Carpe Diem: Delivering on the Promise of College Success
Jamie P. Merisotis, President, Lumina Foundation for Education
Association of Community College Trustees Annual Leadership Congress, San Francisco
Oct. 8, 2009
Thank you and good morning everyone. It's good to be with you. In fact, it's more than just good; I am truly excited to help kick off this year's Leadership Congress. I've actually had this day circled on my calendar for some time.
Now, I know what some of you must be thinking: "This guy needs to get out more."
Trust me; that is not the case. I'm on the road a lot—at this time of year, almost constantly. And even though I love San Francisco, I didn't come west to see the sights. I'm here because this visit is a great opportunity for me to serve Lumina Foundation and its mission—an opportunity that may truly never come again.
In a word, I'm here because of you.
You may not fully realize this, but you are members of a select and powerful group. In fact, it is no exaggeration to say that, right now—thanks to a unique convergence of social, political and economic factors—you hold a key that can unlock this nation's full potential. As community college trustees, you work every day in a critical area: the space where academia meets the real world. Perhaps better than any other group, you understand the needs and nuances of these often-divergent worlds. Even more important: You know how important it is to bring these two worlds together. Right now, as never before, that puts you and your colleagues in a pivotal position ... not just as leaders at your respective institutions, but as leaders on the national stage.
Ready or not ... it's your time.
As the title of my remarks suggests, I am here to urge you to make the most of that time ... to seize the day ... to take steps that can have a lasting impact on American higher education and on America itself.
I'll lay out a few of those steps in a moment. But before I do that, just in case you are unfamiliar with Lumina Foundation, let me briefly fill you in.
Lumina Foundation for Education is a national foundation—one of the 40 largest, in fact—with assets in excess of $1 billion dollars. This makes us the largest foundation in America that focuses exclusively on getting more Americans into and through college.
For most of the two years I've served as the Foundation's president, we have pursued that mission by focusing on one specific aim—what we call our "big goal." That Big Goal, simply stated, is this: By the year 2025, we want 60 percent of the American population to hold high-quality college degrees or credentials. Today, and essentially for the past 40 years, the nation's degree-attainment rate has hovered at just 40 percent ... so you can see our goal is ambitious.
That's why we believe we must use all of the tools we have at our disposal to increase college success rates, particularly among underserved students. Broadly, this means we provide funds to support student-success programs; we engage in public policy advocacy; and we work to build the public's will for change. More specifically, this means Lumina convenes business, policy, and education leaders to develop strategies to advance student success. And, as a large national foundation with a very specific mission, we use our bully pulpit to communicate reliable information and foster partnerships and networks that can drive the changes necessary to achieve our goal.
As leaders in the community college sector, you are probably familiar with Lumina because of Achieving the Dream (AtD), a national initiative to help more community college students succeed, particularly students of color and low-income students. It was launched in 2004 with Lumina funding and, to date, has received nearly $60 million in Lumina grants and more than $40 million in funding from other organizations. Achieving the Dream is active at more than 100 colleges in 22 states. It's had a real impact on those campuses and in those states. And we feel strongly that Achieving the Dream is poised for even greater impact in the coming years—for essentially the same reasons that YOU, as community college trustees, are poised for significant impact.
Simply put: Community colleges are where it's at right now ... and not just because they've got their own sitcom. The fact of the matter is the nation is more focused on community colleges than ever before. Need proof? Just turn off your TV and tune in to reality.
For more than year, economic anxiety has gripped the nation, swelling college enrollments while at the same time highlighting the problems that bedevil higher education. These problems are serious and well-documented: ever-rising costs, the lagging performance of American students relative to global peers, and questions about the value and relevance of some degrees in the workplace.
And yet, more and more people have stepped forward to underscore the importance of higher education to the nation's future—and to highlight community colleges as a proven source for solutions to many of the problems confronting higher ed.
