What does the Government, Local Community and Employers Want from Colleges - Essay Example

Expectations of Community, Government, and Employers from Colleges Introduction Colleges are educational centers that deal with training and nurturing of students to suit and fit various professions and fields, which are of great economic strength of a society and country in particular. Well-trained and professionally efficient college graduates become very instrumental in the production and service sectors of a country. Poorly trained college graduates offer compromised services as well low quality production. In that line, one can clearly tell that colleges are very fundamental institutions in modeling any country’s economy. The better the training offered by colleges the more the surety of good economic contributors. It is evident that communities and employers have to maintain close and detailed watch of the various colleges to scrutinize the kind of graduates they produce to the community and production plants. The governments also have some stakes in the operations and output of colleges in terms of the quality of graduates they release into the market. Communities’ Expectations from Colleges Colleges are not only centers for learning but also employment sectors that offer job opportunities to service providers to the students and learners. Keller reports that colleges are grouped into two different levels depending on the driving body. Keller indicates that there public colleges, which are specifically driven and monitored by governments of different regions. The other division of colleges according to Keller is the private colleges, which are actually monitored and managed by private bodies or organizations and not governments. The listed division of colleges recruits workers from the societies and offers different portions of wages to the employees at different levels of operations. Communities have it as a routine that private colleges will always offer higher incomes to it workers at different levels of operation (Keller). Public colleges on the other hand are institutions that offer lower income margins as compared to the private counterparts. However, Keller provides clarity that public colleges with the low salaries offered to employees have well established retirement pension schemes that rewarded to the retired workers. Communities therefore will always keep careful look at the public colleges to reward pensions to their former workers within a certain period. The fact is contrary to the private colleges, which do not initiate in long-term pension plans. In addition, communities expect that workers in the public sectors will comply with the national retirement age and retire at the exact age indicated in the legislations of a country. Private colleges on the other hand do not have close sensitivity on the retirement age of its employees and could at times contract aged and highly skilled professionals to continue serving the institutions. For that matter, members of the community who happened to work in the public colleges and have attained the retirement age will call back to the private colleges in search of employment (Keller). In the views of Anna, communities keep watch on colleges to lower the costs of learning in order to accommodate particular individuals who never got the opportunities to advance their education to university levels. Furthermore, communities view colleges as the appropriate avenues for undertaking lifelong learning that is essential for long-term success of individuals. Anna further states that communities expect colleges to produce graduates who can challenge and compete with individuals who underwent degree programs. Additionally, communities expect colleges to offer high standards of education guaranteed by highly qualified and hardworking teachers (Gladden). In addition, communities expect colleges to act as crossing bridges to universities for individuals who never performed better in the high schools (Gladden). Due to the perceived small numbers of students in college, communities expect close teacher-student relation to enhance the quality of attention granted to students. Communities also expect colleges to play transition roles for high school students who were unable to identify their carrier objectives. Mae confirms that communities require colleges to prepare student who can always fit in any environment and lead a peaceful life. Communities also expect colleges to trim students and impart in them great knowledge that can easily help individual students to get quick absorption into the job market. Employers’ Expectations of Colleges Indivilgo reports that employers have greater concerns regarding the professionalism of graduates that colleges present to the job market. Indivilgio confirms that employers expect to employ graduates who actually have clear understanding of operations in a specific field and less likely to make petty mistakes. Employers are never pleased to employ graduates whom they will still teach how to perform certain professional tasks. Indivilgo adds that employers expect highly skilled and quick learners who have the capabilities of quick grasp of issues shown to them by their employers. With increased admission of students into public colleges and with the increasingly low earning, demoralized and few tutors, employers believe that the quality of education and training achieved in public colleges are relatively poor and below specific required standards (Indivilgio). In that case, many employers have turned to the private colleges where education fees and quality are high to source for better graduates (Usigan). College Parents of America disclose that employers