Typology of State-level Community College Governance Structures

State‐level coordination for community college student success

“…To accomplish this task, the authors surveyed members of the 2015 Annual Meeting of the National Council of State Directors of Community Colleges (NCSDCC) while also conducting a document analysis from Friedel et al (2014) and resources from the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS). Fletcher and Friedel (2017) found that states with community college coordinating and governing boards that were separate from K-12 and universities had more authority. Further, the authors noted the continuing changes to state coordination/governing systems.…”

“…Recent work by Fletcher and Friedel (2017) provides a quick overview of common taxonomies for classifying community college systems in the United States. Their research focuses on developing a more up‐to‐date summary of community college coordination in each state and identifies the agency's level of authority.…”

“…Together, these factors underscore the importance of state‐level coordination within the higher education ecosystem. Though state‐level coordination is essential for student success, the extent to which community colleges are governed or coordinated within each state varies, which challenges coordinated efforts for change (Fletcher & Friedel, 2017; Fulton, 2019b). For example, community colleges may be governed or coordinated by a state board that also oversees a state university system, governed, or coordinated by a state board that only oversees the community college(s), governed by a K12 system, receive coordination assistance from a statewide community college association, or have no statewide coordination.…”

Community Colleges: An Approach for Sustainable Development in the Egyptian Higher Education Sector in light of Egypt Vision 2030 and the Experiences of the United States of America & India

“…Normally, the states provide for local operating or advisory boards where some of them are elected, and some are appointed by the state. Even though some states choose to run their community colleges through an exclusive state-controlled systems with insignificant contribution from local communities (Fletcher & Friedel, 2017). The State-appointed steering boards decide about the state size of contribution to community colleges and oversee their operations.…”

“…These boards are either solely responsible for community colleges as the case in twenty states, or they are responsible for all forms of higher education institutions in the state (including community colleges) as the case in eighteen states. The following table illustrates the governance setup classification (Fletcher & Friedel, 2017): Yet, the federal government still has a vital role to support community colleges through student aids, funding allocation to different states as well as colleges themselves, enforcing constitutional protections against discriminations, and highlighting the vital contribution of community colleges to society (Cohen, Brawer, & Kisker, 2013).…”