Community College Noncredit Programming: The Tractable Educational Resource.

Overview & Synopsis

Within the context of a discussion of the development of adult education programs in community colleges, this paper focuses on the noncredit programming in the San Francisco Community College District (SFCCD) and the threats to those activities posed by recent funding reductions. First, the paper reviews the long history of adult education, highlighting the historical events contributing to its development and expansion, the negative and inaccurate perceptions of adult education held by many oriented to more traditional educational modes, and the unique features of the growing adult education movement (e.g., its use of facilities not specifically designed for education; and its suitability as a resource for activities for the physically disabled, social welfare clients, and other human services recipients). The paper focuses then on the new breed of educator who emerged to fill the instructional gaps left by traditional education. Next, the Truman Commission on Higher Education's impact on adult education and the community college movement is analyzed. Following a discussion of the non-credit programming offered in the SFCCD, the paper assesses the traumatic effect of the passage of Proposition 13 on the adult education programming in the District. Finally, the paper argues for the reversal of the trend favoring traditional programming over non-traditional education in the perennial battle for funding. (LAL)