Shadowing in Connecticut: Day Three in America

Manchester Community College.

Today was the start of the shadowing work for real. My visit was to Manchester Community College in Connecticut. (Manchester).

All the colleges in Connecticut are part of the Connecticut Community Colleges, a type of consortium. I have already learned that all courses are 'centre devised' and centre credited. There are opportunities for transfers to be made, for example, if a student wanted to move to another college in Connecticut, however this will work if both institutions recognise each others' credits. There are compact arrangements made with sister colleges, and there is an inspecorate of the colleges in the state; this is once every 10 years and not as horrific as OFSTED from what I can gather. They are called the New England Association of Schools and Colleges.

Meeting one - Dianne K McHutchison - Coordinator, Institutional Advancement
email: rmchutchison@mcc.commnet.edu

Dianne explained that her role was about supporting students who may not be able to afford courses (students, in the main, pay for their courses). Students in this category apply for funding and this is mainly for books, which can cost, on average, $300 per semester.

I asked Dianne if Connecticut colleges were typical of US colleges, and she said that they were. Traditionally, students are 18-20 years of age, which is much younger than previously, which was typically 28-29. Dianne explained that this was now the college of 'first choice'. In America, there used to be somewhat of a stigma attached to community colleges. In the past, these colleges where where students went if they went to university, but 'partied too much....' Parents would typically send them back to community colleges to catch up! Now, however, the college is the first choice institution. A lot of PR work with the community has been done to ensure that it is seen that way.

In terms of quality, the college looks at its graduation rates to determine how well the institution is performing. Dianne explained that it is difficult to define 'student success', since many students move forward a lot, but may not graduate (similar to distance travelled, but they do not capture this in any way). At present, if graduation rates go down, there are no repercussions; this, however, is set to change.

The college does a lot of work with feeder institutions. They put on 'transfer fairs'. This is managed by admissions. Other institutions come into the college twice per year and this is a very successful event. They also go out to schools. I noted that there was building work going on and Dianne explained that the trend in America now is to build high schools attached to community colleges. These schools are for those who don't necessarily do well in regular schools; it works really well, and many students transfer seamlessly to the community college.

Interesting that they have the same issues with smoking!

The college also puts on 'Open House' events. This are for all high schools and parents of students at the schools. All courses are represented, and typically 4,500 people attend. The college always feeds the parents and students with snacks, and they see this as a 'carrot' to get them in... it works! At the same time, the college is able to plug its 'credit free' courses to the parents. There are a number of these, things like cookery, arts etc.

Dianne explained that sometimes, there were problems with students going onto university, but their credits not being recognised, and therefore there are compact arrangements in place with local universities to address the problem. It does depend on the receiving institution as to whether the credits are recognised.

In Connecticut, the governing offices of the colleges work together to ensure that the courses on offer are rationalised and not duplicated. All the presidents (principals) of the colleges meet regularly to exchange ideas etc.

The college is also struggling with decreases in funding, and therefore there is a huge emphasis on fund-raising. Many presidents are guaged on their ability to raise funds. Funds are used for scholarships and enrichment activities, e.g. bringing arts and music to the students into the college.

Carl Ochnio - Director of Career Services
email: cochnio@mcc.commnet.edu

Carl explained that 'Job Fairs' were started 19 years ago. This is where local employers are invited into the college to recruit graduates and the local public, who are also invited to attend. It's open to the whole community and takes place on a Saturday. The statistics are impressive; 67% of people that came to the job fare were recruited! There are benefits to the college in doing this; firstly, it gets people onto the campus. The job fare attracts 2-3000 people! It's now an annual tradition. This year's job fare was announced 2 weeks ago, and already 40 companies have signed up! The college partners with the local newspaper to advertise. The employers are charged a small amount for the running costs of the job fair; this does not put them off and they are really keen to pay. It saves them advertising and interviewing etc. It costs the college $20-30K to run the event; all covered by the employees. Click to see the link for the Manchester Community College job fair.

Audrey Letizia - Coordinator of Annual Giving
email: aletizia@mcc.commnet.edu

Audrey spoke to me about two areas of her work, firstly about how anyone who has graduated from the college is invited to join the alumni for a small annual fee or lifetime membership. They then receive benefits; a magazine twice per year the college, and other alumnis and also are kept in contact with the college. This is good because relationships with the college are maintained for a long time! Audrey has had to work really hard to grow the numbers, and this is picking up though incentives such as a 'free year's membership' to grow members. Audrey stated that it was about 'keeping connected'.

The other aspect of Audrey's job is to manage donations to the college. Any relationship with the college is approached for donations. A panel is convened to decide how to spend the donations and these are usually on a variety of things, examples given were assistive technology, cultural diversity festival, excursions and resources. Special recognision is given to those who donate to show appreciation and small gifts given, e.g. a calculator or umbrella.

Left: Audrey Letizia, right: Dianne McHuchison

Joe Navarra - Counselor
email: jnavarra@mcc.commnet.edu

Joe explained that his role was varied; he is involved in traditional counselling (e.g. if students have emotional issues and problems with relationships and family), career counseling, transfer advice and course advice. He is also significantly involved in working with learners who have disabilities or certain difficulties.

We discussed the levels of disability at the college. Joe explained that the college had an open admissions policy, one where if you pay your $20 fee, you can join the college. The college also has a rigorous assessment process, for math and English skills. If students fall below a certain level, there are limited courses that can be recommended.

Joe explained that in the US, the schools have excellent support for learners with difficulties and/or disabilities, however, they are also given unrealistic expectations regarding coming into a community college. This is a source of tension since the colleges do not want to set students up to fail. Personal care is not provided by colleges; the expectation is that this is paid for by students themselves. There is an American Disability Act that governs how colleges operate.

Joe explained that physical access in the colleges was very good, and this isn't an issue. Wheelchair users do not have issues with accessibility. All buildings are required to meet standards set by ADAAGS. Just as we are careful to use language in the correct way, so are Americans.

From talking to Joe, I was able to establish that this community college offered a similar programme to traditional sixth forms, but these were almost like going 'back to school'. Students come in and choose pretty much what they'd like to do; an example would be English, math, history, phychology. There are poor levels of basic skills too; about 60% of applicants are below the level that is expected of them! Functional skills are poor in the US too!

I asked Joe about exam concessions; these are decided by him. He was surprised to hear that in our country, the awarding body (who is regulated by a government body) will decide on the exam concessions. In fact, everyone that I spoke to today was surprised to hear about the national standards for qualifications. Whilst they had heard of A-Levels, they hadn't heard of the other level 3 qualifications that we offer in the UK.

In terms of tutoring, this is OPTIONAL! Students can choose to visit a tutor, but there is a stigma attached to this, as it is seen to be the strugglers that need this. When I explained our system of mandatory tutorials, he was really surprised and couldn't belive the level of support that our students get. Their retention rate is about half ours! I explained that it was suicide to us, if our retention rate fell, due to funding. Again, Joe was able to reinforce that this measure is going to start to be taken a lot more seriously in the US soon. MCC uses a system of successful student peer mentoring to buddy struggling students.

Just as we have students who come to college under duress from parents (child benefit / EMA) so do the US colleges; healthcare insurance (family) expires for children when they cease full-time education. There is a pressure for students to continue therefore. Full-time education is 12 hours per week in the MCC.

The academic calendar is divided into 4 semesters. These are modularised, so that if a student wants to join mid year, they can. They simply wait for the next sememster to start. They also have the option to do a fast track sememster that runs over 6 weeks on a Friday PM and Saturday.

MCC only has a very small pot for support... literally only $2,000!

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