This study examines staff development practices in community college student affairs. Nineteen interviews were conducted with supervisors in a variety of departments at community colleges. We found that supervisors frequently used multiple practices such as conducting staff meetings, attending institutional training, or viewing topical webinars…

Supervision is considered an integral function of managing student affairs personnel, yet there is a dearth of literature on this issue. Winston and Creamer (1997) stated that the role of supervision in management is to not only support the institution but also support the staff by encouraging improvements in both their personal and professional…

Online course enrollment is increasing but online course completion and retention rates are decreasing in public community colleges and this study suggests more increases in online course enrollment are underway. Student affairs professionals are met with adversity to provide adequate support to online students due to substandard administrative…

The purpose of this study was to assess the personal and professional spiritual beliefs and practices of Chief Student Affairs Officers (CSAO) through examining three areas of spirituality as it related to purpose/meaning in life, beliefs, and connectedness to each other and this world. An initial step was to shed light on whether spirituality was…

Supervisory skills play an important role in individual staff development and the achievement of organizational objectives. These skills are vital to professionals in community college student affairs, who support a diverse student population and a wide array of programming. This study was conducted to describe the kind of supervisory training…

High-quality student affairs programming and support services are indispensable to community college student success. Yet, while institutions establish well-structured assessment of academic programs, few engage in formal institutional measurement of student affairs and services effectiveness. This article shares two community colleges' stories of…

The Community College Academic and Student Support Ecosystems (CCASSE) project examines how academic and student support services at not-for-profit associate-degree granting colleges are organized, funded, and staffed in order to most effectively advance student success. Between February and November 2020, 37 chief academic officers, chief student…

Community college student affairs and services units are foundation to students' academic goals and success. As such, these professionals are often central to the critical initiatives and trends developing throughout 2-year institutions to support the overarching goals of student success. For the most part, these initiatives originated during…

Though literature on student veterans and service members' (SVSM) transition to higher education has increased, absent is literature on the transition of non-veteran student affairs staff who work with SVSM. Using an acculturation model as a conceptual framework, this study explored strategies and processes used to adapt to working with an…

By using a reconstructionist and critical theory approach, a review of student development theories demonstrates the problematic nature of such ideas as they continue to be used to shape student affairs practice in community colleges.

Although there is no federal mandate that prohibits unauthorized students from enrolling in postsecondary institutions in the United States, the rising cost of attendance and inconsistent admissions policies have served as barriers for unauthorized students (Gonzalez, 2007, 2009; Perez, 2010). For this reason, states with large concentrations of…

The coeditors for this volume synthesize key propositions from the volume chapters and offer recommendations for community colleges to employ college impact theories in student affairs practice.

San José, California, represents a tale of two cities where the immense wealth and vitality of the technology sector has not transferred to the social sector. A growing immigrant population, including undocumented students and their families, relies on an education system statewide which now structures alignment between Adult Education and…

Community colleges are a 20th-century phenomenon. This sector of higher education started in 1901 and historically served any number of varying purposes, such as teacher training, homemaking, and, potentially, transfer credits for admission to a four-year college and the receipt of a baccalaureate degree. In the early 20th century, because of its…

The current national community college redesign effort, Guided Pathways, focuses on the need for "clearer, more educationally coherent programs of study that simplify students' choices without limiting their options." In "Redesigning America's Community Colleges," the authors Thomas Bailey, Shanna Jaggars, and Davis Jenkins…