<p> Contrary to the rhetoric around a post-racial United States, Black male students are not experiencing equitable outcomes in higher education. Community colleges are a critical access point to higher education for Black males; however, they are not graduating, transferring, or entering the workforce at an acceptable pace. The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore Black male students&rsquo; perceptions of their community college experience. The Five Domains Conceptual Model is a holistic framework utilized to address inequitable outcomes for Black males in community colleges. A constructivist approach to this qualitative inquiry reveals unique strengths and challenges of 17 Black male students as they navigate the community college environment for success. Findings from this study illuminate the importance of human agency (e.g., background factors, self-efficacy, and aspirations) coupled with institutional responsibility (e.g., faculty engagement, campus climate, and campus resources) to improve academic outcomes for this disproportionately impacted student group. Recommendations for addressing inequitable outcomes for Black male students include policy to sustain funding for Black Male Initiatives, equity-minded practices for faculty hiring and professional development, and future research that extends this inquiry to other marginalized student populations. </p><p>

<p> After the largest one-time release of federal prisoners in October 2015, community colleges were charged with retooling and preparing individuals for careers. Community colleges were designed to provide individuals an entryway into higher education. Formerly incarcerated Black males seek community colleges to assist in transitioning into their communities, society, and family life. Community colleges are a good place to provide these transitional and academic resources. </p><p> This qualitative study explored the shared experiences of 16 formerly incarcerated Black male students attending 3 California community colleges. The study provided a better understanding of their background, experience while in college, and their desire to complete college. Utilizing the Strayhorn and Johnson&rsquo;s Community College Satisfaction Model as the conceptual framework, this dissertation study examined their (a) background traits <i> At Entry</i> of college, (b) Student engagement <i>Within</i> the college, and (c) overall satisfaction with the <i>Outcomes</i> of college. </p><p> The study used a phenomenological approach through qualitative interviews to capture the resources needed for formerly incarcerated Black male students who attended college in urban South Los Angeles, California. The interview questions were aligned with the research question, sub-questions and conceptual framework. Findings revealed 7 themes: Social Environment, Prison Industrial Complex, Perceptions of Education, Campus life, Aspirations, Activating Student Support, and Mentoring. Drawing from Yosso&rsquo;s Community Cultural Wealth, the study revealed participants had aspirations and used their social capital. </p><p> Findings indicate that they experienced some type of trauma and that faculty and student support services staff were key support in their community college experience. Further their experiences in prison affected their community college experience in these ways: hindered their social adaptation and maturation, prevented them from obtaining life skills, and blocked their educational attainment and continued stereotypes and stigmas. Programs like Umoja, Extended Opportunity Programs and Services (EOPS), Disabled Student Programs and Services (DSPS) and Formerly Incarcerated Student clubs were instrumental to student persistence. </p><p>

<p> An imminent wave of community college president retirements is well-documented in the literature, which will likely contribute to a serious leadership void on American community college campuses (American Association of Community Colleges [AACC], 2013; Eddy, 2013). To address this impending leadership crisis, governing boards must focus on how to develop leaders prepared to meet the unique and increasingly complex challenges of community colleges. In keeping with Katz&rsquo;s (1955) three-skill conceptual framework, the purpose of this qualitative study was to explore and describe trustees&rsquo; and presidents&rsquo; perceptions about the importance of technical, human, and conceptual competencies to a successful 21st-century community college presidency. In addition to data collected from in-depth, semi-structured interviews, participants ranked a list of 16 common duties of the community college president that occupy the majority of the president&rsquo;s time. Based on interviews with 15 trustees and eight presidents serving at Missouri community colleges, themes were identified specific to technical, human, and conceptual competencies. Trustees and presidents similarly ranked two common presidential duties: enrollment management and state and federal relations. However, noteworthy differences in trustees&rsquo; and presidents&rsquo; perceptions were found with six common duties: budget and finance matters, faculty and academic issues, fundraising and alumni relations, governing board relations, personnel and human resources, and strategic planning. Implications for practice were discussed specific to the trustee-president relationship, community college president competencies, institutional fit, succession planning, and the impact of underprepared trustees on the 21st-century president&rsquo;s success and the institution&rsquo;s effectiveness.</p><p>

