|
|
 |
Table of Contents: Community College Historians in the United States |
What Is the Community College? A Primer for Four-Year College and University Historians
|
|
| Known as "community colleges" and "junior colleges," two-year colleges play a vital role in American higher education. In fact, more than half of first-year college students receive their first collegiate experience at community colleges. An educational phenomenon that began early in this century, the junior or community college became increasingly popular in the postwar era. By the early 1980s community colleges were enrolling more than 10 million students a year. Today, there are some 1,222 two-year colleges, of which 1,086 are public institutions. From Pearl City Community College on Oahu, to Washtenaw Community College in Ann Arbor, to the Florida Keys Community College in Key West, these institutions range in size from a few hundred students to more than 100,000 at Miami-Dade Community College. Despite their differences, community colleges share most characteristics and a common mission. Because the community college philosophy maintains that virtually everyone can benefit from a college education, there generally are only minimal entrance requirements (that is, high school graduation). The absence of a rigorous admission standard frequently results in the acceptance of students who require extensive remediation before progressing to college-level work. In Florida, for example, more than 40 percent of community college students statewide require remediation in English, math, or reading. In serving their students, community colleges usually accept two principal academic missions. First, community colleges provide a general studies, or liberal arts curriculum, which prepares students for a four-year college or university. Students complete an associate of arts (AA) degree, which is typically 60-66 hours of academic work, while fulfilling lower division requirements and prerequisites for their major field. Second, community colleges frequently offer a vocational curriculum (usually in health, public service, and business fields) that leads to an associate of science (AS) degree, which is also usually 60-66 hours and normally includes liberal arts courses. Many institutions offer one-year certificates in such vocational fields as banking and finance, human services, or emergency medical technology. In some states, such as North Carolina, community colleges originated as technical colleges. Today, these institutions retain a strong vocational orientation. The specific educational mission of the college depends largely on the college's history and the requirements of the surrounding community. History Curriculum The purpose of many community colleges is to provide students with their first two years of collegiate academic study. Because many community college graduates eventually transfer to a senior institution, most community college history courses are general surveys that satisfy basic studies requirements. An overwhelming majority of community colleges require history for the AA degree, usually as a component of a social science graduation requirement. Students typically satisfy their history requirement through western civilization, world civilization, or U.S. history survey courses. Community colleges seldom offer upper division courses, although some institutions may have courses on state history, African American history, or another subject that is appropriate for their students and community. Faculty Community colleges employed almost 275,000 full-time faculty in the 1986-87 academic year, a 28 percent increase over 1976-77. There are probably an equal number of adjunct instructors. Typically, community colleges require faculty, both full- and part-time, to hold at least a master's degree with a minimum of 18 graduate hours in the field in which they teach. Minimum requirements are misleading, however, particularly where historians are concerned. Because community colleges hire faculty to teach general survey courses, employment is highly competitive. The large number of doctoral graduates and the relative paucity of openings at four-year institutions in the past 20 years in many circumstances means that community colleges expect successful applicants to hold an earned doctorate and have previous collegiate teaching experience. Also, because community colleges hire faculty to teach survey courses, there is usually no restriction about specific historical fields. When a community college hires a historian to teach western civilization, for example, it makes no difference whether his or her graduate work was in Tudor-Stuart England, ancient Greece, or modern Russia. Without limitations on historical fields, the number of applicants for community college positions expands rapidly. Furthermore, because the minimum qualification is a master's degree, applicants run the gamut from aspiring MAs or MEds with 18 graduate hours in history to doctoral graduates with published material. It is, in fact, not unusual for a community college to receive more than 200 applications for an advertised history position. I am aware of one position that drew 435 applicants! Obviously, this means that employment is highly competitive. At Tallahassee Community College, for instance, 10 of the 11 full-time historians hold doctoral degrees; all had previous teaching experience before joining Tallahassee Community College that ranged from more than five years as an adjunct to more than ten years of full-time collegiate teaching. Although community colleges may hire historians with only master's degrees today, these institutions will probably be small, rural colleges or institutions that are concerned about lowering instructional costs. Working Conditions The typical teaching load at community colleges is 15 hours a semester (five three-hour courses). Some institutions require faculty to teach one night or weekend course each semester; many demand summer teaching as part of the regular contractual load. Because many colleges seek to satisfy the higher educational needs of the public within their service areas, faculty may be expected to teach at a variety of off-campus locations that range from high schools to factories and banks to prisons. Perhaps Virginia's Mount Empire Community College offers the most unusual teaching experience; it requires (or at least required) faculty to instruct students as they are bussed between its various mountain campuses. In addition to their instructional requirements, community colleges often require faculty to hold ten or more office hours a