Higher Education Commons^™

Necessary Resilience: Experiences Of African American Men Athletes In Community Colleges, Julian Springer

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Research has shown that African American men have the lowest enrollment and completion rates within higher education. While community colleges’ athletic programs may offer access points for students, experiences of African American men who are student athletes enrolled in community colleges has gone under researched. As such, this study explores the experiences of eight African American men student athletes at community colleges. Specifically, this qualitative case study aimed to better understand how these men experienced barriers and support on their campus, as well as their perceptions of their campus climates. Findings suggest that participants felt academically underprepared in their classrooms, …

The Role Of Higher Education In Rural Economic Development: A Program Evaluation Of The Colorado Rural Jump-Start Program, Maureen T. Stepp

Higher Education: Doctoral Research Projects

Since the financial crisis of 2008 and the subsequent recession, some urban and metro areas have experienced economic recovery, but not all geographic areas are recovering at the same pace. Federal, state, and local programs developed to help rural communities with their economic development efforts have failed to make much of a difference. In 2015, as a potential solution, Colorado spearheaded an initiative to incentivize economic development in rural communities. The Rural Jump-Start (RJS) Zone Act provides tax relief to new businesses and employees of those businesses, with the idea that because of these benefits, more businesses would retain, start, …

A Resource-Oriented Investigation Into The Community College Matriculation And Persistence Of U.S.-Educated English Language Learners, Naomi Mardock Uman

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this qualitative single case study with embedded units of analysis was to provide evidence of the personal, institutional, and community resources leveraged by U.S.-educated English language learners (US-ELLs) to matriculate and persist at community colleges and of how their educational experiences were shaped by community college policies and practices. By considering the experiences of multiple students through in-depth interviews and drawing on additional insight provided by interviews with institutional agents, this resource-oriented investigation into US-ELLs’ matriculation and persistence was designed to counter the prevailing deficit orientation that may limit educational opportunity for US-ELLs at community colleges. The …

The Impact Of Social And Academic Integration In Developmental Education, L. Marie Dionisi

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate academic and social integration among students in a developmental math course. A convenience sample was utilized in this study since many of the students either passed out or stopped out at the time the survey was distributed. The study used a survey consisting of the following six sections, background information/demographics, peer-group interactions, interactions with faculty, faculty concern for student development and teaching, academic and intellectual development, institutional and goal commitments.

The study found there was a positive response rate with interaction with faculty. In addition, many of the students were committed to …

Needs And Best Practices For Transfer To Our Four-Year Institutions: The Results Of Survey Research, Patrick K. Smith

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

Contemporary concerns for college programs focus on the ability of the program to prepare students to become employable upon graduation. For a community college psychology program, that focus is somewhat muted by the fact that many of the graduates of the community college will transfer to four-year state universities. For this reason, it is imperative for the community college programs to ascertain from those four-year institutions what preparation those transferring students need. This study has captured what fourteen state public university psychology departments desire for transferring students and what they see as lacking in their students transferring from community colleges. …

Quantitative Literacy: Now More Than Ever, Gail O. Mellow

Numeracy

This editorial highlights the eloquent words of Drs. Bernard Madison and Lynn Arthur Steen who, in the inaugural issue of Numeracy, note that quantitative literacy (QL) provides “tools for survival” in a highly competitive world. I discuss how QL is desperately needed at a precarious time for our nation’s democracy and how at LaGuardia Community College, and community colleges across the nation, important and creative work is being undertaken to build students’ math skills. The pivotal role of faculty is discussed and a call is made for colleges to support faculty as they undertake the challenging work of building QL …

A Million Piece Jigsaw Puzzle: Transition Experiences Of Foster Youth Accessing Higher Education Through Community College, Karen A. Sullivan-Vance

Dissertations and Theses

A college education offers people social and economic benefits, yet youth from foster care backgrounds are less likely than their peers to attain a college education, which places this already vulnerable population at higher risk for a lifetime of living on the margins of society. Foster alumni face multiple obstacles to accessing and persisting in higher education. To facilitate and support the success of this frequently overlooked population, professionals in higher education need to understand these obstacles. Little is known about the experiences of youth with foster care backgrounds as they transition into and through higher education. Although existing research …

