The increase of non-traditional students in higher education has been a topic of discussion and examination for over a decade. This study compared the non-traditional student with the traditional student in radiography programs in Virginia's community colleges. The purpose of this study was to determine if differences exist between traditional and non-traditional student performance in a structured radiography program. The study hypothesized that there were no differences in academic performance, national board examination scores, and program completion. Focus-group interviews examined themes related to success factors. t-Test analysis indicated significant differences in academic success between traditional and non-traditional learners. Non-traditional learners experienced greater success. Chi-square analysis did not show a significant difference between the traditional and non-traditional students in graduation rate and scores on the American Registry of Radiologic Technologist (ARRT) national examination. Findings in this study could serve as a baseline for further study regarding non-traditional and traditional student success in radiography programs.

The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of academic and administrative community college leaders regarding the relationship between select external mandates and associated institutional effectiveness practices, institutional performance, and the use of assessment results for institutional improvement in Tennessee community colleges. Tennessee community colleges were selected for this study due to their decades long history with institutional assessments through the performance funding program. A primary assumption underlying this study was that Tennessee community colleges provide a historically unique assessment context for this study. The researcher developed a specific survey instrument for this study. The design of the survey provided for the measurement of the perceptions of academic and administrative community college leaders with regard to: (1) knowledge of external mandates; (2) assessment of compliance with regional accreditation mandates of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) as well as planning requirements of the Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR); (3) the perceived impact of these mandates on institutional practices; (4) the overall associated performance of their institutions on selected performance assessments; and (5) use of assessment results for institutional improvement. Leaders were grouped into categories representing academic, administrative, and joint academic and administrative job duties. Several findings were derived from this study. First, Tennessee community college leaders tend to be knowledgeable. of external mandates. Second, SACS institutional effectiveness mandates have tended to have a moderate to strong influence on Tennessee community colleges, followed by the influence of SACS institutional research mandates. The influence of state planning mandates received a mixed evaluation, with planned-changed mandates, (i.e. progress toward key system goals) perceived as having less of an impact as a mandate compared to the others considered. On the positive side, Tennessee community colleges do tend to follow state planning mandates promoting assessment of the external environment as an integral part of the institutional planning process. Further, a moderate correlation was found between compliance with SACS institutional effectiveness mandates and both dependent study variables: (1) institutional performance; and (2) the use of assessment results for institutional improvement. Other study variables had weak to somewhat moderate relationships with the dependent variables. Several recommendations were offered for institutional practitioners as well as future community college researchers.

The purpose of this study is to determine if differences exist between tenured faculty members perceptions about what actually occurs during the post-tenure review process and what they believe should occur in the twelve community colleges in the Tennessee Board of Regents System. This study presents the status of higher education tenure from a historical and legal basis nationally and in Tennessee. The study also presents various models of faculty evaluation and post-tenure review practices in higher education nationwide, as well as in Tennessee. The data in this study are analyzed through descriptive statistics and presented the demographic data including campus location, age, years of teaching experience, ethnicity, highest degree obtained, faculty rank, and gender. Further demographic data analysis, ANOVA and t-tests, finds no significant differences among tenured faculty concerning the post-tenure review process. The review of literature and data presented in this study implies that post-tenure review is most accepted when administrators effectively communicate the purpose of post-tenure review, routinely provide an orientation to the process, generally familiarize themselves with the concerns and perceptions of those undergoing the post-tenure review, and clearly ensure that the concept of academic freedom is not undermined.

