A nationwide discussion that is currently taking place related to student loan debt; a number of presidential candidates are discussing ideas for student loan forgiveness. Some states have offered free community college as a possible solution. Free community college would allow students to save money for two years before transferring to a…

Every adolescent faces challenges as they navigate their teenage years, but for some these challenges imperil their ability to complete their education. While these four students' experiences are dramatically different, they have one thing in common: high school didn't work for them, meaning that each faced long odds of ever attaining a diploma,…

Following is a study that explores learning in community in a fully-integrated, team taught course at a community college in New England. These classes, Learning Communities (LCs) represent rich opportunities for exploring and practicing democratic education. From a theoretical grounding in social learning theories and an exploration into learning…

Research indicates an increasing number of college students are experiencing severe psychological problems that are impacting their academic performance. However, many colleges and universities operate with constrained budgets that limit their ability to provide adequate counseling services for their student population. Moreover, accessing…

Through an analysis of 245 issues of the "Community College Journal" published between 1950 and 2013, we show how three discourses--international understanding and geopolitics, economic competitiveness, and global citizenship--informed practical reasoning about a rising global imaginary and its implications for the community college. By…

The relationship between academic affairs and student affairs units in higher education settings has traditionally and historically been troubled by the divergent understandings of each other's institutional role and the systematic division of labor between the two. However, for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is a desire to…

Recent research has helped shift the national understanding of the opportunities presented by Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fields, drawing attention to the large number of STEM jobs that require less than a Bachelor's degree. The data have also highlighted the critical importance of community colleges as a primary provider of…

This article explores the role of the instruction librarian as an equal player in higher learning initiatives, and focuses on student motivation, information literacy, activity and assessment, and collaboration. Library literacy is a major component of student success in community colleges, but the role of the instruction librarian is often…

This research builds upon Malnarich, Pettitt, and Mino's (2014) investigation of students' reflections on their learning community (LC) experiences. Adapting their Peer-to-Peer Reflection Protocol for use at Kingsborough Community College, CUNY, we present a framework for dynamic LC program assessment. To obtain feedback about theory-practice…

In 2007, the president of Shelton State Community College in Alabama announced that with more than 60% of incoming freshmen placing into developmental courses, the college had a moral and ethical obligation to provide top-quality opportunities for underprepared students. He appointed a team to investigate options for improving services and…

Academic dishonesty is a well-documented problem in higher education. While numerous actions and/or behaviors are attributed to threatening academic integrity, the vernacular term used by both students and faculty is "cheating". Although there has been a substantial amount of research on academic integrity and dishonesty in general,…

Established in 2013, American Honors (AH) is a program operated in partnership between the for-profit company Quad Learning and a growing number of public two-year colleges. It is designed to provide an honors curriculum and intensive wraparound advising for high-achieving, low-income domestic students, as well as for international students who…

The California Community Colleges serve more than 2.1 million students and is the largest system of higher education in the nation. The state's 112 colleges provide workforce training, teach basic math and English, and prepare students for transfer to four-year universities and colleges. Senate Bill 852 established the Career Technical Education…

The purpose of this study was to understand the nature of collaboration between academic affairs and student affairs units in the community college context from a qualitative perspective. A discourse analysis study was conducted to explore the ways in which collaborative practice was discussed and understood by chief and midlevel academic and…

Using narrative inquiry as a research method, four mathematics and mathematics education faculty members explored the integration of theoretical perspectives into their personal narratives as they developed a community of practice. Initially their focus was strictly on improving their students' mathematical knowledge. As their community of…