Community College Education Administration Commons^™

The Pathways Program: Understanding The Effectiveness Of A Structured And Support Based Standalone Dual Credit Program, Pablo Ortega

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Since the 1970s’, dual credit programs have helped high school students earn college credit and gain college readiness skills. However, the standalone branch of dual credit programs lacks structured advising, educational planning, and student support. As a result, participants of the standalone dual credit option experience frustration and significant difficulties in their dual credit experience. This study adds to the literature by evaluating the effectiveness of a standalone dual credit program designed with Guided Pathways-style support services.

Through quantitative analysis, this study compared two groups of standalone dual credit students. Both groups participated in standalone dual credit programs at the …

Exploring Appreciative Advising As An Equity Approach For African American Students: A Grounded Theory Study Of Academic Advisors At Predominantly White Institutions (Pwis), Valerie Harper

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

EXPLORING APPRECIATIVE ADVISING AS AN EQUITY APPROACH FOR AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDENTS: A GROUNDED THEORY STUDY OF ACADEMIC ADVISORS AT PREDOMINANTLY WHITE INSTITUTIONS (PWIs)

By

Valerie J. Harper

October 28, 2019

Dissertation supervised by Professor Gretchen Givens Generett

African American matriculation into postsecondary education continues to rise, but degree conferral remains low (Hoston, Graves, & Fleming-Randle, 2010). Arguably, Harper and Hurtado’s (2007) research, as far back as 1992, stated black students and other students of color have dealt with alienation, isolation, and stereotyping at PWIs; this continues to persist today (Lee, 2018), which may interrupt the academic success of African …

It’S Everyone’S Job To #Endccstigma, Eric Heiser

Instructional Leadership Abstracts

I have watched with great enthusiasm the past few months as I’ve seen more and more movement behind the #EndCCStigma movement, both on Twitter and in real-life form. Frankly, this has been many years in the making and is long overdue. The fact is, we have allowed society to perpetuate this stigma and it is high time we stop allowing them to do so. Community colleges touch the lives of so many individuals. Even those who never become our students are often touched by their local community college. Whether a parent, brother, sister, cousin, or even friend attended, the touch …

Assessing The Correlations Between Non-Cognitive Factors And The First Semester Gpa Of Nontraditional Students At A Community College., Alexis Parent Ferrouillet

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Ninety percent of the students enrolled at community colleges in the United States are nontraditional (NCES, 2001). According to Horn and Carroll (1996), characteristics of nontraditional student include: delayed college enrollment, financially independent of parents, worked at least thirty-five hours per week, had dependents other than a spouse, were single parents, and had not received a standard high school diploma. Because of these characteristics, nontraditional students can face a plethora of challenges in higher education and feel underprepared for college coursework. Upon enrollment into the community college with an open admissions policy, these underprepared students must take high stakes standardized …

Inspiring Faculty Innovation: Open Educational Resources And Competency-Based Education As Pedagogical Change Models, Jody Carson, Kim Burns, Sue Tashjian

Instructional Leadership Abstracts

Every college has pockets of innovative faculty who are resourceful and skilled problem solvers. They come to you with solutions instead of complaints and when they leave your office you wish you could clone them. These faculty are your innovators. Academic innovation is currently getting a lot of attention. It is a concept that is trendy, as well as murky. What do we mean when we talk about innovation? In early 2018, a survey of academic administrators framed innovation as a tool for solving problems and driving overall improvement. When asked how to support innovation, Chief Academic Officers (CAOs) reported …

The Perceived Role Of Online Stem Dual Credit In Rural Nebraska High Schools, Trentee Bush

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

This exploratory study was based on interviews with twelve participants, four community college dual credit coordinators and eight high school administrators (principals and guidance counselors). The purpose was to understand the role of dual credit STEM courses in rural Nebraska high schools and the impact these courses had on the institution. The interview process revealed the lack of uniformity in dual credit processes throughout the state.

The concept of dual credit is widely discussed. The potential benefits and challenges of these courses and programs are vast. Without national legislation, each state can make determinations and decisions about state-wide policies related …

The 4 Connections: Moving From Intuitive To Intentional Relationship-Building To Improve Success And Reduce Equity Gaps, Suzanne Ames, Sally Heilstedt

Instructional Leadership Abstracts

Equitable student success can be achieved through connections and a sense of belonging created among faculty members and students. Lake Washington Institute of Technology, one of the 34 community and technical colleges in Washington State, implemented the 4 Connections framework based on best practices identified and systemically implemented at Odessa College. Through quantitative and qualitative research, Dr. Don Wood (now Odessa’s VP of Institutional Effectiveness), discovered that all faculty with high in-class retention rates shared “a common thread of connectivity with their students” (Kistner & Henderson, 2014). From this common thread emerged four key practices: 1. Learn and use students’ …

