Education Commons^™

Chief Academic Officers And The Aacc's Leadership Competencies, Josh Philip Lavorgna

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

Chief Academic Officers (CAOs) hold one of the most vital senior leadership positions at community colleges. Typically thought to be the second person in charge, directly under the president, their impact on the community college is crucial. CAOs have historically been considered the next in line to the president, and community college presidents were often CAOs before assuming their first presidency. The American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) publishes Leadership Competencies for hopeful and current community college leaders. This study examined the perceptions of community college CAOs regarding the AACC Leadership Competencies for Aspiring Chief Executive Officers (CEOs), or presidents ...

International Student Recruitment, Retention, And Transfer Efforts At Top Community Colleges Hosting International Students In The United States, Alejandra Diaz-Rangel

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

The number of international students enrolled at community colleges across the U.S. has significantly shifted in recent years. As a result, higher education institutions across the country have developed and integrated rationales for attracting and retaining international students to their campuses. The purpose of this research study was to examine international student recruitment, retention, and transfer efforts taking place at community colleges in the U.S. The data that influence the international student recruitment, retention, and transfer plans set forth by community colleges in the U.S. was collected from decision makers at 15 U.S. higher education institutions ...

Asian American Community College Presidents: An Asiancrit Analysis Of Their Approaches To Leadership, Johnny Hu

Ed.D. Dissertations in Practice/Capstone Projects

This study explores the experiences of five current and former Asian American community college presidents including their career transitions into executive leadership using an AsianCrit analysis for framing their narrative experiences. The literature review situates the experiences of Asian American community college presidents in various contexts by providing a brief summary of several historical moments and political movements that have shaped the realities they currently confront as higher education leaders. This study employed a Critical Race Theory (CRT) approach to counter storytelling to analyze the participants’ narratives both individually and thematically based on their social identities as Asian Americans and ...

Figured Worlds: A Phenomenological Study Of Community College Faculty Leaders, Quinton Bemiller

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Despite the importance of community colleges in higher education, community college faculty are understudied. Although the community college has been defined as a teaching institution, its faculty also serve in non-teaching leadership roles. The purpose of this research study is to know (1) what the experiences of community college faculty in leadership roles are, (2) how their roles have changed over time, (3) what factors motivated faculty to accept non-teaching roles, and (4) how faculty have navigated the transition. Data were obtained from open-ended, semi-structured interviews using an Interpretive Phenomenological approach. Qualitative data were transcribed, coded, categorized, and then organized ...

Organizational Culture In Community Colleges: Making Connections To Diverse Student Success, Darcy A. Orellana

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

The lack of equitable educational outcomes for students of color continues to be a glaring problem for community colleges. Community colleges are challenged to find solutions to address long-standing achievement gaps. One institutional response has been to implement high impact practices (HIPs) as a means to improve persistence, retention, and graduation rates for all students. HIPs, however, have produced mixed results in terms of enhancing student success, and evidence suggests that students of color participate in fewer HIPs and thus receive less benefit from them. This study considers the proposition that students of color may decide not to participate in ...

Promoting Persistence Among Lgbtq Community College Students, Gregory D. Robinson

Theses and Dissertations

A vast amount of research has been devoted to the persistence and retention of college students since the 1970s. Recent research has focused on targeted populations such as first year students, racially minoritized, students with low social economic status and students at the developmental/remedial level. Nevertheless, limited scholarly research has been conducted on the persistence and retention of another category of students, sexual and gender minorities. This qualitative study examined the experiences that promote persistence among Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer/Questioning (LGBTQ) community colleges students. Interviews with eight LGBTQ students from three community colleges in the state ...

Matriculation Through Dual Credit, Lorry Beth Wilson

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

Earning college credit in high school has become a rising trend, while correlation of matriculation to credit hour accumulation, underrepresented minority population, and high school data is limited. State policies are redefining outdated rules and processes in order to provide access, affordability, and awareness to students throughout the United States. West Kentucky Community and Technical College, in partnership with area high schools, enroll students in dual credit courses, which assists with increasing college credential completion and the reduction of total college costs. Students must have guidance and planning before, during, and after earning dual credit. This helps the student to ...

