Education Commons^™

Linking Street-Level Bureaucracy & Funds Of Knowledge To Identify Core Competencies For Community College Admissions Counselors, Marquez D. Young, Matthew A. Witenstein

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Community college (CC) admissions counselors (ACs) are essential employees who serve as ambassadors of the institution. Their role involves providing valuable information to potential students and their families, leading to CC admissions. However, there is a lack of research exploring their work and how they cope with and adapt to the demands of their job. ACs juggle college fairs, campus visits, and reviewing application materials, which can be physically and emotionally challenging. To maintain stable student enrollment, CC leaders must find ways to keep ACs engaged and motivated. This study identified core competencies needed for communally engaged ACs by examining …

Recommendations For A Successful Implementation Of Guided Pathways Model In North Carolina Community Colleges, Somanita Kheang, Sarah Deal, Keith Street Robinson

Adult Education Research Conference

This research aims to study challenges of implementing Guided Pathways model in 17 North Carolina community colleges. The findings indicated that most colleges struggled with implementing programs for student success.

The Transition Experiences Of High Achieving High School Students From Secondary Education To College : A Case Study, Lori Christine Lachowsky

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

This qualitative multiple case study explored the experiences of eight students as they transitioned from high school to college. Eight students from an urban high school in the southern United States agreed to participate in this study. Participants were high-achieving students, 18 years of age, who participated in a teacher preparation class and took the MSLQ for a class project during the last semester of their senior year of high school. The researcher collected and triangulated data to ensure reliability: archival MSLQ scores from the participants’ senior year, open-ended interviews after the participants’ first year of college, document review of …

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, …

Advancing Evaluation In Community Colleges: A Mixed Methods Case Study Of Outcomes-Based Assessment Training In Student Affairs, Tammy L. Russell

Dissertations

Many student affairs departments struggle to contribute to an institution’s evidence base of student learning. In part, this results from student affairs personnel not having adequate training in how to assess learning outside the classroom. This is a particular challenge for small community colleges, in which individual units (e.g., admissions or financial aid) may have only one or two employees. Failure to assess co-curricular learning poses challenges to institutions in meeting accreditation standards, placing them at risk for increased scrutiny and loss of state funding under a performance-based system. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to use a …

Benefits Of Hybrid Classes In Community Colleges, Joel Barker

Publications and Research

This article discusses hybrid courses and their impact on educational facilities, their students, and instructors. Instructors now have over ten years of data related to hybrid courses and by trial and error have devised different strategies to plan and execute lesson plans via partly online forums. Programs are in place that gives students the opportunity to excel; these types of courses promote a unique balance of guidance by the instructor and acceptance of responsibility by the students. Students have responded in a positive manner in pursuing these types of courses.

At Issue: A Comprehensive Review And Synthesis Of The Literature On Late Registration, Patrick Tompkins, Mitchell Williams

Educational Foundations & Leadership Faculty Publications

Using a literature review taxonomy described by Cooper and Hedges (2009), an analysis of 32 publicly available studies of late registrations was conducted to provide researchers and policymakers with an assessment of the extent, quality, and major findings of the studies. The reviewer asserted that few high-quality studies have been conducted on late registration, and the research does not provide strong evidence that late registration is associated with poor student outcomes. The review provided answers to the following questions: What does the body of research on late registration indicate about the advisability of retaining it as an option for students? …

A Conceptual Model On The Impact Of Mattering, Sense Of Belonging, Engagement/Involvement, And Socio-Academic Integrative Experiences On Community College Students’ Intent To Persist, Esau Tovar

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Community colleges continue to experience high levels of student attrition and low degree/certificate completion rates. Given extant literature, there appears to be a need to reexamine how interactions between students and the institution, and students and institutional agents are taking place, with the aim of identifying institutional practices that deleteriously or positively impact degree completion and thus guide colleges to develop action plans to improve conditions for student success.