Community College Presidents' Perspectives On Campus Safety, Chad Christopher Sartini

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

This study addressed the phenomenon of campus safety from the perspective of the community college president. The researcher employed a mixed methods design by surveying the community college presidents of one state community college system followed by in-depth interviews of three of the presidents of the same community college system. The quantitative inquiry used descriptive statistics to detail community college presidents’ knowledge and perceptions of campus safety. The qualitative inquiry employed case study analysis through in-depth interviews to develop a deeper understanding of the relationship between community college presidents and the phenomenon of campus safety.

The results of the study …

Equity Issues In Dual Enrollment Programs: Exploring African American Community College Students’ Perceptions Of Dual Enrollment, Kristen Wagner Rarig

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

Dual enrollment has been shown to increase post-secondary student success outcomes across a variety of measures such as retention, grade point average, and four-year attainment (Allen & Dadgar, 2012; Hoffman, 2012, Pretlow & Wathington, 2014). In Virginia, access to community colleges among students of color has increased from 32.3% in 2008 to 42.7% in 2018 (SCHEV, 2019-a). Despite these gains, far fewer African American students than White students participate in dual enrollment in Virginia, which has significant implications for their future success in post-secondary education. This study examined the experiences that influenced African American students’ choice to participate in dual …

What Ever Happened To Summer?, Kristin Mallory

Instructional Leadership Abstracts

Did you ever have a summer that felt like summer? For me, it was when I was a full-time faculty. I enjoyed the nine-month teaching contract and the three months of downtime, yet I was eager to return to campus and my students. As I transitioned from teaching to administration, my summer “downtime” became the summer crunch time. People ask, “How is your summer going?” knowing that I work for a college. My response is usually, “What summer?” I am sure those of you who work in administrative positions have had similar experiences, and often ask the question “What ever …

Community College Grow Your Own Leadership: A Phenomenological Study Of Employee Perceptions Of Individual And Organizational Leadership Development, John Delozier

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Community colleges often face challenges with leadership as a result of retirements and turnover. In reaction to these challenges some community colleges have developed Grow Your Own (GYO) leadership development programs. Although the topic of leadership and leadership development has been researched extensively, more research is necessary concerning GYO programs and their perceived impact on participants and their colleges. This study was designed to determine the perceived development of GYO participants as well as the perception of a GYO’s impact on the organization. Guilford Technical Community College (GTCC) in Greensboro, North Carolina has had a GYO program for 30 years. …

Institutional Adoption And Implementation Of A Mandated Community College First Year Experience Course, Carmen Varney Purpus

Dissertations

This purpose of the research study is two-fold. The first aim is to establish strategies that can guide community colleges interested in the implementation of a mandated First Year Experience course as well as to identify barriers community colleges may encounter to help them move from desiring a mandated student success course to acting to create one. It is widely believed that student success course helps students learn to be successful, but it is not a widely accepted practice to mandate it for all students.

The second objective is to add to the limited body of research. A nonexperimental descriptive …

Figured Worlds: A Phenomenological Study Of Community College Faculty Leaders, Quinton Bemiller

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Despite the importance of community colleges in higher education, community college faculty are understudied. Although the community college has been defined as a teaching institution, its faculty also serve in non-teaching leadership roles. The purpose of this research study is to know (1) what the experiences of community college faculty in leadership roles are, (2) how their roles have changed over time, (3) what factors motivated faculty to accept non-teaching roles, and (4) how faculty have navigated the transition. Data were obtained from open-ended, semi-structured interviews using an Interpretive Phenomenological approach. Qualitative data were transcribed, coded, categorized, and then organized …

“Now Let Us Shift”: A Case Study Of Developmental Education Reform In A Hispanic Serving Community College, Audrey Marie Baca

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Background: Latina/o/x students who persist to college are likely to enter through community college (Contreras & Contreras, 2018) and until the enactment of California Assembly Bill 705, would have been susceptible to placement in developmental education courses (Rodriguez, Cuellar Mejia, & Johnson, 2018). The implementation of AB 705 shifted the requirements for new student placement in all 115 California Community Colleges. With compliance mandated by Fall 2019, the law required colleges to "maximize the probability" that entering students enroll and complete transfer-level English or mathematics within a one-year timeframe and within a three-year timeframe for students enrolled in English …

Analyzing Two-Year College Student Success Using Structural Equation Modeling, Jessica Taylor

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Capstones

The goal of this study is to more fully understand the scope of community college student success using the principles of mindset, engagement, and college readiness. Using structural equation modeling ensures this study is able to measure the combined effects these concepts have on student success, group differences, and the combined model of student success. Findings suggest student success can be significantly impacted by self-belief and mindset behaviors that can outweigh the initial effect of academically under-prepared students. Groups included in this study are non-traditional students, minority populations, first generation students, and Pell eligible students.

