Salt Lake Community College (SLCC) is a public community college in Salt Lake County, Utah. It is the state's largest two-year college with the most diverse student body. It serves more than 60,000 students on 10 campuses as well as through online classes. The college has a student to faculty ratio of 20:1. Since SLCC is a community college, it focuses on providing associate degrees that students can transfer to any other four-year university in the state to satisfy their first two years of requirements for a bachelor's degree. SLCC has open enrollment and serves the local community, with approximately 95% of the student body considered Utah residents.Although the college does not offer four-year degrees directly, school officials work with the state's other institutions of higher learning to create partnerships between different schools and ensure that credits are transferable. Salt Lake Community College has partnered with selected four-year institutions to provide opportunities for students to complete a bachelor's degree while remaining on one of SLCC campuses. General education credits may be transferred to any four-year school in Utah including the University of Utah, Utah State University, Utah Valley University as well as private schools such as Brigham Young University and Westminster College.
Effectively translating environmental research into educational practice and community outreach is essential for supporting environmental literacy and informed decision making in the face of accelerating environmental changes. The Earth’s critical zone (CZ)—the thin, dynamic region extending from vegetation through soils and groundwater to bedrock where rock, soil, water, air, and life interact—regulates processes that sustain ecosystems, agriculture, and water resources. However, the CZ remains largely unfamiliar outside of the research community. In this perspective paper, we highlight selected education and outreach activities developed by the U.S. National Science Foundation’s CZ collaborative network (CZ Net), drawing on thirteen illustrative examples from across CZ Net’s thematic research clusters. The activities span three primary areas of engagement: K -12 student learning, educator professional development, and community engagement. Across these examples, we identify key strategies for making CZ science accessible and relevant in diverse contexts, including place-based and inquiry-driven learning, culturally responsive instruction, creative communication, and partnerships among scientists, educators, and communities. We situate these approaches within the broader literature on geoscience education and science communication and discuss common opportunities and challenges in their implementation and sustainability, including issues related to assessment, scalability, and long-term support.
Objective: Community colleges can offer short-term training due to their flexible scheduling, affordable tuition, and capacity to integrate certification opportunities within programs tailored to regional workforce needs. We identified existing assets and readiness to develop a Certified in Disease Intervention credential at community colleges to expand the disease intervention (DI) workforce. Methods: From fall 2024 through spring 2025, 2 community colleges in the western United States participated in mapping a DI professional job task analysis (JTA) using course syllabi (n = 12) and assignments to identify curricular gaps. DI employer listening sessions (n = 13) provided additional input on job skills. We conducted listening sessions with 4 college faculty, 3 staff, and 14 students to evaluate the feasibility of DI training and identify student support strategies. The research team evaluated educational frameworks to develop an approach for community colleges to assess readiness for implementing DI professional training. Results: Community college courses mapped to the JTA more commonly for knowledge (range, 21.3%-72.3%) than for skills (range, 0%-66.0%). Feasibility to implement DI training at the community college level was viewed favorably by employers, faculty, staff, and students. Students identified needs for additional social supports, particularly for students from underrepresented populations. Steps for community colleges interested in providing curriculum to support DI certification included (1) mapping existing or proposed curriculum, (2) identifying curricular gaps and building opportunities for demonstrating JTA skills, and (3) evaluating the feasibility of adding new programming. Conclusion: DI professional training can likely be implemented successfully at community colleges. With modest adjustments to current courses, community colleges can document competencies that may enhance preparation for national DI certification.