week. At least one institution in Florida requires faculty to be on campus for eight hours a day, five days a week. Other requirements or expectations include service on division and college-wide committees, participation in faculty governance, and possibly sponsorship of a student organization. Institutions that focus on their "community" mission may expect faculty to be active in such activities as history fairs and brain bowls or to volunteer their expertise to local television and radio stations or newspapers, particularly if the community college is the area's only institution of higher education. Physical Plant Because the community college is primarily a teaching institution, its campus reflects this mission. Community college classrooms are relatively small, typically holding a maximum of 40 to 45 students. If a community college has a "large" lecture hall, it may hold 100 to 120 students. Because most community colleges are relatively young, the physical plant is new. Because of its emphasis on teaching, one will often find better audiovisual, computer, and instructional resources than at many four-year colleges and state universities. Libraries Library resources differ profoundly between institutions, but seldom do community colleges have research libraries. In evaluating library holdings, it is instructive to realize that most community colleges are less than 40 years old and thus often have few holdings that predate their institution. The best that history faculty can hope for is that the collections include the leading professional journals and the most relevant books. Although college library budgets are seldom large, a conscientious faculty can develop a decent collection of recently published works, particularly because faculty are responsible for identifying titles for acquisition librarians to purchase. Although the library collection rarely satisfies faculty research requirements, the committed researcher can usually access other libraries through computer databases, computer networking, and online searches, which enable faculty to take maximum advantage of the interlibrary loan system and overcome the shortcomings of their home institution' holdings. Benefits Employment at community colleges offers surprising benefits. Salaries (at least from the early to mid-career range) are usually competitive with those at baccalaureate institutions. In fact, there is a remarkable similarity in salaries when comparing salaries at two-year institutions that have academic rank with those at four-year baccalaureate institutions. A by-rank comparison of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) rating scale for 1993-94 average salaries reveals that salaries differ less than $1,000 at all academic ranks (at the 80th, 60th, 40th, and 20th percentile levels). Average salaries for assistant professors are approximately $40,000 at doctoral institutions, $36,000 at comprehensive institutions, $32,000 at baccalaureate institutions, and $32,000 at two-year colleges with academic ranks. The average salary at two-year colleges without rank is about $34,000. Substantial differences occur at the associate professor and professor ranks at comprehensive and doctoral institutions, however. At the 95th percentile there is a staggering $30,000 difference between full professors at doctoral institutions and those at community colleges. Community colleges usually base initial salaries on academic credentials and previous teaching or other relevant experience. Subsequent raises are usually democratically distributed among faculty; most community colleges do not provide merit raises or other pay differentials (for example, a step raise for the publication of a book). Most community colleges offer tenure or a "continuing contract" based on "successful teaching experience." The length of service varies among states; currently, Florida community colleges require three years. Other states and private institutions provide alternatives to tenure. Virginia, for example, provides faculty with a five-year renewable contract. Most two-year colleges do not have academic rank, preferring instead the democratic, generic title of "instructor" or "professor." Professional Activities Because the academic mission of community colleges is teaching, two-year colleges generally provide little financial support for research or other professional activities. Sabbaticals are extremely rare, if an institution provides them at all. Some money is usually available for professional development, however, that allows faculty to attend professional conferences or to engage in other professional activities. Faculty are encouraged to publish, but there is typically little extrinsic incentive to do so because neither tenure nor salary is contingent upon publication. Nevertheless, many faculty, particularly those who have earned doctorates, remain professionally active despite such disincentives as the inadequacy of library holdings, the absence of sabbaticals and other institutional financial incentives, the difficulty of getting research grants, and the burden of heavy teaching loads. Community colleges differ in stark ways from traditional four-year schools. First, community colleges are usually comprehensive, open-door institutions that are geared to beginning and transient students. The mission of two-year colleges is to provide high-quality instruction in general survey courses to a student body that is diverse in its background, academic qualifications, and educational aspirations. The implication of such programs for historians is manifest. For example, community colleges seldom offer "specialty courses." Two-year colleges seldom expect or tangibly reward faculty achievements in the discipline. Moreover, community colleges are not research-oriented, as exemplified by the general absence of academic rank, their reward systems, and their library holdings. Yet, today, community colleges are educating the majority of high school graduates. With the increase in history doctoral graduates and the absence of a corresponding rise in faculty openings at four-year colleges, more and more doctoral graduates should seek (and will find) employment at community colleges. While teaching and learning will continue to be the community colleges' mission, the institutions must become more responsive to the professional and scholarly expectations and needs of an increasingly better credentialled faculty. Note I would like to thank Irv Solomon, Evelyn Edson, W. Ridge Edwards, Carol Miller, and Candice Hinson for their comments and suggestions on the content of this article. |
||