The COVID-19 pandemic set higher education institutions on an unprecedented path requiring of them to identify alternative strategies and implement various initiatives to sustain their academic projects. With the widespread devastation of the pandemic, the purpose of universities within their communities were again in the spotlight. A sensibility…

Community engagement and service-learning programs have become staples in the curricula of colleges across the United States. While the intentions behind many of these programs are altruistic, they can often unwittingly replicate oppressive power dynamics with the communities they seek to serve. This dissertation explored how feminist community…

In the past few decades, the cost of college has risen significantly, while federal, state, and institutional financial aid and family income have remained stagnant or declined (Goldrick-Rab, 2018). As a result, many college students struggle to afford the full cost of college attendance and may experience basic needs insecurity, including the…

Meet4Music (M4M) is a low-threshold community music program based at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz, Austria, offering free participatory sessions to people from all social and cultural backgrounds, including students. The program allows attendees to experience an emerging field of music pedagogy and approach current challenges…

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought many physical, mental, and economic challenges and has provided an opportunity for academia to participate in community engagement to help support public health. Through a partnership between a university and a local health district, a contact tracing training program was developed and implemented in the late…

One of a University's four functions is to extend sustainable training programs that will help address any social issue in the community. This study evaluates the effectiveness of a University extension program. It focuses on the participants' skills acquired from the program and how they influence their job performance and quality of life. This…

In this paper, we describe the underlying mechanisms that both facilitate and limit the formation of successful educational leadership of participants of the 'Senior Fellow Programme': a professional development programme in conjunction with a career track leading up to a teaching-focused full professorship. Based on an analysis of the…

Collective impact is an organizational model that is often used as a tool for solving complex social problems through cross-sector collaboration. Traditional applications of this model require a separate backbone organization to oversee the organizational partnership. Using qualitative data from a larger mixed methods study, we examined…

The Independent Transfer Pathways in North Carolina Project served as a catalyst in forging a culture of cooperation between community colleges and independent colleges and universities in North Carolina by creating a unique opportunity to bridge the gap between the two systems. The project focused on developing discipline-specific articulation…

State wildlife agency professionals are realizing they need new mindsets and practices for collaboration with diverse stakeholders and community partners to achieve policy, management, science, and education goals. This realization led to a partnership between a state agency, a land-grant university's outreach and engagement office, and University…

Pathways to higher education can appear opaque and unattainable to rural adults, despite the affordances provided by modern broadband and increasing provision of university online learning options. This paper describes an innovative partnership model that connects rural adults to university and technical and further education pathways through…

The University Center Model was designed to serve as an option for attainment of baccalaureate and master's degrees by making 4-year institutions accessible through partnerships with a community college. This model has been prevalent on select community college campus for almost 20 years, with little research to substantiate the effectiveness of…

Learning centers and academic support programs are often idealized entities campuses look to for student success, retention, and engagement. By untethering our thinking about program boundaries, identities, and alliances and radically reforming, we can generate interest, passion, and opportunities across campus. The force of redistributing…

This program evaluation study sought to discern if a preparation pathway offered by Texas Tech University (TTU), one that leverages community college graduates, was yielding desirable outcomes. The Teacher Education Department at Texas Tech University is committed to producing quality teachers that can immediately impact children upon entering the…

We examine the potential to expand and diversify the production of university STEM degrees by shifting the margin of initial enrollment between community colleges and 4-year universities. Our analysis is based on statewide administrative microdata from the Missouri Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development covering enrollees in all…