As enrollment in U.S. community colleges increased, both the percentage of students successfully completing courses and the percentage of students persisting to their second year decreased. This study focused on the problem of low student course success and persistence rates at a community college. The purpose of the study was to determine whether students who demonstrated engagement behavior by visiting a Center for Academic Success (CAS) either passed more courses, persisted more often, or both, than students who did not visit a CAS. Tinto's engagement theory was the theoretical framework as it postulated that students who interacted with school support services were more successful in college than students who did not. The study was a quantitative comparative design using archival data to evaluate if there were differences between students who visited a CAS and students who did not visit a CAS in terms of course success rates (percentage of courses passed) as well as persistence (continued enrollment) from Spring 2014 to Spring 2015. Group comparisons by independent samples t tests resulted in significantly higher course success (p = .027) among students who visited a CAS (n = 2,059) compared to students who did not visit a CAS (n = 33,414). There were no significant differences in the annual persistence rates between groups of students. The results guided the development of a training program for college employees to entice students to visit the CAS while the college leadership discusses other opportunities to increase persistence. The project may support social change by helping more students pass their courses, therefore benefitting the students, the college, and the community.

Students intending to enter a Junior College in Kentucky can learn of the admission requirements from the catalog published by that college. However, admission requirements vary between colleges. Each admission requirement of Kentucky's Junior Colleges was ranked in terms of its importance to the admission process by admission counselors. It was found that the high school transcript was felt by a majority of the admission counselors to be the most important admission requirement presently used. The partial high school transcript and recommendation form or letter were deemed to be the least important criteria. The results of the evaluation further indicated that within the next decade the final high school transcript will increase in importance. The admission counselors felt that ACT scores and SAT scores will decrease in importance. It appears that Junior Colleges could benefit from a reevaluation of their admission requirements.

The military has long-standing partnerships with institutions of higher education (Leporte, 2013; Parks, 2015 & Massie, 2016). These partnerships have been significant over time because the United States Army has incentivized civilian education via the Army enlisted ranks and promotional structure (Wilson, Smith, Lee & Stevenson, 2013). Researchers are beginning to recognize service members as adult students who need specific supports in an educational setting (Wilson et al., 2013; Leporte, 2013; Parks, 2015; Massie, 2016). Enlisted soldiers arrive on college campuses with identities ascribed and molded by the military. Thus, their primary identity is soldier not student (Nagel & Kleykamp, 2007; Wilson et al., 2013& Massie, 2016). Community colleges specialize in providing educational opportunities to all facets of the community (Kane & Rouse, 1999). The current cultural diversity discourse does not include military personnel and the degree in which institutions of higher education seek to integrate via policy and practice with the military. This qualitative study explores the perceptions of the ten enlisted soldiers who participated in a semi-structured interview and completed a demographic questionnaire. I used the Collective Affiliation model (Davidson, 2011) to analyze the data generated from the soldier-students interviews regarding their educational experiences at Hopkinsville Community College Fort Campbell Campus. The research participants discussed family support and expectations, preparation for life after the Army, reenlistment incentive programs, and civilian education embedded into promotional points as aspirations for college attendance. Lastly, the soldiers described their educational experiences as navigating military, family and academic bureaucracies to encompass; balancing multiple roles as adult students, discovering the opportunities and challenges of military educational benefits, enrollment experiences as community college students, and faculty interactions and support in the classroom. From this research study, I created the Dual System for Enlisted Soldier-Student Academic Persistence (DSAP) conceptual model to illustrate the lived experiences of enlisted soldiers as students specifically. The findings of this research add to the body of knowledge of the educational experiences of enlisted soldier-students attending community college.

Despite the importance of community colleges in higher education, community college faculty are understudied. Although the community college has been defined as a teaching institution, its faculty also serve in non-teaching leadership roles. The purpose of this research study is to know (1) what the experiences of community college faculty in leadership roles are, (2) how their roles have changed over time, (3) what factors motivated faculty to accept non-teaching roles, and (4) how faculty have navigated the transition. Data were obtained from open-ended, semi-structured interviews using an Interpretive Phenomenological approach. Qualitative data were transcribed, coded, categorized, and then organized into five prominent thematic findings: a) Loyalty to the Community College and Students, b) A Student-Centered Collegial Identity, c) Personal Fulfillment, d) Cycle of Roles and e) Tensions. This study informs community college stakeholders about how to strengthen and support faculty leadership at the community college with implications for policy, practice and future research.

