Reflects on making “Teaching English in the Two-Year College” a viable journal. Discusses formation of the Two-Year College Organization, and its formal recognition by the Conference on College Composition and Communication in 1997.

I salute the 1300 two-year colleges-colleges that bring hope, opportunity, fulfillment of dreams to a large segment of our population for whom otherwise higher education would be very difficult, if not impossible. Community colleges are open door, they are accessible, they are affordable, they are cost efficient, they offer a broad array of programs and services, and they open the way for transferring to four-year institutions or entering/reentering the workforce. Familiar words from the Declaration of Independence remind us of the basis of our democracy: "We hold these truths to be self-evident…"-you know the rest of the sentence. The abstractions "created equal," "certain unalienable rights," "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" become realities for many because of their community college experiences. Community colleges are indeed democracy in action. (Pickett 98).

Part-time technical writing teachers who responded to a 1986–87 survey of two-year college technical writing teachers were found to be committed to teaching, well-qualified, experienced, personally involved, and typically employed full time as technical writers or editors. This finding calls into question the unfavorable stereotypical view of part-timers held by individuals and professional organizations. Because of their unique position as full-time practitioners of the skills they teach, part-time technical writing teachers can serve as an important link between teaching technical writing and business/industry.

This collection is a project of the Committee on Technical and Scientific Communication of the National Council of Teachers of English and is designed for teachers of technical and business writing at two-year institutions. However, instructors at four-year institutions also will find much here that is informative and useful.

The transition from teacher of literature to teacher of technical writing was both a matter of choice and a matter of necessity. By choice I teach in a community college. But the subjects I teach and the manner in which I teach them are largely influenced by the nature of the institution and the students. The institution, committed to the concept of extending educational opportunity to all, attracts a uniquely heterogeneous student body who prefer occupationally oriented programs.