Community Colleges Must Become Entrepreneurial to Survive

Madison, Wis.—May 28, 2008 — In a recent Magna Online Seminar, Dr. Tony Zeiss explained that the most important fact for those concerned with resource development at contemporary community colleges is the drastic reduction in funding from the state. This is forcing community colleges to become a different kind of institution just to stay alive, as explained during a 75-minute online seminar presented by one of the nation’s leading experts in resource development for community colleges.

In “Resource Development for Community Colleges”, Dr. Zeiss, president of Central Piedmont Community College, the largest college in North Carolina—serving approximately 70,000 students per year—laid out some basic principles for turning your school into an entrepreneurial institution, an organization that draws on the creativity of faculty and staff to survive and even thrive in a new world where community colleges must become self-sustaining.

Zeiss laid out key principles for focusing all thinking about funding:
• “Our colleges exist to add value to our students and communities, not to make a profit"
• “There are millions of working poor in the United States. The community college doors must be kept open for them...”

The only way to rise to those ideals is to become an entrepreneurial school. Some tips Zeiss had for turning your school around:
• Create a Presidents Entrepreneurship Council—a president’s think tank for creating alternative revenue
• Colleges should offer opportunities for significant partnerships with local industries
• Face the choice—cut budgets or increase revenues. If you choose increasing revenues, you need collaborative structures in place; presidents, chancellors, deans and development officers—all dedicated to development.

If you missed the live event, you can order the program in CD or print transcript format, both of which include the presenter's handouts.

Magna Publications is a leading publisher of newsletters and other information products in the higher education segment. Magna also manages onsite and online conferences on topics of interest to higher education.

For more information please contact David Burns, Publisher, Magna Publications, Inc., at 608-227-8109, or dburns@magnapubs.com.