Background: Latina/o/x students who persist to college are likely to enter through community college (Contreras & Contreras, 2018) and until the enactment of California Assembly Bill 705, would have been susceptible to placement in developmental education courses (Rodriguez, Cuellar Mejia, & Johnson, 2018). The implementation of AB 705 shifted the requirements for new student placement in all 115 California Community Colleges. With compliance mandated by Fall 2019, the law required colleges to "maximize the probability" that entering students enroll and complete transfer-level English or mathematics within a one-year timeframe and within a three-year timeframe for students enrolled in English as a Second Language courses (A. B. 705, 2017, para. 2). Purpose: This study examined organizational changes related to developmental education reform, AB 705, at a Hispanic Serving Community College. Methodology: This instrumental case study, at a Hispanic Serving Community College, employed various data collection methods including semi-structured interviews, document collection and analysis, physical artifact collection, and observations. Primarily, the enquiry focused on learning from eleven participants (faculty, staff, and administration) who were strategically involved in reform efforts. Conclusions: The findings identified structural and procedural changes to the placement process as well as existing supplemental supports and curriculum at the research site. Barriers and supports for faculty, staff, and administration influenced the change process and the perceived implications for equitable student outcomes of students. As all community colleges throughout the state are required to comply with AB 705, this study may be of interest to those invested in similar change processes.

Many community colleges struggle to find the best strategy to help incoming at-risk students prepare for the placement test. The purpose of this quantitative quasi-experimental study, was to answer the question as to which of 2 programs, a 2-week, face-to-face mathematics refresher program, Math Boost-Up, or an online-only program, might increase the ACCUPLACER posttest scores of incoming community college students. The study used archival data for 136 students who self-selected to either participate in the Math Boost-Up program (the experiment group), or in the online-only program (the comparison group). Knowles's theory of adult learning, andragogy, served as the theoretical framework. Spearman, Kruskal-Wallis, Mann-Whitney, and chi-square tests were used to measure the effect of 4 moderator variables (age, high school GPA, number of minutes spent in MyFoundationsLab, and number of days spent in face-to-face sessions) on the pre- and posttest scores of students in each group. The results indicated that students in the Math Boost-Up program experienced statistically significant gains in arithmetic and elementary algebra than did those students in the online-only program. The results also indicated that the 4 moderator variables affected gains in posttest scores. Additionally, the results disproved the andragogical premise that students would be self-directed and would self-select to participate in the intervention. A recommendation was that participation in the face-to-face refresher program should be mandatory. The study contributes to social change by providing evidence that short-term refresher programs could increase the scores of students on placement tests.

Many first-generation students (FGS) succumb to challenges and barriers and ultimately give up on their educational goals. Little is known about FGS who graduate and are successful in their discipline. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore factors that influenced the persistence of FGS who graduated and are employed in the healthcare field. The theoretical framework consisted of experiential learning, identity development and environmental influence, and social cognitive career theories. The research questions focused on how FGS made decisions to graduate, interpreted their academic learning experiences, and perceived academic support received in the college environment. Data was collected from questionnaires designed by the researcher and emailed to 12 participants, and from college retention, enrollment, licensure, and safety and security reports. Data analysis involved open and axial coding and application of the NVivo software package, whereby 8 themes emerged. Findings indicated that (a) family support, mastering a skill, and challenges and academic successes supported FGS' decisions to graduate; (b) inspiration, vocational interest, and self-awareness defined and described FGS' academic learning experiences; and, (c) faculty and student engagement and environmental support revealed the academic support FGS received in the college environment. The study suggested ways in which the persistence of FGS in community college healthcare programs can be improved. Implications for future research into variables that influence the persistence of FGS were discussed. Improving the retention of FGS and widening the pool of community healthcare workers can impact positive social change by contributing to social welfare and economic development.