Different And The Same: A Comparison Of Vertical And Lateral Transfer Students., Joshua Harris Mckee

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As more students evaluate their choice for higher education, the rate of transfer students continues to grow. The transfer population is often addressed broadly in research studies, and few examine differences among the population. This study was designed to analyze the differences in transfer shock and retention rates between students who transferred from a community college to a four-year institution (vertical) versus those who transferred from one four-year institution to another (lateral). Participants of this study consisted of 1,032 students who transferred to the University of Louisville during the fall 2014, 2015, and 2016 semesters. Results indicated, when controlling for …

A Transcendental Phenomenological Study Of Persistence Among National Junior College Athletic Association Division Iii Student Athletes, Carlton Hartsell Bryan Jr

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to describe the experiences of Division III National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) student athletes in central North Carolina who successfully persist to a four-year institution. The theory that guided this study was Vincent Tinto’s Theory of Student Integration (1975) as it established the principle that student’s personal commitment or determination to earn a degree and their commitment to their college or university determines whether they will complete their educational goals. The central research question guiding this study is: What are the experiences of the Division III NJCAA student-athlete in central North …

Seeking Success: A Case Study Of African American Male Retention At A Two-Year College, Richard Latroy Moss

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

There is a problem in higher education in the United States. African American students, specifically males, are not being retained and graduating. This problem is even more evident for students that attend two year colleges. African American male students lag behind white males, Hispanic males and African American females, in retention and graduation rates. This problem has caught the attention of many leaders. Policy makers and college leaders are among those who seek to understand the why and find solutions to the challenge of African American male student retention at two year colleges, as two year colleges are becoming the …

Assessment And Support For Basic Computer Skills At Community College Hispanic Serving Institutions In California, Jason Wayne Hough

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This cross-sectional survey study was conducted to determine if California community colleges designated as Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) assess incoming students for basic computer skills, provide learning support for these skills, as well as assess the attitude of administrators towards basic computer skills of incoming students. Prior published research documented the false assumption in higher education incoming students are “digital natives”, capable of effectively using technology expected on college campuses; however, there was no research focused on community colleges designated as HSIs. The study adds to the body of literature about the assessment of and support for basic computer skills …

Identifying Predictors Of Organizational Commitment Among Community College Faculty Members In Arkansas, Chris Aaron Lorch

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Community colleges serve an important function of allowing students to achieve an affordable education closer to home. However, these opportunities often challenge community college faculty members due to smaller budgets and resources, which leads to differentiation in curriculum delivery, underprepared students, increasing workloads, and increasing stakeholder expectations. As such, across the nation, faculty are showing lack of commitment, lowered engagement, and increasing turnover rate. This study sought to determine the predictors of organizational commitment in community college faculty, using Meyer and Allen’s framework of three components of this commitment. Both individual demographic characteristics of faculty, and institution characteristics of degree …

The Internal And External Factors Impacting The Persistence Of Underprepared Hispanic Students In Community Colleges, Rhonda Carroll

Theses and Dissertations

This study of Hispanic developmental students attending two-year colleges provides insights into the barriers to persistence for this growing population of students. Four research questions were explored in the study. The first question asked which demographic factors of gender, age, dependent children, and marital status impacted retention. The second question asked which socio-cultural factors of support of friends, support of parents, being a first generational student and social integration impacted persistence of Hispanic students in two-year colleges. The third question asked which environmental variables of working full-time, lack of adequate preparation and lack of financial support impacted persistence. The final …

Branch Campuses: Extending The Reach Of Social Work Education, Simon Funge, Dana Sullivan, Larry Owens, Whitney Harper

Social Work Faculty Publications

The study explored the characteristics and experiences of branch campus social work education programs and educators in the U.S. Eighty-one (n = 81) branch campus social work educators in 26 states completed an online survey. Findings revealed that undergraduate and graduate branch campus social work education was primarily delivered face-to-face to non-traditional students. Half of these programs were recently established, and the majority were expected to grow. However, teaching these students was not necessarily viewed as a shared responsibility. Though some branch campus faculty reported higher workloads and limited connections to parent campus colleagues, faculty generally reported great satisfaction teaching …

Integrated Student Services: Exploring Integration On Community College Student Success, Charles Michael Scheetz