in various fields and sectors of the economy expect colleges to teach ideologies of dealing with complexities, diversity, and change in the working environment. Employers also expect colleges to teach their students on the basics of practical skills such as communication and analysis of issues to ensure peaceful coexistence in the working environment (College Parents of America). In addition, employers expect colleges to induct appropriate problem solving skills and train the students on how to apply the acquired skills in the real world placing to avoid inconveniencies in the places of work occasioned by the graduates’ inexperience and lack of high value skills. College Parents of America assert that employers expect colleges to provide intensive training to students especially in the areas of research and analyses to enable them investigate problems within the production plant and the possible standing solutions. Employers require colleges to produce graduates with expanded knowledge in other subjects and elaborate understanding of the world to acquaint individuals with appropriate relation skills that can enable them interrelate freely with other professionals in different fields and working environment (College helper.com). Employers believe that such graduates are able to analyze the interrelationship between the firm and others and use the knowledge to structure appropriate techniques to ensure positive assimilation of the relationship (Anna). Furthermore, Anna reports that employers expect colleges to produce graduates with exemplary skills to deliver presentations and accept challenges that may occur in the working environment. Banking and telecommunication employers expect colleges to provide a broad exposure of international affairs to their students. Employer further expect colleges train the students on ethical issues of various communities and acquaint the students with appropriate skill for making amicable judgment at each level (Heart Research Associates 8). Government Expectations of Colleges According to the Higher Education Quality of Ontario (HEQO), governments expect colleges to display institutional accountability plans (3). The governments require annul reports of two sets of accountability indictors for every college institutions. HEQO reports that governments require colleges prepare mission-specific indicators that relay light on diversity and autonomy of the institutions. Governments require each college to develop unique strategies approved by the body of directors in the institutions. In the view of Dennison and Gallagher (92), governments expect colleges to prioritize training programs as the base of their operations. Gallagher and Dennison further report that governments expect colleges to develop clear operation plans to disclose their future goals and intentions (93). In addition, governments expects colleges to offer appropriate educational opportunities that can assist adults meet the incessant changes in the field of economic and social needs. Furthermore, governments expect colleges to train their students concerning certain principles that enhance ethical conducts of the student to alleviate cases of insecurity and misconduct at the public domain. Conclusion Colleges play one of the most critical purposes that help in boosting the development of a nation’s economy. Colleges have become shades that are fundamental for the survival of communities, governments, and employers in general. The entire expectations of communities, governments, and employers from colleges are the improvements in economic performance of a country. Communities expect college produce graduates who have sufficient knowledge and skills for interrelating with other individuals in the community. Communities further expect colleges train students appropriate skills that can help in the individual students get easy absorption in the job market. In addition, communities expect colleges to offer low costs yet high quality education to the students. Employers also have certain stakes in colleges that make them present and disclose their expectations of colleges. Employers expect colleges to provide high quality training to the students concerning intellectual skills of observing, interpreting, and analyzing particular issues and situations. Employers also require colleges to offer in depth training on research techniques to the students. Governments as well require colleges to prepare and present their work schedules and plans to help the government monitor the level of achievements of individual institutions. Work cited Anna. Personal Development: How important is college? 2009. Web. November 9, 2011. College helper. Com. The Benefits of Community Colleges. 2011. Web. November 9, 2011. College Parents of America. What Do Employers Want From Your College Student? A Liberal Education. 2011. Web. November 9, 2011. Gallagher, Paul and Dennison, John. Canada's community colleges: a critical analysis. UBC Press, 1986. Print. Gladden, Naomi. Community Colleges; Advantages and disadvantages of the two-year junior college experience. 2007. Web. November 9, 2011. Heart Research Associates. Raising the Bar Employers’ Views on College Learning in the Wake of the economic downturn. Web. November 9, 2011. Higher Education Council of Ontario. Letter to Ministry of Education. Web. November 9, 2011. Indivilgio, Daniel. The importance of college; a self-fulfilling prophecy. 2011. Web. November 9, 2011. Keller, Josh. As Pension Costs Rise, Public Colleges Pay the Price. 2010. Web. November 9, 2011. Mae, Sallie. Community College. 2007. Web. November 9, 2011. Usigan, Ysolt. The Benefits of a Community College. 2011. Web. November 9, 2011. Read More