This study is an ethnographic inquiry into the beliefs and perceptions of first-generation/low-income Mexican American students in a rural community college located near the U.S.-Mexico border. It explored their experiences as TRiO Student Support Services participants. TRiO Student Support Services plays an increasingly vital role helping…

Research indicates that work-life integration is linked with career satisfaction for women administrators in higher education. This study focuses on mid-level women leaders who are an essential component of higher education organizations. Employing a qualitative design that drew upon phenomenological methods, I explored the work-life integration…

Community colleges in the state of Missouri began to offer a two-year degree known as the Associate of Arts in Teaching (AAT) in 2007. Because this was a new degree for the state and only a few other states in the nation offered the degree, community colleges in Missouri were eager to measure the efficacy of the degree. The purpose of this…

The success of a student within the academic environment is a result of interaction of various factors. This study was designed to consider how personality similarity between the advisor and advisee may enhance advising, student satisfaction, and grade point average effort. The study concentrated on the relationship of personality characteristics…

This qualitative study describes members of the Liberal Arts/English adjunct faculty at one mid-Atlantic urban community college (MAUCC), their perceptions of the organizational climate of their program, and their satisfaction and motivation patterns. The study was designed as a case study focusing on one MAUCC department. Adjunct faculty members…

The effect of career and technical education in the Caribbean is an area of intervention research that needs more attention. This present research is the first of its kind within the region. The study benefits from a large sample size (N = 500) conducted among a non-traditional population in the field of career development. This paper reports on…

Earlier research published in this journal examined factors associated with various forms of job satisfaction among part-time faculty, both at four-year institutions and community colleges. This research forwarded conclusions at odds with popular accounts regarding part-time faculty. Specifically, it was demonstrated that part-time faculty were…

This issue of "Assessment Update" presents the following articles: (1) A "Wisdom of Crowds" Approach to Outcomes Assessment (Gregory Burton); (2) Editor's Notes: Collective Assessment and DQP Follow-Up (Trudy W. Banta); (3) Satisfaction with Data Management Systems in Standards-Based Alignment (Brett Everhart and Jeanne M.…

The Foundation degree was introduced in the UK in 2001 with a view to addressing two main government agendas: widening participation in higher education and improving higher level skills. Both of these agendas are in response to a set of policy drivers aiming to increase levels of employment. Despite its importance in relation to these national…

In the twenty-first century, learning and the definition of education is changing. New digital, online, and social tools have the ability to transform the classroom and engage learners like never before. In the midst of this technological revolution, it is crucial for educators and administrators to be able to gauge the impact of digital tools on…

Introductory biology courses at two-year, open enrollment colleges in America are presented in a variety of different course delivery formats. Traditionally, most students have enrolled in seated or face-to-face (F2F) lectures and laboratories. There is increased demand for courses presented online or in a hybrid format, although some studies…

This report presents the findings of a nationally representative sample of 571 U.S. residents who graduated from a four-year college between 2006 and 2010. The authors' overall goal was to better understand the articulation between their formal education and their initial positions in the workforce. They examine how students financed their college…

This paper highlights the instructional design process followed by the Maricopa Community College faculty in the creation of instructional modules in Digital Visual Literacy. The paper categorizes 10 tasks that an instructional designer, a teacher, or a trainer performs during the design phase of the instructional design process. The importance of…

For more than two decades, the national standard for benchmarking student satisfaction in higher education has been the Ruffalo Noel Levitz Satisfaction-Priorities Surveys. Since their beginning in 1994, these benchmark surveys have been used by more than 2,900 U.S. colleges and universities to evaluate students' concerns that correspond with…

The purpose of this research study was to investigate the perceptions of students entering an online bachelors program in a Midwest university that had either previously graduated from a regional Community College or has taken some classes but did not have an Associate's Degree from a Community College. This study analyzed the student's perception…