Social Construction Of Power In Policymaking: A Case Of Cybersecurity Articulation Agreements In Virginia, Michael Paul Moore

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

Existing research into the creation of articulation agreements focused solely on the functional aspects of these documents, such as maximizing transfer credit. However, little is known about the experiences of faculty and administrators at the community colleges and universities who create articulation agreements and how their experiences affect partnerships between institutions. This is especially important for high-stakes articulation agreements in industries that are under-employed, as institutions are expected to enroll large numbers of students to meet the demands of the market. Who takes charge in the creation of such articulation agreements is of interest for leaders of institutions seeking to ...

Instructional Behavior And Its Impact On Student Engagement, Debra Joan Crumpton

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The purpose of this quantitative study was to expand understanding of leadership behaviors and their influence on follower engagement. Researchers have shown that engagement is a predictor of retention and organizational performance. Leadership theory and the conceptual framework of worker engagement were the study's theoretical anchors. Despite a proliferation of leadership studies, engagement antecedents are largely unknown. The aim of this study was to narrow the gap in the literature by examining the extent to which there may be a relationship between college instructors' behaviors and student engagement. Although not traditionally regarded as frontline leaders, extant leadership literature affirmed ...

Community College Transitioning Experiences Of Dual Enrollment Students, Sandra Lucille Fuline

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Dual enrollment transitioning experiences of students are poorly understood, leaving higher education stakeholders without the proper information to smooth the transitioning process and keep students in college. This basic qualitative study using interviews explored how 10 dual enrollment students described their transitioning experiences from high school to community college by investigating their motivations, ability to acknowledge self-efficacy, and understanding of social interactions using Badura's self-efficacy model and Keller's motivational theory and the attention, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction model. Data were analyzed through an open coding method to categorize themes and patterns as well as discrepant information. Key findings ...

Community College Faculty Compensation For Online Course Development And Delivery, Radhika I. Prout

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation was to determine the most common compensation practices community colleges in the United States provided to faculty for online course development and delivery. Many community colleges provided compensation as an incentive for faculty participation in supporting their online learning initiatives; however, limited research was available on fair compensation for these services. The population consisted of 980 community colleges that were identified using the American Association of Community College’s membership directory.

Data for this study were collected using a survey that contained 31 closed and open form response questions requesting demographic information and current practices ...

Community College Policies Affecting Undocumented Students, Emily Sara Logan

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examined community college policies and practices related to undocumented students in Iowa. Critical race theory’s tenet of interest convergence and the qualitative methods of phenomenological interviewing and document review were utilized to answer the following research questions: (a) What is the legislative and political policy discourse about undocumented students in Iowa? (b) What are the institutional policies and practices regarding undocumented community college students in Iowa? (c) How do institutional policies and practices differ among community colleges in Iowa? Findings indicate that community colleges attempt to respond to changing demographics and workforce needs, but practices regarding undocumented ...

Co-Enrolling Students In Math Remediation And College-Level Math In A Community College System, Peter Thomas Anderson

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to conduct a rigorous examination of co-enrollment of students in math remediation and college-level math. A quasi-experimental, posthoc design examined the outcomes and the relationships of two groups of students who participated in a pilot project the goal of which was to assess the co-enrolled model that is designed to provide students with mathematics support. One group of students enrolled in a traditional model of developmental mathematics. The second group of students co-enrolled in developmental and college-level math.

The sample for this study was students (N = 7616) from nine community colleges in a U ...

Student Demographic And Academic Characteristics That Predict Community College Student Success In Online Courses, Jennifer L. Davidson

Theses and Dissertations

Online student success is a concern for higher education institutions especially community colleges with open enrollment admission. This study analyzed online student success using online GPA (dependent variable) and both demographic and academic characteristics of online students (independent variables) to determine which characteristics significantly correlated to and predicted student success in online courses. The sample included an unduplicated count of 4,046 online students enrolled in at least one online course during fall 2015 and spring 2016 at a public, Midwestern community college. Six research questions and twelve hypotheses were used to determine which independent variables led online students to ...

First-Generation Community College Students And Their Sense Of Place: An Opportunity To Succeed; An Opportunity To Belong, Cheryl J. Williams

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Over the past decades, community college attendance has continued to be the first stop and school of choice for over half of the college student population, particularly for first-generation students. However, despite their enrollment, degree attainment remains low for first-generation students. It is not enough to get them in the door—it is critical that they belong. A college experience that provides a sense of belonging and sense of place for first-generation students is crucial. Sense of belonging has been shown to contribute to a positive student identity and experience that leads to higher retention and graduation rates. Student belonging ...

