Maintaining Strategic Relevance

Career and Technical Education Program Discontinuance in Community and Technical Colleges

The community and technical college mission requires offering relevant Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs. Board policies are plentiful for creating new programs in alignment with workforce needs. However, few districts have robust policies in place to appropriately discontinue or replace CTE programs. This book identifies successful CTE program discontinuance including how people feel about the process and the impact of institutional culture. The interviews and policy analysis conducted provide best practices to effectively and appropriately discontinue CTE programs.

Eleven practical recommendations are outlined to help community and technical colleges in establishing program discontinuance processes which strategically and effectively discontinue CTE programs while making optimal use of limited fiscal and human resources. This book provides readers with information on career and technical education, appropriate strategies to manage the constant churning of CTE programs, college governance, and academic discontinuance policies.