This study examined how factors such as institutional commitment to students, mattering, sense of belonging, interactions with diverse peers, perceptions of the campus climate, engagement/involvement, socio-academic integrative experiences, and goal commitment …

Developmental Education Repeaters: Stories About Repetition, Jade J. O'Dell

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Developmental education students make up almost half of the community college population in the United States (Bettinger & Long, 2005). Approximately 42% of first-time freshmen at community colleges must enroll in at least one developmental education course in English, reading and/or math (NCES, 2010). Many developmental education students are unsuccessful in passing a developmental education course in their first and second attempts and retake the course sometimes five times before passing. There is substantial research on persistence among college students, but the research fails to link persistence to developmental education repeaters. My study sought to explore community college developmental education …

Perceptions Of Full-Time Faculty Members Within A Community College Regarding Conditions That Impact Levels Of Engagement, Edward Matthew Foley

Ed.D. Dissertations

Community Colleges fulfill a vital role in society and in higher education, while constraints are expanding. Understanding and increasing the engagement of full-time faculty members could be critical to community colleges in meeting their challenges and advancing their mission. This quantitative study, with focus group follow-up, was conducted within the largest and oldest community college in Ohio. First, findings established an existing level of full-time faculty member engagement and perceptions. Next, the study examined variations of perceptions relative to engagement based on tenure status, academic discipline, length of service, and campus location. Lastly, the study examined the relationship between community …

Why Do They Go? Community College Students And Post-Secondary Pursuits In Central Appalachia, Christina Jo Wright

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on how rural community college students make decisions regarding their post-secondary plans. To understand these decision processes, I interviewed students, faculty and administrators at Southeast Community and Technical College in Harlan County, Kentucky. The literature informing my research reflects on rural college going patterns. Most studies connect place and post-secondary plans. Central Appalachia has among the lowest population percentages with Bachelor degrees in the country. Studies argue this is because of limited application for such degrees in the region. Matching their education and training to local job market requirements, people hesitate to complete advanced degrees when little …

Alumni Engaging Students From Under-Served Groups In Southern Appalachia, Mitchell R. Williams, Laura Leatherwood, Laura Byrd, Monica S. Boyd, Kevin Pennington

Educational Foundations & Leadership Faculty Publications

The study explores how alumni can help community colleges in Southern Appalachia to create greater access for people in groups which are traditionally under-served by higher education. Semi-structured interviews conducted with alumni program directors and admissions officers at seven community colleges in the Southern Appalachian Region explore how they use alumni to recruit and retain students from non-dominant groups as well as students from generationally poor families. Examples of "best practices" illustrate ways alumni can help recruit, motivate, and retain students from historically under-served groups.

Community College Student Participation In Undergraduate Research: An Explanatory Case Study For Faculty And Research Mentors, Dana L. Peterson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study adapted the current model of science undergraduate research experiences (URE's) and applied this novel modification to include community college students. Numerous researchers have examined the efficacy of URE's in improving undergraduate retention and graduation rates, as well as matriculation rates for graduate programs. However, none have detailed the experience for community college students, and few have employed qualitative methodologies to gather relevant descriptive data from URE participants. This study included perspectives elicited from both non-traditional student participants and the established laboratory community. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of the traditional model for a …

An Examination Of The Use Of Portfolios For Faculty Evaluation At Community Colleges, Becky Sain, Mitchell R. Williams

Educational Foundations & Leadership Faculty Publications

This study provides community college leaders with insights regarding how administrators and faculty members perceive faculty portfolios as an evaluation tool in two-year colleges. Utilizing a qualitative design, this study focused on perceptions of administrators and faculty members regarding the use of portfolios as the primary instrument for faculty evaluation. Overall, faculty and administrators found portfolios useful when the process encouraged and allowed for faculty self-reflection and honest feedback from administrators.

Assessment Of Kalamazoo County's Education For Employment (Efe) Programs Using 2008 Survey Data, Kevin M. Hollenbeck, Jason M. Preuss

Reports

No abstract provided.

Assessment Of Kalamazoo County's Education For Employment (Efe) Programs Using 2007 Survey Data, Kevin M. Hollenbeck, Jason M. Preuss

Reports

No abstract provided.

Assessment Of Kalamazoo County's Education For Employment (Efe) Programs Using 2006 Survey Data, Kevin M. Hollenbeck, Jason M. Preuss

Reports

No abstract provided.

Assessment Of Kalamazoo County's Education For Employment (Efe) Programs Using 2005 Survey Data, Kevin M. Hollenbeck, Jason M. Preuss

Reports

No abstract provided.

Assessment Of Kalamazoo County's Education For Employment (Efe) Programs Using 1999 Survey Data, Kevin M. Hollenbeck

Reports

No abstract provided.

Assessment Of Kalamazoo County's Education For Employment (Efe) Programs Using 1998 Survey Data, Kevin M. Hollenbeck

Reports

No abstract provided.