Urban community colleges--and the cities they serve--areundergoing rapid, multidimensional changes in response to newconditions and demands. The challenge for all community colleges,regardless of size or location, is to reinvent themselves so theycan better meet the particular needs of their respectivecommunities. This national higher-education mandate is vital todemocracy itself, especially given the multiracial nature of metropolitan areas, where challenges and opportunities havealways been most pronounced.This volume looks at how urban colleges are vigorously exploringnew strategies for sustainability and success. Some of the mostprominent practitioners examine every major aspect of thechange-engagement process, including the role of governing boards,workforce development, community partnerships, and redesign ofoutdated business and finance models.This is the 162nd volume of this Jossey-Bass higher educationquarterly report series, an essential guide for presidents, vicepresidents, deans, and other leaders in today's open-doorinstitutions, this quarterly provides expert guidance in meetingthe challenges of their distinctive and expanding educationalmission.

EDITORS' NOTES1 Gunder Myran, Curtis L. Ivery, Michael H. Parsons, CharlesKinsley1. Overview: The Future of the Urban Community College7Gunder Myran, Michael H. ParsonsLeaders are called to transform the very nature of the urbancommunity college just as those who came before them responded tothe social revolution of the 1950s and 1960s amid the civil rightsmovement of that era.2. The Urban Crisis and Pathways to a MultiracialDemocracy 19Curtis L. IveryRealization of a multiracial democracy is challenged bycolor-blind politics and postracial supposition, fueled in part bythe election of our first black President in 2008, but contradictedby the chronic persistence of racial segregation and socialinequality.3. A New Leadership Paradigm for the 21st Century27Calvin Woodland, Michael H. ParsonsLeadership in the 21st century will require new insights andmodels. The authors blend theory and experience into a design forengaging the "new normal" in higher education.4. The Future-Shaping Function of the Governing Board37Rosemary Gillett-KaramThe unique relationship between boards and the urban collegesthey serve is examined from the perspective of a universityprofessor who also serves as a community college trustee.5. The Employability Gap and the Community College Role inWorkforce Development 45Gunder Myran, Curtis L. IveryCommunity colleges are becoming the primary source ofmiddle-skill talent through their workforce development programs.This chapter explores the ways urban colleges are striving to closeemployability and wealth gaps by linking workforce and socialequity objectives.6. Reframing Community Partnerships 55Jerry Sue ThorntonThis chapter frames innovative and creative ways to developunique partnerships with local high schools and employers,exemplified by the best collaborative practices of Cuyahoga andother community colleges.7. Increasing the Relevance of Curricular and StudentServices in the Urban Community College 63Eduardo J. PadrónLike America itself, Miami Dade College's evolution as aninstitution of multiracial democracy started out in reality asquite the opposite--mostly segregated in the beginning, butnow a national model of student diversity and success.8. Achieving a Multiracial Democracy on Campus 75Rufus GlasperThe goal of multiracial equity is not just a phrase in missionstatements, but a top-down strategic necessity for communitycolleges founded on and dedicated to the principles of socialjustice.9. Capacity Building: Reshaping Urban Community CollegeResources in Response to Emerging Challenges 85Wright L. Lassiter, Jr.Metropolitan community colleges face a myriad of convergentchallenges. Sometimes to make sense of it all, it helps to think ofan onion, from the outer layers of support to inner core ofinstructional services.10. The New Community College Business and Finance Model93Gunder MyranCommunity colleges are transitioning from an old business andfinance model to a new future-shaping one. They are beingredesigned to become leaner, smarter, more efficient, morecreative, and more focused in response to long-term financialconstraints as well as rapidly changing workplace skillrequirements, technological advances, and globalization.INDEX 105