Community College Leadership Commons^™

Effects Of Learning Communities On Community College Students' Success: A Meta-Analysis, Keith Allen Wurtz

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Low graduation rates are a significant issue for colleges. The majority of higher education institutions in the United States offer learning communities (LCs), which have been found to be effective for improving course success and persisting to the next semester. However, there is a gap in the literature regarding the effectiveness of LCs with different types of populations and different types of LCs. The purpose of this meta-analysis was to identify the most effective types of LCs. Research questions addressed the effects of different types of LCs on different student success outcomes for community colleges. The study was based on …

Articulation Agreements: Academic Success, Persistence And Graduation From Online And Face-To-Face Degree Completion Programs, Darnette Hall

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this causal-comparative study is to examine whether differences exist in the retention and persistence of articulation participants based on face-to-face or online degree completion. The study will determine the rate of completion of articulation participants who transfer from a North Carolina Community College to a state university in North Carolina and enroll in traditional face-to-face classes versus articulation participants who enroll in online degree completion. There is considerable literature on articulation from the perspective of student satisfaction and an administrator's perception. Substantial research on policies and procedures as well as comparison to native and transfer students. There …

Increasing Access To Post-Secondary Education: A Mixed Methods Study Of The Charleston Clemente Program, Mariane A. Doyle

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

There is an economic gap that favors adults who have higher levels of educational attainment (United States Department of Labor, 2010). With more than 9.3 million Americans over the age of 25 facing unemployment as of June 2012 and over 79% or 7.4 million of those unemployed Americans having attained less than a Bachelor’s degree (U.S. Department of Labor, 2012), the current need for college access measures and programs that address the adult population is an imperative one.

The Charleston Clemente Program provides a tuition-free course in the Humanities to economically-disadvantaged adult students for a total of two-semesters. Along with …

Online Attrition At A Community College In Rural Appalachia: A Phenomenological Approach, Victoria Sue Ratliff

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The education attainment level of residents in rural Appalachia has consistently ranked below the remaining populous of the United States. Although distance education initiatives have attempted to bridge the disparities between rural Appalachia and the rest of the nation, online community college students in this region are likely to drop out or fail their classes. To understand the phenomenon of online attrition in rural Appalachia, a phenomenological study was conducted to determine what students experienced from the time they chose to enroll in online classes through the point of failure or withdrawal from their courses. This triangulated study utilized surveys, …

Comments From The Editors, Sandra M. Estanek, Logan Hazen

New York Journal of Student Affairs

In this piece outgoing editor Sandy Estanek looks backward at where the journal has come since being revived, and incoming editor Logan Hazen looks forward to where the journal is heading.

Controversial Policy Change In A Community College: Exploring The Institutional Consequences, Jessica Chambers

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

No abstract provided.

Ua42/3/2 Wku Glasgow Factbook, Wku Glasgow

WKU Administration Documents

WKU Glasgow factbook.

A Positive Approach Toward Unit Functioning In Higher Education, Susan T. Berry

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation

This companion dissertation reports the findings of applied case study research on four community college organizational units that consistently meet or exceed standard performance measures. In addition, prior ample evidence confirms that performance extended significantly beyond what might be explained by available tangible resources alone. The case study contexts are common in higher education in general: a) an external partnership, (b) an ad hoc team, (c) a traditional, cross-divisional service unit, and (d) a grant-funded student service unit.

Emerging positive organizational theory and research show promise for revealing performance-influencing phenomena and behaviors that are not adequately represented in standard measures. …

Positive Workplace Dynamics: A Qualitative Exploration Of Exceptional Performance In Community College Units, R. Michael Stapleton

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation

In this companion dissertation findings are reported of applied case study research on four community college organizational units that consistently meet or exceed standard performance measures. Ample prior evidence confirmed that performance extended significantly beyond what might be explained by available tangible resources alone. The case study contexts are common in higher education in general: a) an external partnership, (b) an ad hoc team, (c) a traditional, cross-divisional service unit, and (d) a grant-funded student service unit.

