Community College Journal - December 2010/January 2011

and listening to their ideas might provide the missing element that makes an innovation successful.

Area of Responsibility. Given the job classifications of survey respondents, it is not surprising that 38 percent of innovators identified their primary responsibility as instruction and 18 percent as student services. The majority of innovators (56 percent) worked in these two areas when they received the award. During the decade in which these awards were made— 1999 to 2008—community colleges faced deep budget cuts, a reality now compounded by substantial increases in enrollment. The time is right to encourage innovations that will enable our colleges to do more with less, to find cost-saving measures that do not impede student success and completion, and to identify alternative funding sources to ensure that student learning remains the focus of community college work.

The Need for Collaboration Overwhelmingly, the work of community college innovation is collaborative. Eighty-five percent of award-winning innovations reviewed in this study were the result of teamwork. Innovators were asked questions about the collaborative nature of their work. Respondents gave high marks to the importance of the team in such factors as the quality of the innovation, the chances of the innovation enduring, and the benefits of the experience beyond the innovation.

Next Steps

Survey respondents were asked to
select one description that “best reflects
a definition of innovation for the com-
munity college environment.” Two
definitions tied for the top spot: “The
creation of new opportunities that are
transformative” and “The development
or adoption of new or existing ideas
for the purpose of improving policies,
programs, practices, or personnel.” The
former is briefer and a bit more tran-
scendent; the latter is more inclusive
and practical. Both definitions work for
the community college environment
and should prove useful to community
college leaders.

GERARDO DE LOS SANTOS is president and CEO of the League for Innovation in the Community College.

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