The Completion Agenda policy in community colleges has been transmitted into these schools to influence students’ performances and ensure that most students complete their courses. This policy was instituted after college completion, especially in the United States community colleges, and has remained notoriously low for a long time. Community colleges in the United States are essential elements of higher education, notably because they are among the leading providers of education to the public and a source of workforce to the country’s economy (Juszkiewicz, 2020). The completion agenda program aims to improve colleges’ institutional performance by transforming community colleges’ organization, culture and operations. The issue of college completion persists today in community colleges because these institutions historically focused on expanding access to education rather than achieving credential completion (Juszkiewicz, 2020).
The Sanford theory of challenge and support is a related concept of higher education that focuses on developing college students ‘ performance. It states that for a student to achieve optimal development in a college environment, support must be applied to counter the challenges they face so that they can tolerate the stress that the challenges present (Longerbeam, 2016). According to the theory of challenges and support, students in college face various challenges that lower their probability of being retained throughout college, hindering their completion. From the perspective of the Department of Higher Education, institutions of higher learning, especially community colleges, must act to fight the declining rates of college graduations. Notably, the Sanford theory of challenges and support can illustrate how the completion agenda effectively addresses the challenges that come with college retention.
Essentially, the completion agenda is a state and an institutional policy, whereby the state aims at improving community colleges’ operations, and therefore, a college policy in the fact that community colleges are working to improve student retention and completion. The objectives of the non-traditional community college completion agenda program can be deduced from the perspective of the theory of challenges and support in community colleges. Notably, the completion agenda seeks to support community colleges to solely work to increase their number of graduates in the future (Trent, 2016). The agenda recognizes that Community Colleges, through their traditional roles as higher education providers, have been overwhelmingly investing more resources in enrollment. Therefore, the agenda argues that community college presidents should significantly reduce enrollment spending and spend their resources on completion graduations, which will help sort out the long-time tradition of fewer degrees in these schools (Trent, 2016).
Challenges and support theory demonstrates the various aspects of the policy of completion agenda because it focuses more on the students than the institution. According to the theory, students in college environments must be provided with essential support to overcome the challenges that force them to drop out of college (Longerbeam, 2016). For example, one of the most significant challenges that the completion agenda faces is that most adult students who start college often leave in approximately a year. Adult students experience complicated financial challenges more than other classes of students, including having to find jobs for boarding and self-sufficiency and having children and family members to take care of, among other issues. These students often need more support to tolerate the stress of these challenges and, therefore, cannot sustain themselves long in college.
On the other hand, the completion agenda seeks to assist and support the community colleges to trickle down that support to students to retain as many students as possible. The theory of challenges and support states that in this context, support of students in college environments must be precise and manageable because students need more support to have the thoughts to reflect on what they need to do (Longerbeam, 2016). Therefore, there should be a limitation to assistance in all aspects to increase students’ accountability, leading them to seek better certification and excellence. In this context, the theory suggests that when handling the various aspects of the completion agenda in community colleges, care must be taken to ensure the program retains its credibility and relevance.
Notably, the theory of challenges and support cannot be applied solely to improve college retention and completion in the context of the completion agenda program. It is essential to note that the theory is very complex and should only be put into practice as a supplementary element to other theories. It is challenging to figure out and determine where the balance lies between the challenges that must be presented to students in college environments and the amount of support that must be offered to the same students to ensure their welfare is enhanced (Longerbeam, 2016). According to its assertion, the theory advocates for a balance between the two concepts. It seems contradictory that students must be supported in every aspect where challenges arise but should only be supported somewhat in some aspects. Therefore, it makes it difficult to establish a central point of action and becomes obscure and sometimes inapplicable.
References
Juszkiewicz, J. (2020). Trends in Community College Enrollment and Completion Data, Issue 6. American Association of Community Colleges.
Longerbeam, S. (2016). Challenge and support for the 21st Century: A mixed-methods study of college student success. Journal of The First-Year Experience & Students in Transition, 28(2), 33–51.
Trent, M. P. (2016). Ethical leadership in today’s community colleges: Presidents respond to the completion agenda.
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