Community College Leadership Commons^™

Beyond The Binary: Strengthening Nursing Students’ Proficiency Of Equitable Health Promotion, Martha K. Findley

Theses

Background: Sexual and gender diverse (SGD) populations continue to experience significant health inequities, yet prelicensure nursing curricula often lack structured, evidence‑based training to prepare students for equitable care.

Purpose: This study evaluated whether a targeted, transgender‑focused simulation could improve nursing students’ clinical knowledge and preparedness for providing equitable health promotion to SGD populations.

Methods: A pre‑/post‑intervention design was used with senior‑level nursing students who completed a transgender patient simulation emphasizing communication, assessment, and equitable health promotion. Students completed a validated survey measuring knowledge and preparedness in caring for SGD patients.

Results: Significant improvements across most survey items demonstrated that the …

A Study On Community And Technical College Students' Identification Of Culturally Responsive Pedagogy, Cynthia J. Carow Schiebe

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether students could identify culturally responsive pedagogy (CRP) and, to what extent, in a community or technical college classroom where a set of goals and strategies had been established to guide methodology. Previous research on CRP traditionally focused on the educators’ or administrators’ interpretation of what students had learned when CRP was used as a methodology to reduce the opportunity gap. Students in classrooms where CRP was used were able to identify content that was aligned with their needs and wants, bring their own lives into the class without fear, balance their …

Exploring The Impact Of Ungrading On Student Engagement And Motivation In A First-Year Composition Class, Mary B. Gruis

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

This study investigated the association between student engagement, motivation, and self-efficacy in college-level writing-intensive courses using an ungraded approach. Motivated by disillusionment with traditional grading methods and inspired by texts on equitable grading and culturally responsive teaching, the researcher explored how ungrading could foster deeper learning and equitable educational practices. Grounded in Bandura’s (1997) self-efficacy framework, this qualitative case study examined the lived experiences of first-year composition students at a two-year institution. Data collection included student interviews, student reflections, and an instructor interview. The analysis revealed themes aligned with self-efficacy, engagement, and motivation, suggesting that ungrading positively impacted students' perceptions …

The Brain And Becoming: Integrating Play And Performance-Based Learning In The Community College Classroom, Hannah M. Green

English

Instruction in the community college classroom is in need of a shift, according to neuroscientific, pedagogical, and demographic data. Primarily, students in today’s community college classrooms are instructed in the form of lectures (Nilson 106), but research has shown that game-based learning would be the way to enhance learning experiences for these adult learners. Game-based learning specifically takes form in student learning through games, interactive reading activities such as performance pedagogy, discussions, and small group work. While research shows that play-based learning at the community college level is neurologically beneficial for students, there is a gap in implementing play-based learning …

One Faculty, One Mission: A Unified Faculty Model For California Community Colleges, Debbie Klein

Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy

This article advances a unified, non-tiered faculty model as essential to fulfilling the mission of the California Community Colleges (CCC) system. Although the system is charged with realizing open access and educational equity, nearly 70% of faculty serve in part-time or contingent roles—often without proportional compensation, institutional stability, or meaningful participation in governance. Drawing on research demonstrating that faculty working conditions shape student learning conditions, the article argues that structural employment inequities undermine the system’s democratic promise. Situating the proposal within national “One Faculty” efforts and recent legislative attention to pay parity in California, it demonstrates that reform is both …

Food And Housing Insecurities Among Undergraduate Students: A Case Study Examining Academic And Social Integration, Brittany Profit-Rheinwald

New York Journal of Student Affairs

This single holistic case study examined how food and housing insecurities impacted the academic and social integration of five undergraduate students at a public regional university. Using Tinto's (1993) student integration theory as a framework, data were collected through semi-structured interviews, food and housing logs, and archival event records. Findings revealed that food and housing insecurities created significant barriers to academic success through stress, concentration difficulties, and class attendance challenges. Socially, students remained engaged through campus events offering free food, but avoided social activities requiring financial expenditure. Some academic departments provided food pantries, though access remained limited. Implications for practice …

Comments From The Editor, Robert M. Mangione, Susan V. Iverson

New York Journal of Student Affairs

Editor comments for Volume 26.