Emerging positive organizational theory and research shows promise for revealing performance-influencing phenomena and behaviors that are not adequately represented in standard measures. Therefore, …

Examining An Adult Education Partnership Through A Positive Organizational Lens, Lewis H. Burke Jr

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation

This companion dissertation reports the findings of applied case study research on four community college organizational units that consistently meet or exceed standard performance measures. In addition, prior ample evidence confirms that performance extended significantly beyond what might be explained by available tangible resources alone. The case study contexts are common in higher education in general: a) an external partnership, (b) an ad hoc team, (c) a traditional, cross-divisional service unit, and (d) a grant-funded student service unit.

Emerging positive organizational theory and research show promise for revealing performance-influencing phenomena and behaviors that are not adequately represented in standard measures. …

The Philosopher's Stone: How Basic Skills Programs Fare In Troubled Financial Times, Thomas P. Ray

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

This mixed methods study examined the relative position of basic skills programs with transfer and career technical programs in a large suburban community college in California during the three-year period of budget reductions from 2009-2010 through 2011-2012. The budget line dedicated to part-time or non-contract instruction was analyzed along with supporting documents such as planning committee minutes and program review data. Knowledge of the budget data and the reduction strategies employed helped to establish a picture of the state of basic skills and the institution’s disposition toward them. The budget data proved to be an inadequate tool to measure investment …

Women In Nontraditional Occupations: A Case Study Of Worker Motivation, Katherine Wesley

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

The Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupation Act (WANTO Act) of 1992 highlighted an urgent matter facing the American workforce that persists today. The urgent matter in 2012 involves the precarious effect of demographics on the American labor market, placing women at the crux of engaging opportunity or maintaining status quo.

Women must be empowered and encouraged to seek employment opportunities they have never considered, e.g. male-dominated, nontraditional occupations, for the U.S. to keep pace with labor market needs. The need amplifies the myriad of issues for women in male-dominated, nontraditional occupations.

Among the barriers confronting women is the persistence …

Perceptions Of College Readiness And Social Capital Of Ged Completers In Entry-Level College Courses, Donalyn L. Lott

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

Examining the efficacy of literacy improvement, general education development (GED) completion, and GED completers’ perceptions of college readiness and social capital was the purpose of this study. The participant sample (n=321), derived from the target population (N=1050), consisted of former participants of Adult Literacy Education (ALE)/GED programs in the Greater New Orleans area (GNO), who have earned the GED credential, and, are currently enrolled in entry-level courses at two community colleges in Southeast Louisiana; specifically, in Orleans and St. Bernard parishes. The study was framed by the social capital theoretical perspective.

The study used quantitative methodology, with …

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

LSU 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 …

Raising The Bar: The Modern Community College Presidency, Meredith Noel Brunen

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

One of the largest challenges facing community colleges in the new millennium is identifying leaders who possess the necessary skills and competencies to successfully navigate the modern presidency. Facing a dynamic shift in the fiscal landscape, community college presidents are tasked with filling the gap between institutional needs and existing forms of financial support. The purpose of this study was to examine community college presidents with former fundraising backgrounds and to explore the impact of prior fundraising experience on their current roles. Because the president plays a pivotal role in the acquisition of alternative funding sources, the effectiveness of this …

Amesbury Early College Program: Second-Year Outcomes, John E. Leonard, Sue Grolnic, Roy Hamond

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

This program involves creating five-year longitudinal community-based program evaluation reports annually based on outcomes for early college program for academically average students in grades 10-12, in a suburban high school partnership with MA community college. The Mixed methodology employed uses surveys and interviews and quantitative student data to illuminate program design, measure student outcomes, investigate changes in teaching practice and examine effective leadership practices. The two-year results show impressive credit accumulation and improved college readiness skills in students. It also shows that strong support mechanisms promote student success. This Program is now being replicated in other communities.