Institutional Advancement At Historically Black Community Colleges: A Multi-Case Study, Lakeisha S. Carter

Theses and Dissertations

In this multi-case study, three cases were studied and four participants were interviewed to understand institutional advancement (IA) at historically Black community colleges (HBCCs) and how the institutional advancement professionals engage the alumni in the fundraising process. The results of this study are presented in this dissertation and illuminate the work of the IA professionals at HBCCs. The participants reported what institutional advancement looks like at each individual HBCCs. This study shows the commonalities and differences in IA at HBCCs and the professionals' perceptions of their interactions with alumni. The professionals discussed the fundraising challenges for advancement at HBCCs. Finally, …

A Democratic Conundrum: A Study Of Online Student Performance At Community Colleges, Lavita Mcmath Turner

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Online education at community colleges has the potential to further democratize education by expanding access through the availability of anytime/anywhere courses for people who might be unable to attend college otherwise. However, the literature reveals the existence of performance gaps between online and face-to-face courses at community colleges, ones that can have negative consequences on the upward mobility of its diverse student population. This study investigates such a trend at one urban university. The study shows complexities in the relationship between online learning at community colleges through a mixed methods study of online performance at a community college. The findings …

Online Course Enrollment In Community College And Degree Completion: The Tipping Point, Peter Shea, Temi Bidjerano

Educational Theory and Practice Faculty Scholarship

Recent research indicates that certain students are at risk of lower levels of academic performance in online settings when compared to peers who study only in the classroom. Community college students have been a population of particular concern. In this paper, we hypothesize that online course load and institutional quality may impact outcomes for such students at risk for lower levels of degree attainment. Using comprehensive data from the 30 community colleges (n=45,557) of the State University of New York (SUNY), we conducted a state-wide study to examine whether there is a "tipping point" at which online course load becomes …

Awareness Of Clery Act Reporting Requirements Across Institutional Strata In West Virginia Community And Technical Colleges, Christina C. Johnson

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

More than 25 years after its enactment, colleges are still finding themselves failing to comply with Clery Act reporting mandates. With each amendment to the Clery Act and its associated policies, the trend has been to add to the list of reportable items, which only increases the difficulty of institutional compliance. The purpose of this non-experimental, descriptive study was to evaluate employee awareness of the Clery Act and its current Clery Act reporting requirements at varying employment strata within West Virginia’s nine community and technical colleges. Using a web-based survey, data showed that approximately one-fourth of survey participants had never …

A Phenomenological Inquiry Into The Racialized Experiences Of Southeast Asian American Community College Students, Varaxy Yi Borromeo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Southeast Asian American (SEAA) (e.g., Cambodian, Hmong, Lao, and Vietnamese) students' educational realities are often masked by assumptions that all Asian Americans are model minorities. However, SEAA students have also been racialized as deviant minorities to explain disparities faced by the community. Relatively minimal scholarship has explored how race and racism shape their experiences. In this study, AsianCrit provides a framework for exploring the racial realities of SEAA students in community college. Qualitative research methods were employed to explore in-depth the ways they experience race and racialization. Specifically, this study is a phenomenological exploration of their lived racialized experiences and …

Organizational Change For Sustainability: Implications For The Community College, David Ayers, Michael V. Ayers

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Faculty Publications

We discuss the theoretical basis for organizational sustainability as well as an introduction to how community colleges might incorporate sustainability into planning and organizational renewal. We then describe drivers of change organized into three categories: dynamic natural environment, globalization, and multinational agreements. Implications for community college policy and practice are discussed. The second half of the paper presents a phase model of organizational change for sustainability.

Factors Associated With Federal Student Loan Default Among Borrowers In A Statewide System Of Community And Technical Colleges., Brittany Inge

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Community colleges serve as a gateway to higher education for millions of American college students. Open-door admission policies and federal student aid facilitate the access that two-year public institutions provide, particularly for students who are under-resourced or academically under-prepared for college. However, a substantial number of community college students who use federal student loans to pay for college ultimately fail to repay the loans, yielding negative consequences for borrowers, institutions, and taxpayers.

