Introduction
During the Great Recession, community colleges emerged as critical first responders to the sudden and sometimes drastic shifts in the labor market. In fact, more than 700 colleges received grants through the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) program, a federal initiative designed to help individuals and communities adapt to a difficult economy. Many of these schools used their funding to create “navigator” positions, in which advisors or career coaches worked one on one with students, guiding, and supporting them throughout their educational journey.
TAACCCT resources empowered colleges to rethink the delivery of student services. It also helped them create new positions that allowed one person to perform multiple roles in student services. This report examines innovations in navigators’ roles and responsibilities and offers recommendations for future federal and state investment in student services at community colleges.
Findings
Final evaluations of TAACCCT grants showed promising results of enhanced student services. The five grants we studied offer some evidence that navigation had a positive impact on students and institutions. And despite the challenges many colleges faced in sustaining navigator roles as the grants closed, no college reviewed for this report expressed regret for using TAACCCT funds to hire a navigator. Though institutions and navigators themselves occasionally struggled to define the role and to develop their skills, navigation was viewed positively across research for this project. However, far too few community colleges can sustain advising staff or provide the kind of consistent, one-on-one, wraparound support offered in TAACCCT-funded programs. Most states provide less funding for public colleges and universities now than they did before the recession. And as important as financial aid is to student success, states also must provide robust direct appropriations for public colleges and universities.