Guiding Future Practices: A Review Of Parent And Family Services, Caleb Bridges, Sara Heiman, Nicholas Hyer, Carrie Radke, Allison Wright, April Heiselt

New York Journal of Student Affairs

Working with college students often includes working with their parents and families. Higher education institutions across the US have addressed this cultural shift with the creation of parent and family services. As research illustrates continued relationships between students and their parents, student affairs practitioners will need to address this need. This article is a call for student affairs professionals to be creative and proactive when focusing on the future needs of parents and families of college students. Innovations for parent and family services, including the use of technology and the need for collaboration between on-campus departments, are shared.

Student Knowledge Of Signs, Risk Factors, And Resources For Depression, Anxiety, Sleep Disorders, And Other Mental Health Problems On Campus, Robert J. Dobmeier, Thomas J. Hernandez, Randi J. Barrell, Donnelle J. Burke, Crystal J. Hanna, David J. Luce, Stephanie J. Catlin-Rakoski, Janine J. Rowe, Monica Siclare

New York Journal of Student Affairs

A mixed methods study sought to assess knowledge of the signs, risk factors, and campus services available for mental health disorders. A survey was completed by 831 participants at a college of approximately 9,000 students in the northeastern region of the United States. Students evidenced a need for more education about mental health problems on the college campus. Respondents felt more knowledgeable about depression than about anxiety and sleep disorders. Over half of the respondents were unable to identify specific mental health problems that they were aware of. Upperclassmen had a keener awareness of risk factors for anxiety and sophomores …

Project Management Competencies Leading To Technology Implementation Success At A Community College, Bradford Orcutt

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The problem addressed in this study was to understand the knowledge gap between project management competencies available and those needed for successful implementation of technology projects at a community college. The purpose of the qualitative study was to evaluate, compare, and analyze the performance of project managers of 2 large technology projects in a specific community college with respect to each other and what was known about achieving project success at a public institution of higher education (IHE). The research questions for this study examined the competencies exhibited by the project leaders, the success parameters established for the projects, and …

Helping Educators Foster A Growth Mindset In Community College Classrooms, Marianne Adams Auten

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Current research shows that students with a growth mindset are more motivated to learn, want to work harder, are less discouraged by difficulty, use more effective strategies for learning, and have higher academic performance in comparison to students without this mindset. Despite these promising findings, a growth mindset is sometimes not reinforced or is even refuted by classroom conditions. The purpose of this intrinsic case study was to explore how community college educators create classroom environments that foster a growth mindset. The conceptual framework for this study was a social constructivist approach where the interviewer and the participants co-constructed the …

Community College Student Engagement Patterns: A Typology Revealed Through Exploratory Cluster Analysis, Victor B. Sáenz, Deryl K. Hatch, Beth E. Bukoski, Suyun Kim, Kye-Hyoung Lee, Patrick Valdez

Department of Educational Administration: Faculty Publications

This study employs survey data from the Center for Community College Student Engagement to examine the similarities and differences that exist across student-level domains in terms of student engagement in community colleges. In total, the sample used in the analysis pools data from 663 community colleges and includes more than 320,000 students. Using data-mining techniques to discover a parsimonious number of natural clusters and, in turn, a k-means cluster analysis as a means of revealing a naturally occurring typology of engagement patterns, our findings reveal that support service utilization is the most distinguishing feature of the similarities and dissimilarities across …

Institutionalized Community College Service Learning To Promote Engagement, Velda Arnaud

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Community college graduation rates are low, and community colleges have been tasked with producing more graduates to meet workforce needs. Research has determined that engaged students remain at their institutions and complete their degrees. Service learning has been identified as a high-impact practice that engages students with their learning and builds connections between students and campus personnel. The majority of service-learning research, having been conducted with 4-year colleges and universities, may have limited applicability to the community college population. This qualitative descriptive case study describes how institutionalized service learning on 1 community college campus is structured, supported, and operated. The …

Background And Leadership Traits To Effectively Lead Faculty Senates In California Community Colleges, Julie Adams

