https://caspercollege.cvlcollections.org/files/original/5d332ddf21b4c5aa963b3ea3805f46d7.pdf abb619a103d9ddf6d344401498b42afa PDF Text Text Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 33: 985-994, 2009 Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 1066-8926 print/1521-0413 online DOI: 10.1080/10668920701831316 Routledge Taylor & Francis Croup THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE BACCALAUREATE: AN HISTORIC AND CULTURAL IMPERATIVE Chad Hanson Downloaded By: [Hanson, Chad] AC: 19:39 17 November 2009 Department of Sociology, Casper College, Casper, Wyoming, USA In this article, the debate over the community college baccalaureate is placed in the context of both political culture and the history of public education. Bachelor's degree programs are discussed from the standpoint of their contribution to civic life, and a case is made that academicallyinclined colleges are crucial to fostering a public sphere marked by engagement and participation. The community college is standing at the apex of a curve that turns up into the high country of academia. Recently, governing bodies in Utah, Texas, Florida, Nevada, and Arkansas passed legislation granting formerly two-year schools the right to confer the baccalau­ reate (Floyd, Skolnick, & Walker, 2005). But despite the growing level of acceptance, four-year programs have engendered a debate among scholars, trustees, and lawmakers. The baccalaureate has both ardent supporters (Walker, 2001; Martin & Samels, 2001; McKinney, 2003; Garmon, 2004; Samels & Martin, 2004) and a group of critics committed to questioning the place of four-year degrees in commu­ nity colleges (Wattenbarger, 2000; Eaton, 2005; Townsend, 2005; Campbell, 2005). Schools interested in creating bachelor’s programs are praised for the attempt to serve students by new means, but at the same time they are also condemned as status-seekers, stepping out of place in the postsecondary hierarchy. Address correspondence to Chad Hanson, Casper College, Department of Sociology, Casper, WY 82601. E-mail: chanson@caspercollege.edu 985 �986 C. Hanson Downloaded By: [Haneon, Chad] AC: 19:39 17 November 2009 THE DEBATE OVER THE BACCALAUREATE The debate over whether community colleges can or should develop baccalaureate programs takes place primarily in journalistic forums such as The Chronicle of Higher Education and Community College Week. Thus far, questions have been raised with respect to whether baccalaureate programs are cost prohibitive (Eaton, 2005), whether they limit access to other educational services (Levin, 2004), whether community colleges are capable of providing quality upper-division courses (Wattenbarger, 2000), or whether four-year programs signal a shift of institutional identity (Townsend, 2005). Within the past 30 years, a small group of scholars raised larger questions about the role of the community college in society (Zwerling, 1976; Pincus, 1980; Brint & Karabel, 1989; Dougherty, 1994; Rhoads & Valdez, 1996). But the current debate over the baccalaureate centers on practical concerns related to questions about whether bachelor’s-degree-granting colleges promote work­ force development or contribute to students’ economic well-being. Critics of the move toward the baccalaureate suggest that degrees granted from community colleges are likely to be seen as secondclass, thereby hindering graduates in the job market (Wattenbarger, 2000; Eaton, 2005), but the foundation of the claim is untenable. Associate degrees and short-term certificates suffer an even greater lack of prestige in relation to bachelor’s degrees from four-year institutions, and low status did not keep community colleges from successfully building and maintaining a wide range of subbaccalaure­ ate programs. On one hand, it is difficult to see why low status should keep them from offering bachelor’s degrees. On the other hand, it is fair to assume that status matters to students and employers. But if status is the issue, then the baccalaureate represents a chance for community colleges to rise up alongside well-respected institutions. In contrast to critics, advocates champion four-year programs on the basis of the value they stand to generate in the workplace (McKee, 2005). Supporters even suggest that community colleges should develop an “applied” or “workforce” bachelor’s degree, tailored to the specific and ephemeral needs of corporations, and unmoored from the practices associated with “academic pedagogy” (Walker & Floyd, 2005, p. 96). Generally speaking, the arguments for and against the baccalaureate both turn on the question of whether the degree can serve as a vehicle for economic growth or personal mobility. It is only when the conversation turns to the subject of institutional mission that one finds a discussion of the social roles community �Community College Baccalaureate 987 Downloaded By: [Hanson, Chad] At: 19:39 17 November 2009 colleges fulfill. Supporters and critics alike question the effect of the baccalaureate on the schools’ overarching purpose, but critics stress this side of the argument. For example, one