By employing a Hierarchical Generalized Linear Model (HGLM) this study investigates individual-level and institution-level factors associated with federal student loan default among borrowers who attended a two-year public …

The Effect Of Tuition On Graduation Rate At Community Colleges, Carter Brown Youmans

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

The community college mission has long included open access through low tuition (Vaughan, 2006). Financial challenges for community college students threaten open access (Shannon & Smith, 2006). Paying tuition plays a part in a student’s ability to graduate. A community colleges’ success is measured in part by graduation rates. President Obama challenged all colleges, including community colleges, to increase their graduation rates 50% by the year 2020 (Obama, 2009). The current study analyzed whether public, community colleges’ tuitions predicted their graduation rates using recent data and if size of enrollment moderated the relations between tuition and graduation rate. A two-block, …

Leveraging Guided Pathways To Improve Financial Aid Design And Delivery, Maria Luna-Torres, Melet Leafgreen, Lyle Mckinney

Journal of Student Financial Aid

To address low completion rates, postsecondary leaders are championing a “guided pathways” approach that puts students on a prescribed route towards graduation. Designing solutions to address low completion rates is complex; in addition to academic roadblocks, insufficient financial resources coupled with a complicated financial aid system can intensify barriers to completion, especially for students whose continued enrollment is highly dependent on financial aid. Without a comprehensive approach that specifically addresses financial aid funding shortages, students will continue to struggle to complete their programs of study. Opportunities exist to redesign the financial aid system so that the current guided pathways movement …

The Impact Of Employer-Sponsored Educational Assistance Benefits On Community College Student Outcomes, Henry Tran, Douglas Smith

Journal of Student Financial Aid

Studies of community college finance often focus on revenue sources from the state and local government, private foundations, and tuition. While these resources are important, an often-neglected source of revenue is employer-sponsored educational assistance benefits for students. Given the dearth of literature on the benefits of this funding source, especially for community college students, our study shines light on the topic. Specifically, this study reports on the impacts of Section 127 of the Internal Revenue Code, employer-sponsored educational assistance benefits, on degree-seeking public community college student outcomes based on a propensity score matching analytic strategy. Our results suggest that the …

Factors Influencing Accessibility To American Public Higher Education, Angela Leanne Bryan

Dissertations

Since their inception in the early 1900s, community colleges have been about making higher education accessible. While their initial purpose was to overcome the geography barrier to higher education, the mission of community colleges and higher education on the whole has expanded over time to mitigate other barriers to higher education to include gender, race, religion, and socioeconomic barriers. As public support for higher education has changed over time, institutions have had to change their tuition and fee structure to make up the budget shortfall created by the decreases in public funding. How have these changes impacted accessibility to public …

Panel Handout: Future Of Community Colleges - Tennessee College Promise Campaign

Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy

No abstract provided.

Panel Handout: Future Of Community Colleges - Long Beach College Promise Campaign

Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy

No abstract provided.

Panel Handout: Future Of Community Colleges - College Promise Campaign

Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy

No abstract provided.

Panel: Future Of Community Colleges - College Promise Campaign, Martha Kanter

Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy

No abstract provided.

Delivering Disability Accommodations At A Community College: A Case Study, Caolfionn B. Yenney, Janie Sacco Ii

College Student Affairs Leadership

This case study explores the Office of Disability Support Services (DSS) at Northern Midwestern Community College (NMCC). Like many state institutions of higher education, NMCC has undergone continued budgetary cuts, some of which have impacted their services. Additionally, NMCC faces limited support from administration and resistance from instructors to provide accommodations. Taking the position of the accommodations coordinator, this case study challenges readers to consider a student concern from an institutional, collaborative, student response, and strategic perspective.