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Although the major responsibility for community college governance falls to presidents and administrators, researchers have recognized the integral role of faculty in governing higher education institutions. Few studies, however, have explored the effectiveness of contributions of faculty elected to community college academic senates. The purpose of this research was to investigate the background traits and leadership skills of elected academic senate presidents in order to identify both their perceptions of themselves as leaders and the perceptions of other faculty senate members. This study was based in the theory of transformational leadership in organizations and its impact on the effectiveness of …

The Impact Of Self-Efficacy And Motivation Characteristics On The Academic Achievement Of Upward Bound Participants, Brenda Leigh Brown

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of self-efficacy and motivation characteristics on the achievement of at-risk students. Seventy-nine Upward Bound program participants completed self-efficacy, motivation, and demographic questionnaires. The relationship between GPA and self-efficacy was significant, negative, and low in strength. High GPA was associated with high self-efficacy (as shown by lower numbers on the survey). Gender, length of time in the Upward Bound (UB) program, length of participation in the UB summer program, college sponsor (community or four-year college), self-efficacy characteristics, and motivation characteristics significantly predicted academic achievement as measured by GPA. The relationship between …

Ua41 University College Connection, Dennis K. George, Dean, Wendi Kelley

UC Publications

No abstract provided.

Where Next? A Study Of Work And Life Experiences Of Mature Students (Incl. Disadvantaged) In Three Higher Education Institutions, Aidan Kenny, Ted Fleming, Andrew Loxley, Fergal Finnegan

Other Resources

This study explores how graduates who entered college as mature students, and ‘disadvantaged’ mature students, view and value Higher Education after graduating with a primary degree. The study highlighted the limited usefulness of the concept of disadvantaged mature student and the findings of the research were not significantly different whether one was a mature student or a disadvantaged mature student. The rationale given by the state for supporting mature students in Higher Education (HE) is that it will yield economic and social benefits for both the students and society. As a consequence a wide range of access policies has been …

The Relationship Between Campus Climate And The Teaching Of Critical Thinking Skills In Community College Classrooms, Thomas C. Simon

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Although critical thinking skills are important for all citizens participating in a democratic society, many community college students appear to lack these skills. This study addressed the apparent lack of research relating critical thinking instruction to campus climate. Critical thinking theory and Moos's organizational climate theory served as the theoretical foundation. The relationship between faculty's perceptions of three campus climate factors and their use of five critical thinking instructional techniques in the classroom was analyzed in this quantitative study. An online instrument based on the School-Level Environment Questionnaire (SLEQ) to measure campus climate and a researcher-designed measure of critical thinking …

The Impact Of A First -Year Learning Community On Student Persistence: Perceptions Of Community College Students, David Gerkin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This descriptive case study explored the perceptions of former community college first year learning community participants on aspects of their learning community experience that affected their persistence in college using Astin's student involvement theory and Tinto's student persistence model as a conceptual framework. Learning communities have been shown to increase student persistence, but little is known about how they do so. A better understanding of how learning communities contribute to increased student persistence would improve learning community practice and gain administrative support for learning communities. This study used a mixed methods research design utilizing both qualitative and quantitative data. Qualitative …

Predisposition Factors Of Career And Technical Education Transfer Students: A Hermeneutic Phenomenology Study, Warren Glen Hioki

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Various econometric, sociological, and combined research models (e.g., Hossler and Gallagher's preeminent Three-Phase Model on College Choice) provide help in understanding high school students in their decision-making stages and college experience. Many studies that utilize these models on college choice strongly substantiate and perpetuate the long-standing dichotomy between students who aspire to attend college in pursuit of upward mobility through the traditional baccalaureate pathway versus a community college Career and Technical Education (CTE) pathway. High school students' aspirations to attend a 4-year institution, and more recently, the community college, are a focal point.

A review of the literature as it …

What Would Vincent Do? Vincentian Higher Education And Poverty Reduction, Marco Tavanti, Craig Mousin

Mission and Ministry Publications

The worldwide Vincentian major higher education institutions have best practices and pedagogical innovative strategies for linking their educational mission with poverty alleviation. This edited volume includes experiences from DePaul University, St. John;s University, Niagara University, Adamson University, Santa Isabelle University and All Hallows College.