<p> The purpose of this sequential, explanatory, mixed methods study was (a) to investigate the degree to which Career Technical Education (CTE) students in selected California Community College (CCC) believe that the core components of learning communities (LCs) designed for traditional, academic track students exist in LCs designed for CTE students; (b) to determine which of the core components, if any, are perceived by students as most beneficial, for CTE LCs; and (c) to explore any additional components that students might believe to be essential for LCs designed for CTE students. </p><p> In the first phase of this study, the <i>Online Survey of Students&rsquo; Experiences of Learning in a LC</i>, developed and implemented by the National Resource Center for Learning Communities, was administered to a cross section of 75 current CTE LC students from three California Community Colleges to determine the perception of implementation of the core components of a LC. In phase two, survey respondents were able to opt-in to a focus group or interview designed to determine which of the core components, if any, were most beneficial and to explore their experience in the LC to emerge any critical components not included in the survey instrument. Thirty-five survey respondents participated in six focus groups on campus. </p><p> The findings of this study support the following conclusions. Study participants in this study found all four components of a successful learning community integrated curriculum, innovative instruction, engagement and supportive services, present in their learning community designed for Career and Technical Education. Students found supportive services to be the most important component in their learning community, followed by engagement. Supportive services are perceived by students to be key to successful participation, retention and success of survey participants. Specific personnel, peer mentors, teaching assistants, coordinators, counselors and instructors, represent the greatest source of support and means for engagement connecting students to the larger campus community as well as to supportive services. A career focus in the learning community helps students persist and succeed in their learning community and serves as a point of engagement.</p><p>

<p> Community colleges across the nation are under increasing pressure to find ways to improve the rate of which students, placed in remediation, complete college-level coursework. The attrition of students placed into the lowest levels of developmental mathematics has been a challenge for many colleges to overcome. Research has well recorded the lack of progress of students placed three to four levels below a transfer-level course. Yet, few studies have compared the outcome of similar students in accelerated programs designed to shorten the pathways through remediation. This study focused on students placed in the lowest levels of remediation at two colleges offering consecutive sequences of course-redesign and compression models of acceleration. Using multivariate analyses, the comparative effect on completion rates of students accelerated through two different developmental math acceleration programs from two different colleges within a four year period (2013&ndash;2017) were examined. Moreover, this study used student background characteristics, math placement and math acceleration model to predict developmental and college level math course completion using logistic regression analysis. </p><p> The results of this study suggest students placed in developmental mathematics who are in an accelerated pathway have decreased time to complete remediation and a transfer-level math course. Findings indicate course-redesign acceleration model yielded more statistically significant improvements in transfer-level math and developmental math completion rates for first-generation students, as well as students placed in both low-level and mid-level remediation. The compression model of acceleration showed significant improvement in completion rates for students placed in mid-level remediation yet results were mixed for students placed in low-level remediation. Students in consecutive acceleration courses were most likely to complete a transfer-level math course, and historically underrepresented minority students were more likely to complete remediation, under certain circumstances, in the compression acceleration model. </p><p> These findings inform the college administrators on the potential of sequential accelerated programs. The implications of these results contribute to redesigning academic programs and support current developmental policy reforms. Community colleges are encouraged to consider the recommendations in this study, such as integrating course redesign in California Assembly Bill 705 and California Community College Guided Pathways, to help non-traditional students who are most often placed into the lowest levels of remediation. </p><p>

<p> This qualitative narrative research study explores the reasons that undergraduate transfer students make college and career planning decisions. The insights of community college students who expressed interest in completing a bachelor&rsquo;s degree but did not enroll at a university were compared with the perspectives of university students enrolled in a bachelor&rsquo;s degree program who had successfully transferred from a community college. The student input was analyzed to determine if there were differences in their decision-making experiences. Sixteen undergraduate students enrolled at higher education institutions in Pennsylvania responded to open-ended questions related to choosing a college and degree major, navigating the transfer admissions process, and participating in extracurricular activities. The participants provided viewpoints for ways in which they engaged with academic advising and transfer student support services and the influences that motivated their decisions. The qualitative data analysis resulted in nine emergent themes related to community college transfer student decision-making. The study concludes with a discussion and recommendations for further investigation. Understanding the student decision-making experiences of community college transfer students provides fellow-students, parents, education leaders, and policymakers with insights to support student success.</p><p>

<p> Simulation has been used in nursing education for many years in order to show students complex patients, allow practice of new skills without allowing actual harm to come to the patient, as well as being able to build up student confidence in abilities. The primary focus for this qualitative study was associate degree nursing faculty perceptions of their students transferability of knowledge gained through participating in simulation activities in the clinical setting and, may assist in planning future educational activities. The nursing faculty provided insight to what they felt the students needed to know and reflected on what they actually saw students do in actual clinical situations. The research question addressed in this study was the following: What are associate degree nursing faculty perceptions on student transferability of knowledge to an actual clinical setting after having experience in simulation activities? There was also a research sub question addressed, which was, What do associate degree nursing faculty perceive as barriers to becoming successful in clinical performance and knowledge retention? The study used a basic qualitative design. A basic qualitative design was appropriate for this study because it examined simulation use by nursing faculty at multiple chosen schools and their experiences with knowledge transferability. The study sample consisted of associate degree nursing faculty from the East South Central and West South Central regions of the United States. The study participants ranged in age from 30&ndash;66 years of age, and they all have been teaching for at least one year. The guided face-to-face interviews by the participants revealed the following themes, providing a safe environment, clinical experiences/nursing skills, simulation integration in course content, and faculty development and training regarding simulation use. The purpose of the study was to examine transferability of knowledge gained through simulation activities on student clinical performance, and this was actually not addressed in any of the participants&rsquo; answers. The researcher found that all the faculty participants are able to work together in all areas where simulation is utilized, in order to produce competent graduates who will be able to enter the workforce as nurses. Recommendations for further research include using a larger sample size and from other geographical regions in order to have a more diverse sample of nursing faculty.</p><p>

