International students have attended American colleges since colonial times. Although international students attend all types of colleges and universities, most studies and reports which have examined their presence on American campuses have been directed at four-year institutions. This is not surprising in that 86% of all international students in the United States, (based on 1990/91 data), were enrolled in four-year institutions. 57,720 international students were enrolled in two-year institutions by 1990/91. While such research is helpful in providing key data and information regarding international students at some of the largest and most prestigious U.S. institutions, comparatively little research has been directed at international students in two-year colleges. The purpose of this study has been to conduct a qualitative examination of international students in three public two-year colleges in New England. Using a case-study approach, four questions were investigated: Why do international students choose a public two-year college? What are their experiences? What are the experiences of faculty and administrators who work with them? What policy questions are important for these institutions? Field research included twenty-one interviews with international students, twenty-two interviews with faculty, and eight interviews with administrators. Also, on-site observations were conducted and available institutional documents reviewed. The study revealed a group of highly motivated international students who, for the most part, were quite satisfied with their educational experiences in the two-year community colleges. The study also revealed that international students are prominent in the academic life of the institutions and faculty members were, on the whole, pleased with the performance and presence of international students. The greatest policy challenge to public two-year community colleges that enroll international students, is the challenge of fully embracing a wider philosophy and vision of the institution's role and contribution in international education. While the overall assessment of the two-year college experience from international students, faculty and administrators was a positive one, it is also clear that institutions could do more to improve the educational experience of international students and the faculty who work with them. Ten recommendations are offered including an examination of mission statements, development of on-going faculty and staff training programs, strengthening of international student orientation programs, development of more creative recruitment efforts, and strengthening of the institutional data base on international students.

The purpose of the study was to find out if there is a significant amount of involvement among workforce personnel and to try to identify the types of activities that were most prevalent. The study attempted to gauge community and economic development involvement by surveying participation in a variety of programs. The following organizations were studied: The State Board for Community and Junior Colleges, The Mississippi Manufacturers Association, The Mississippi Entrepreneurial Alliance, The Manufacturing Extension Partnership of Mississippi, The Society for Human Resource Managers. Over two dozen other organizations were also included in a survey along with data from the federal Workforce Investment Act, the Mississippi Legislative Accountability Report, and the corresponding WIN Job Centers. The following research questions were used in the study: 1. Are community college’s actively encouraging their workforce personnel to be involved in statewide groups and local civic organizations? 2. Do community college workforce personnel actively engage in meeting with, or serve in leadership roles in, statewide groups and civic organizations? 3. Are community college workforce personnel actively engaged in working with the Workforce Investment Act (W.I.A), and their respective local WIN Job centers? 4. Do demographic variables affect the level of involvement with local civic groups, state-wide economic development groups, WIN Job Centers, or the State Board for Community and Junior Colleges? 5. Do community college workforce personnel work with businesses in their district in addition to the traditional state training contracts they may administer? The study supported the following conclusions: 1. Community colleges are not actively encouraging their workforce personnel to be involved in statewide groups and local civic organizations. 2. College workforce participation in statewide associations designed to promote community and economic development is low. 3. Community colleges do a very good job of partnering and embracing the concept of taking the colleges’ programs to the community through the medium of the WIN Job Centers 4. There is a strong commitment to businesses in the local community college district.

This study looked at the records of students who transferred 12 or more credit hours from Mississippi community colleges to Mississippi State University between 1999 and 2003. The five cohorts combined provided 5,969 student records to analyze regarding the persistence of these students in achieving the bachelor degree. Assignment to the graduate group or the non-graduate group was determined by graduation status as of four years after transfer to MSU. Background variables (age, gender, race) and academic integration variables (ACT score, GPA, number of hours transferred) were analyzed for both groups. The Chi Square Test for Independence was conducted to determine relationships between gender and graduation status and race and graduation status. Both tests revealed the existence of relationships, but Phi and Craven’s V Coefficient calculations registered negligible to weak associations. The t-test for Independent Measures was conducted on the remaining variables and found that statistically significant differences existed between the mean scores of these variables within the graduate group and the non-graduate group. The only exception was with the background variable of age. From these results, it was concluded that community colleges and universities can continue to predict persistence to degrees based on selected academic integration variables. Such predictability can allow for the development and delivery of academic advising tools and intervention models to strengthen the transfer process.

The community college is one of the most diverse institutions of higher learning in regards to the make-up of its student population. However, with such a large representation of diversity within its student population, the community college has not been as successful in diversifying the community college presidency. The purpose of this research study was to examine the career paths, barriers, and professional experiences of African American community college presidents and White community college presidents. A secondary purpose of this study was to examine potential recruitment strategies to recruit minority administrators. A total of 176 African American and White community college presidents were surveyed, and 105 (N = 105) surveys were used for the study. Fiftyive surveys were from White/Caucasian community college presidents and fifty surveys were from Black/African American community college presidents. A self-developed survey (Presidents’ Survey) was used to collect the data. Chi-Square, Analysis of Variance, frequencies, and percentages were used for data analysis. Results of the study indicate that African American and White community college presidents differ significantly in terms of marital status, graduation from a historically Black college or university (HBCU), make-up of student body at their institutions, location of their institutions, and in attendance of leadership development workshops. Results of the statistical analysis are presented in narrative and table form to answer the five research questions. The study concludes with a summary, conclusions, implications, and recommendations for further research.

Information technology is an ever evolving field that has become a mainstay in today’s society, especially in higher education. The employees who maintain the information technology (IT) infrastructure and systems at educational institutions are tasked with similar jobs as their equivalents in the private sector; however, these employees are faced with unique difficulties. A lower salary range, less benefits, and less technological variety are typical characteristics in a higher education setting for IT employees as compared to private industry. Faced with these circumstances, IT employees continue to perform their duties and ensure the institution is functioning on a daily basis. With these employees working in this environment, where education is the focus, what factors influence IT employees’ job satisfaction? Specifically, this research focused on IT professionals employed at community and junior colleges in Mississippi and the facets that influence these employees’ job satisfaction. The abridged Job Descriptive Index and the abridged Job in General survey tools were utilized in this study to determine the level of satisfaction for pay, promotion, supervision, co-workers, the work itself, and the job in general. The results showed several interesting findings. IT employees were most satisfied with the work itself. Also, this same group was highly satisfied with their job in general. Lastly, the number of years of work experience did not make a significant difference in regards to overall job satisfaction. Recommendations were also provided in this research. One was to determine ways to improve satisfaction with the job facets with lower levels of satisfaction, which included pay and promotion. Second, community colleges should evaluate their current practices to ensure continued satisfaction in the highly satisfied areas of co-workers, supervision, and the work itself. Further study should be done to compare IT employees at Mississippi community and junior colleges with other higher educational institutions and private industry. Additional job satisfaction research should also include other departments at each institution or the entire community college. Since this research was based on a small sample, revisiting this same study to increase the population was also recommended.

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