, public…

Higher education is facing increased workforce challenges and is in dire need of effective Human Resource Development (HRD) practices. The purpose of this two-phase qualitative study was to explore the perceptions of supervisors and employees regarding the performance management (PM) system at a large-sized urban community college. Phase I was…