ABSTRACT
When I began working on this project, a friend asked me why I was writing a book about community colleges. It was a good question, as I had never attended a community college, nor had I ever taught at one. My first involvement with community colleges came when I was president of the University of Maine at Presque Isle (UMPI). Houlton, Maine, a nearby town, had asked the chancellor of the University of Maine System, the chancellor of the Maine Community College System, and me to come to a town meeting. They were interested in bringing a “community” college to their town. They did not necessarily mean a 2-year college but rather any college as long as it was in their community. Maine already had seven public universities and seven community/technical colleges and an interactive television system that brought college classes to towns all across the state. However, this was not sufficient for Houlton residents, who saw having a brick-and-mortar college in their community as encouraging economic development and increasing access to higher education.
