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The community college has transformed into a central hub in regional communities, serving a local workforce, economic development, business and industry, and the subsequent collaborative partnerships (Baber, 2011; Bray, 2011; Kress, 2012). Through a collaborative, proactive effort, business and industry are uniting with community colleges to provide and fund training opportunities to upgrade worker's skills, provide more efficient services, increase employment opportunities in local communities, reduce education program cost, and become business oriented as a community (Baber, 2011; Bray, 2011; Kress, 2012). To offset the expense associated with workforce education programs, colleges are collaborating with businesses and industries. Advisory committees serve as the heart of these partnerships, helping to combine resources, equipment, and knowledge in skilled areas (Greenstone & Looney, 2001; Holzer, 2008). In this chapter, the following issues related to community college advisory committees will be discussed: workforce programs, community college economics, vocational-technical education, current state of workforce and technical programs, statement of the problem, advisory committees, partnerships, program discussion, and future research direction. |
