Medieval Day at Reynolds turned a typical Friday class day into an interdisciplinary learning event, which joined faculty and students into a community of learners. From classrooms issued tales of Viking and Mongol conquests, religious crusaders, deadly plague, and majestic cathedrals and art, all told by costumed faculty members with expertise in…

While community colleges do an excellent job of fulfilling their open door mission, research shows that the completion rate for community college students is dismal. One retention strategy often employed by community colleges is providing support through orientation programs. A great deal of research has focused on orientation at the four-year…

This author organized and taught the new ENG 09/111 classes at her college, as well as authoring the course text and workbook. English 09/111 offers a unique opportunity for students who are not quite ready for freshmen composition, but more than likely do not need an entire semester of developmental English. In this article, she details the…

Enrolling in an introductory course in psychology is a staple of many community college students' core curriculum. For those students who plan to pursue social science and humanities-related majors in particular, introductory psychology helps provide a solid base upon which future coursework at all academic levels will be built. The goal of any…

At the time the author began working as an English instructor at Germanna Community College (GCC)'s Locust Grove Campus in the fall of 1993, like almost all the faculty, staff, and students, he had no idea of the rich and fascinating local history of their campus--or that it would soon become his overriding passion, lead to many student…

In the fall of 2005, the author's institution, Wytheville Community College, underwent a Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) re-accreditation process that required teaching faculty to develop a Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) addressing genuine student-learning needs. As they thought about their options, they were drawn to the area…

The phrase spring break usually brings to mind scenes from MTV involving scandalous bathing suits and underage drinking. In general, college students are stereotyped as self-centered party animals. Over the last two years, Mountain Empire Community College (MECC), Southwest Virginia Community College (SwVCC), and Virginia Highlands Community…

Perhaps one of the most underemphasized strategies for achieving student success within the community college is the development and implementation of an intentional, comprehensive approach to orienting new students to the college environment. Orientation can be considered as any effort by an institution to help students make a successful…

Mountain Empire Community College (MECC)'s service region covers the extreme southwestern corner of Virginia and includes four counties and one city: Dickenson, Lee, Scott, and Wise Counties, and the city of Norton. With a service region population of 93,000 residents, MECC currently serves over 5,000 students annually (Mountain Empire Community…

In a College Composition II (ENG 112) class offered during the spring of 2005 at John Tyler Community College (JTCC), the author implemented an information-literacy curriculum whose salient features include: students collaborated on a semester-long, original-research project. The Metro Richmond Supermarket Price Comparison provided a focused,…

The needs of students who enter college underprepared transcend academic preparation. These students require an array of student services that will support them in their quest to achieve the academic and personal skills necessary for college-level coursework and academic success. The model the author proposes in this article is not unique, but it…

The degree of difficulty in students making the transition to a four-year institution after graduating from a two-year college is illustrated by two vignettes, one demonstrating a moderately difficult transition and the other showing an easy transition. Discusses in the conclusion the importance of establishing a niche at the transfer institution…

Describes Piedmont Virginia Community College and the University of Virginia's (UVA's) collaboration in recruiting, preparing, and mentoring non-traditional students in teacher education. The partnership involves faculty at both institutions and includes provisions for facilitating the transfer of community college students into the five-year…

Cross-curricular instruction, multi-disciplinary study, interdisciplinary learning, reading and writing across the curriculum, thematic instruction, integrated learning--are these just the latest buzz words, more education-speak, the latest trend? Or are they more than that? In Botetourt County at the Greenfield Education Center, these words have…

States that the maintenance and storage of paper documents has many inherent weaknesses, including hidden costs and attached risks. Asserts that document imaging is a viable, up-to-date technology that could eliminate many of these costs and risks. Describes the system benefits, scope, requirements, and costs and the legality of optically stored…