Exploring The Lived Experiences Of Black Women In Undergraduate Stem Core Expansion Pathways, Lizzie L. Evans Martinez Alvarez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The use of social incongruence in the film Hidden Figures, which juxtaposed with STEM education as the most powerful in contrast with Black women as the least powerful, supported the argument for the specific problem of practice to examine the unmet need for socially and ethnically diverse student populations in U.S. STEM higher education and careers. The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological research study was to identify and analyze the lived experiences of Black women regarding barriers they perceive in the STEM educational and career decision-making processes, while exploring transformational pathways to STEM academic success. The study specifically analyzed …

Returning To Roots: A Self-Study Of Married Faculty Transitioning To Faculty Roles At Alma Maters, David Wolff, Melissa Wolff, Mark Diacopoulos

The Interactive Journal of Global Leadership and Learning

This self-study explores the transition of two faculty members returning to teach at their alma maters. Using visual methods, reflective journals, and peer dialogue, the researchers documented their experiences over six months. Triangulated data revealed eight themes, including: Identity Formation, Shifting Perspectives from Student to Faculty, Interpersonal Attunement, Navigating Changes, Memories Shape Perception, Occupational Stressors Impacting Transitions, Student Advocacy, and Personal Growth. The study highlights how personal and professional identities evolve during career transitions, and how reflective practices can deepen understanding of adaptation in higher education. These findings contribute to the literature on faculty development and offer insight into the …

From Silos To Systems: A Conceptual Framework For Workforce Aligned Oral Health Education, Meghan Bastin

2026 Scholarly Teaching Conference: Poster Session Papers

In the current U.S. educational system, becoming a dentist follows a few prescriptive pathways.  Learners typically complete an undergraduate degree before entering time-intensive doctoral training.  This results in only 3-4 years of direct professional education embedded within an eight -year process, while learners accumulate significant financial investment in their education.  With the average cost of graduate-level dental education alone exceeding $300,000 and new federal borrowing limits likely to further constrain access, there is an opportunity to explore alternative ways of structuring oral health education.

This poster presents a conceptual, system-level framework that explores a perspective in which oral health education …

Measuring Academic Momentum: A Quantitative Study Of Supplemental Instruction As A Community College Student Support Strategy, Cornelia Slater

Dissertations of Practice

ABSTRACT

MEASURING ACADEMIC MOMENTUM: A QUANTITATIVE STUDY OF SUPPLEMENTAL INSTRUCTION AS A COMMUNITY COLLEGE

STUDENT SUPPORT STRATEGY

Cornelia Vanessa Slater, Ed.D.

Department of Counseling and Higher Education

Northern Illinois University, 2026

Quortne R. Hutchings, Director

Community colleges serve as critical access points to higher education for diverse populations of students where completion rates are an ongoing challenge. Supplemental Instruction have been used as an academic intervention to improve success largely in four-year institutions. This quantitative study, guided by Xueli Wang’s momentum theory analyzed two research questions: (1) how supplemental instruction (SI) participation is associated with student academic success, course retention …

Investigating The Relationship Between Noun Classes And Plant Folk Taxonomy In Chasu Language Of Kilimanjaro Region In Tanzania, Peter Rabson Mziray

Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

The current study investigates the relationship between noun classes and plant folk taxonomy in Chasu (G 22). The study focuses on two objectives: the first objective is to describe the plant folk taxonomy in Chasu and the second objective is to determine the relationship between noun classes and plant folk taxonomy in Chasu. Data were collected from rural villages in Same and Mwanga districts by using free listing, field interviews (jungle-walk-and-identify), and written texts containing Chasu plant names. The findings reveal that Chasu folk taxonomy reflects different ethnobotanical categories; including a unique beginner which is mmea/mimea ‘plant(s)’, and three life …

Effective Engagement In Online Asynchronous Graduate Courses: How Students Perceive Engagement In Their Graduate Programs, Matthew A. Galeota, Robert M. Mangione, Stephanie M. Foote

New York Journal of Student Affairs

An increase in online learning has created a set of new challenges for higher education institutions. Institutions seek to retain students and ensure they are engaged in their courses. This paper examines forms of engagement that traditional and nontraditional students perceive in their online asynchronous graduate courses at a public flagship university. The authors examined relevant literature and surveyed students across several online graduate education programs. The survey shows that collaborative engagement, specifically the indicator of connecting to institutional opportunities, is the lowest tallied. This suggests that online graduate programs should seek to implement more collaborative engagement indicators. The survey …

Students From Low-Income Backgrounds: Characteristics, Common Barriers, And Initiatives To Better Support Student Success, Michael Sparrow

New York Journal of Student Affairs

Students from low-income backgrounds comprise almost a third of undergraduate enrollment, but most colleges are designed poorly to support these students. This misalignment between the characteristics and needs of students from low-income backgrounds and the typical college environment leads to disproportionately low matriculation, persistence, and graduation rates for this population. This literature review provides an overview of common challenges faced by students from low-income backgrounds and characteristics of these students (including strengths). This literature review concludes by providing an overview of some student-focused initiatives from orientation, first-year seminars, peer mentoring, and others that can help mitigate these challenges and improve …

Student Exploration Of Self And Identity Within The Context Of On-Campus Employment, Jason Foster, Hermen Díaz Iii

New York Journal of Student Affairs

Utilizing constructivist interpretive inquiry, this study examined the role of student employment in the Division of Student Affairs for four current undergraduate students. Findings indicate that student employment provided an important space for student employees to develop an identity-centric sense of self, a sense of belonging, and benefit from culturally competent supervision. Implications for practice are discussed to better facilitate student affairs employment as a place of intentionality and development.

