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An independent report commissioned by DC Appleseed and the Brookings Institution has concluded that it is "critical to the success and sustainability of" the new Community College of the District of Columbia to sever ties with the University of the District of Columbia. UDC, which has always had plenty of problems balancing the hefty costs of a four-year university and its open-enrollment-assisted reputation as a two-year college, split focus in August into the University and the Community College. Both operations still operate under UDC's administration.
The findings certainly don't shy away from its recommendation that CCDC make a clean break, suggesting the college seek out new relationships with more reliable suburban colleges in order to supplement the institution through its first formative years. The Post has the real stomach punch quote:
The 60-page report...pulls no punches, stating that UDC "has been troubled by a distrustful faculty, high administrative overhead, poorly maintained and outdated facilities, chronic mismanagement and internal dissension, and unacceptably low completion and graduation rates."
Ouch. For their part, UDC officials "said they agree with some of the findings," according to the Post, but they disagree that CCDC needs to break away in order to succeed. The full report, along with testimony from yesterday's D.C. Council round table on the recommendations, can be found here.
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Let's talk about the elephant in the room:
Why have the two major institutions tasked with educating District residents both been such abject and profound failures?
Discuss.
Who let the 6th grader in?
I know you are, but what am I?
Okay, KittyLiteral, I don't know anything about CCDC or UDC, but I'm going to throw in that it might be a frothy combo of poor hiring (nepotism/cronyism) on management's part and a student body unprepared for college-level academia that mixed together, made a recipe for disaster.
I'm probably completely wrong, though. That would never happen in DC.
I'll see your nepotism/cronyism and unprepared students, and raise you poor facilities and fiscal management/graft.
It's just predictable.
DC should focus on a CC which provides education and certifications for college bound students and working adults. DC residents already get in-state tuition at out-of-state 4-year universities.
The lack of educational opportunities for adults at in-state tuition rates was one of the (many) factors that swayed my decision several years ago to not move to the District.
People badmouth community colleges, but I took a bunch of classes part-time that were extremely rewarding and enriching and influenced my decision to change careers. I'm now working on a master's in my new field, in a decent program that I can afford. If I was not a (VA) resident, this all would have cost me about triple.
I have always thought that the entire population of DC (and even region, see below) would be better served if UDC completely transitioned to a community college. The UDC campus even offers metro accessibility, something that (to the best of my knowledge) the MD and VA CC's lack. Heck if they had decent program offerings, a few MD and VA residents (or their employers) might even cough up out-of-state tuition for accessibility reasons alone.