any current full-time community college faculty were hired in the 1960s when most community colleges first began, and now a large number of these faculty are retiring in Illinois and across the nation. This trend is resulting in a high faculty turnover rate and the need for community colleges to recruit new faculty to keep pace with changing student populations. In the 1960s most community college teachers were drawn from local secondary schools where teacher-education programs and classroom experience prevailed. Today, community college faculty come from a variety of arenas, often directly from graduate school or business/industry positions, neither of which provide substantial teaching opportunities. For most, the typical preparation has been the attainment of a master's degree in a traditional academic field (Cohen & Brawer, 1996). Even though community colleges have been able to capitalize on the up-to-date knowledge new faculty bring to bear on the college curricula, teaching expertise has not been emphasized among graduate-trained faculty. If faculty cannot communicate their subject matter adequately, however, students may not benefit which, in turn, suggests the value of professional development activities for these new faculty members.

Because community colleges-unlike four-year colleges and universities that emphasize a tripartite mission of teaching, research and service-have focused exclusively on teaching as a predominant goal. Leaders of the community college movement have proclaimed community colleges as "teaching colleges," attempting to avoid the sharp criticism directed at other higher education institutions for maximizing research at the expense of good teaching, particularly for undergraduate students.

The New Paradigm: Learning Colleges

In recent years, questions about the quality of community college teaching, coupled with the quality of student learning, have been raised out of concerns about student retention, academic performance and workplace competence. Such concerns influenced Boggs (1995-96) to place learning rather than teaching at center stage: "The new paradigm says that community colleges are learning, not teaching institutions. The mission is student learning. The most important people in the institution are the learners. Everyone else is there to facilitate and support student learning" (p. 2). O'Banion (1997) and others have supported this perspective, shifting debate in the field from what constitutes good teaching to what enhances active learning linked to positive student outcomes.

Advocating the notion of community colleges as "learning colleges," O'Banion (1997) has postulated the following objectives for enhancing student learning:

• Learners should be considered full partners in the learning process;
  
  
• Learners should have primary responsibility for choosing a learning option;
  
  
• Collaborative learning activities should be more prevalent;
  
  
• Teachers should be redefined as learning facilitators;
  
  
• Learning outcomes should be documented more fully.

To achieve these objectives, O'Banion recommends that community college faculty incorporate more constructivist, integrated and learner-centered instructional strategies into their teaching, including learning styles, multiple intelligences, and brain-based research. He also advocates that community colleges adopt educational technologies at a much more rapid pace and utilize individual and institutional assessments in a much more sophisticated way.

With the dramatic changes occurring in the community college student population, and current and future developments in instructional theory and technologies, community college faculty need to develop and sustain knowledge and skills in current teaching practices that facilitate successful learning among students. Experienced faculty already employed by community colleges also need to keep pace with recent pedagogical and technological innovations.

Current efforts to provide professional development for faculty are often disjointed and ineffective because of the difficulties of keeping pace with technological developments, complicated further by limited resources and the difficulty of managing part-time faculty. The current needs and trends outlined here call for new leadership and the Community College Learning Program at UIUC hopes to play a larger role in addressing these concerns.

Community College Leadership Specializations at UIUC

The Community College Leadership (CCL) Program in the Department of Human Resource Education (HRE) at UIUC is organized into two areas of specialization: the Community College Executive Leadership Program (CCELP) and the Community College Instructional Leadership Program (CCILP) (see Figure 1).

The CCELP is an executive doctoral program for aspiring community college Presidents, Vice Presidents, Deans and other college personnel. The first cohort of the CCELP began in summer 1998 and is jointly sponsored by the Department of Educational Organization and Leadership and the Department of Human Resource Education. The program results in the degree of Doctor of Education (Ed.D.). For students who wish to commit to full-time study, a research-oriented Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) option is available.

