Many postsecondary institutions already recognize that adults comprise a significant portion of their student body -- or they may be starting to recognize the potential for serving more adults as they face declining enrollments from their traditional student pipelines. These institutions realize that they should have programs and services in place…

Problem was the community college recognized a decline in student retention rates from 2009 to 2012 in the School of Nursing. Purpose of this program evaluation was to evaluate a faculty advising program (FAP) in the School of Nursing at a community college in regard to students' satisfaction and retention. Evaluation period was from Fall 2012 to…

This exploratory research surveyed faculty who instruct in community colleges from 18 states about their attitudes toward the concealed carry gun policies that allow appropriately licensed citizens to carry a handgun in public places such as college campuses. Building upon previous research involving 4-year institutions, we surveyed 1,889…

Over a two-year period, six colleges involved in the Working Students Success Network (WSSN) initiative received financial support and technical assistance from ATD to identify key financial challenges their students face, develop specific strategies to address those challenges, and provide feedback on lessons learned from the work to be shared…

Issues of instruction and assessment at community colleges are influenced by the high percentage of classes taught by adjunct faculty. In 2014 for the Virginia Community College System, part-time instructors comprised 70.3% of instructional faculty. This dissertation describes the instruction and assessment technique choices of adjunct instructors…

The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944 (Public Law 78-346), generally referred to as the GI Bill, provided any veteran, who had served for at least 90 days from the time period of September 1940 to July 1947, paid full-time education. The original Act also called for the creation of a central agency dedicated to the administration of all…

Our study found that most students considered OER to be as good or better in terms of quality and engagement as traditional texts, while also allowing them to put saved funds toward their educational pursuits. As rising costs in higher education affect current and potential students, faculty and students are looking for ways to cut costs where…

Museum exhibits can be a tool in experiential learning. While instructors have documented various methods of experiential learning, they have not sufficiently explored such learning from museum exhibits. Museum researchers, however, have long found a satisfying cognitive component to museum visits. This paper narrates the author's design to…

Historically, workplace morale improvement has been an elusive target for company executives and higher management. Faculty, support staff, and other associated personnel at public colleges/universities, as in other workplaces, need to know that their work is recognized as significant. For the most part faculty want to believe they have excellent…

In this retrospective causal-comparative study, the readiness of Virginia community college students to receive an accounting ethics curriculum was analyzed by measuring and comparing their moral sensitivity scores to the moral sensitivity scores of a group of four year university students. A sample of college students attending community college…

This study explored pre- and post-admission characteristics of retained first-year students enrolled in non-proximal distance learning programs within public, 2-year colleges. Five pre-admission and six post-admission characteristics were explored. The sample for this study consisted of 197 first-year students enrolled in non-proximal distance…

This study examined Virginia community college students' perceptions of campus safety. A survey of 11,161 students revealed the crimes students most feared being a victim of while on the community college campus and the areas in which they felt the most and least safe. The research also demonstrated the effect of certain variables had on students'…

The purpose of this descriptive study was to investigate the adjunct faculty's perception of professional development and support services offered and needed at Tidewater Community College, a multicampus community college. This study involved adjunct faculty only. A survey was created and contained 58 survey questions. The majority of these were…

This descriptive study surveyed current, lapsed, and major gift donors to explore the impact of college communications on donors' decisions to contribute to the college, the likelihood of donor financial support for various college projects, and the philanthropic motivation profiles of the donors of a midsized, multicampus community college in…

The purpose of this study was to build on the previous work of articulation practices of Virginia's public school divisions and community colleges participating in dual enrollment partnerships, and to understand the role of the community college in initiating, developing, and implementing dual enrollment programs. The primary focus involved…