Relationship Between Active Learning Methodologies And Community College Students' Stem Course Grades, Cherish Christina Lesko

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Active learning methodologies (ALM) are associated with student success, but little research on this topic has been pursued at the community college level. At a local community college, students in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) courses exhibited lower than average grades. The purpose of this study was to examine whether the use of ALM predicted STEM course grades while controlling for academic discipline, course level, and class size. The theoretical framework was Vygotsky's social constructivism. Descriptive statistics and multinomial logistic regression were performed on data collected through an anonymous survey of 74 instructors of 272 courses during the ...

Women In Stem: The Effect Of Undergraduate Research On Persistence, Jodi Christine Wilker

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The underrepresentation of women in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) careers constitutes a major issue in postsecondary science education. Perseverance of women in STEM is linked to a strong science identity. Experiential learning activities, such as undergraduate research, increase science identity and thus should help keep women in STEM. Most studies on research program development are from 4-year institutions, yet many women start at community colleges. The goal of this study was to fill this gap. Science identity and experiential learning theories provided the framework for this case study at a local institution (LECC). Semistructured interviews determined college science ...

Cultural Influences Of Resource Dependence: Community College Administrator Perceptions Of Implementing Initiatives Related To Tennessee’S Performance Funding Model, John Owen Driskill

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this phenomenological research study was to describe the cultural influences of resource dependence for community college administrators responsible for the implementation of initiatives related to Tennessee’s new performance funding program. Tennessee’s funding formula, considered one of the most aggressive and robust in the country, is among a second generation of performance funding programs commonly referred to as performance funding 2.0. Cultural influences of resource dependence were defined as values, beliefs, and customs that influence administrator efforts to improve institutional outcomes and acquire additional resources through performance funding.

A top performing community college in terms ...

Change Management And Guided Pathways: Creating A Plan For Implementation At A Washington State Community College, Sandra Spadoni, Saovra Ear

Ed.D. Dissertations in Practice/Capstone Projects

Objective: This article addresses a problem of practice in community college leadership: how to effectively use change management strategies to implement a guided pathways model at a community college. Guided pathways is a recent national movement to create more structured and better coordinated academic pathways within community colleges. Using the case study of one Washington State community college looking to implement this model, we identified change management strategies for community college leaders seeking to implement the guided pathways model. Methods: We conducted interviews with national consultants, state system leaders, and college leaders around the country who have effectively implemented this ...

Harnessing Emotions: The Critical Role Of Emotional Intelligence For Community College Leaders, Lauren Hibbs, Valerie M. Sundby-Thorp

Ed.D. Dissertations in Practice/Capstone Projects

More than ten million students are enrolled each year in public two-year colleges in the United States. Community colleges are faced with unprecedented accountability for student progression and completion. In Washington State, the work of academic and student services deans is critical to the success of public two-year colleges. Mayer and Salovey’s (1997) ability model of emotional intelligence and the related work of Goleman (1998), and Mayer, Salovey, and Caruso (2008) suggest that the development of emotional intelligence has the potential to positively impact the effectiveness of these community college leaders. This study asks broadly, what are the perceptions ...

Nontraditional Student Risk Factors And Gender As Predictors For Enrollment In College Distance Education, Tammy Crews Pao

Educational Studies Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation was to examine whether nontraditional student age, female gender, and the possession of nontraditional student risk factors predict enrollment in distance education college courses. This dissertation used data from the most recent National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:12), which consisted of approximately 95,000 undergraduate students who were enrolled in higher education in 2011-2012. The results of a logistic regression analysis indicated that both nontraditional student age and female gender were strong predictors of enrollment in distance education, whereas the number of nontraditional student risk indicators was a partial predictor. As leaders in higher ...

Strategies For Organizational Sustainability In Higher Education, Angela D. Reese

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The defunding of higher education at the state and national level following the 2008 recession created the need for administrators of public higher education institutions to develop and implement funding strategies to maintain organizational sustainability. State government administrators reduced spending approximately 26% per student across the nation, leaving higher education administrators challenged with adjusting organizational budgets to compensate for the reduction in state monetary support. A multiple case study design was used to explore funding strategies that community college business leaders used to support budget decisions that maintain organizational sustainability. Four leaders from 3 community colleges in Central Texas participated ...