of the strongest objections to four-year programs is expressed when critics press the charge of “mission creep” (Mills, 2003). A small cadre of authors is concerned that colleges may shift attention and resources to bachelor’s programs as they become more commonplace. In the process, they imply that col­ leges may neglect or short-change students that are uninterested in or deemed unfit for the baccalaureate. On this note, Levin issued a caveat: As long as the baccalaureate community college offers programs... such as special education programs for the mentally challenged, high school completion, and General Equivalency Diplomas (GED), and certificate vocational programs including welding, automotive, pipe­ fitter, small appliance repair, and the like—then they will carry with them their traditional community college identity, which highlights open access and a comprehensive curriculum. (2004, p. 19) Although a concern for underprivileged groups lies at the founda­ tion of Levin’s attempt to remind community college staff of their duties, it should be noted that the school’s traditional identity was neither vocational nor comprehensive. It is true that the colleges were originally meant to serve groups that found it difficult to access higher education, but historically, community colleges served the pur­ pose of offering the freshman and sophomore years of bachelor’s degrees. Roksa explains, “Community colleges originated as transfer institutions, with the majority of students participating in a four-year college preparatory curriculum” (2006, p. 501). Thus, one could argue, the real mission creep in the community college has been a long and slow but decisive creep away from the baccalaureate and toward narrow career-related associate degrees and certificate pro­ grams. However, when community colleges crept down the ladder of prestige, the critics were silent. COMMUNITY COLLEGES AND THE HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION The history of higher education is replete with change. Early American colleges patterned themselves on an English model emphasizing undergraduate education and character development. But in the mid-20th century, American colleges adopted a research orientation similar to that of German institutions (Hofstader & Smith, 1961). �Downloaded By: [Hanaon, Chad] AC: 19:19 17 Novenber 2009 988 C. Hanson For example, normal schools and teacher’s colleges became state colleges and, later, comprehensive universities, as they added gradu­ ate schools and doctoral programs. In the United States, institutional advancement occurred at all levels of the higher education network, except at the bottom. Over the course of its lifespan, the public community college clung to the lowest rung on the ladder. Scholars have examined the history of the community college and come to different conclusions about the cause of its stagnant character. Levin (2001) suggested that adminis­ trators favored occupational programs as a means to match their per­ ception of workforce needs; Dougherty (1994) documented the degree to which government agencies influenced the community college curriculum; and Labaree (1997) explored the role of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) in setting a course for the institution. In the words of Labaree, “The community college was confined to the lowest rung on the ladder,” because members of the AACC “wanted to see it remain a two-year institution and continue to play its vocational role;” presumably, as a means to court students for whom bachelor’s degrees seemed out of reach (1997, p. 192). As a result, the community college was kept from “following the same trajectory of institutional mobility that had served its predecessors” (Labaree, 1997, p. 192). Although the influence of the AACC on particular schools undoubtedly varies, there is no question about the historical intent of AACC leaders with respect to maintaining the community college as a vocational institution. For example, after learning in 1929 that 90% of community college students aspired to the baccalaureate, Walter Crosby Ells addressed the annual meeting of the AACC as follows: It will be most unfortunate if the junior college becomes so successful as a popularizing agency that it makes all of its students plan on full university courses. Probably the proportion of those continuing should be nearer fifty than ninety percent. This report of ninety percent is a distinct danger signal ahead. (Ells, quoted in Labaree, 1997, p. 201) Community college leaders, from the 1920s to the present, used their organizational position to craft a market niche for the commu­ nity college that differs from that of academically-inclined institu­ tions. In opposition to four-year schools and universities committed to the arts and sciences, AACC officials sought to identify the �Downloaded By: (Hanson. Chad} AC: 19:39 17 November 2009 Community College Baccalaureate 989 two-year college as a career-oriented alternative to education aimed at preparing students for participation in public life. In other words, for the sake of organizational