For example, noted labor economist Tony Carnevale makes a compelling case for college by focusing on the increasing complexity of the modern workplace. Carnevale estimates that by 2018, 63 percent of all jobs will require some postsecondary education and training—a huge increase since the mid-'70s, when less than 30 percent of jobs required post-high-school education. Here's a concrete example of what's happening: A generation ago, nearly two-thirds of America's auto mechanics were high school dropouts. Today, more than a third have attended college.
This trend points to an inescapable fact: In the coming decades, some type of postsecondary education will be necessary for anyone who hopes to maintain a middle-class lifestyle.
And preserving the middle-class lifestyle isn't important only because of salary levels or career opportunities. Consider the reasons offered by another economic expert and higher-ed champion: Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. When asked recently to name the best type of public investment, Bernanke responded decisively: "Education." He pointed out that investments in higher education bring significant returns—to individuals and to society—not just in monetary terms, but in civic and social involvement, in wiser financial decisions, and in improved health.
Finally, last July, in perhaps the most public and dramatic demonstration of support for higher education in general—and for community colleges in particular—the Obama administration rolled out its ambitious American Graduation Initiative (AGI). Promising billions of dollars in federal aid to community colleges over the next several years, the President called on the nation's two-year institutions to graduate an additional 5 million students by 2020. Talk about a game-changer.
Martha Kanter, the President's Undersecretary of Education, will be your luncheon speaker here tomorrow, so I won't say much today about AGI. What I will do, however, is to state the obvious: This federal initiative is both a prize and a challenge—a reward and a down-payment.
Certainly, the Administration has chosen to direct these funds to your institutions because you have earned them. Like the other experts I've already mentioned, the President and his advisers know full well that community colleges play a hugely important role in American higher education and in our nation's workforce development. In fact, it is precisely because the experts know of your successes that they expect a good return on their investment. And those expectations don't end at the doors of the Department of Education. The President's target of 5 million additional community college graduates by 2020 is actually part of a larger goal, one essentially identical to Lumina's 60 percent goal: to return the United States to a position of global leadership in terms of college attainment. And that goal is very quickly becoming a national goal.
We at Lumina were among the first to commit publicly to such a goal, going back to early 2008, and now it's being pursued by several of our peer organizations in philanthropy as well as national education groups like the State Higher Education Executive Officers. And by making the commitment to increased degree attainment, all of these entities are also embracing community colleges.
They have to. They have to because there is simply no way for the nation to return to a position of global leadership in degree attainment, no way for us to reach that 60 percent goal, unless community colleges lead the way.
Notice the word I used there: Lead.
This new emphasis on college completion, this vote of confidence in community colleges, offers you and your institutions a singular and historic opportunity. Now—some would say at long last—you have the chance to truly lead. Because of your expertise in creating workforce-relevant programs, because of your long experience in serving adult and minority students, because of the decades you have spent perfecting innovative and cost-effective ways to deliver high-quality education—because of all these things and more, you can show the way to reshaping American higher education in a way that benefits us all.
We at Lumina believe higher education must play a major role in restoring and sustaining economic prosperity and social stability. We think of postsecondary education not as an end in itself ... but as a means to an end. That's why we have advocated for a higher-ed system that acts as an effective engine for human capital development. In effect, we want to position postsecondary education as the workforce-development system for the nation.
That's not to suggest that higher education's only purpose is to train people for specific jobs—quite the opposite. In fact, this assumption that workforce development and higher education are separate entities is dangerously outmoded. The reality today is that we all need two sets of skills: the critical-thinking, analytic and communication skills that we have always associated with postsecondary education; and an ever-changing set of skills and knowledge linked to a specific occupation. Everyone—and I mean everyone—needs both kinds of knowledge and skills, and our postsecondary education system is where people should come to get them.
Well, for decades, people have been doing just that—by attending community colleges. You and your institutions have never accepted the false dichotomy of higher education. You don't isolate the academy from the workplace; you find ways to make these two arenas mutually supportive, to make them one.
It's time the rest of the system caught up with you ... but it's up to you to seize the day and show the way.
