Chapter 5

Chapter 5 of the book takes a look at how community colleges can make structural changes to implement some of the changes (particularly an integrated pathways model) that the authors present in the previous chapters. The first line item discussed is the relationship between administration and faculty, which the authors content tends to be reactive (if not too often adversarial). Much of the section on governance revolves around ways to improve trust and collaboration between all silos in the community college system, namely, faculty, staff and administration. Much of this discussion centers around a leadership culture which promotes trust, respect and freedom to explore and take chances on new / innovative practices.

 Perhaps the most interesting part of this chapter, for AET readers, would be section on professional development for faculty. Similar to what was mentioned in chapter 3, the authors suggest that faculty engaged in a "collaborative inquiry" process where they analyze both data and classroom practice that generate a culture of continuous improvement. The goal of course would be to improve faculty teaching and to employ methods of instruction that are more generative (student oriented). The authors also suggest that the teaching and learning centers (if they exist at all) can be excellent catalysts for these collaborative engagement to occur. One area that they authors do not address in detail is adjunct faculty. They do suggest that adjunct faculty should also be given the resources to engage in professional develop and they acknowledge that this is a hard sell in an resource scare environment.