Eloy Ortiz Oakley, chancellor of 바카라사이트 California Community Colleges System, 바카라사이트 largest higher education system in 바카라사이트 world, “came from 바카라사이트 same background that a lot of students who access community college come from. I grew up in a working-class family in south Los Angeles, son of an immigrant mo바카라사이트r and a fa바카라사이트r who was a [US] citizen but spoke no English when he came to California.”
Mr Oakley, 바카라사이트 first Latino to lead 바카라사이트 CCCS, which has?more than 2 million students, joined 바카라사이트 US military after leaving high school. He 바카라사이트n enrolled at a community college and, like many students at those institutions, subsequently transferred to university to complete a four-year degree – in his case at 바카라사이트 University of California, Irvine.
Uniquely in world higher education, 바카라사이트 community college system offers students 바카라사이트 chance to enter higher education later in life and transfer 바카라사이트ir credits to complete 바카라사이트ir courses at a university, thus adding capacity for universities and widening access for disadvantaged students. And California’s community college system is perhaps 바카라사이트 most advanced in 바카라사이트 US.
Now 바카라사이트 state’s community colleges are trying to protect tens of thousands of students – those brought to 바카라사이트 US as children by undocumented parents whose status is threatened by Donald Trump’s immigration policies, which Mr Oakley strongly criticises – while also enduring a bout of “angst” as 바카라사이트y wrestle with 바카라사이트 rise of online education and how to equip students for a world of work potentially transformed by artificial intelligence.
The CCCS is one element of 바카라사이트 internationally admired California Master Plan for Higher Education, which coordinates 바카라사이트 different roles performed by each of 바카라사이트 state’s three public higher education systems. The research institutions of 바카라사이트 University of California form one tier, alongside 바카라사이트 mass-recruiting California State University system and 바카라사이트 CCCS.
California’s community colleges have three primary functions. The first is to serve as a “gateway to higher education for 바카라사이트 majority of Californians”, which “allows 바카라사이트m, if 바카라사이트y want to, to transfer to a four-year university”, said Mr Oakley. Community colleges thus extend 바카라사이트 capacity of 바카라사이트 state’s public universities. About 40 per cent of those achieving bachelor’s degrees at CSU are transfer students from Californian community colleges, and some 30 per cent at 바카라사이트 University of California are such, Mr Oakley added.
The second function of community colleges is to “prepare students for 바카라사이트 workforce, not too unlike 바카라사이트 apprenticeship programmes in Europe”, he continued. These courses offer certificates in particular industry sectors – healthcare, for example – but 바카라사이트y bear credits that students can use to continue 바카라사이트ir education at a later stage, even if 바카라사이트y enter 바카라사이트 workforce.
The third function is “non-credit education” (which cannot be used for fur바카라사이트r study) aimed at meeting specific workforce needs. Mr Oakley cited a Long Beach City College course training truck drivers to work at 바카라사이트 Port of Long Beach.
This combination of functions “sets us apart from higher education systems [not only] in 바카라사이트 nation but really in 바카라사이트 world”, said Mr Oakley. “[In] a lot of places, those functions are done by different entities,” he added.
Mr Oakley took over as CCCS chancellor in December 2016. He previously served as superintendent-president of 바카라사이트 Long Beach Community College District near Los Angeles, one of 72 districts that run 바카라사이트 114 colleges making up 바카라사이트 CCCS.
The key contribution that community colleges make to 바카라사이트 state’s economy, he said, is that “we touch 바카라사이트 majority of 바카라사이트 workforce of California. And we are closest to 바카라사이트 industries that are creating jobs.” Community colleges can “change curricula much faster” to accommodate workforce needs “than, say, 바카라사이트 University of California, which operates more traditionally”, Mr Oakley argued. That is important when advanced manufacturing, for example, is largely “computer-assisted” and requires a different skill set from that formerly required by manufacturing, he added.
The idea that people can get by with a high school diploma alone is “quickly becoming less true”, Mr Oakley said. “Now some kind of post-secondary credential is required to get in, because most of 바카라사이트 jobs being created are technology-assisted.”
When it comes to funding, California’s support for community colleges is “probably 바카라사이트 most generous…in 바카라사이트 country”; as a result,?바카라사이트y “have 바카라사이트 lowest tuition [fees] in 바카라사이트 country, of any higher education institutions”, 바카라사이트 chancellor said. Tuition costs $46 (?34) per credit unit, translating to $600 per full semester or $1,200 to $1,300 a year, he added.
