Ullysses Tucker likes a good challenge. After spending the first 20 years of his career working in media, he entered the development profession in 2000. He worked for the State University of New York Plattsburgh, New Jersey's Montclair State University, Louisiana's Grambling State University, and Western Illinois University before joining London…

Discusses the needs of refugees--English language competency, development of self esteem, acceptance by other students, realistic goals--and how administrators of commuter colleges can help. (CT)

Suggests the salience of the "commuter perspective" attitude toward higher education, since the majority of students commute. Advocacy is urged to overcome the historical and predominantly exclusive residential perspective. The role of the commuter advocate is delineated, and necessary skills defined. Services, facilities and issues of equal…

A conceptual view of student development and the milieu of an urban commuter college are discussed. Student development is defined as the application of human development theory, principles, and concepts in an educational setting to identify the forms of development in students to which the institution is willing and able to commit its resources.…

The many different kinds of urban institutions are identified and the state of higher education in urban areas is discussed. The effect of the land-grant colleges movement is described. Three guiding philosophies during the present century about American education are identified: colleges as aristocratic institutions, meritocracy, and…

Institutional bonding was examined at a public, urban commuter college with exceptionally high attrition and visibly low morale. Changes in bonding and attrition were measured 6 years after a 2-year effort to develop school identity and student feelings of membership. It was found that a simple index of campus morale is provided by level of…

Creating a college culture that encourages cultural pluralism requires removal of barriers in the environment. Colleges must (1) not assume that students need to assimilate into their existing culture; (2) extend their geographic and social boundaries; (3) provide support systems; and (4) help faculty understand different culture-based student…

The most widely accepted classification system of institutions of higher education, the Carnegie system, does not provide any sub-groupings for the category of two-year institutions. This lack of precision has inhibited the understanding of the diversity among and between community colleges, their missions, functions, curricula, students, and…

Needs of off-campus students in Southern West Virginia, and specifically students enrolled at Bluefield State College, are considered. The computer college has several off-campus locations, including one 60 miles away, and it serves a population that tends to have low educational attainment levels. One environmental factor that influences student…

This personal report of classroom experiences at an urban commuter college relates the experiences of a teacher and a group of working-class students studying the book "Utopia," which is also the metaphor for the hoped-for learning experience. The book, illustrated by excerpts from student-submitted work, shows how pedagogical theory leads to…

Fundamental changes that will affect American higher education during the next 20 years are discussed with specific reference to residential colleges. It is suggested that many traditional residential colleges will have difficulty meeting the challenges of a changing society and will be forced to close their doors. The development and adoption of…