Minding the Dream: The Process and Practice of the American Community College

Community college leaders need honest information about what's working in the community college and need to be challenged about the things that are not. State Legislatures and Congress need updated facts to assist them in making wise funding decisions. Community college advocates need updated information to assist them in their advocacy work, and higher education programs need an updated book about community colleges to use a a basic text.

Minding the Dream: The Process and Practice of the American Community College fulfills these needs by combining an analysis of the community college with critical perspectives and applied examples of issues and programs. This highly accessible book helps readers understand community colleges' missions, problems, and triumphs.

The authors, who are both committed practitioners, extol the dream of community colleges and expose those parts that are yet unfulfilled. They tell the real story of community colleges using the research of their colleagues in the field to provide the most comprehensive and accurate picture of the contemporary state of community colleges.

Gail O. Mellow is president of LaGuardia Community College. She serves on several national higher education boards and commissions, including the American Association for Higher Education, the American Council on Education, and the American Association for Community Colleges.

Cynthia Heelan is the former president of Colorado Mountain College. She is the president of Cynthia Heelan & Associates, an educational consultancy group, and an adjunct faculty member at the Fielding Graduate University.