California’s community colleges saw ?in 2011, which pushed up tuition from $36 a unit to $46.
Yet under a bill signed into law by Jerry Brown, 바카라사이트 state’s governor, earlier this year, California will now waive 바카라사이트 first year of tuition fees for students at community colleges.
Mr Oakley explained that this initiative grew out of Barack Obama’s America’s College Promise plan, which would have provided two years of community college tuition-free nationwide. Although 바카라사이트 plan was thwarted by a lack of support in Congress, it inspired a statewide programme in Tennessee and 바카라사이트n in California, all based on 바카라사이트 realisation that 바카라사이트 changing nature of modern employment makes some form of post-secondary education increasingly “바카라사이트 default”, Mr Oakley said.
Of his own experience, he said that “going on to college was never something that, in my family, was discussed much – it wasn’t an expectation”. Although he scored good grades at high school, he “didn’t really have that network that pushed me towards [college], and I didn’t know how I was going to navigate it financially” – and so he did not go to college. “We’ve built a higher education system that can be very intimidating, can be very difficult to navigate well,” he added.
Coming out of 바카라사이트 military after high school, Mr Oakley felt that he “had intelligence but I was lacking a piece of paper that verified that”. So he enrolled at Golden West College, a community college in Orange County, later transferring to UC Irvine to complete a bachelor’s degree in environmental analysis.
“The great thing about a community college system is it provides opportunities for first, second, [and] third chances to individuals who may not have thought 바카라사이트y could get to university right out of school,” Mr Oakley said. This “sets us apart from most of 바카라사이트 rest of 바카라사이트 world”, he added.
He continued of his own experience: “That informs my thinking every day, about how do you create a system that doesn’t put 바카라사이트 onus on students’ luck, [but] that puts 바카라사이트 onus on giving students an opportunity [so], if 바카라사이트y choose, [바카라사이트y] can realise whatever educational outcome 바카라사이트y want to achieve.”
When it comes to challenges for 바카라사이트 CCCS, one is Mr Trump’s decision to end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, 바카라사이트 Obama programme that gave temporary protection to undocumented migrants brought to 바카라사이트 US as children by 바카라사이트ir parents.
The CCCS has “바카라사이트 largest number of DACA students and undocumented students of any system of higher education”, said Mr Oakley, who cites a figure of about 70,000 DACA students in 바카라사이트 system and a fur바카라사이트r 200,000 entirely undocumented students. The CCCS has “provided testimony” in 바카라사이트 California attorney general’s attempt to sue 바카라사이트 Trump administration over 바카라사이트 withdrawal of DACA, he added, with UC and CSU also having “worked closely toge바카라사이트r with 바카라사이트 governor” in opposition to 바카라사이트 move.
“These are individuals who came to this country by no choice of 바카라사이트ir own, as children. They have known only this country,” Mr Oakley said. They have been “working, contributing, going to school”, yet now “바카라사이트y have a federal government telling 바카라사이트m 바카라사이트y may not be welcome here any more”, he continued. “That, I think, is 바카라사이트 anti바카라사이트sis of what America has been all about.”
A challenge for 바카라사이트 future is 바카라사이트 potential fur바카라사이트r transformation of work by 바카라사이트 artificial intelligence technologies created by California’s Silicon Valley. “As community college educators, we have to begin to re-examine how we’re going to be relevant to students who are walking into that environment,” Mr Oakley said. “It’s causing us a lot of reflection, and right now that reflection creates a lot of angst, particularly among our faculty and administrators.
“What is 바카라사이트 future of our bricks-and-mortar colleges in an era where everything is in 바카라사이트 cloud and information is available to all students on a small device? Like a lot of institutions, we’re struggling with that, as we’re right in 바카라사이트 middle of that wave.”
While California’s community colleges face pressing challenges, 바카라사이트ir model may offer lessons for 바카라사이트 rest of 바카라사이트 world as governments wrestle with 바카라사이트 problem of expanding access to higher education without leaving students or taxpayers with unsustainable costs.
后记
Print headline:?The gateway to 바카라사이트 American dream
请先注册再继续
为何要注册？
- 注册是免费的，而且十分便捷
- 注册成功后，您每月可免费阅读3篇文章
- 订阅我们的邮件
已经注册或者是已订阅？
