State Director Views on Community College Workforce Development

Using multi-year data captured by annual national surveys of state community college directors, the study examined relationships among factors related to workforce education in community colleges. Variables of interest were related to the following categories: state and federal funding for workforce development, workforce development delivery in terms of Industry Recognized Credentials and noncredit education, perceived business perspectives about community college workforce development, and the economic context for community colleges. Results showed that three primary themes emerged: (1) the need to expand high-cost programs in career-focused areas was nearly universal and was related to business relationships, program area enrollment, unemployment, and a focus on short-term noncredit programs; (2) the importance of businesses seeing community colleges as providers and the correlations with other variables; and, (3) the relationships between being a Workforce Investment Act provider and the push for noncredit training and relationships with business.