Published March 28, 2008

Community College reduces barriers to higher education by being the best bargain. At the federal level, every effort is made to increase need-based scholarships and loans. At the local level, the CBC Foundation is working hard to provide scholarships.

By Lee Thornton, President, and Richard Cummins, Executive Vice President
 
In his book The Perfect Storm, author Sebastian Junger coined this term for a powerful coincidental occurrence of events. Perfect storms are extraordinary by definition and are potent because the accidental simultaneity of numerous factors creates a force greater than anything ever known. Using this metaphor, Educational Testing Services researcher Irwin Kirsch highlights three global forces that have the potential of a perfect storm to devastate our way of life.

-- Inadequate literacy and numeracy skills among vast segments of our student and adult populations.

-- A massive demographic shift driven by the highest immigration rates in a hundred years.

-- The transformation of our nation's job structure, requiring higher levels of skills from an increasing percentage of workers.

Kirsch presented his findings at a recent presentation to Washington's community and technical college trustees. He explained that the synergy of these forces creates "a truly perfect storm. ... Put crudely, over the next 25 years or so, as better-educated individuals leave the work force, they will be replaced by those who, on average, have lower levels of education and skill. Over this same period, nearly half the projected job growth will be concentrated in occupations associated with higher education and skill levels. This means that tens of millions more of our students and adults will be less able to qualify for high paying jobs. Instead, they will be competing not only with each other and millions of newly arrived immigrants but also with equally (or better) skilled workers in lower-wage economies around the world."

Adult basic education is the most pressing issue facing our community's work force. Adults who lack high school-level knowledge and who speak English as a second language will constitute the largest percentage of growth in our work force for the next 20 years. This exacerbates today's demographics, where 24 percent of the English-speaking population and 76 percent of the limited English population have less than a ninth-grade education.

With every challenge there is opportunity, and this perfect storm presents a clear agenda for the direction of Columbia Basin College: reinforcing existing strategies and pointing the direction toward new ones.

-- Outreach. Too many students and parents know too little about preparing for higher education. Through workshops, meetings, campus tours, and special events, thousands of area grade school, middle school and high school students and their parents are learning about the opportunities and challenges of attending college. Outreach will pay great dividends over time.

-- Alignment. Nearly one half of all incoming students require writing remediation, and three-quarters of all students require math remediation. We are working to clarify the college's admissions and placement standards while emphasizing the importance of taking writing and math in the senior year.

-- Partnership. Partnerships with business provide mutual support. Employer input keeps program requirements up to date and student internship requirements connect the classroom to the work world. Employers invest in the college and the student to get a better prepared employee.

-- Infrastructure. The campus makeover of the past decade will continue with three new building projects over the next four years. These include a renovation of the "B" building, a new Career and Technical Education Center, and a new Culture, Languages and Social Sciences building. Also, a "virtual campus" underlies our buildings. We continue to expand wireless education opportunities while creating network learning environments between laptops.

-- Affordability. The community college reduces barriers to higher education by being the best bargain. At the federal level, every effort is made to increase need-based scholarships and loans. At the local level, the CBC Foundation is working hard to provide scholarships. Students also take advantage of work study opportunities and employer-supported programs.

CBC provides many storm shelters, but more help is needed. A regional literacy initiative needs to be conceived and launched to keep our community afloat if we are to survive the impending perfect storm.