The demand for Community College Baccalaureate (CCB) degrees is rising due to increasing costs of educational obtainment resulting in decreased access. Also, universities are not always accessible geographically or academically to many students. Many students are limited in time and financial resources, and have family and job responsibilities, limiting their ability to relocate to a university. The focus of this study was to explore the perceptions of students regarding the need for the CCB, the effectiveness of the CCB, reasons why students would choose the CCB, and the fields of CCB degrees students would choose. Specifically, this study compared the results among student survey respondents based on their primary campus attended, age, gender, race/ethnicity, number of dependents, and employment status as well as their need for the CCB. All full-time and part-time students from a rural community college in Northeast Mississippi were asked to participate in the survey. Approximately 30% of respondents indicated that their only realistic option to obtain a bachelor’s degree would be through their local community college. A majority of respondents perceived the CCB to be effective. And, respondents indicated that the factors that influenced their choice of the CCB were cost, location, work responsibilities, family responsibilities, admiration for current school, and familiarity for current school. The specific degree fields that respondents indicated they would choose if they were to obtain a CCB, from greatest interest to least, were: health professions, business, education, public administration/social work, “other”, liberal arts and sciences, and psychology. When testing the differences in perception of effectiveness of the CCB between demographic groups, the CCB was perceived to be more effective by respondents who were older, had 1 dependent or 5 or more dependents, and who saw the CCB as their only option. When testing the differences in perceptions of reasons to choose the CCB, respondents who were older indicated more reasons for choosing the CCB.

This research explored variables that influence community college student degree aspirations and students purpose for enrolling and pursuing specific degree types. The study was conducted using secondary data for students pursuing Associate in Arts, Associate in Science, and Bachelor of Applied Science degrees at a single community college. A logistic regression test was used to test graduate and baccalaureate degree aspirations of the entire sample of students and separately by degree type. Significant predictors of degree aspirations included age, gender, credits enrolled in, participation in student groups, academic course planning, receipt of scholarship, and college GPA. In general, community college students had high degree aspirations. Younger students tended to be on the collegiate transfer track and older students tended to want to pursue baccalaureate degrees locally. In addition to having high degree aspirations, a large proportion of students attended the college for occupational purposes and created intermediate and long-term goals related to their academic aspirations. The findings of the research confirm findings of previous studies on college student degree aspirations, and add to the understanding of variables contribute to students' educational goals. Recommendations for practice and future research are presented.

The focus of this qualitative research was to investigate the motivations, experiences, and constructs of non-traditional adult students who elected to enroll in community college baccalaureate programs. The participants in this investigation were a homogeneous sample of adult students who had priorities other than school, such as employment and families. The research questions which guided the study sought to explore the narratives adult students shared of their reasons for choosing to enroll in a community college baccalaureate degree program, how they described meaning to having access to these new degrees, and what impact the community college baccalaureate had on the decision to return for the bachelor degree. The voices of the students were captured during semi-structured individual interviews. Six central themes emerged from the data gathered: Resiliency vs. Obstacles: Managing Life, Finding Self Through Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivational Factors, The Community College Degree as Key to Economic Stability, Limited Alternatives to Baccalaureate Degree Attainment, Importance of Communality to Adult Students Feelings of Belonging, and Neither Difference nor Disadvantage to Obtaining a Community College Baccalaureate Degree. The study’s results led to recommendations and implications for legislators, higher education faculty and administrators, and admissions and marketing specialists.

A leadership emergency is developing in higher education. According the American Association for Community Colleges, by 2022, 75% of current community college presidents intend to retire, and within five years an additional 15% will exit the presidency. As these individuals leave their leadership role, the higher education environment they leave behind will change. Understanding this impending leadership crisis, the purpose of this qualitative interview study was to describe and understand the leadership experience of former Florida College System institution presidents, their perspective and reflection on the institution of the presidency and its evolution, and their thoughts regarding the pertinent challenges facing current and future presidents in the next three to five years. Data were collected through explorative interviews with six former Florida community college presidents. Thirteen themes emerged from the analysis of the data. These themes aligned with and expanded the understanding of the community college presidential leadership experience. Important research implications for academic researchers and practitioners were discovered and additional lines of inquiry for further research in the areas of presidential leadership experience emerged.

