Education Commons^™

Determining Graduation Rates In Engineering For Community College Transfer Students Using Data Mining, Marcia Laugerman, Diane T. Rover, Mack C. Shelley, Steven K. Mickelson

Diane Rover

This study presents a unique synthesized set of data for community college students entering the university with the intention of earning a degree in engineering. Several cohorts of longitudinal data were combined with transcript-level data from both the community college and the university to measure graduation rates in engineering. The emphasis of the study is to determine academic variables that had significant correlations with graduation in engineering, and levels of these academic variables. The article also examines the utility of data mining methods for understanding the academic variables related to achievement in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The practical purpose …

Self-Assessment And Student Improvement In An Introductory Computer Course At The Community College Level, Jama Spicer-Sutton, James Lampley, Donald W. Good

Donald W. Good

Excerpt:The purpose of this study was to determine a student’s computer knowledge upon course entry and if there was a difference in college students’ improvement scores as measured by the difference in pretest and post‐test scores of new or novice users, moderate users, and expert users at the end of a college level introductory computing class.

Book Review - Community College Transfer Guide.Pdf, David D. Costantino

David D Costantino

In The Middle: Career Pathways Of Midlevel Community College Leaders, Regina L. Garza Mitchell, Pamela L. Eddy

Pamela L. Eddy

The leadership crisis in community colleges has led to speculation on who will lead these colleges in the future and how best to prepare leaders for these positions. Traditionally, little research occurred regarding midlevel administrators despite the fact that the majority of presidents come from within the ranks. The findings from this research show that midlevel administrators have little desire to move into top-level positions. Colleges need to consider how to make leadership more attractive and begin developing leaders for future openings.

Framing The Role Of Leader: How Community College Presidents Construct Their Leadership, Pamela L. Eddy

Pamela L. Eddy

Presidents are one of the most studied of administrative roles, yet little research occurs on understanding how these leaders construct their own leadership. Thus, the question guiding the research reported here concerned how community college presidents cognitively framed their leadership roles. This study involved the interviewing of 9 community college presidents. Findings uncovered 3 themes. The first theme identified how the presidents' underlying mental maps guided decision-making and leadership on campus. The second theme linked the basic cognitive orientation of the presidents with on-going situated cognition in their new work settings. Learning evolved based on environmental factors. The final category …

Nested Leadership: The Interpretation Of Organizational Change In A Multicollege System, Pamela L. Eddy

Pamela L. Eddy

College leaders serve important roles as guides for campus understanding during times of change. Within multicollege districts, campus members deal with several levels of leadership, ranging from department chairs, to the college president, to the system chancellor. These leaders may send conflicting messages regarding change, or have competing end goals for change. The research reported here sought to investigate the influence of the system chancellor on change initiatives at the individual colleges within the system. Findings from this investigation concluded that leadership within the system was nested, whereby the overall direction of change came from the chancellor, and was replicated …

Leaders As Linchpins For Framing Meaning, Pamela L. Eddy

Pamela L. Eddy

Community college leaders serve as linchpins for framing meaning on campus. The current pressures on institutions (given declining financial resources, demands for accountability, changing faculty ranks, and societal need for new knowledge) require presidents to juggle multiple priorities while presenting a cohesive message to campus constituents. This study examined how the presidents at nine community colleges communicated with college constituents and framed the meaning of those communications to help the college community make sense of ongoing change. Interviews with the presidents, as well as with key administrators, faculty members, and staff members, revealed that the presidents used emissaries to disseminate …

Crossing Boundaries Creating Community College Partnerships To Promote Educational Transitions, Marilyn J. Amey, Pamela L. Eddy, Timothy G. Campbell

Pamela L. Eddy

Community college partnerships with institutions in other educational sectors (including schools and universities) are important and strategic ways of meeting the educational needs of college constituents and maximizing resources to achieve local and state economic development goals. Understanding what is required for effective partnerships is important in determining when and how to engage in these collaborative, but sometimes costly, arrangements. This article presents a model of partnership development that emphasizes the role of social and organizational capital in the formation of partnership capital that contributes to the long-term success of collaborative efforts.

Grocery Store Politics: Leading The Rural Community College, Pamela L. Eddy

Pamela L. Eddy

Rural America is characterized by decreasing populations, increasing poverty, limited economic growth, and limited access to cultural events. The context of the rural environment makes leading colleges in these locations different than in larger, more urban regions. The research reported here investigated the experience of rural community college leaders to determine more about the phenomenon of how they constructed their leadership given their rural context. Findings indicate less anonymity for rural community college leaders, a reliance on relationship building to accomplish goals, and a smaller local peer network to aid in reflecting upon the duties of the president.

Developing Leaders: The Role Of Competencies In Rural Community Colleges, Pamela L. Eddy

Pamela L. Eddy

Pending retirements underscore the need to develop community college campus leaders. Rural community colleges will be particularly hard-hit by changes in leadership as they represent the majority of 2-year colleges and face unique challenges given their location. To help address the anticipated leadership transition, the American Association of Community Colleges developed a set of competencies to frame critical skill areas and guide leadership development efforts. The research reported here showed both resource development and organizational strategy as areas of weakness for rural leaders and, paradoxically, the areas of most need. Leaders acquired competencies predominantly on the job, which has implications …

Emerging Definitions Of Leadership In Higher Education, Pamela L. Eddy, Kim E. Vanderlinden

Pamela L. Eddy

The higher education literature suggests that alternative leadership styles are replacing the traditionally held definitions of leadership and provide new and different (and possibly superior) ways to understand leadership. This article looks for parallels within the current leadership literature to see if community college administrators use the alternative language or emerging definitions of leadership to self-describe their own leadership or if their self-descriptions fit the more traditional hierarchical ideal of the positional or "hero" leader.