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The Urgency of Now is one in a series of books sponsored by the Association of Community College Trustees and Rowman & Littlefield Publishers that is intended to highlight the factors and environment shaping the landscape of America's community colleges. Each of the book's five chapters focuses on a different issue facing colleges today, and though written by separate authors, common themes emerge that emphasize the special role of 2-year colleges.The first chapter makes the case for the title of the book, urging fundamental institutional changes for community colleges to remain relevant and effective. Wood argues that it is time for 2-year colleges to transform from their traditional missions of access and affordability that are faculty-focused into student-centered communities with greater emphasis on quality learning experiences. If a student clearly understands the link between their program learning outcomes and their educational goals, their odds of success improve and, the author asserts, completion rates at community colleges will increase.The appeal for change in Chapter 1 is followed by chapters focused on particular issues: accreditation, competency-based education, outcomes assessment, and faculty engagement. Each chapter links back to the central argument and includes examples or specific strategies that the authors believe will strengthen innovation at community colleges. The epilogue further addresses some of the impacts that these transformational changes will make on auxiliary, financial, and support services across the institution.The chapters that are focused on competency-based education and institutional assessment offer well-grounded, applicable strategies for their respective topics with meaningful case studies in each chapter to support institutional implementation. Similarly, Kolb's essay on faculty engagement presents a sensible and realistic plan to address instructional personnel, navigating the balance between shared governance among institutional leadership. Most appropriately, it places the responsibility of institutional change on both administration and faculty.The highlight of the book is Lynn Priddy's address on accreditation; in it, she builds upon the book's theme of the need for 2-year colleges to improve the quality of student learning. Priddy shows support and respect for the current accreditation frameworks and recommends substantial, yet manageable, changes to the process. The chapter contrasts the prevailing view of accreditation as compliance against a new proposal of accreditation as validation, linked more closely to the evaluation of instructional and institutional quality. This section is somewhat of a departure from the rest of the book because some of its proposals are beyond the authority of boards or administrators; however, it is nonetheless timely, meaningful, and substantive. The recommended changes also serve as an effective response to critics of regional accreditation, thereby addressing proponents of increased federal intervention. Priddy's proposals keep accreditation relevant as a peer review function and increase its value to community colleges as a means of quality control.Like other books by multiple authors on diverse higher education topics, The Urgency of Now does not exclusively address one group. Therefore, the book is best viewed as a resource for multiple stakeholders, with each chapter best suited to a specific group. Although the book addresses its limited topics well, it does not offer much to the institution already deeply engaged in the work it describes. There is room left for future volumes to cover emerging topics like alternative scheduling, dual credit, or developmental education. …