Cynthia Wilson

Making Connections: Higher Education Meets Social Media

51 S ix years ago, philosophy instructor Darien Ripple decided to go paperless in his classes at ChandlerGilbert Community College (CGCC) in suburban Phoenix. Since he was teaching courses such as Environmental Ethics and Sustainable Cities, Ripple thought a paperless course would be a natural way to model some of the tenets students were exploring there. So he turned to a proprietary electronic portfolio tool the college had adopted. He describes the resulting student products as “beautiful” portfolios that allowed students to assess their own work throughout the semester or, for those who took more courses with him, across semesters. When the college discontinued use of the e-portfolio product, he explored Google and BlackBoard options but MAKING CONNECTIONS

The Impact of Innovation.

With funding from MetLife Foundation, the League for Innovation in the Community College engaged in a yearlong study in 2009 of the nature of innovation in the community college. Using recipients of the Leagues Innovation of the Year Award at 19 community colleges during the period from 1999 through 2008 as a data set, the authors used document analysis, focus groups, surveys, and interviews to study the kinds of innovations awarded, the characteristics of a community college culture that support and encourage innovation, and the perspectives of the award winners regarding the impact of innovation and the impact of the award itself on the winners. This article focuses on the findings regarding the professional and personal impact of the innovation and the award on the award-winners, as well as the impact of the innovation and the award on various populations and the institution itself. Findings support that (a) innovations are acknowledged by college leaders as valuable and have changed the behavior of individuals for whom they were created; (b) award recipients were highly satisfied with the recognition they received from the League and from their colleagues, and were motivated to champion the innovation and to create more innovations; and (c) innovations in this study are evidence of highly creative use of resources and effective and efficient implementation practices, including, where warranted, improved student learning.

Community Colleges and Public Health New Opportunities for Health Education

The Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health’s Framing the Future Task Force and the League for Innovation in the Community College (the League) cosponsored the Community Colleges and Public Health report. The report recommends that community colleges consider offering public health associate degrees and academic certificate programs including two prototype curricular models developed with support from the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. These include Public Health: Generalist & Specializations and Health Navigator. Each model includes 30 semester hours of coursework in public health core, required courses, experiential learning, and electives along with content outlines for public health core and specialty coursework. The report has been approved by the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health’s Board and widely disseminated by the League. The League is currently implementing a planning and recognition process to encourage community colleges to plan associate degree and academic certificate programs consistent with the report including both prototype curricular frameworks. The Public Health: Generalist & Specializations is designed for transfer to bachelor’s degree programs in general public health, health education, health administration, and environmental health. The Health Navigator programs are designed for employment as community health workers, health care/patient navigators, and/or health insurance navigators. The rapidly expanding job market for these fields is discussed as well as the recommendation that these associate degrees be planned to enable transfer to bachelor’s degree programs in health education. Implications for the future of the health education profession are also addressed.

Community Colleges and Public Health: An Integral Part of the Continuum of Education for Public Health

Undergraduate education for public health has grown rapidly in the last decade since the Institute of Medicine recommended that “…all undergraduates should have access to education in public health.” Despite the growth of undergraduate education for public health in 4-year institutions, public health education in community colleges is at an early stage of development. In a comprehensive 2011–12 web-based catalog search of community colleges, only seven associate degree programs in public health or related fields could be identified (1, 2). Public health organizations are encouraging growth of education for public health in community colleges as well as 4-year colleges. The American Public Health Association has endorsed undergraduate public health education at both community colleges and 4-year colleges (3). Healthy People 2020 includes objectives to substantially increase the number of community colleges as well as 4-year institutions offering undergraduate public health education (4). As part of the Framing the Future Task Force, convened by the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health, the Community Colleges and Public Health (CC&PH) project, has been developed and co-sponsored by the League for Innovation in the Community College (the League), which represents over 800 of the 1100 community colleges. The CC&PH is co-chaired by the two authors of this article. The mission of the CC&PH project is to fully include community colleges in the continuum of public health education. The Community Colleges and Public Health Report (5) is expected to be a component of the final report of the Framing the Future Task Force (6). The CC&PH project has included two phases, a first phase consisting of an Expert Panel, which developed a series of Foundation and Consensus Statements that reflected what public health and community college educational organizations could do together (5). The second phase, recommended by the Expert Panel, focused on development of “prototype curricular models” designed for associate degrees and academic certificate programs in community colleges. Two basic models, (1) Public Health: Generalist and Specialization and (2) Health Navigator,1 were chosen after consultations with community colleges, project and Task Force leadership, and public health practice organizations (ASTHO and NACCHO), as well as academic associations in disciplines, which offer related bachelor’s degree programs (SOPHE, AUPHA, and AEHAP2). The CC&PH report recommends that Public Health associate degrees should be built on fundamental skills including writing, oral communications, and quantitative skills consistent with the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) LEAP initiative (7) and VALUE Rubrics (8). Associate degrees and academic certificate programs are also encouraged to incorporate ASPPH Undergraduate Public Health Learning Outcomes. (9). The Community Colleges and Public Health Project report recommends academic programs in Public Health: Generalist and Specializations designed for transfer to bachelor’s degree programs in general public health, health education, health administration, or environmental health. It also recommends Health Navigator academic certificate and associate degree programs. The CC&PH report also recommends specific courses and provides recommended content outlines: http://www.league.org/league/projects/ccph/. The remainder of this article summarizes the two prototype curricular models and discusses next steps in implementation.

Creating a Culture of Innovation in the Community College

As we approach the second decade of the new millennium, there is a renaissance of innovation in education, a resurgence of interest and experimentation that begs for analysis and review. To that end, the League for Innovation in the Community College proposed to conduct a national study on the nature of innovation in the community college using recipients of its Innovation of the Year award from 1999 through 2008 as a data set. With funding from MetLife Foundation, researchers examined these innovations and explored the perspectives of the winners of these awards. In September 2009, a survey created by the researchers with assistance from a focus group—field-tested on a sample of winners not included in the project and vetted by a national advisory committee—was distributed electronically to the 400 award winners; 117 respondents returned surveys for a return rate of 29%. In addition to the survey, more than 40 of the award winners were interviewed using interview questions created by the researchers and vetted by the national advisory committee. The full report and all project findings can be accessed at www.league.org/natureofinnovation. Based on the findings from this national study on the nature of innovation, this article addresses the challenge of creating a culture of innovation in the community college. The characteristics of a culture that support and encourage innovation and the role of leaders in shaping that culture are featured in the article.

A place for community colleges in public health education: Two curricular frameworks

ABSTRACT The Community College and Public Health project is sponsored by the League for Innovation in the Community College (the League) and the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health’s Framing the Future Task Force. The mission is to fully include community colleges in the continuum of public health education. An expert panel outlined efforts community colleges and public health could do together. Two prototype curricular models were then developed. Public Health: Generalist & Specializations is intended for transfer to bachelor’s degree programs in general public health, health education, health administration or environmental health. Health Navigator is primarily an applied associate degree program preparing graduates as Community Health Workers, patient navigators, and health insurance navigators. The prototype curricular frameworks were developed in collaboration with public health academic and practice organizations. The League expects to play a lead role in implementation including sponsoring demonstration projects and recognition awards for excellence.