Postsecondary workforce development is one of the major innovations of the modern community college. In a workforce approach, curriculum is driven by the needs of local industry, course delivery systems are sufficiently flexible to meet the diverse needs of students and industry, and students experience a mixture of work-based and classroom…

Postsecondary noncredit education has become an increasingly popular option for community college students in recent years. At many two-year institutions, noncredit education enrolls more students than do credit programs. This article presents an excerpt from a recent report published by the Community College Research Center, part of the Teachers…

This report describes a study conducted by the Community College Research Center (CC RC) that explores the overarching issues affecting community college noncredit workforce education. Following an introduction, the next section explains the methodology of the study, presenting the research questions, the data collection methods, and the analytic…

Postsecondary noncredit education has become increasingly common; many community colleges now enroll more noncredit than credit students. Much of the growth has occurred in workforce instruction and contract training, programs are noted for their role in meeting shifting workforce demands and providing skills in a way that is flexible and…

Community colleges traditionally have been a nexus for transitions to and from the workforce. This article examines horizontal and vertical workforce transitions and how a global economy and the need to train new subpopulations of future workers will cause community colleges to approach their roles in workforce training differently. There are too…

This chapter describes the evolution of the workforce development mission and its current crisis in the face of changing training demands, shriveling government support, and rising competition. Two alternative future paths are outlined: a baccalaureate degree-oriented new vocationalism and a renewed emphasis on serving the training needs of…

Discusses the development and trends of the "Shadow College," a flexible and responsive set of programming options that exists at the periphery of most two-year institutions. Reviews the Shadow College's relationship to regular collegiate programs and offers guidelines for evaluation of this alternative educational system's…

Discusses the impact of technological change on the technical and "employability" skills required of the modern labor force. Outlines specific content and faculty upgrading areas that general education programs should address to meet workforce needs. Discusses the current crisis in vocational education and the relationship between general…

Provides a conceptual framework for categorizing variables and elements used in evaluating customized training programs and for the maintenance of records demonstrating the accountability of the programs. Suggests a model based on variables associated with the educational context, processes used to fill client needs, and outcomes of the program.…

Trends in the workplace and legislative mandates have forced community colleges to consider how to integrate general education with vocational training successfully. The technological base of American industry has changed dramatically in the direction of greater complexity and interdependence, requiring workers to possess not only higher levels of…

This paper continues a long-standing process, expressed in current practices of reauthorizing federal legislation every 5 years, of examining the rationale for federal involvement in occupational (vocational) education. Past discussions of this issue have come to a broad set of conclusions that the federal government should fund what states cannot…