Community college advisory committees should play an integral part in the shaping of course curriculum and course program content. Advisory committees are groups of individuals from business and industry that provide valuable information to community colleges regarding the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed in the private sector. These committees are generally comprised of people that are employed in fields associated with the same technical and vocational content areas that the committee represents. The purpose of this research study was to measure the perceptions held by community college advisory board members regarding their influence and contributions in shaping technical coursework and program content. The population studied were 30 faculty members in technical/vocational education at a midsized community college and 100 technical/vocational advisory committee members from the business and industrial community of southeast Texas. The instrument used in this study was the Decision Involvement and Analysis Questionnaire (DIAQ) developed by Flannery. It was designed to measure faculty involvement and participation. The questionnaire is comprised of 20 decision issues of participation divided into four categories focusing on actual involvement, desired involvement, interest, and expertise. A yellow DIAQ questionnaire was distributed to the advisory members to determine their perceived level of influence and involvement within their respective departments. A second DIAQ questionnaire of blue color was given to the faculty in which they were directed to take the role of an advisory member and complete the questionnaire. The objective was to determine the difference in perceptions of involvement between the two groups.

This six-volume handbook covers the latest practice in technical and vocational education and training (TVET). It presents TVET models from all over the world, reflections on the best and most innovative practice, and dozens of telling case studies. The handbook presents the work of established as well as the most promising young researchers and features unrivalled coverage of developments in research, policy and practice in TVET.