Community College Student Success In Online Versus Equivalent Face-To-Face Courses, Cheri B. Gregory

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As part of a nationwide effort to increase the postsecondary educational attainment levels of citizens, colleges and universities have expanded offerings of courses and programs to more effectively meet the needs of students. Online courses offer convenience and flexibility that traditional face-to-face classes do not. These features appeal to students with family and work responsibilities that typically make attending classes on campus difficult. However, many of the students who tend to take courses in this instructional format have characteristics that place them at high-risk for academic failure. Because of the traditional mission of community colleges, they generally serve more students …

Finding An Acceptable Definition Of "Original" Work In Platform Speeches: A Study Of Community College Coaches, Crystal Lane Swift, Gary Rybold

Speaker & Gavel

The quantitative analysis of this paper was undertaken to discover coach definitions of "original work" in platform speaking in the community college forensics competition. A survey was conducted to determine if there was any consistency to coaching practices when considering a recent rule change requiring that all platform speeches be the original work of the student. Although the literature review indicates that academia has established guidelines for plagiarism and unattributed collaboration, no such consistent definition was found among the coaches surveyed. The discussion of the results revolves around the conclusion that coaches are consistent in their own practices but those …

Adult Learner Perceptions And Experiences In A Community College Engaged In Intensive Student Success Reforms, Susan J. Barcinas, Tracy A. Kachur, Duane Akroyd, Heidi N. Mccann, Yaxin Zheng

Adult Education Research Conference

This qualitative study is based upon 200 hours of observation and 30 participant interviews aiming to deeply describe and analyze adult learner perceptions of community college intensive student success reform initiatives.

Nursing Faculty Reports Of Their Intention To Design Instruction To Support Student Learning In Community College Classrooms, Ann-Marie Evans

Nursing Faculty Publications

The purpose of this exploratory case study was to describe community college nursing faculty members' reports of their intention to design instruction to support learning for a broad range of students in their classrooms. Specifically, Ajzen's (1985) Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) was the conceptual framework used to analyze nursing faculty members' reports of their attitudes, normative beliefs, and control beliefs related to the three Universal Design for Learning (CAST, 2011) principles. Ajzen theorized that individuals base their behaviors on intention and intentions are based on the individuals' attitudes toward the behavior, their perceptions of how others wanted them to …

Suicide Prevention Strategies In Tennessee Community Colleges: A Case Study, Sandra Perley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Suicide is the second leading cause of death for college students; annually approximately 1,100 students in institutions of higher education die by suicide. However, most research related to college student suicide was conducted using the sample of 4-year institutions. Community colleges have seldom been included in the sample of suicide research studies. This qualitative case study research explored the student suicide prevention strategies in the 13 community colleges in the Tennessee Board of Regents higher education system. Data were collected from surveys, institutional web sites, and interviews with institutional personnel.

Approximately half of the institutions offer suicide prevention information to …

Effective Fund Raising Practices In Public Community Colleges, Mark A. Bergstrom

Dissertations

This quantitative survey research gathered perceptions of Chief Development Officers (CDO’s) at public community colleges across the U.S., with 129 respondents.

Of the items rated most highly, CDO’s perceived that their presidents effectively communicates their institution’s mission to internal and external constituents; their college has made unique contributions to their community; their college fund raising program has effectively defined a niche in their service area; their investment/stewardship program has advisors successfully guiding investment; they have successful oversight over investments; and they have a successful process for selecting their investment advisors.

Multiple regression analysis examined the predictors of potential elements of …

An Exploration Of Emotional Intelligence In Community College Leadership, Cynthia R. Anderson

Ed.D. Dissertations

This study explored emotional intelligence as it related to community college leadership. Three community colleges agreed to participate in the study. The researcher assessed the emotional intelligence of supervisors. The employees rated their perceived leadership practices of their supervisors. The researcher utilized a correlation method to determine if relationships were found between the variables; emotional intelligence of supervisors and perceived leadership practices. A correlation method was utilized to determine if any relationship existed between assessed emotional intelligence scores of the supervisors and leadership development hours. A descriptive analysis was utilized to determine if a participating community college embedded emotional intelligence …