ACCT Joins in Goldman Sachs Partnership to Launch 10,000 SMALL BUSINESSES Initiative: The Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) announced on November 18, 2009 its participation in 10,000 Small Businesses, a new partnership with The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS) and other business and higher education leaders.  (Press Release)

Joe D. May: Community Colleges Create a Measuring Stick:  Joe D. May, president of the Louisiana Community and Technical College system, explains the need for—and the political risks of—a new accountability system that community colleges are developing for themselves in a new podcast interview conducted by Goldie Blumenstyk, The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Community-College Leaders Hear Praise and Challenge from Schwarzenegger: Forty years after he walked into a community college himself, looking for the skills "to make millions of dollars and be rich and famous," Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California told 1,500 trustees and presidents of those colleges assembled here today that their colleges now represent "the institution of hope" for the country. By Goldie Blumenstyk, The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Schwarzenegger Touts Value of Community College: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who began his U.S. education at a city college, told a gathering of community college trustees Thursday in San Francisco that the schools will play a vital role in the nation's economic recovery.  CBS Broadcasting, Inc.

Whose Metrics?  Accountability was much discussed here last week at the annual meeting of the Association of Community College Trustees, and everyone agreed - in theory - that institutions should have to report on measures that demonstrate their quality or lack thereof. There were presentations on, and general support expressed for, the effort started by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Lumina Foundation for Education -- announced just before the meeting -- to develop a voluntary national accountability system for community colleges.  By Scott Jaschik, Inside Higher Ed.

Remediation Worries and Successes: At one session on remedial education here, a speaker asked the audience of community college trustees how many of them knew their institution's graduation rate. A minority of hands -- maybe 20 percent -- went up. But if trustees are not as well versed on student success at their institutions as the question suggested they should be, that doesn't mean that they aren't interested.  By Scott Jaschik, Inside Higher Ed.

Community College Accountability: Accountability initiatives are not new to community colleges. But because scholars and educators have long disagreed about how to measure and compare the institutions' success in educating students, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Lumina Foundation for Education announced Tuesday their funding of an effort to create a national, voluntary accountability system for community colleges.  By David Moltz, Inside Higher Ed.

Intelligence Report: Can Education Boost the Economy?  PARADE magazine's exclusive interview with ACCT President and CEO J. Noah Brown.  By Brooke Lea Foster.