The Community College Instructional Leadership Program (CCILP) is a graduate program (master's and doctoral level) for current and prospective community college administrators and faculty. The primary focus is teaching and learning in the community college. The overall focus of the program is to examine how the curriculum, use of technology, pedagogical techniques and diverse learners impact teaching and learning in the community college, and to prepare practitioners to fulfil current and emerging roles linked to community college teaching and learning. The goals of the CCILP include the following:

• Prepare prospective and experienced community college faculty to be master teachers and skilled administratos who will transform community college teaching and learning;
  
  
• Provide an avenue for lifelong learning among community college professionals;
  
  
• Link CCILP with other professional development providers within the institution, with other colleges, and with ICCB;
  
  
• Familiarize community college faculty (administrators and other college personnel) with measurement and evaluation strategies used in community colleges.

Community College Teaching and Learning Online

A significant aspect of the new graduate curriculum in Community College Leadership is an online sequence of professional development courses to support excellence in community teaching and learning. This program is known as "Teaching and Learning in the Community College" (CCTL Online). The potential of the Worldwide Web to provide professional development opportunities for community college faculty is tremendous. The sequence of online courses is designed to build capacity and excellence in community college instruction by addressing the following goal:

To increase the capability of community college faculty to design and implement quality instruction using innovations such as peer-based collaboration, active learning strategies, and contemporary instructional technologies within the community college system of the state of Illinois and the nation.

This new online curriculum will be launched Fall 2000 by UIUC and will consist of 16 credit hours to be completed during one calendar year. All courses can be applied to a graduate degree in a community college leadership specialization at UIUC once standard admissions requirements are met. The new course sequence will consist of the following online courses:

• Foundations of the Community College (2 credit hours)
  
  
• The Diverse Learner (2 credit hours)
  
  
• Developing and Delivering Instruction in the Community College (4 credit hours)
  
  
• Instructional Technology in the Community College (4 credit hours)
  
  
• Linking Outcomes Assessment to Institutional Performance (4 credit hours)

When fully implemented, this sequence of courses will provide faculty with a foundation of instructional theories, skills, and practices to support existing professional development efforts in Illinois community colleges. We expect this to provide a cost-effective professional development model that will be accessible to all faculty in Illinois community colleges, irrespective of field of specialization or location. Students who complete the entire course sequence will receive a professional development certificate from UIUC.

Curriculum Meeting at UIUC

The HRE Department recently held a series of discussions with the presidents, vice presidents, deans, faculty, and students of several Illinois community colleges, including Parkland College, John A. Logan College, Illinois Valley Community College, McHenry County College, Harry S Truman College, Prairie State College, and Danville Area Community College, as well as representatives from the Illinois Community College Faculty Association and Illinois Community College Board. These participants identified professional development of faculty as a critical need facing the community colleges of Illinois, and they expressed their support for the proposed Community College Teaching and Learning Online Program.

On September 30, 1999 the HRE Department hosted the Community College Leadership (CCL) Curriculum Meeting at UIUC, in order to solicit feedback and input from community college leaders regarding two community college initiatives currently being developed: a) online professional development certificate; and b) instructional leadership.

Four principal themes emerged from this meeting. First, college administration, faculty, and staff need to know the importance of excellence in teaching and learning, and how it is defined and measured. A second issue pertained to the need for understanding the historical and philosophical trends of the community college and its place within the K-16 "system." In particular, several participants underscored the importance of understanding the student base and the impact on teaching and learning such an understanding can have. Third, the issue of outcomes assessment pertaining to faculty was raised. Because community colleges are bombarded with accountability mandates, the role of faculty and assessment of student learning has taken center stage. And finally, the online professional development certificate program received attention. In order to attract prospective faculty to participate, it is important to focus on community college supervisors and administrators in academic affairs.

References

Boggs, G. (1995-96). The learning paradigm. Community College Journal, 66(3), 24-27.

Cohen, A. M., & Brawer, F. B. (1996). The American Community College (3rd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.

O'Banion, T. (Ed.). (1997). A Learning College for the 21st Century. Washington, DC: Community College Press.