A great deal of time, money, and effort can be expended on hiring community college presidents without any assurance that they will remain in their new positions a substantial amount of time. Building on decades of literature reporting the continuing decrease of presidential longevity, this study examined the methods most successful in selecting presidents with relatively greater longevity and what relationship exists between the type of presidential search used and the length of tenure. An original 18-question survey was e-mailed to 904 community college and two-year institution presidents to capture information about both current and previous presidencies. Participants returned 224 valid responses for a response rate of 24.8%. Results of a generalized linear model (GLM) yielded a statistically significant result showing a positive relationship between the variable Q7STDT1(type of presidential searches in current position) and length of tenure of selected candidates (F = 3.41, p = .006).No significant relationship was found between the selection process used in the immediately previous presidential positions and selected candidates’ longevity in those positions. Information from this study can be used to decide what types of selection process should be used and to indicate further topics of inquiry in this area.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the career paths and preparation of female vice-presidents employed in community colleges in the state of Mississippi. There is limited qualitative information available that describes the career paths of vice-presidents in the state’s community colleges. Community colleges are making great strides in promoting women in leadership roles in administration, but research indicates there still seems to be a question as to the leadership ability of women. This study used the qualitative case study research approach, and 4 female community college vice-presidents shared their career experiences through in-depth interviews. The instruments included a brief demographic survey, interview guide and curriculum vita for each participant. Each participant in this study was currently serving in the position of vice-president in 1 of Mississippi’s community colleges. The conceptual framework of the study illustrates the exploration of female community college administrators in the areas of career paths, professional responsibilities and career aspirations. The participants described their career paths to their current positions by educational levels, diverse professional experiences, sharing their career barriers they faced in their career paths, the strategies that helped them succeed. They described their professional responsibilities which involved association with organizations outside their normal responsibilities. They also described barriers or obstacles faced while accomplishing their professional responsibilities, as well as strategies for overcoming those barriers. The participants described their major accomplishments in their professional career and offered advice to aspiring female community college vice-presidents. The key themes that emerged from the study include professional experience diversity, parental influence, importance of mentor relationships and positive role models, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) participation, facing and overcoming professional challenges, and the positive influence of serving others. Of the 4 study participants, 3 indicated they did not set out to become community college vice-presidents. Each participant felt it was her exposure and diverse backgrounds that got her noticed, and all were well prepared when the opportunity to serve in this role presented itself.

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which enrollment management exists within the 15 community colleges in Mississippi. This study also obtained specific information on enrollment management implementation, as well as the benefits and barriers to that implementation. Analysis of the data collected in this study indicated the five major findings. First, enrollment management concepts and practices have been implemented to some extent within the 13 community colleges surveyed. This was evident by the use of the word “enrollment” within several of the titles of participants that were surveyed. Another enrollment practice revealed was the enrollment management structure used by the majority of the community colleges that participated in the study. The majority of the colleges reported either using the coordinator model, in which a midlevel manager oversees enrollment management, or the division model, in which a vice-president is responsible for overseeing enrollment management. The study also revealed that the majority of the community colleges reporting did not have a long-term enrollment plan in place. Only a small percentage of the reporting institutions reported using any type of formal plan, and an even smaller percentage reported having a long-term enrollment management plan in place. Second, all reporting institutions reported that improved graduation rates and student retention had been the received benefits of their current enrollment management structure. Third, all reporting institutions reported understaffing and limited financial resources as a barrier to effectively implementing enrollment management within their institution. The fourth major finding was that of the strategies listed within the survey, 100% reported using an increased collaboration with high schools as a strategy to increase enrollment. This strategy was followed in frequency by the expansion of online courses and the presidents placing an emphasis on the importance of enrollment management. The fifth major finding was that the majority of the reporting institutions felt that their current enrollment management structure had met or exceeded their enrollment management expectations.

This study’s general purpose was to examine nontraditional students’ satisfaction with services provided by community colleges. A survey was administered to 81 Coahoma Community College students who identified themselves as nontraditional students. The Nontraditional Students’ Satisfaction survey was designed to examine the needs and satisfaction of nontraditional students. The nontraditional students at Coahoma Community College deemed getting information on financial aid opportunities, studying and test taking, computers and Internet use, job opportunities in their majors and academic tutoring as most important. The nontraditional students at Coahoma Community College deemed getting information on campus events and/or campus job opportunities as least important. In addition, the nontraditional students deemed getting advice on careers, getting advice on choosing courses, taking an active part in what goes on in their classes, having one place to go for general questions and problems, and having access to campus services and offices and/or on weekends as most important. The nontraditional students indicated participating in social activities on campus and being involved in extracurricular activities such as clubs, organizations, and student government as least important. Overall, the research data indicated that nontraditional students were satisfied with the services provided by Coahoma Community College. The nontraditional students were more satisfied with the opportunities to take an active part in what goes on in classes and instructors’ availability outside of classes. The findings suggested that there was no significant relationship between nontraditional students encountering problems and their expressions of satisfaction.

This study explores the nature of the visual creative process of an artist. Most of the literature is secondary and seems only to meet the needs of the writer, critic or publication. This is a limited study, because as an artist I created a body of work on the Macintosh computer to track the creative process. Because of this special subjectivity, my project was intensely personal, dealing with my own feelings, memory, and psychological makeup. Though limited, the study does, nevertheless, add to the literature about the creative process. I have choosen the Holocaust-- an historical event because its scale and its particular horrors, touch all people. I shared my art work with Holocaust survivors, and asked them for responses. Their responses were a crucial part of my research. In this way I hope to broaden knowledge about the impact that the visual arts have, and how that impact happens. Finally, this research has pedagogical implications to help define the creative process in the visual arts. My own creative process, noted by me, served as a model of one possible way the visual creative process works, and this model was useful in leading students to uncover their own processes.

Researchers have determined that college student-athletes are an underrepresented population when it comes to utilizing college counseling services. Traditional students have appeared for counseling services more so than student-athletes. The primary purpose of this study was to assess the relationships between attitudes toward help seeking behavior and (a) expectations about counseling, (b) athlete status, and (c) gender of respondent among community college students. The study included 195 students at a central Florida community college, 74 student-athletes and 121 non-athlete students. The participants were asked to convey their counseling expectations by completing the Expectations About Counseling-Brief Form. Respondents were also asked to complete the Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale to measure their attitudes toward help seeking behavior. Further qualitative data was accumulated during an interview with one student-athlete from each of the five intercollegiate athletic teams. For this study, two hypotheses were considered. First, it was hypothesized that a significant relationship existed between attitudes toward help seeking behavior and expectations about counseling and that expectations about counseling were expected to account for a significant amount of variance in attitudes toward help seeking behavior. Results of the data analyses revealed that respondents' attitudes toward help-seeking behavior correlated significantly with only two of the four counseling expectation factors. A positive correlation was discovered for the factor of Personal Commitment and a negative correlation for the factor of Counselor Expertise. Linear regression analysis supported that expectations about counseling were expected to account for a significant amount of variance in attitudes toward help-seeking behavior. The second hypothesis hypothesized that there would be no statistically significant difference in attitudes toward help-seeking behavior based on athletic participation (student-athlete versus non-athlete students) or gender of respondent. The results of a MANOVA indicated that gender of respondent did have a statistically significant effect on attitudes toward help-seeking behavior; therefore this hypothesis was only partially supported. Based on these findings, implications for counseling student-athletes and non-athlete students are discussed. Interpretations of data analyses are included and study limitations and delimitations are identified. Finally, suggestions for future research are identified and discussed.

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