Education Commons^™

Two Paths, One Goal: Student Success Examining Student Affairs In Community Colleges And For-Profit Post-Secondary Institutions, De'reese L. Reid-Hart

Dissertations

In the 21^st century, the potential for opportunities to obtain an education has become a reality and as a result, many students are embarking on a journey of social mobility and are assimilating into the milieu of higher learning. Affordability, accessibility, and program types are factors that have historically made public community colleges the primary option for students as they aspired to obtain higher education. However, with the rapid growth of for-profit post-secondary institutions offering similar programs, flexible hours, and accelerated degree options, students who would have traditionally enrolled at a public community college are now choosing to attend …

Institutional Effectiveness And A Culture Of Evidence: Accountability Cornerstones For The Community College In The 21st Century, Teresa Renee Mckinney

Dissertations

This study explores the complexity of accountability demands that have emerged in the 21^st century from a variety of community college stakeholders. As community college leaders attempt to foster a new accountability culture within their institutions to quell these demands, questions regarding how to go about creating effective systems for continuous quality improvement emerge. This research focused on discovery, insights and understanding from the perspectives of community college leaders engaged in this process, reveals proven strategies to address these and other concerns while improving institutional effectiveness. This qualitative inquiry used a case study methodology to disentangle these issues through …

Appalachian Bridges To The Baccalaureate: Institutional Perceptions Of Community College Transfer Success, Christopher M. Phillips

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Statement of the problem. Appalachian community colleges are dealing with a dynamic transfer policy environment and implementing practices that either foster or impede transfer student success. The problem in this dissertation is to discern how Appalachian community colleges are making sense of transfer policy changes and conducting practices to address student transfer success. Although individual factors must be considered by community colleges, they often are out of the control of the institution. This study focused on the institutional factors, including the ways that organizational structures and transfer policies contribute to the success of a community college’s transfer program.

Design. This …

Appalachian Bridges To The Baccalaureate: Mattering Perceptions And Transfer Persistence Of Low-Income, First-Generation Community College Students, Michelle Dykes

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Too few community college students who intend to transfer and earn a baccalaureate degree actually do. Further, low-income and first-generation college students are overrepresented at community colleges. Education is considered a means of social and economic mobility for low-income, first-generation students; therefore, retaining this population through baccalaureate attainment is a critical issue. Because of the multitude of obstacles these students must conquer, it is crucial to implement effective strategies for improving transfer rates.

This dissertation has three components: (1) companion research study, (2) individual research study, and (3) reflective essay examining pretesting and telephone-administered survey methods. The companion study was …

An Analysis On The Experience Of Mentoring Support In A College Alternative Teacher Certification Program, Debra Voutsinas Kilgore

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research study was to explore how college alternative teacher certification (ATC) participants experience mentoring support. The goal was to obtain a rich and deep understanding of the nature of the mentoring experience in a college ATC program through the perspectives of mentees and their mentors. The ATC program was the Educator Preparation Institute (EPI).

Semi-structured interviews were conducted. Eight individuals participated in the study, four were mentors and four were EPI students. A triangulated set of research methods for data collection and analysis was used, including member checks, validation forms, and peer reviews. All the interviews …

Appalachian Bridges To The Baccalaureate: How Community Colleges Affect Transfer Success, Amber K. Decker

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Statement of the problem. Too few community college students who intend to transfer and earn a baccalaureate degree actually do. This is a problem because postsecondary education is a key factor in economic mobility, and community colleges enroll a disproportionate number of nontraditional, part-time and low-income students. Although individual factors must be considered by community colleges, they often are out of the control of the institution. This study focused on the institutional factors, including the ways that organizational structures contribute to the success of a community college’s transfer program.

Design. This companion study was conducted by a four-member research team. …

Faculty And Administrators Working Together In A Community College: A Retrospective Case Study, Paul J. Charpentier

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Community colleges are facing many large-scale problems, such as increased accountability, in a time of shrinking budgets and students who are often unprepared for college level work. The implications of these problems to institutions that are striving to maintain access to higher education for vulnerable populations are grave. These problems, and others, require creative solutions that involve numerous individuals and groups across the institution. The purpose of this retrospective case study was to learn how faculty and administrators experienced collaboration in the context of a community college. The study was carried out at Southern Maine Community College (SMCC) in South …