<p> Given that community colleges are facing an increasingly great demand for leaders who possess the core competencies necessary to lead in a turbulent environment, this quantitative study aimed to determine first, community college administrator collaborative leadership competencies, and second, the connection between the use of collaborative leadership competencies and background, leadership, and educational characteristics of community college administrators. The collaboration literature and complexity leadership theory formed the theoretical basis of this study. This research found that community college administrators are repeatedly engaging in complex collaborative initiatives. From an exploratory factor analysis, one collaborative leadership competency emerged as an internally consistent factor, representatively named Multi-Perspective Collaborative Leadership Competency. Significant predictors of this factor score, <i> Multi-Perspective-Score</i>, were the independent variables of <i> position-type-president, position-type-vice-president-or-provost, position-type-dean-or-associate-dean </i>, and <i>highest-degree-earned-master&rsquo;s</i>. This research empirically analyzed community college administrator collaborative leadership competencies which may aid future researchers, leadership program developers, policy makers, and community college administrators in their endeavors. </p><p>

<p> According to the U.S. Census Bureau, almost 10 million single mothers are raising children in the United States. Single parent status has a significant impact on a woman&rsquo;s educational attainment. Only 50% of teen mothers receive a high school diploma by the age of 22, and only between two to three percent of them earn a four-year degree by the age of 30. Of those women that do engage in higher education, the Center for Women Policy noted that one third (33.7%) of single mothers take more than 10 years to complete a bachelor&rsquo;s degree, compared with 15.6% of all women. </p><p> This basic qualitative study explored the educational experiences of 23 low-income single mothers of color attending two community colleges in southern California to determine how their intersectional identities shaped their engagement with policies and practices across federal, county, and campus-based programs. Research findings indicate that age and single mother status are salient identities that interact to shape students&rsquo; experiences. Participants noted that work-first policies adopted by federal welfare legislation do not align with student&rsquo;s long-term aspirational goals. Moreover, county staff act as gatekeepers to essential services and information that can greatly influence the student&rsquo;s ability to complete their studies. Finally, participants utilized campus-based programs and family as essential resources in their journey to complete education. Strategies applied by students to persist in education included self-care and self-advocacy. </p><p> Recommendations based on the findings include coordinated and comprehensive outreach efforts on behalf of campuses to ensure single parents understand the resources available to them, including Title IX policies relating to the rights of pregnant and parenting students. Additional recommendations include training for staff and faculty on Title IX for proper implementation. Further areas for research include exploration into the experiences of single mothers as they transfer to universities to determine the continuum of care across institutions of higher education.</p><p>

<p> The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of incorporating feedback from learner engagement and learner satisfaction into the instructional design of online and hybrid courses at the community college level. Kolb&rsquo;s Experiential Learning Theory and experiential learning cycle provided the theoretical framework. This mixed methodology study explores whether significant relationships exist between instructor assessments/feedback, learner engagement and learner satisfaction in the online and hybrid learning environments based on the quality of instructional design. A convenience sample of 62 students enrolled in nine online and hybrid courses at a Southern California community was used. Descriptive statistics, linear multiple regression, independent samples <i>t</i>-test, path analysis, and ANCOVA using a general linear model were used for quantitative statistical analysis. Findings reveal no statistically significant difference in learner engagement and satisfaction between groups, and no statistical significance between groups for learner engagement or learner satisfaction when controlling for feedback. A statistically significant causal relationship existed between instructor feedback and learner engagement. Emergent themes from qualitative data analysis revealed influencers of learner engagement include instructor presence, student-led instruction, ease of use, learning style and instructional design, and influencers of learner satisfaction include instructor presence, student-led instruction, sense of community, ease of use, and instructional design. The significance of this research adds a new avenue of empirical inquiry into the quality of student-centered instructional design of online and hybrid courses and the effects on learner engagement and learner satisfaction at the community college level.</p><p>