All Theses And Dissertations

Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs) have become like hospitals where there are multiple offices in centralized locations. One of the areas that need further study is how to integrate these services effectively and efficiently to service students. Healthcare has developed the triage model and IHEs are starting to bring this model into the educational settings. This qualitative study of a community college’s integrated student service model reviewed the impact of the model on student success of a specific student population. The overall problem was a lack of data about the impact of integrated student services on specific student population success. …

Privilege, Bias, And Cultural Competence: An Examination Of How Lived Experience Shapes Academic Advising Practices, Jennifer Englert-Copeland

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Capstones

As college campuses become increasingly diverse, the need for multicultural awareness among faculty and staff has become a critical component of student success. Though rising diversity among students promotes a rich and more robust learning environment (Gurin, 1999; Gurin, Dey, Hurtado, & Gurin, 2002; Hurtado, 2007; Sleeter & Grant, 1994) and correlates with various positive educational outcomes (Hu & Kuh, 2003; Umback & Kuh, 2006), student affairs and higher education professionals may be ineffective when managing and responding to diversity. For faculty and staff within community college settings, the need for multicultural awareness, including awareness of privilege and bias, is …

Promoting Persistence Among Lgbtq Community College Students, Gregory D. Robinson

Theses and Dissertations

A vast amount of research has been devoted to the persistence and retention of college students since the 1970s. Recent research has focused on targeted populations such as first year students, racially minoritized, students with low social economic status and students at the developmental/remedial level. Nevertheless, limited scholarly research has been conducted on the persistence and retention of another category of students, sexual and gender minorities. This qualitative study examined the experiences that promote persistence among Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer/Questioning (LGBTQ) community colleges students. Interviews with eight LGBTQ students from three community colleges in the state of Illinois …

The Impact Of Community College Adminstration Leadership Styles On Morale And Productivity In Higher Education, Melissa Ann Croteau

All Theses And Dissertations

This dissertation examines the impact of different leadership styles of community college administrators that faculty and staff experience and how they can affect satisfaction and morale within the community college system. There is an increasing recognition that higher education institutions require effective leadership and there is a continuing need to examine what types of leadership styles are more likely to produce favorable outcomes so that faculty and staff will have increased job satisfaction and overall positive morale. A qualitative research study was done by using a focus group addressing leadership styles, morale, and job satisfaction directed to a small group …

Exploring The Lived Experience Of Female Presidents In Higher Education: A Journey Of Ascension To The Rural Community College Presidency, Patsy Jackson

Online Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological study is to investigate the lived experience of females who ascended to rural community college presidencies. This study explores their perceptions of barriers and facilitators that influenced their success in capturing a rural community college presidency. Lastly, this study aims to examine their leadership approach and their intended leadership legacy. An imminent leadership crisis exists for community colleges and has created an uncertain future for these open access institutions. The number of qualified applicants to fill the presidential pipeline is declining and sitting presidents are retiring at alarming rates, threatening the sustainable of community …

Matriculation Through Dual Credit, Lorry Beth Wilson

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

Earning college credit in high school has become a rising trend, while correlation of matriculation to credit hour accumulation, underrepresented minority population, and high school data is limited. State policies are redefining outdated rules and processes in order to provide access, affordability, and awareness to students throughout the United States. West Kentucky Community and Technical College, in partnership with area high schools, enroll students in dual credit courses, which assists with increasing college credential completion and the reduction of total college costs. Students must have guidance and planning before, during, and after earning dual credit. This helps the student to …

Quality Enhancement Plans At Community Colleges: Caring Attitudes, Intentional Advising, And Open Communication, Anthony Strawn

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

In 2004 the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools – Commission on Colleges, (SACSCOC) started requiring a Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) as part of the decennial reaffirmation process. Since 2004, over one billion dollars have been spent by the 794 accredited SACSCOC institutions completing their QEPs. Fifth-Year Impact Reports must be completed by the institution at the end of the QEP as part of the Fifth-Year Compliance Report. Once that report is accepted by SACSCOC, no additional reporting on the QEP is required. This study looked at six Track A, Level I institutions in five states that started a QEP …

Addressing The Completion Agenda By Improving A Community College's Student Retention Rates, Emily Jo Bishop

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A local community college is experiencing low level student retention. . The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of administrators, faculty and students regarding the low student retention rate. The participants for this qualitative case study included 6 former students who withdrew from the local community college before completing their degrees, 2 faculty members, and 2 administrators. The conceptual framework was constructivism. Research questions were designed to elicit perceptions of understanding retention issues in terms of adult learning and documenting the problem of retention. Data were collected in the form of semi-structured interviews and document review to …