So, how do you do that? What steps should community colleges and their leaders take to make the most of this opportunity?
First of all, if you haven't already done so, you must truly embrace the national goal to dramatically increase the number of students who earn high-quality degrees and credentials. By committing yourselves and your institutions to this goal, you necessarily commit to providing student-centered service that is focused intently on student success.
Of course, every institution talks about fostering student success, but this can't just be talk. You have to walk the walk. When your college goes after that federal AGI money, how will the funds be used? Will the programs you pursue be focused on increasing student support to boost student achievement? Or will they be designed simply to boost enrollment numbers or burnish your college's reputation? Will your college improve and expand developmental math? Or will it add another physics course? Will your college foster connections to the K-12 systems in your area and to the four-year institutions nearby? Or will it concentrate solely on what happens inside its own walls? If your goal is truly to ensure the success of your students, decisions such as these—and really, every decision you make—should be driven by your commitment to that goal.
Having made that commitment, there are also several specific steps that you, as a community college leader, can and should take.
One is to make sure that your college is plugged into Achieving the Dream. Even if you are not a formal part of AtD, any institution can—and should—adopt the principles of Achieving the Dream. Those principles include commitments to:
- Student success;
- The consistent use of data on student outcomes to drive decisions;
- Connections with state and local policymakers to advocate policies that support community colleges and
- Involvement with the local community—including students and their families, K-12 educators, government and employers—in shaping the college's programs and approach.
You also can seize the moment by being an ambassador, using your leverage as a trustee to provide a public face for the college. Many of you interact regularly with community leaders and policymakers. You may often be approached by the media or involved in your community in other visible ways. Community colleges are raising their profile, but there are still positive messages to convey and misconceptions to correct. It is important that we build public will to support our shared enterprise, and you can be a vital part of that effort.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, it is up to you in your role as a trustee to be the conscience of your community. Remember, though you represent and serve your college, your ultimate responsibility—and the college's as well—is to the students being served. As you fulfill your duties as a trustee, strive to focus on the significant and long-term benefits of reaching that big goal of student success.
One final note about seizing the day—remember that success means more than merely completing a program or earning a credential. A degree or certificate should be more than an embossed piece of paper. It should signify mastery of a body of knowledge. Look closely at our goal statement and you will see clearly that we want 60 percent of Americans to hold "high-quality degrees and credentials."
That means quality is vital. As I'm sure you'll agree, increasing the number of degree holders without ensuring the quality of those degrees is a fool's errand. At Lumina, we've been specific in saying that we consider a "high-quality" degree or credential as one that has "well-defined and transparent learning outcomes that provide clear pathways to future education and employment."
In other words, we know that students need degrees that can demonstrate real value; that's why a focus on learning outcomes must go hand in hand with efforts to improve success rates. And that means that your institutions—all institutions—must focus on and measure what is actually being learned. They must clearly define high-quality learning outcomes, help their students achieve those outcomes, and accurately track their own and students' performance.
We're looking very closely at various tools to assess and improve teaching and learning—including an important effort in which ACCT is an active partner: the Voluntary Framework of Accountability (VFA). This just-announced project aims to create a new accountability system designed specifically for use by community colleges. The VFA system will be tested soon in eight community college systems around the country, and then, by 2011, it will be piloted in up to 20 community colleges. The ultimate goal is to establish, for the first time, common performance measurements that can be used to objectively assess an institution's effectiveness.
Obviously, VFA is promising, but it's just a beginning. We all have a fair distance to travel as we work to measure effectiveness and define high-quality teaching and learning. But it is a path we must take ... It is one that all stakeholders in higher education must take together ... And it is one we must take now.
So ready or not, it's time for each of us to seize the day ... to deliver on the promise of college success for all Americans. America is looking to community colleges—and to all of you—to show us the way. Thank you for the leadership you already have provided in making a difference in the lives of millions of Americans. And thank you for the even more critical leadership you will be providing in the future to advance our economic and social prosperity as a nation.
Board