Career Mobility Patterns Of Aspiring Female Leaders At California Community Colleges, Tracy Lynn Johnson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Many women struggle to move up the career ladder. Women aspiring to executive positions in community colleges within the United States may face gender barriers, family-work life barriers, and barriers regarding their leadership ability. The problem studied was a gap in knowledge of how women succeeded in attaining executive positions in community colleges. The purpose of this study was to examine ways that female leaders at Southern California community colleges assumed executive-level roles at their institutions and the barriers they faced to attain those positions . The theory of upward mobility and the concept of self-efficacy comprised the study's conceptual ...

Influence Of Nontraditional Students On Traditionals In The Community College Classroom, Angela J. Richart-Mayfield

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

An increase in nontraditional student enrollment continues in community colleges nationwide. Little is known about the interactions between mixed-age groups of students. This qualitative collective case study explored the academic and social influences of non-traditional students on their traditional peers in the community college classroom at a large, midwestern 2-year college. Tinto's interactionalist theory framed the study. Purposeful sampling was used to select 30 participants (13 traditional students, 13 non-traditional students, and 4 instructors) who represented the college population in terms of gender and racial and ethnic diversity. Interview questions were guided by the research questions, and data were ...

Type Of First Term Course Failure And Community College Degree Completion, Jill Stearns

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Community colleges are the largest segment of higher education institutions in the United States providing access to historically underserved populations and growing numbers of first generation college students. Increasing college degree attainment is a national priority with new expectations of accountability. Despite decades of educational research, community colleges have startling low completion rates. Within the framework of Tinto's theory of retention, a predictive analytics model could provide community colleges the opportunity to drive custom intervention and support services to students. The purpose of this study was to explore the utility of Biglan's taxonomy for categorizing courses for potential ...

A Study On The Impact Of Funding On State-Level Community College Governance Systems, Jeffrey Alan Fletcher

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Building on a 2015 national landscape research study of state-level community college governance systems, the purpose of this study was to determine if there were correlational relationships between revenue resource funds, state-level community college governance systems, and state funding distribution formulae. Many states had experienced change since 2000, and therefore, it was important to research the impact of funding. Although state funding distribution formulae emerged organically, they remain exposed to ever-changing technological, economic, and political developments. Similarly, state-level community college governance systems also remain susceptible to these technological, economic, and political dynamics. It has been noted that these two subjects ...

The Role Of Professional Development In Adjunct Nursing Faculty Identity Salience, Jared Dean Seliger

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to understand how adjunct nursing faculty integrate their pedagogical professional development (PD) experiences to develop identity salience as an educator, and understand how PD affects their perceptions of commitment, satisfaction, and time spent in the adjunct role. Administrators of nursing programs can use the results as evidence of the importance of providing PD to their adjunct faculty. Ten adjunct nursing faculty who participated in PD were interviewed using phenomenological qualitative methods comprised of interviewing and gathering field notes. The themes emerging from the interview revealed that ongoing PD fosters a teaching identity ...

Comparative State Community College Return On Investment: State Funding, Local Funding, Tuition And Graduation Rates For Community Colleges, Christopher Neary

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

America’s community colleges have recently been thrust into the national spotlight as people look to retrain or find economic alternatives to higher education. This substantial increase in accountability is met with the constraints of financial resources and other limiting factors structured into community college systems. In this paper I examine community college return on investment by states, which govern the responsibility of educating America’s workforce through their diverse community college systems. To improve America’s postsecondary education competency is to optimize collective action of U.S. state community college systems. While colleges and universities contribute to national education ...

The Role Of Local History In The Curriculum At A Rural, Southeastern Community College, Sandra Lee Walker

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Local history knowledge informs citizens of the political, social, economic, and cultural aspects of their communities. Community colleges are uniquely situated to address citizens' educational needs because of their historic mission to serve local people. The problem at a rural college located in a southeastern region of the United States was the perception of a lack of local history in the curriculum. Dewey, Schon, Brookfield, and Mezirow's perspectives on reflection guided this case study. Two research questions focused on how faculty and staff at the college perceived the role of local history and its relationship to the curriculum and ...

The Scholarship Of Teaching At Community Colleges, Patrice Arleanor Williams

Dissertations

This dissertation addresses engagement in the scholarship of teaching (SoT) at the community college level. A basic overview of the origin of the concept, a discussion of some of the key publications in the body of literature on the topic, and the details and results of a study on the topic—including suggestions for further research—are provided here.

The study involved full-time community college faculty members, representing institutions throughout the United States. Thirty-nine participants completed a 53-item questionnaire developed by the researcher. The goal of the study was to determine if a relationship existed between engagement in SoT and ...