In December 2020, Complete College America (CCA), in partnership with the Jessie Ball duPont Fund, launched a rigorous 12- to 18-month project designed to increase student success and completion rates at small liberal arts institutions. The focus was on building and enhancing support systems for first-generation and Pell-eligible students, and…

This chapter describes the cocurricular activities offered through The Democracy Commitment at Allegany College of Maryland and the impact of these civic experiences on its students.

This paper intends to describe the recent experience of a small, rural, two-year technical college. After four decades of success, the college had found itself in a difficult situation with a substantial loss in enrollment and diminished state and local support, coupled with low campus employee morale. In response, the college team closed ranks…

This dissertation presents a qualitative case study of students enrolled in online courses and how they perceived the orientation program they completed before starting these courses. The study was based on the perspectives of students enrolled in a fully online program at a small community college in western Maine. They were interviewed…

At our small business college, we believe that next to serving the students, the most important thing we as librarians can do is serve as liaisons to the faculty. If the faculty is tuned in to the library, it is more likely he or she will use library resources and will teach students about them. This will provide a more effective education for the…

The purpose of the study was first to calculate the full-time and part-time retention rates for each category of 2-year institution and to examine the differences, if they existed, between and among the three types of colleges. Secondly, the study explored the differences in the full-time and part-time retention rates of first-time students within…

Neosho County Community College, is a small college in Kansas. It set out to measure outcomes in every course, program, and in general education. It wound up creating a simple, elegant, inexpensive, faculty-driven system that transformed the college culture from an emphasis on what was being taught to what was being learned.

Describes the establishment by the American Association of Community and Junior Colleges of the Task Force on Rural Community Colleges and the subsequent establishment of the more permanent Commission on Rural Colleges. Delineates its membership, activities, and areas which need to be acted upon by the Commission. (MB)

The role of the community college in the educational growth and development of rural America can be enhanced by (1) strengthening the bond with rural public school districts; (2) developing a rural studies curriculum; and (3) becoming a major factor in the rural development process. (MB)

Reviews findings of a National Center for Higher Education Management Systems study, which investigated the effects of enrollment and revenue declines on small independent four-year colleges, and discusses implications for two-year colleges facing similar problems. Looks at strategies that helped more resilient colleges meet financial problems…

Reports on a national study conducted to determine to what extent computers are being used effectively in the small two-year college. Provides profiles that reflect the continuum of sophistication in computer use along which individual colleges can place themselves. Looks at national trends. (DMM)

Presents a sample of documents in the ERIC junior college collection dealing with small urban/rural community colleges. (MB)

A description is provided of the accreditation self-study process employed by Northwest Community College (NCC), along with a copy of the final self-study report. First, information is presented on how the current college organizational structure was used to conduct the self-study, including explanations of the role of the President's Advisory…

Small community colleges with enrollments between 500 and 2,500 students have traditionally been unable to afford to hire an institutional researcher or to lease sophisticated statistical packages to perform enrollment analyses, though their needs for enrollment projections are the same as those of larger institutions. Fortunately, with a personal…

In the face of declining enrollments, the small rural community college can no longer afford not to include a full-time public information officer on the administrative staff. An investment in a public information office, with an expert officer supported by a full- or part-time secretary, can build a valuable cadre of college advocates in the…