Community Colleges' Talent Pool
John William Templeton
Monday, October 16, 2000
©2000 San Francisco Chronicle

URL:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?
file=/chronicle/archive/2000/10/16/ED56737.DTL

IT IS AMAZING that advocates of the H1-B visas to fill high-tech
jobs overlook one of the jewels of higher education -- the largest such
institution in the world, the California Community College System -- as
a source for employees.

This system has a unique role to play in addressing the
disparities pointed out in a survey by the University of California at
San Francisco. It found that African Americans and Latinos are being
left out of California's economic boom.

That is not for lack of talent. Laney College computer instructor
Thaddeus Howze has found that he can motivate African American and other
students, who for the most part have had no previous interest in
technology, by putting them to work running the college's computer
network. Those motivated students then bring in other Laney students who
were not previously interested in technology.

East Bay voters will decide Nov. 7 whether or not to put millions
of dollars into more advanced computer equipment throughout the Peralta
Community College District to help instructors like Howze better prepare
students for high-tech jobs.

Nationally, community colleges could play a much greater role as
a portal to advanced education. Antoine Garibaldi, former provost of
Howard University, notes that 597,000 of 1.4 million African American
college students attended two- year institutions in 1996, the most
recent year figures were available. Garibaldi notes that community
colleges educate the largest numbers of African Americans, Latinos and
Native Americans in the nation.

Institutions such as City College of San Francisco have linked
with historically black colleges and universities and other institutions
to give community college graduates automatic admission by aligning
courses to the four-year college's curriculum. The University of
California has adopted a similar program.

Increasing the supply of Americans with advanced degrees,
particularly in the sciences and technology, will depend on tapping this
pool of talent that has already entered higher education.

The high-tech industry must get rid of snobbish attitudes and not
just recruit from a few elite institutions. If more jobs are available
to community college graduates, students will take demanding classes and
move on to advanced courses.

Local and state governments, increasingly dependent on
high-technology networks but unable to compete for the workers to run
them, can show leadership by providing paid internships and
apprenticeships for community college students. Students turned off by
the classroom often perform much better when given real-life tasks,
particularly when they get paid.

James Brady, president of Cobra Solutions Inc., one of the main
technology contractors for the city and county of San Francisco, told
the Human Rights Commission in September that high-tech staffing
shortages threaten the ability of the city to utilize new technologies.
On Nov. 2, the commission's employment committee will consider a
proposal to require the city's high-tech contractors to demonstrate
compliance with fair employment laws.

For potential students, the prospect of jobs would inspire more
to attend community colleges. The infrastructure for a high- speed
employment and training pathway has already been created for industries.
Businesses just need to use it instead of looking offshore.

John William Templeton is co-convenor of the Coalition for Fair
Employment in Silicon Valley editor@blackpressonline.com.

©2000 San Francisco Chronicle Page A21