interests, AACC leaders worked to shape and reshape community colleges to meet the changing needs of the marketplace, as opposed to preparing students to meet the steady and timeless responsibilities placed upon citizens in a democracy. Two-year colleges flourished under the influence of the y^ACC, and the push to vocationalize the community college succeeded. Still, there are consequences associated with the move toward occupational programs. Labaree suggests that AACC officials placed personal and organizational objectives above broader social or educational goals in the process of striving to create a market niche for community colleges. In effect, whether the AACC intended to or not, the group created a legacy that grips the institution like an anchor. Labaree intones: Seeking to preserve the vocational mission of the community college within the socially efficient division of education labor, public and private officials have generally been able to block its institutional mobility by denying it the right to award the bachelor’s degree, thus freezing it in a permanently junior status within higher education. (1997, p. 213) Labaree understands the effort to promote the schools’ vocational role, from the standpoint of community colleges as organizations try­ ing to establish a place for themselves in the higher education market; however, he suggests “that place is socially dysfunctional” (Labaree, 1997, p. 4). Community colleges succeeded in promoting their role as career-related training sites. But to the degree that colleges propagate vocational curricula, they create a scenario where the graduate of an associate degree or certificate program “may gain technical or profes­ sional training in one field of work or another, but is only inciden­ tally, if at all, made ready for performing his duties as a man, a parent, and a citizen” (Labaree, 1997, p. 201). By comparison, “Most liberal arts graduates do not earn their liv­ ing in a manner directly connected to their major. The justification for majoring in English, history or mathematics as an undergraduate does not primarily reside in the idea that the major will be directly connected to some obvious employment opportunity” (Botstein, 1997, p. 182). In contrast to the current focus on job training and workforce development, public colleges were originally meant to serve a public purpose, the only purpose that could justify substantial public investment. �990 C. Hanson Downloaded By: [Hanaoa, Chad] AC; 19:39 17 Novenber 2009 THE COMMUNITY COLLEGERS CULTURAL ROLE The conversation surrounding the community college baccalaureate is focused on economic concerns; although, the discussion could easily run parallel to the broad debate that took place over the nature of high school curricula in the early part of the last century. In the words of Carol Schneider, president of the American Association of Colleges and Universities, two groups with opposing views struggled to determine the character of high school education in the United States in the early 1900s, “One group of educators thought that all high school students ought to take a strong academic foundation in history, literature, science, mathematics, and language. But others—the progressives of the day’—thought the students who where were not college bound would be better served by less academic forms of learning” (2005, p. 63). The outcome of the debate is clear today. “The proponents of a rigorous liberal education in the schools lost this battle,” and as a result, “the pubhc schools invented differential curriculum tracks” (Schneider, 2005, p. 63). There is an academic or college prepara­ tory track for middle-class and upwardly mobile students, but there remains a vocational track for students with lower aptitudes or less familiarity with the liberal arts. At the time the tracks were formed, as now, “The dividing lines were economic, with the afflu­ ent moving in one direction and the poor, including people of color and first generation families, moving in quite another” (Schneider, 2005, p. 63). For more than a century, American conceptions of schooling have been tied to the notion of economic or social class mobility. However, the late Christopher Lasch suggested, “A careful look at the historical record shows that the promise of American life came to be identified with social mobility only when more hopeful interpretations began to fade” (1995, p. 59). Lasch explains, “The concept of social mobility embodies a fairly recent and sadly impoverished understanding of the American Dream” (1995, p. 59). In The Revolt of the Elites, he draws attention to the idea that in recent U.S. history “money has come to be regarded as the only reliable measure of equality.” But he notes, in the prior century, “opportunity, as Americans under­ stood it, was a matter more of intellectual than material enrichment” (1995, p. 59). In the past, the life of the mind added an element of equality to a society characterized by economic polarization. Today, by contrast, intellectual pursuits are unhinged from political culture, and educational institutions are