Community College Education Administration Commons^™

Impact Of A California Community College's General Education Information Literacy Requirement, Phyllis Usina

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Budget cuts at a California community college prompted stakeholders to consider dropping the college's general education information literacy (IL) requirement. Broad institutional outcomes data showed learning gains, but no targeted assessment existed regarding the IL requirement's impact on those gains. This quantitative study used Astin and Antonio's Inputs-Environment-Outcomes (I-E-O) assessment model to address relationships among student characteristics of demographic and prior preparation (Inputs), the IL requirement (Environment), and student reports of information critical analysis behavior and confidence (Outcomes). Study participants were 525 students aged 18 years and older who had completed the IL course with a grade of 2.0 or …

Why Latino American Community College Students Drop Out After One Semester, Rosa Delia Smith

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to investigate why many Latino America students at an urban community college in the state of Maryland who were enrolled at least part-time and were U.S. citizens or permanent residents did not continue their education into the second semester. Guided by Tinto's model of student integration and student persistence, this study explored the reasons these students dropped-out using the students' words to describe barriers to success, factors that influenced their decisions not to return for their second semester, and what they believed could have made a difference in their decisions. Five Latino …

Generational Differences In Transfer Student Capital Among Community College Students, Michael J. Rosenberg

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation

“Transfer student capital” refers to the learned ability of a student to successfully navigate the process of transferring from a community college to a four-year school. Transfer student capital is accumulated by gathering information about potential destination schools and programs, gaining an understanding of requisite academic skills, campus engagement, and weighing personal concerns surrounding eventual transfer. The more transfer student capital an individual accumulates, the more likely they are to be academically successful and persist to graduation.

This quantitative study examines whether a student’s age cohort may affect the transfer process from community college to a four-year school. The study …

The Effects Of A Varied Method Of Instruction On Student Achievement, Transfer, Situational Interest, And Course Retention Rates In Community College Developmental Mathematics, Kevin L. Mccandless

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to compare the effects of a varied method of instruction on student achievement, knowledge transfer, situational interest, and course retention rates, relative to a non-varied method of instruction, in community college developmental mathematics. The varied method of instruction consisted of active learning teaching practices with foundations in social constructivism, whereas the non-varied method of instruction was founded in Cognitive Load Theory and consisted primarily of explicit instruction and individual practice.

An initial sample of 139 students who enrolled in six sections of Beginning Algebra at an urban community college in Northern California participated …

California Community Colleges Child Development Laboratory Schools, Shari Yates

Dissertations

Community colleges in California are the primary source for preparing the early childhood care and education (ECE) workforce. The California child development lab school mission is to prepare ECE practitioners, provide a laboratory where college students can study and research child development/education, and offer a service to children and families. There are many benefits that are derived from laboratory schools but many community college lab schools have been reduced and/or closed over the past three years. The purposes of this Delphi study were (a) to examine the most pressing issues, problems and barriers facing California community colleges child development labs …

Community Colleges Respond To Cyber Threats

Instructional Leadership Abstracts

Headlines describing massive data breaches at multinational corporations are commonplace these days. However, virtually all employers are vulnerable to similar attacks. Stolen employee information, customer data, or industry secrets can lead to identity theft, compromised financial information, or even cyberterrorism. While the tech industry and research universities have key roles to play in adapting to this threat, community colleges also have a pivotal role to play in “Information Assurance.” The National Security Agency (NSA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have established the Center for Academic Excellence (CAE) program to recognize colleges that are at the forefront in education …

Formation Of Successful Partnerships Between Rural Community College Workforce Development Offices And Businesses: Motivation, Social Capitaland Communication, Ryan Nausieda

Dissertations

The financial resources in rural areas are not plentiful, which has impacted the workforce development offices’ ability to provide training on their own. These workforce development offices rely on partnerships to provide training to the community. There are multiple motivations that align between workforce development office and community organizations. The social capital in a partnership is utilized in these rural areas to accomplish mutual goals between multiple organizations that one could not complete on alone. Social capital in a partnership includes trust, centrality, information, and density. Communication helps to support the motivation, social capital and hence the sustainability of a …

Access Barriers To Higher Education For Rural Community College Students, Shanda Carter

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose for conducting the study was to examine factors related to rural low-income, first generation college students' obstacles to community college enrollment. The study examined barriers students overcame to attend college and focused on rural college students from two community colleges in Missouri and Arkansas. The following questions guided the research:

1.What attendance barriers did rural community college students identify as being most difficult for them to overcome?

2.Were there differences between the self-identified attendance barriers based on gender for male and female rural community college students?

3.Were there differences in attendance barriers for rural community college students based …

Exploring Community College Faculty Involvement In Assessment Of Student Learning, Leann Sellers Caudle

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This narrative research study was conducted to explore the experiences of full-time community college faculty members involved in assessment of student learning beyond the course level. The participants in this study were employed at public two-year institutions of higher education regionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission that had been recognized for their work in assessment. All participants in the study were involved in program or institutional level assessment during the time of the study. The central research question this study addressed was: What factors influenced community college faculty members to become involved with assessment of student learning beyond the …

U.S.- Educated Multilingual Students In Community College: Transitioning From Esl To English 101, Melinda S. Harrison

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis focuses on U.S.-educated multilingual students as they transition from a community college academic English as a Second Language program to and through a semester-long first-year composition course. Research on non-native English speakers has indicated that U.S.-educated multilingual students have both similar and varied background and literacy experiences compared to native English speakers and international students; they also often present unique literacy needs compared to their peers. These various and shifting similarities and differences sometimes complicate placement and instruction in college courses.