Trans* Student Experiences In Higher Education, Megan Chaffee, Deborah King

New York Journal of Student Affairs

This paper reviews literature on trans* students' experiences in higher education, examining their obstacles and institutional approaches to inclusion. The study investigates challenges regarding chosen names and pronouns, access to facilities, extracurricular involvement, and the impact of increasing anti-trans* legislation. Despite growing visibility, trans* students continue to report harassment, discrimination, and a decreased sense of belonging. The paper explores current Title IX interpretations and recommends that higher education administrators develop inclusive policies, enhance professional development, and create supportive campus environments that foster trans* students' academic success and overall well-being.

Collaborative Action In Education: Empirical Explorations Of The Role Of Partnerships In College Readiness Programs, Jose A. Sanchez

Dissertations

Education gaps exist in the United States in large part because not everyone has equal access to the educational resources or role models that will prepare them to seek a college education. To help combat this phenomenon, Federal and State Governments have promoted college readiness programs via collaborative partnerships between school districts, on the one hand, and colleges and universities, on the other.

To better understand the role that partners can play in creating and sustaining college-readiness programs, this study focused on the history and current practices of collaborations involving oversight of college readiness programs in two school districts. Partnership …

Deaf Faculty Members’ Experiences In Higher Education Institutions, Stephanie Proctor Horvath

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Deaf faculty members bring diverse perspectives to higher education, yet their experiences remain underexplored in academic research. The critical first year of teaching can shape their career experiences, revealing both opportunities for growth and systemic barriers. The purpose of this study was to understand deaf faculty members’ experiences, focusing on their transition into academic roles, the accommodations provided in their workplaces, and the challenges they faced. This study employed a qualitative phenomenological design, utilizing semi-structured interviews with 15 Deaf faculty members, whose teaching experience ranges from 1 to 30 years. In the reflexive thematic analysis and AI-coding of this data, …

Global Voices Of Research Fellows: Evaluating Learning Gains From International Research Presentations, Jennifer Butcher, Berenice Casas, Sandra Cleveland, Stacie Shelby

Tapestry: Journal of Research in Education

The underlying assumption of all study abroad programs is that they provide extraordinary benefits to students who participate in them with benefits that far exceed a course of study that is strictly domestically based. The concept of learning gains, briefly summarized as the improvement in knowledge, skills, work-readiness and personal development made by students during their time spent in higher education, has been hailed by some as an opportunity to measure “excellence” in teaching. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the learning gains acquired by research fellows through the process of developing and presenting projects internationally. The following …

Becoming A Beloved Community: A Restorative Reckoning For A Radical Conversion To Transform Discourse In Higher Education, Latasha Tomay Varlack-Butler

Dissertations

This dissertation critically examines the misappropriation of Restorative Justice Discourse (RJD) within three predominantly white institutions (PWIs), analyzing 59 institutional documents through Critical Discourse Analysis, Relational Critical Discourse Analysis, and Rhetorical Criticism (Fairclough, 1995; Vaandering, 2021; van Dijk, 2008). Tribal Colleges and Universities and South African institutions have emerged as exemplars of authentic RJD, countering co-optation within PWIs. The findings demonstrate that RJD as applied in PWIs is framed in ways that attenuate its transformative potential, perpetuating color-evasiveness (Bonilla-Silva, 2017) and obscuring the intersectional experiences of Black, Indigenous, and disabled communities (Crenshaw, 1991; Million, 2009).

Grounded in decolonial praxis (Smith, …

Comments From The Editor, Robert M. Mangione, Susan V. Iverson

New York Journal of Student Affairs

Editor comments for Volume 25.

Navigating The Academic Terrain: Examining The Challenges And Success Factors Of Student Veterans In Higher Education Institutions, Katherine Reyes, Corey Idleburg

Education Division Scholarship

This study investigates the academic experiences of student veterans, addressing specific challenges they face in higher education. Using Schlossberg’s adult transition theory, it explores the effects of invisible barriers, enrollment trends, and institutional factors on veteran student success, leveraging the VA’s GI Bill Comparison tool to examine public versus private school support. Findings underscore the need for targeted resources, faculty training, and institutional awareness to foster a supportive and inclusive environment that enhances veteran students' academic success and sense of belonging.