conceived largely in terms of their contribution to state or regional economies. �Downloaded By; [Hanaon, Chad] AC; 19:19 17 November 2009 Community College Baccalaureate 991 Lasch stops short of turning his attention to contemporary high schools or community colleges, but scholars working in education confirm his point that it is the logic of cost-benefit analysis that structures our understanding of the purpose public institutions serve. “According to this logic, schools are producers of educational commodities—credentials—and must adapt themselves to meet the demands of the consumer” (Labaree, 1997, p. 4). In other words, institutional attention has been turned away from social goals and aimed at fulfilling personal ambitions. In the quest to cater curriculum and institutional mission to the demands of the marketplace, colleges and universities alike pursue narrow paths of specialization. Through the process of creating degree plans to match students’ career interests, and the needs of employers to fill vacancies at each rank in their organizations, higher education institutions structured themselves on hierarchical lines. As a result, we maintain a system marked by double standards. For the sons and daughters of the wealthy there are institutions committed to the civic arts and leadership. For the masses, we offer training in occupational fields. According to Lasch, this arrangement is not compatible with the goals of a democratic nation, where citizens are equally responsi­ ble for maintaining a vital public sphere. In his words, “Common standards are absolutely indispensable to a democratic society. Socie­ ties organized around a hierarchy of privilege can afford multiple standards, but democracies cannot” (Lasch, 1995, p. 88). Those who stand opposed to the community college baccalaureate often express their opposition in the name of underprivileged students. Supporters of the two-year curriculum wish to keep the community college at the bottom of the postsecondary network. They fear that if baccalaureate programs expand, the community college might fail to serve students from low-income backgrounds. Yet, the challenge is not to provide underprivileged students with an education of less value and of a different type than one finds at four-year institutions. The challenge is to provide those students with an education of the same nature that one finds at prestigious colleges and universities. For the sake of compassion and concern for poor and minority students, those who wish to hold community colleges in their subbacca­ laureate status unwittingly press for the continuation of a pernicious double standard. Lasch is uncompromising on this point: When the ideology of compassion leads us to this type of absurdity, it is time to call it into question. Compassion has become the human face of contempt. Democracy once implied opposition to every form of double standard. Today we accept double standards—as always, a �992 C. Hanson recipe for second class citizenship—in the name of humanitarian concern. (1995, p. 105) The best means to address class-based inequality is not continued double standards in higher education. The best approach is egalitar­ ianism. The baccalaureate is the standard postsecondary credential, and if large numbers of students are educated in subbaccalaureate institutions, then the democratic ideal of equality is compromised. Downloaded By; [Hanson, Chad) At: 19:39 17 November 2009 CONCLUSION As a mass of heretofore excluded Americans entered postsecondary schools in the middle 20th century, higher education changed. When colleges and universities enrolled an exclusive group of elites, the curriculum focused on leadership and public service But as women, minorities, and students of modest means gained access to higher education, the focus on academics gave way to career-oriented programs. Whether the change came about through haplessness or cynical intentions, it is difficult to say. With respect to community colleges, Dougherty argued the schools inadvertently became contradictory institutions when they moved away from academics and toward a mission centered on training in job-related fields (1994). Labaree concurs and suggests, “The community college seems to be caught in a bind that was constructed historically, as it sought to accomplish the contradictory aims of promoting political equality and market inequality within a single institution” (1997, p. 221). The bind Labaree describes should be the subject of debate among staff and faculty. But the goal of training workers to private sector criteria became so engrained in the culture of the community college, especially in the decade of the 1990s, college professionals lost touch with the era when their institutions served the sole purpose of preparing students for success in a four-year course of study. Ironically, the current move toward baccalaureate education holds the potential to stir demand and increase enrollment on the same line as the AACC had in mind when they sought to transform two-year schools into technical institutes. As colleges and universities sought to