The growing number of U.S. engineering jobs signifies a need for more students to pursue engineering degrees. To increase access to engineering education, in 2015, Texas A&M University established Engineering Academies (EA) in cooperation with selected community colleges. The problem addressed in this study was a lack of knowledge about why…

There has been a documented shortage of nursing and allied healthcare professionals in the healthcare workforce. The clinical workforce is supplied by nursing and allied health programs, and the faculty for nursing and allied health come from experienced and qualified clinicians. Therefore, shortages in the clinical healthcare workforce and…

Despite a multitude of possible explanations for racial and ethnic group differences in collegiate achievement, scholars have continued to call for new research and theories to better explain this ongoing phenomenon. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to investigate the relationship between grit, racialized campus experiences, and college…

This phenomenological qualitative study has been designed to explore and describe the lived workplace experiences of adjunct faculty who have been employed for at least one academic year at a single district, multi-campus community college, and who are not seeking full-time employment. The focus of their lived workplace experiences is on their…

Organizational climate (OC) affects employees, their interactions with students, and is essential to student achievement. However, the research is limited in that it is not clear how college faculty and staff perceive OC factors that may contribute to student academic achievement. The aim of this study was to answer the following research…

This narrative inquiry captures the stories of three newly-hired professors struggling to assimilate into Metro Community College's social environment. My work first presents Samantha's metaphor: a sandbox campus wherein employees work in isolation, building individual sandcastles. This metaphor evokes an imaginative way to interpret and…

This study examined differences in reported campus criminality on selected community college campuses in the years between 2005 and 2016 representing the years preceding and succeeding the implementation of Mississippi's 2011 concealed carry legislation. Each campus included in this study is a public-funded community college in Mississippi. Using…

There is a need to fully understand why Hispanic students are not as successful as other cohorts of students are when completing college. In past research, the focus has been on persistence and retention, but understanding the need for connection and feelings of campus immersion have been absent. The research questions investigated the barriers…

"An Analysis of Factors Influencing the Success of Dual-Enrollment Students Through the Perspectives of Faculty and Counselors" is a qualitative study. Dual enrollment has increased enrollment by offering opportunities to a broader audience. However, portions of this broader audience may be unprepared to face the challenges of being…

Objective: The purpose of this study is to highlight the type of community cultural wealth developed and used by Latina/o community college transfer students who encountered limited pre-transfer assistance and unreceptive cultures at their transfer institutions. Method: This study took place at Southwest State University (SSU), a Predominantly…

Dual enrollment (DE)--where students earn college credits during high school--is expanding rapidly. To facilitate DE, institutional actors across K-12 schools and colleges must build or repurpose structures across separate organizations to determine course offerings, assignments, modality, and composition. Yet the organization and implications of…

Texas community colleges are facing new challenges every day from outside forces. One of the latest forces is the Texas state legislature. The state legislature has allowed the carrying of conceal weapons on community college campuses with the passing of Senate Bill 11 (Handgun Laws, 2018). Historically, community colleges have been safe places…

This study focuses on advising international students in a Texas community college. Guided by Bronfenbrenner's ecological model, I explored how academic advising with international students was shaped by individual backgrounds and environmental influences. I utilized a qualitative research design and analyzed information collected from interviews…

To help students realize their goals, community colleges across the country are working toward redesigning the student experience utilizing the guided pathways framework. Guided pathways is an institution-wide approach to student success that is based on giving students clear, coherent, and structured educational experiences that build in a…

Objective: Early college high schools (ECHSs) allow high school students to accumulate credit toward an associate degree at little or no cost, often through partnerships with community colleges. The goal is to facilitate students' socialization into higher education, or the process of learning the skills, knowledge, and dispositions required for…