Globalizing the Community College: Strategies for Change in the 21st Century

Long regarded as a local institution, the community college has become a global center for education. In our borderless world linked by new technologies, many community colleges have seized opportunities to expand their roles as education providers to new markets. Distance education has taken the community college mission far beyond the limits of city, county, and region, expanding its influence exponentially.

In this timely book, John S. Levin looks at seven community colleges that have undergone organizational change in response to globalization. For each college, Levin examines three different effects of globalization: in the economic domain, the cultural domain, and the information domain. Economically, community colleges that embraced globalization were affected by the nature of goods that were delivered (knowledge), the way goods were organized and presented (curriculum), the place where this knowledge was conveyed, and the way it was conveyed. Culturally, the institutions were affected by new interactions with people in far-flung places and, ultimately, the conception of the world as a single place. Perhaps the greatest change was in the domain of information where new technologies transformed not only the method of instruction but also the work habits and behaviors of administration officials.

Globalizing the Community College is an essential source of enlightening examples for all community colleges seeking to respond to the challenges of the new global economy. It is essential reading for presidents, chief academic and finance officers, development and research directors, members of governing boards, and all those committed to enhancing the mission of the community college.