Washington, D.C. — The American Association of Junior Colleges is launching a five-year program in semiprofessional and technical education development at the community junior college level, supported by a grant of $782,500 from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, it was announced recently.
Under the new program, member colleges of the Association will engage in a national effort to provide leadership in developing college grade programs to prepare men and women for technical and semiprofessional education related to engineering, the health fields, and to business.
Many studies have pointed up the rapidly increasing need for manpower in these fields, Gleazer said, and at the same time there is growing national concern for providing new opportunities for education beyond the high school. Community junior colleges already have taken initiative in meeting these vital needs, despite many obstacles which the Association’s new program will attempt to hurdle.
In announcing the grant to the American Association of Junior Colleges, Emory W. Morris, president of the W. K. Kellogg Foundation noted:
“As you know, we share your conviction as to the need for expanding the efforts of the nation’s community colleges in the area of semiprofessional and technical education. We are confident that the activities of the Association will make a substantial contribution toward meeting this national need.”
Deeply committed to the community junior college idea, the Kellogg Foundation in the past has provided substantial support to the Association for its general program. In addition, the Foundation has assisted individual junior colleges in developing semiprofessional and technical education resources, supported a national junior college executive development effort at 10 universities, and has stimulated growth of two-year nursing programs.
With the Foundation’s assistance, the Association will be in a position to expand its headquarters staff and to strengthen services to communities engaged in planning for new community colleges as well as to existing institutions. Three specialists in technical and semiprofessional education will be added to the staff, and panels of experts will be organized to study needs and problems.
“In the nation’s fast changing economy, the requirements for trained manpower in appropriate number, with appropriate skills, and placed in appropriate occupations, present vast challenges to our educational system,” Gleazer said. “Many of the technical programs represent more desirable lines of educational development and self-fulfillment for many youth and adults than do traditional post high school courses of study.”
With these challenges in view, AAJC will assist its member colleges in developing curriculums and programs, leadership and instructional talent, informational materials, and in improving liaison with the many government, professional, and educational agencies that have an interest in occupational education. Effort will be made to bring about better public understanding of opportunities that the occupational programs represent, to stimulate experimentation, and to find solutions to financial problems that may hinder establishment of necessary programs.