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Over a six-year period, this study compares the demonstrated priorities and efficiency of 328 U.S. community colleges to the historical mission of community colleges which includes the goals of unrestricted student access, service to many students, and the delivery of comprehensive, high-quality, low-cost educational programs. Sample data was provided by NACUBO for 328 institutions (out of a U.S. population of 770) reporting in both 1981-82 and 1986-87. The study compares the 1986-87 resource allocation patterns for each institution to the 1981-82 patterns for that same institution. Measurements include the level, mix, and rate of change in F.T.E. student enrollments, square footage, market penetration, the number of full-time faculty, F.T.E. faculty, support staff, and expenditures for Direct Instruction, Instructional Support, Student Services, Institutional Support, and Plant Operations. 2 Summary data is presented for the sample as a whole and separately by state for institutions with enrollment growth and for institutions wi th enrollment decline. Over the six-year period, sample institutions received $1.4 billion in incremental revenues. Classroom teaching received 43.1 cents of every incremental dollar, ranked fourth out of five expenditure categories in rate of expenditure growth and fell from 50.5% of total expenditures to 48.4%. Square footage and F.T.E. support staff increased 9.3% and 13.2% respectively while F.T.E. student enrollments and the number of full-time faculty declined 2.9% and 2.4% respectively. By 1986-87 fewer F.T.E. students and a smaller percentage of service area populations were served by fewer full-time teachers, at higher cost by substantially more square footage and support staff. The study concludes that these patterns are inefficient and inconsistent with the historical mission of community colleges.

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The purpose of this study was to examine how faculty curriculum committees from different disciplines moved through a major curriculum change process from content-focused curriculum to outcomes-based curriculum. Data was gathered through direct observations, committee member interviews, a questionnaire, and the Gregorc Style Delineator from four curriculum committees representing different disciplines. This qualitative study generated the following findings: I. The stages of outcomes-based curriculum development can be predicted and are common across all disciplines. The five stages include Immersion, Creation, Negotiation, Revision, and Submission. 2. A knowledgeable outcomes-based curriculum facilitator can successfully immerse a committee in designing curriculum without first "training" them in outcomes-based theory. 3. On an outcomes-based curriculum planning committee, knowledge of member differences and similarities in thought process, academic preparation and workplace experience enhances the work. 4. Interest in interdisciplinary connection emerges naturally as a result of faculty dialogue about student learning outcomes. 5. Outcomes-based curriculum planning increases collaboration and reduces competition between programs and campuses in a multiple campus institution. 6. The dialogue inherent in outcomes-based curriculum planning renews faculty member's energy and commitment, as the dialogue builds relationships through shared ideas. Recommendations from this study include: 1. Make curriculum committees aware of the common stages involved in the outcomes-based curriculum design work. Emphasize the continuous improvement nature of the process. 2. Rather than attempting to "train" faculty in outcome-based curriculum reconstruction methods, build institutional capacity by preparing faculty leaders who can function as curriculum development facilitators. Provide extensive preparation for faculty facilitators so that they can facilitate the work. 3. Make planning groups aware of member differences by using such tools as a questionnaire and Gregorc Style Delineator. Provide a structure for dialogue to occur within the committees on an ongoing basis. / Graduation date: 2001

This case study of leadership in crisis at Meadow View Community College (fictitious name) was undertaken to add to the practical and theoretical knowledge and understanding of presidential leadership issues that actually occur in American community colleges. The college under study one of nearly one-third of the community colleges in a western state that recently experienced conflict, controversy and crisis in leadership. The leadership crisis was defined as the college president and members of his administration receiving from campus constituents three votes of "no confidence" in approximately two years. The study focused on the problem of what can be learned from a case study of one community college enduring a crisis in leadership. Research questions guiding the study were: (a) what does the literature have to say about leadership and leadership in crisis; (b) how did the crisis in leadership occur at the Meadow View Community College and what were the situational preconditions and catalytic events surrounding the crisis; (c) what were the perceptions of the leadership crisis as viewed by the Board of Trustees, administrators, faculty, staff, student leadership, and the college president; (d) what did Meadow View Community College constituents learn from the leadership crisis experience; and (e) what can this case study of leadership in crisis contribute to the body of knowledge in community college leadership? The case study utilized naturalistic, qualitative research methods, triangulation of data, and rich "thick description" of respondents' constructions of the leadership crisis context. Respondents (N=34) included the college president, board members, administrators, faculty, staff, and student leaders. Events, patterns and themes which characterized the leadership crisis context were described and fixed and variable factors were identified. Findings suggested how the college president and Board of Trustees may have averted the crisis in leadership. / Graduation date: 1998

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This study had two primary purposes. The first goal was to bring the 1993/1996 Katsinas-Lacey two-year college classification system into the 21st century using data from the 2000 United States Census and the National Center for Education Statistics' Integrated Postsecondary Educational Data System (IPEDS) surveys for the 2000-2001 and 2001-2002 academic years. The second goal was to create a descriptive portrait of the universe of two-year, publicly controlled institutions that primarily offer the associate's degree mapped against the updated classification system and to describe and discern similarities and differences within this particular population by class and subclass in terms of multiple measurable characteristics for which IPEDS data were available. The study, based upon classification theory utilized in social science and management sciences - particularly the work of Bailey and McKelvey - assessed the efficacy of a number of other recent proposed community college classification systems, the original Katsinas-Lacey system and the revised version of Katsinas-Lacey created through the current research. It found both the original Katsinas-Lacey system and the revised version to meet the criteria for a well-made classification model. The study includes directories of all colleges and universities in the United States that offer the associate's degree with geographic, census population data, number of campuses and 2000-2001 unduplicated enrollment data for publicly controlled, two-year colleges and districts. Also included are data tables illustrating similarities and differences between colleges and districts in the three major classes and seven subclasses of publicly controlled institutions drawn from IPEDS survey data and detailed profiles of each of these institutional types - Rural, Rural Small, Rural Medium, Rural Large, Suburban, Suburban Single Campus, Suburban Multi-Campus, Urban, Urban Single Campus, and Urban Multi-Campus. The study concludes with a review of implications for policy and practice, and 25 recommendations for further research related to the revised Katsinas-Lacey classification system.

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The purpose of this research has been to investigate the current situation of selected women in administrative positions in community colleges. This study proposed: (1) to develop a profile of selected women in community college administration positions in the United States community colleges to identify the kind of women who aspire to and succeed in community college administration; (2) to determine areas in which these selected women feel they need more training in order to advance or maintain a position in community college administration; (3) to examine the problems and rewards that these selected women find in their careers in community college administration; and (4) to determine how these selected women feel about themselves as women and administrators. The population for this study were women chosen for the Leaders for the 80's Professional Development Project sponsored by the American Association of Women in Community and Junior Colleges and the League for Innovation in the Community College. From this group of 309 women, 228 responded to the Women in Community College Administrative Positions Questionnaire. The data were aggregated from the usable questionnaires and analyzed by frequency distribution with percents to report findings. The study showed this national sample of women either in educational administration or slated for administration represented a new generation of female educational administrators. Many have been hired since the advent of affirmative action policies and antidiscrimination laws went into effect. These women, women in most professions, have made progress in the last decade. Unquestionably, there are many reasons for this progress, including the existence of affirmative action legislation, the resurgence of the women's movement, and growing awareness levels on the part of women, both collectively and individually, of their own potential, capabilities and aspirations. If the progress for women in educational administration is to continue, they must look first to themselves, through their influence, determination, and competency. This study has shown that these selected women are very traditional and conventional in both their personal and professional lives.