Studio Art Programs at Community Colleges

As the demand to “go green” seems to be growing in relevance in recent years, many community college students are implementing actions to promote environmental change and progress by creating clubs and organizations to improve their local environments. Adding to this, community college leaders have also created programs and courses to help educate students on the importance of nature-based learning through environmental studies.

Lewis and Clark Community College

Students at Lewis and Clark Community College have easy and convenient access to learning more about environmentally-friendly initiatives and actions, as LCCC has established a “Green Living Club” to teach students and members about the importance of living an eco-responsible lifestyle. As LCCC’s “Green Living Club” asserts, “The Green Living Club is dedicated to the education and promotion of a green, eco-friendly lifestyle on and off-campus. There are so many ways that individuals can help protect the planet.”

The club strives to inform students and local residents about significant and current environmental issues, while the club simultaneously strives to encourage people to live greener lifestyles by taking a hands-on part in improving the green-focus of LCCC’s campus.

Suffolk Community College

In addition to an array of programs and courses, Suffolk Community College maintains its ecological focus by providing students and residents with a Nature Reserve. With miles of trails and preserve areas, individuals can explore the Nature Reserve

While a wide array of community colleges across the country offer traditional music programs in musical practice, theory, and study, many new community college programs are offering more unique and specialized musical education courses. Today, students can enroll in programs to study historically-informed instruments, or they can even enroll in courses that teach students how to become employed in the field of music management and production.

Edmonds Community College offers a thorough and diverse array of music-oriented courses. Together, the Music Department of ECC established clear instruction goals, which include: “Giving students a solid foundation all facets of music, providing a range of performance and creative opportunities, offering diverse music theory and digital music courses, creating a dynamic, rich learning environment for students to pursue their passion for music and performing.”

To guide students towards achieving and engaging in these goals, ECC provides a variety of performance opportunities and events. Most notably, ECC fosters positive programs for musical enrichment through organizations such as the symphonic choir, the jazz band and choir, and the jazz workshop. These groups, along with many others, serve to enhance student learning and performance experiences.

Adding to these support systems, ECC’s Music Department also provides students with specialized acoustic fixtures in their music classrooms, various practice pianos and state of the art recording gear, in addition to ECC’s state of the art recording studio with a digital interface that students can interact with through hands-on opportunities.

Virginia Highlands Community College

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As a societal approach to improving health conditions in public settings, many offices, community centers, and restaurants have initiated tobacco and smoking bans on their properties. While public schools, such as elementary and high schools, have banned tobacco products on their educational campuses for years, community colleges across the country are now beginning to follow this health-driven trend.

Banning Tobacco on Community College Campuses

The Growing Trend

Institutions, businesses, and other settings possess the legal right to ban smoking and tobacco use on property grounds because private properties can be governed by owners/managers/leaders. As a result, those who own personal property often have the supreme authority over the rules and regulations of their grounds and boundaries.

On the other hand, community colleges had to earn their right to ban tobacco in 2006, as community campuses are not necessarily “privately” owned properties. In 2006, Katherine McDonald of the Chatham Journal explains, “The General Assembly adopted legislation exempting community colleges from a law requiring public institutions to set aside areas for tobacco use.”

According to McDonald’s investigations, community colleges that have adopted smoke-free and tobacco-free policies include schools such as Asheville-Buncombe Technical, Cleveland, Guilford Technical, Haywood, Pitt, Roanoke-Chowan, Stanly, Wake Technical, and Wilkes Community College.

This video describes the Truth Initiative, which helps community colleges and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) bring tobacco-free policies to the campuses that serve young adults from minority and low-income communities.

Community colleges nationwide have implemented specific support programs to stimulate student support and success. Often referred to as “mentor services” or “mentor programs,” community college mentors can be paramount leaders for guiding and encouraging younger students. Mentors are often older community college students who have demonstrated specific academic or professional successes in their collegiate studies. By sharing their knowledge and insight with new and younger students, community colleges have designed robust programs to enhance the success of all students and campus members.

What is a Mentor Program?

While each community college has its unique mentoring program, the general concept focuses on pairing a new or young student with an older, more experienced student. Often, mentors will guide new students by helping them set their schedules, by providing campus tours, or by offering to serve a new student as an academic tutor or study buddy.

When engaging in a mentoring program, mentors are considered the “experts” in their field or organization, while mentees are the more novice and less experienced organization members. In the case of community colleges, mentors are usually students, although they may often also be professors. At the same time, mentees are new and younger students or students who may need special support services, such as ESL support, transfer support, etc.

This video examines the peer mentoring program at Guttman Community College in New York, New York.

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