An increasing number of community colleges in the United States are becoming baccalaureate-granting institutions. Proponents of the community college baccalaureate (CCB) argue that the CCB provides students with access to higher education, while others argue the CCB will compromise the community college's core values. The purpose of this study is to explore faculty members' intention to support the CCB transition. Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior provides the theoretical framework for the study. The theory assumes that changes in behavior are intentional and, therefore, can be planned. This theory posits that attitudes, subjective (social) norms, and perceived behavioral control predict intentions to support a behavior and, ultimately, to behave in a certain way. Full-time faculty members from two community colleges in Florida were invited to participate in the Web-based survey; 95 of the 317 faculty members invited to participate in the study chose to complete the survey, representing a 30% response rate. Pearson product-moment correlations were calculated among the direct measures and their underlying beliefs indicate significant relationships among (a) attitude and behavioral beliefs (r = .46, p = .01) and (b) subjective norms and normative beliefs (r = .48, p = .01). Correlation analysis among the direct measures and behavioral intention indicate significant relationships among (a) attitude and behavioral beliefs (r = .82, p = .01), (b) subjective norms and normative beliefs (r = .22, p = .05), and (c) perceived behavioral control and behavioral intention (r = .34, p = .01). The multiple linear regression analysis indicated the linear combination of attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control account for 69% of the variability in faculty members' intention to support the CCB transition, with greatest the contribution from perceived behavioral control, (b = .87), followed by attitude (b = .22), and subjective norms contributing the least (b = .05). The findings from this study can be used to reflect upon CCB transitions that have already occurred or are in process. In addition, the findings can inform future efforts by community colleges to develop more effective and efficient processes for making the transition to CCB institutions. Lastly, the findings provide insight of the CCB transition from a faculty members' perspective, as well as to contribute to existing literature on the theory of planned behavior.

The State of Florida legislatively authorizes Florida community colleges to confer workforce-oriented bachelor’s degrees. As part of the legislation, community colleges are required to achieve Level II (baccalaureate-granting) status through Florida’s regional accreditor, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools-Commission on Colleges (SACS-COC). When moving from SACS Level I to II, former community colleges need to meet the SACS CS 3.7.1 (Qualified Faculty), which requires that faculty who teach baccalaureate courses hold the minimum of a master’s degree in field. Further complicating matters, as baccalaureate granting institutions, colleges must also comply with CS 3.5.4, requiring 25% of course hours in the baccalaureate degree major to be taught by terminally-degreed faculty. The purpose of this study was to identify what issues related to faculty credentials, if any, have been observed by Florida’s community colleges as part of the process to gain SACS-COC Level II status. Results were analyzed through the lens of Travis Hirschi’s Social Control Theory. The results of this study indicate that colleges have reported changes in faculty employment after implementing the community college baccalaureate. The most common types of changes included requirements for faculty to complete additional graduate coursework and moving faculty to different programs with different conditions for credentialing. Other types of changes reported included faculty terminations and retirements. The study found strong evidence supporting the notion that finding terminally-degreed faculty is a problem for institutions moving from Level I to Level II status particularly in the fields of nursing and computer science/information technology. iv The findings indicate that as Florida’s community college baccalaureate programs continue to expand, colleges will need to find creative solutions to address SACS CS 3.5.4 requirement of terminal degrees for faculty

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For many years, community colleges that chose to offer community college baccalaureate (CCB) programs were looked upon in a negative light (Rice, 2015). However, as the need for specialized baccalaureates within specific fields and job markets have continued to grow (McKee, 2005), CCB programs are becoming more widely accepted throughout the United States. In spite of this paradigm shift, Mississippi is one of the remaining states that have not embraced the idea of CCB programs, in spite of its statistical deficiency in regards to baccalaureate degree holding citizens (Williams, 2010). The focus of this study was to explore the perceptions of community college administrators in Mississippi with regards to the influence of CCB programs to the community college mission of institutions in their state. This study indicates that administrators in Mississippi recognize the benefits of offering CCB programs, but do not want CCB programs to take away from the well-established statewide higher education system through mission creep. Many of the strong position statements received overwhelmingly neutral responses. In contrast, Administrators who chose to give their opinion indicated that they are not familiar with how CCB programs are implemented, and do not believe that Mississippi is ready for CCB programs across the state. However, respondents felt that the community college mission is always evolving, should meet students’ needs, and varies from location to location. The findings also show that administrators are favorable to the piloting of CCB programs at a few (1-2) institutions, even though they believe the programs will take funding away from current programs and do not want community colleges evolving into 4-year institutions. The study also concludes that there is a significant difference between institution size and survey questions #18 and #20. There is also a significant difference between length of time in the community college sector and survey questions #15, #17, and #18.