This research paper investigates whether or not students placed on academic probation react appropriately to Burton R. Clark's "cooling out" process--a process designed to encourage students to match their levels of aspiration with their abilities and interests--by changing to an alternate major. Using a sample of 1000 Cerritos College…

In light of growing concern for the measurement of educational effectiveness, this paper advocates institutional research at the community college level in California's community colleges to answer crucial questions concerning students, programs, and communities and urges trustees and administrators to use research results to inform decision…

Proceedings of a workshop on program review in postsecondary education and a report of a program review study are presented. The workshop was designed to acquaint participants with the changing academic planning environment, to provide a better understanding of the purposes of program review, and to exchange ideas for improving procedures. Its…

The "Presidents' Study" is a collection, classification, and analysis of weekly student contact hours (WSCH) and full-time equivalent (FTE) faculty data gathered from a number of participating California community colleges. The data are treated by various formulae, ratios, and graphs to indicate loads, trends, and costs. Unfortunately,…

A system of identification and notification designed and implemented at Southwestern College to speed supportive services to the disadvantaged and handicapped students in vocational programs is discussed. The system is comprised of the following procedures: (1) Self-identification (Student Services Information Form filled out by each student at…

This publication offers interested citizens of California a brief analysis of the problems the State faces in financing its public school system, a brief presentation of general financing alternatives, and a look at legislative measures which have been proposed or are being proposed to implement these alternatives. The research that produced these…

In a time of urgent need for cooperation among educational institutions, the community college may have a unique opportunity to serve as a bridge or means of communication, hence an agent in coordination. The articles presented here focus on coordination and cooperation: mechanisms for cooperation among higher education associations; ways of…

A study was conducted by the Learning Assessment Retention Consortium of the California Community Colleges to determine the extent to which the state's community colleges had implemented matriculation practices which were recommended by the Board of Governors in 1984, but which had not received state funding. The study investigated college…

A socio-economically stratified sample of 368 randomly selected adult women residents of the Chaffey College district were interviewed to determine their demographic characteristics, educational needs and interests, perceived barriers to educational participation, and the adequacy of current college programs to meet the needs of women. Results of…

This paper reports on a large-scale project of research and evaluation of a program for disadvantaged minority group students conducted by the Center for Educational Opportunity at the Claremont Colleges. The Program of Special Directed Studies for Transition to College (PSDS), a five-year experimental project, is aimed at providing a four-year,…

Followup questionnaires were sent to 372 students who had graduated from liberal arts and science programs at Southwestern College in 1973, in order to determine their status in relation to education and employment, to rate their experience at Southwestern and at their current institutions as to instruction, counseling, facilities, materials,…

Los Angeles City College participated in a Statewide survey of institutional goals. The Institutional Goals Inventory was given to 400 LACC faculty, day and evening students, and community people, and 92 percent were returned. Inventory statements covered 20 goal areas designed to determine present thinking as to what the institutional goals are…

In light of a new state-mandated performance-based funding mechanism for community colleges in California, this article discusses how one district sought to implement new internal evaluation procedures to improve student outcomes in line with systemwide goals outlined in the performance-based funding. These efforts introduced an evaluative …

In 1987, the Chancellor's Office of the California Community Colleges initiated a three and one-half year evaluation of the statewide matriculation program, a legislatively mandated effort to assist community college students in identifying and achieving their educational goals. This report evaluates the implementation of matriculation during the…

During the spring of 2002 and 2003, a team of faculty and institutional researchers conducted an innovative web-based survey on the undergraduate experience at all eight undergraduate campuses of the University of California. This report provides the first formal presentation of preliminary findings from that survey and discusses potential areas…