My case study focused on three U.S.-educated multilingual students' experiences in the final semester of a community …

Working Students’ Perceptions Of Paying For College: Understanding The Connections Between Financial Aid And Work, Mary Ziskin, Mary Ann Fischer, Vasti Torres, Beth Pellicciotti, Jacquelyn Player-Sanders

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

For many students at urban commuter colleges, the process of financial aid is unknown or mysterious; and so they work—often many hours a week—to pay expenses that financial aid might have covered. Missteps, unforeseen events, and limited resources can have severe consequences for the academic progress of these students. The broader study, of which this paper is a part, represents an effort to explore and describe students’ college-going, working, family responsibilities, and academic success at three commuter institutions in a metropolitan region in the Midwest. The encompassing project aims to introduce new qualitative data and situated description into the study …

Community College President's Health Habits: A Prescription For Job Performance In Rural Illinois, William J. Peacy Iii

Dissertations

According to current reports, the experts are predicting a mass exodus of senior community college leaders, including presidents. News reports have indicated that some community college presidents have retired due to health problems. For whatever reason, it will cost the institutions to replace the presidents. The presidents are the decision makers of the community college. The presidents provide the guidance to the institution. In order to accomplish the duties of president, they need to have the physical and mental capacity to endure long hours required to complete these tasks.

The purpose of the study was to explore the health and …

Examining Adjunct Instructor Characteristics, Perceived Fit, And Teaching Modality To Determine If They Predict Organizational Commitment And Job Satisfaction At A Mid-Western Career College, Randy Hill

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this quantitative, multiple regression study was to examine the relationship between 10 adjunct instructor characteristics and organizational commitment and job satisfaction. Part-time instructors who taught for the institution during the 2012-2013 academic year completed an electronic survey with questions from three valid and reliable instruments: perceived person-organization fit (Cable & DeRue, 2002), part-time faculty job satisfaction survey (Hoyt, Howell, & Eggett, 2007), and organizational commitment questionnaire (Fields, 2002). Data from the survey was analyzed using separate hierarchical regressions to answer the following research questions: (a) Do adjunct instructor characteristics (age, gender, ethnicity, education level, teaching experience, teaching …

Institutional Conditions To Improve The Educational Outcomes Of Part-Time Community College Students, Rhonda M. Gabovitch

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Community college graduation rates are low for the entering cohort of degree or certificate-seeking students who have always attended full-time. After six years, four out of 10 students fail to earn a credential or continue to be enrolled. Graduation rates are even lower for students who enroll consistently on a part-time basis. Approximately three out of four of these students fail to earn a credential within six years. Much of the blame for failure of part-time students is attributed to their demographic characteristics, their lack of motivation, and poor educational preparation for college. Some of these characteristics result in their …

Merced College: An Online Library Presence, Joselle L. Merritt

Instructional Design Capstones Collection

Merced College has a number of courses being taught on line and that the number continues to grow. The college is currently implementing online courses that meet the requirements of California SB520, passed in May of 2013, requiring all California students to have access to online classes at any California community college. This applies only if the classes they need are not available at their home institution. Added to this is the requirement from the accrediting agency for California Community Colleges that all students, both distance and face-to-face have equal access to library resources. As more and more classes go …

Stress Levels In Tenure-Track And Recently Tenured Faculty Members In Selected Institutions Of Higher Education In Northeast Tennessee, Amanda R. Carr

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative study was to compare the stress, strain, and coping levels between pretenured faculty and recently tenured faculty in institutions of higher education in Northeast Tennessee. Aging faculty population combined with talented people leaving the area is common in rural parts of the United States. There is a need to better understand the occupational factors within the faculty roles in order to better recruit and retain faculty in this region.

Four different institutions of higher education in Northeast Tennessee, producing 92 responses, participated in this study. The Occupational Stress Inventory – Revised (Osipow, 1998) was used …

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 teaching satisfaction …

Persistence Factors For Adult Women Learners At A Northeast Community College, Andrea Hemmerich

Higher Education Student Work

Community colleges have been the long-standing institution type for students seeking a post-secondary education because of their relatively low cost and open access philosophies. Particularly, adult or non-traditional women learners have chosen the community college route over the past few decades (Cohen & Brawer, 2008). Motivations to enroll, persist and graduate, vary, depending on factors internal and external to the college and are often dissimilar to their traditional aged counterparts. Given this difference and increasing enrollment numbers, understanding the lived experiences of adult women learners is critical for individual institutions and the larger higher education community. This exploratory study sought …

Transformative Leadership – No Excuses!, Russell Lowery-Hart

Instructional Leadership Abstracts

Russell Lowery-Hart, Vice-President for Academic Affairs at Amarillo College, was selected by NCIA as the 2013 recipient of the Instructional Leadership Award. Dr. Lowery-Hart has been instrumental in promoting a philosophical shift at Amarillo College by challenging all employees to focus intently on helping the students. In this abstract you will read how Russell’s leadership has enabled faculty and staff to embrace responsibility for the “whole” student.

Amarillo College is proud of Russell Lowery-Hart’s transformative leadership. As Vice-President for Academic Affairs he has changed the college by challenging all employees to focus intently on helping students. His mantra “we have …

An Overview Of Undergraduate Research In The Cuny Community College System, Avrom J. Caplan, Effie S. Maclachlan Phd

Publications and Research

CUNY community colleges occupy a unique niche because they are part of a larger geographically focused university system in which all faculty members are governed by a single set of standards for professional development. Research is clearly a part of the wider institutional culture, and dedicated faculty members who obtained support from state and federal funding agencies have conducted successful student-research programs. Close partnerships between community colleges and their four-year counterparts can contribute to positive student outcomes and to the subsequent transfer of students. The main roadblock to broadening participation is the small number of students who can be supported …