Ripple Of Hope: Understanding The Lived Experience And Academic Achievement Of Latinx Students At Arrupe College And Dougherty Family College: A Case Study, Richard P. Virgin

Dissertations

One of the most common and important entry points into higher education for Latinx and other underrepresented students is through community college. However, national completion rates for Latinx community college students have been trailing their white peers. This gap in academic achievement has prevailed since the 1990s. The trailing rates of degree completion for Latinx students can lead to lower lifetime salary earnings, lack of career advancement, greater risk of losing employment, and an increased chance of living in poverty. However, a successful community college model may be seen as a disruptor in the educational sector due to its much …

Making It Work: Reframing College Student Off-Campus Employment As A High-Impact Practice, Danielle Jennings, Jörg Vianden

New York Journal of Student Affairs

Working while attending college has become a reality of the student experience, especially for low-income, adult, and BIPOC students. Particularly, off-campus employment is commonplace but may not be fully understood by higher education professionals as an educationally effective activity. This paper is grounded in current literature on the necessity and the benefits of off-campus employment, along with the need for high-impact practices. We, the authors, encourage institutions to reframe off-campus employment as an activity that is educationally effective for those students who engage in it.

Comments From The Editor, Robert M. Mangione, Susan V. Iverson

New York Journal of Student Affairs

Editor comments for Volume 24.

Diminishing The Researcher Imposter Syndrome Among Teacher Education Faculty, David Wolff, Donna Zerr, Carissa Gober

Open Educational Resources - Teaching and Learning

We will share our journey of moving beyond our one-hit wonder of the dissertation and the imposter syndrome of being academic researchers. We developed a professional learning community to collaborate, support, lament, and celebrate scholarship. Attendees will learn our intentional processes and resources to progress in your writing journey.

Moving Through: Supporting Preservice Teachers’ Transition Through College To The Profession Using Homerooms, David Wolff, Mark Diacopoulos, Alexis Durman, Alexis Monks, Madison Adamson, Kim Ballew

Open Educational Resources - Teaching and Learning

Preservice Teachers at Pitt State undergo a significant transition from student to professional. Faculty in the College of Education created a weekly Homeroom to support this shift, covering topics like goal setting, power dynamics, generational differences, self-care, identity charts, and time management. Preservice Teachers’ experiences will be shared.

Motivation, Learning, And The Workplace: A Study Of Community College Student Affairs Professionals And Continued Professional Learning, Joseph M. Ginese

Theses and Dissertations

Continued professional learning is a consistent focus of attention for the field of student affairs within higher education. Yet, very little research has been conducted on the factors that influence the motivation of student affairs professionals to pursue continued professional learning, especially professionals within community colleges. This study utilized a quantitative research design to examine the physical and psychological factors of the work environment that can influence a community college student affairs professional’s motivation to pursue continued professional learning. Through the theoretical lens of Lewin’s Field Theory and Eccles’ Expectancy-Value Theory, I designed a 58-item survey (N = 41) …

Exploring Latinx Students’ Perceptions And Experiences Of Servingness Through Platica At A Hispanic-Serving Community College, Pedro Reynoso Valdez

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The main focus of this study centers on the overarching question, What does it mean to serve Latinx students at a Hispanic serving community college (HSCC)? This recurring question, both in research and in practice, has brought critical attention and dialog regarding the concept and practice of servingness; specifically, it has shed light on how Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs), including HSCCs, conceptualize and enact their respective HSI identity. However, oftentimes, missing from this conversation are the perceptions and experiences of Latinx students themselves enrolled at HSCCs. As a result, there has been a call for more research that incorporates Latinx students’ …

Lgbtq Community College Students’ Decreased Sense Of Belonging, Joseph Falco, Michael Sparrow Ed.D.

New York Journal of Student Affairs

LGBTQ students experience a lower sense of belonging at community colleges. The correlation between campus and classroom climate and academic success, campus involvement, identity, level of outness, and well-being for LGBTQ students contributes to their decreased sense of belonging. Non-LGBTQ-affirming and non-inclusive community college campuses and classrooms lead to feelings of fear, invisibility, lack of validation, mental health challenges, and poor academic performance for LGBTQ students. An extensive literature review was conducted to determine the root causes around the decreased sense of belonging for LGBTQ students enrolled at community colleges.  Three themes emerged that explained this decreased sense of belonging: …