identify themselves as research-oriented institutions in the past half-century, a gap was created in the market. We currently lack a network of public four-year schools committed to teaching and undergraduate education. For the sake of organizational interests, community colleges will do well to fill this empty space in our postsecondary system. �Community College Baccalaureate 993 Downloaded By: (Hanaoa, Chad] AC: 19:39 17 November 2009 More important, however, the community college baccalaureate affords us an occasion to discuss the role of education in society. But in order for the conversation to be genuine, it must involve voices other than those who would simply use public institutions to subsidize training costs sustained in the private-sector; and the discussion must be conducted in terms other than that of economics. Decisions about the future of public education must be decided on educational grounds, and with respect to public interests. The potential for the community college to contribute to American life is too crucial for the debate to be settled on the basis of economic goals alone. REFERENCES Botstein, L. (1997). Jefferson’s children: Education and the promise of American culture. New York: Doubleday. The diverted dream: Community colleges and the promise of educational opportunity in America, 1900-1985. New York: Oxford Brint, S. & Karabel, J. (1989). University Press. Campbell, D. (2005, July 4). Florida: Bellwether for the future of the community college baccalaureate? Community College tVeek, 77(24), 4-5. Dougherty, K. (1994). The contradictory college: The conflicting origins, impacts, and futures of the community college. Albany: State University of New York Press. Eaton, J. (2005, October 24). Why community colleges shouldn’t offer baccalaure­ ates. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 52(10), B25-B26. Floyd, D., Skolnik, M., & Walker, K. (Eds.). (2005). The community college baccalaureate: Emerging trends and policy issues. Sterling, VA: Stylus. Garmon, J. (2004, April 12). The new and improved community college baccalaure­ ate. Community College Week, 76(18), 4-5. Hofstader, R. & Smith, W. (Eds.). (1961). American higher education: A documentary history. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Labaree, D. (1997). How to succeed in school... without really learning. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. Lasch, C. (1995). The revolt of the elites and the betrayal of democracy. New York: W.W. Norton. Levin, J. (2001). Globalizing the community college: Strategies for change in the 21st century. New York: Palgrave. Levin, J. (2004). The community college as a baccalaureate granting institution. The Review of Higher Education, 25(1), 1-22. Martin, J. & Samels, J. (2001, July 23). The community college baccalaureate: Moving outside the box. Community College Week, 13(25), 4-6. McKee, J. (2005). Westark’s workforce baccalaureate. In D. Floyd, M. Skolnick, & K. Walker (Eds.), The community college baccalaureate: Emerging trends and polity issues (pp. 129-138). Sterling, VA: Stylus. �994 C. Hanson Downloaded By; (Hanson, Chad] AC: 19:39 17 November 3009 McKinney, D. (2003, April 14). We need a baccalaureate now. Community College Week, 4. Mills, K. (2003). Community college baccalaureates: Some critics decry the trend as mission creep. National Cross Talk. Published by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. Available at www.highereducation.org/crosstalk/ ct0103/news0103-community.html Pincus, F. (1980). The false promise of community colleges: Class conflict and vocational education. Harvard Educational Review, 50{i), 332-361. Rhoads, R. A. & Valdez, J. R. (1996). Democracy, multiculturalism, and the commu­ nity college. New York: Garland. Roksa, J. (2006). Does the vocational focus of community colleges hinder students’ educational attainment? The Review of Higher Education, 29{4), 429-526. Samels, J. & Martin, J. (2004, April 12). One step back to take two steps forward. Community College Week, 76(18), 4-5. Schneider, C. (2005), Liberal education: Slip-sliding away? In R. Hersh & J. Merrow (Eds,), Declining by degrees: Higher education at risk (pp, 61-76), New York: Palgrave, Townsend, B, (2005), A cautionary view. In D. Floyd, M, Skolnick, & K, Walker (Eds.), The community college baccalaureate: Emerging trends and polity issues (pp. 179-190). Sterling, VA: Stylus. Walker, K. (2001). Opening the door to the baccalaureate degree. Community College Review, 29(2), 18-28. Walker, K. & Floyd, D. (2005). Applied and workforce baccalaureates. In D. Floyd, M. Skolnick, & K. Walker, (Eds.), The community college baccalaureate: Emerging trends and policy issues (pp. 95-102), Sterling, VA: Stylus. Wattenbarger, J. (2000, April 17). Colleges should stick to what they do best. Community College Week, 72(18), 4-5. Zwerling, S. (1976), Second best: The crisis of the community college. New York: McGraw-Hill. � Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Print Journal Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. 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