Introduction
Community college is a two-year school that gives a way through to a four-year university or college. It is a postsecondary education that mainly majors in skill training and workforce development. Collage governance is the mode by which an institution is being organized or managed. The state involvement in the community college governance does not jeopardize leadership and program innovation at the individual institution. Though in most cases, each community college has an independently operating governing board. Statewide governance helps in governing all community and technical colleges (Adelman, 2013). This offers varying combinations of both local and statewide governance. For example, the state government supports community colleges by offering support for subsidized loans to the students.
Governance refers to all proses of controlling, either official or unofficial organization, territory either by laws, power, norms, or language while the administration is defined as the set of procedures used to run either a business, organization, among many others. Governance is still viewed as rational, focused on decision making. Every college must have an administration, but the way it functions is very different from others (Adelman, 2013). This is different from the governance way of the rule which applies to many collages and works under the same set of control. In administration, the most powerful side of the institution took over the control but on governance, the state government would be adhered to by all staff and students in every institution. The ranks between teachers and administrators were dived since the professors concentrated on their work which was doing research, scholarship, and teaching while the managers controlled the institution affairs. This was different from governance as all affairs and tasks were under one rule (Adelman, 2013).
In balancing budgets and solving financial problems, community colleges have tried the following ways. Collages have given financial planning a more projected role and in a regular manner that has instituted hiring freezes and made selective cuts in courses, services, activities, personnel, and equipment. The most difficult to effect in personnel are cut because of seniority, contracts, and tenure to say nothing on the personal disruption they require. By employing well-trained staff members who are more efficient in budget management, the college has tried to foster managerial efficiency (Adelman, 2013). They have also acted on the treasury demands by making more operative use of physical facilities, such as year-round use of buildings, scheduling patterns that pass out class offerings over more of the day, and use of rented space. For decades, many commentators have detailed those and other ways of getting rid of expenditures, among which, reducing the hourly-rate faculty members; limiting staff leaves and travel; employing academic staff members who are more hourly-rate; offering courses off-campus which are in rented facilities; strongly recommending early retirement of staff; lowering students services, such as counseling, athletics, tutoring, and placement; diminishing orders for supplies and types of equipment; and putting forth the student’s credit for experience.
Conclusion
In conclusion, state involvement in community colleges does not threaten leadership in colleges. There is a big difference between a college being run by the state government and one which is being run by its administration. Though a challenge of balancing the budget is experienced, more ways are being put in place to get rid of them as discussed above. There are other recommended ways like placing academic staff members in contact with more students through larger classes or increased teaching hours but has not been easily implemented reform because of the tradition of equating low teaching load with quality.
Reference
Adelman, C. “The White Noise of Accountability.” Inside Higher Ed, June 24, 2010. Source; http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2010/06/24/adelman. Accessed Mar. 1, 2013.
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