COMBASE

COMBASE is a consortium of community colleges voluntarily joined together for the purposes of:

• identifying, validating, and employing exemplary practices in community-based and performance oriented education; and
• sharing their expertise and experience through research, publications, professional development programs, networking and other means.

COMBASE serves the following CBE core missions:

• provide educational and technical assistance to the business community, provide educational and technical assistance to the public and health sector of the community, participate in such partnerships that provide seamless education and training to citizens who seek improved job skills, provide opportunities to citizens who seek life long education,
• expand and extend learning opportunities into the community and beyond, and
• provide the competencies necessary to obtain an entry-level position, to upgrade in the current job, or to change jobs or career pathways.

COMBASE serves the following POE concepts:

• The development of core competencies for all units, courses, certification and programs.
• The validation of core competency concepts by external bonds, advisory groups, and employers.
• The design of units, courses, certificates, and programs through a systems approach to education and training (SAET).
• The employment of career and experiential concepts in unit, courses, certificate, and programs.
• The design and employment of competency-based evaluation in student and course instrumentation.
• The design and employment of competency-based, systematic course evaluate learners.
• The design and employment of competency-based professional development concepts for entry-level and continuing professional education of staff administrators and faculty.

COMBASE is unique in its recognition of the partnership between colleges and communities in postsecondary education. Established in 1979 by ten community colleges with a common interest in community-based education, COMBASE has become a leading organization in the nation in the practice of community-based education. More than fifty institutions in 22 states support and participate in an annual program including a national leadership conference, institutes and seminars, research, networking events, and a publication series.

COMBASE publishes an occasional paper series entitled The Collaborator. This series focuses on community-based and performance-based concepts in action at member institutions. Also concept papers related to CBE and POE developed by various researchers in the community college segment of Higher Education will be featured.

COMBASE is committed to the following objectives:

• to promote participation and sharing among community colleges of practices, policies, and programs which advance community- and performance-based education;
• to provide a forum for leaders to discuss major initiatives and institutional breakthroughs in community- and performance-based education;
• to promote understanding of, and appreciation for, community-based education through professional development programs, publications, and research supported by leaders with a common goal of service to communities;
• to provide community colleges with up-to-date information on initiatives and exemplary practices in community- and performance- based education;
• to recognize excellence in community- and performance- based education; to advance inquiry into-and information about needs, issues and institutional practices in community- and performance-based education; to develop a national awareness of the needs of the community constituencies who are no longer adequately served by traditional federal and state support systems; and
• to ensure that there is a continuous flow of institutional leaders who are attuned and committed to community- and performance-based education.

Membership in COMBASE is open to institutions which practice community- and performance-based education. Membership is institutional, not individual and facilitated through an application process. An application for membership should be in the form of a letter from the executive officer of the institution to the Executive Director or President of COMBASE. Following approval of the Board of Directors, each ember institution is entitled to two representatives: the institution's President and an institutional representative. Multi-college or multi-campus institutions may join as one institution, or as separate institutions, in which case each college or campus is eligible for separate representation.

A major purpose of COMBASE is to promote participation and sharing among its members. Each member institution is expected to be represented at annual conferences and meetings as well as to participate in special professional development opportunities. A list of COMBASE member institutions is provided.

Fall
(September or October)
Annual Conference

April
(at AACC Conference)
Breakfast Meeting
Business Meeting
Forum Reception

June
(in conjunction with the National Initiative for Leadership and Institutional Effectiveness -NILIE Conference)