Subscribe
This is a moment in the life of our colleges and country where our emotional intelligence has to be kicked up to a higher level.
A June 11 article in Community College Daily offered a recap of a panel discussion at day three of JFF’s Horizons virtual experience in which four community college presidents talked about the challenges facing postsecondary education at a time when the nation is dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, an upsurge in unemployment, and social unrest.
In the session, titled “Community Colleges: Responding to Today and Preparing for the Future,” Michael Baston of Rockland Community College in New York, Marcia Ballinger of Ohio’s Lorain County Community College, Russell Lowery-Hart of Amarillo College in Texas, and Anne Kress of Northern Virginia Community College engaged in a conversation covering a wide range of issues, including students who weren’t showing up for virtual classes, the importance of placing renewed emphasis on equity, and ways to help students who are struggling to meet their basic needs.
They all agreed that the stakes are high, and Baston summed up the challenges facing them and their colleagues across the country by saying, “This is a moment in the life of our colleges and country where our emotional intelligence has to be kicked up to a higher level.”
