SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC INITIATIVES

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Financial Education

A series of free webinars geared toward community and technical colleges, known as Third Thursday Webinars, will take place January through April 2019.  A broader project is under development.

Foster Youth

The odds are not favorable for children who enter the foster care system.  Foster youth face many obstacles, including challenges in completing secondary and post-secondary education. Only about 50 percent of foster youth graduate from high school. At the post-secondary school level, fewer than one in 10 foster youth will obtain a bachelor’s degree.  

Community and technical colleges are working to create pathways and mentoring programs to help foster youth stay on track and complete their education.  Community and Technical College Consortium institutions are working to develop new initiatives in this area.  A webinar will take place in February 2019 as part of Third Thursday Webinars.  A broader project is under development.

Open Education Resources

Congress has funded a new pilot program to support open educational resources (OER) in higher education – i.e., openly licensed digital textbooks for college students.  This new pilot program addresses concerns about the increasing costs of textbooks, especially for students from low to moderate income families.  Community and Technical Colleges can be strong partners with the federal government for this program and other efforts to reduce the costs of educational materials.  A Community and Technical College Consortium webinar focused on the OER pilot program is planned.

Rural Outreach

The role of community and technical colleges as rural community “hubs” has been gaining national attention.  In December 2017, a national conference known as RURAL (Resources Uniting Rural American Leaders) was held at the Homestead Resort in Hot Springs, Virginia, bringing together community and technical college leaders from across the nation together with leaders from federal agencies from Washington, D.C. with funding programs for rural communities. Let us know if you would like a copy of the RURAL conference program.  We can provide copies of speakers' PowerPoints and other presentations that may be of interest.

A Community and Technical College Consortium Third Thursday Webinar addressing the topic, Community Colleges as Rural Hubs, is scheduled for April 18, 2019.

Veterans Services

A Community and Technical College Consortium webinar, part of Third Thursday Webinars, is planned for March 2019 addressing the role of community and technical colleges in serving the interests of servicemembers and veterans.  A broader project is under development.