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The Comprehensive mission of community colleges requires us to prepare students for work, citizenship, and life. Recently, we have increased our focus on career and technical programs, as employers have come to rely on us to provide a well-educated and trained workforce. To be truly successful, students need a blend of liberal and applied learning.
Whether it's a two-year degree or a certificate or industry credential, community colleges prepare the majority of workers for our local economies. Further, we partner with business and industry to upgrade the skills of the incumbent workforce. Career and technical programs often provide the bridge from poverty to a family-wage job. In just one or two years, students can obtain education and training that position them to be successful in the economy and support their families.
Even before the global economic downturn, we began seeing the outsourcing of jobs and major transitions in employment. This created unprecedented challenges for workers and communities - and requires us as community college leaders to be ever vigilant that our programs actually meet the needs of the local labor market....