Reinvention: The Promise and Challenge of Transforming a Community College System - Softcover

Cheryl L. Hyman is the former chancellor of City Colleges of Chicago.

Reinvention chronicles an unprecedentedly comprehensive approach to community college reform and the leadership challenges encountered along the way. As chancellor of the City Colleges of Chicago, Cheryl L. Hyman implemented an ambitious program of systemwide reform called Reinvention. The program’s impressive achievements included doubled graduation rates, improved transfer rates, and streamlined connections between college and careers. Informed by leading research on effective community college programs, Reinvention emphasized a shift in focus from access to outcomes, putting the priority on student success.
 
Hyman offers a wake-up call for community college leaders and those concerned with student success, arguing that a significant cultural and operational shift will be required for community colleges to fulfill this mission. The story of Reinvention—its failures as well as its nascent successes—offers an inspiration and a roadmap for those seeking to make change in higher education.
 
“Hyman’s fascinating book forces us to contemplate the possible speed of college change. What emerges are valuable lessons, deeply rooted in the author’s fierce determination to promote social mobility. It’s a must-read for anyone seeking to understand the essential relationships among college leadership, campus culture, and the critical goal of dramatically improving community college student success.”
—Joshua Wyner, founder and executive director, Aspen Institute College Excellence Program
 
“Cheryl Hyman took the job of chancellor of Chicago City Colleges with a deep idealistic commitment to serving the low-income students striving to improve their lives. This book describes her vision, efforts, and the ways she transformed the system. Her efforts are inspiring and instructive to all who want to improve educational opportunity in the United States.”
—James Rosenbaum, professor of sociology, education and social policy, Northwestern University
 
Cheryl L. Hyman is the former chancellor of City Colleges of Chicago. Davis Jenkins is a senior research scholar at the Community College Research Center at Teachers College, Columbia University.