The purpose of this study was to explore the manner in which a community college district planned to implement a systematic outcomes-based assessment program review process in order to have results inform institutional, district, and state policy discussions. Data derived from this grounded theory study indicated that there was not a shared…

More than a third of all undergraduate students are 25 or older, and their presence on college and university campuses is growing. However, institutions of higher learning are struggling to meet the needs of, and improve persistence and completion rates for, this significant student population. "Increasing Adult Learner Persistence and…

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to identify, compile, and describe how community college graduate dental hygienists perceived their initial dental hygiene curriculum preparation and how they subsequently adapted their curriculum preparation in order to perform their responsibilities in their first clinical dental hygiene job.…

Legal scholars rarely focus on student First Amendment rights, and general public understanding of the extent of these rights is vague at best. While media scholars have focused much attention on newspaper coverage of more mainstream issues, no notable attention has been given to examining the way news media cover student First Amendment rights.…

In the constantly changing environment of today's community college, the practice of reflection may be of great value to new generations of leaders. How, then, do emerging leaders, and even seasoned ones, develop a disposition for and habit of reflection? This article suggests ways to do just that. Emerging leaders of community colleges are very…

While the majority of students at California community colleges are students of color, few complete their schooling and transfer. This study examines how women leaders of color perceive transfer at a diverse, transfer-intensive community college in southern California. Critical race theory is used to analyze how these raced and gendered…

This study explored differences between career decision-making self-efficacy (CDMSE) and career barriers of students enrolled in applied technology programs compared to those enrolled in college transfer. Participants in the ex post facto cross-sectional survey included 787 students at a community college. The following research questions were…

Increased demands for colleges and universities to engage in outcomes assessment for accountability purposes have accelerated the need to bridge the gap between higher education practice and the fields of measurement, assessment, and evaluation. The "Handbook on Measurement, Assessment, and Evaluation in Higher Education" provides higher…

In the period of more than a decade since community colleges began awarding baccalaureate degrees in North America there has been little in the way of theoretical exploration of this development. This paper applies a theoretical framework that was originally developed to explain the vocationalization of the American community college to the…

This study explored the problem of student attrition in beginning courses of an Intensive English Program (IEP) that may affect the sustainability of the IEP. The purpose of the study was to understand the perceptions of continuing students and the factors that influenced their motivation and engagement to persist studying in the IEP.…

Chicanos and Latinos constitute the fastest-growing ethnic group in the United States, with the California public school system reporting a definitive majority (50.4%) of Raza students in 2010, and California community colleges (CCCs) approaching record one-third Chicano/Latino enrollments in the last five years. Since CCCs are the entry point to…

The challenge faced by all community colleges is how to increase student success, whether success is defined in terms of graduating with a degree or certificate, transferring, or retaining a job. With approximately 40% of the nation's undergraduates pursuing higher education through the community college (52% when one considers public institutions…

Community colleges are constantly challenged to find new ways to meet the needs of multiple constituents. One strategy becoming more popular in addressing these pressing needs is partnerships and other forms of organizational collaboration, consortia, and networks. Partnerships can allow for resource sharing, creation of joint educational…

Literature has postulated that noncognitive or psychosocial variables are a strong predictor of African American and international students persisting in college. Using a modified version of the Noncognitive-Revised (NCQ-R) questionnaire developed by Tracey and Sedlacek (1984), this mixed methods descriptive study investigated the relationships…

This narrative research study explored the experiences of two Black women executive-level leaders who started their careers within higher education, including two-year technical colleges located in the Southeast during the pivotal sociopolitical moments that occurred during the 1960s to the 1980s. The stories of these women revealed their…