The purpose of this study was to assess the current image of Polk Community College held by the eleventh grade students in the Polk County Public School System. The research methodology employed for this study was that of the descriptive survey. Data were collected by the use of a questionnaire which was administered to all of the eleventh grade students enrolled in the ten public high schools. The major findings were these: (1) Based on the large number of "No Opinion" responses produced for each item by high school, income level, and ethnic background, the perceptions of Polk Community College were very vague to non-existent in the minds of Polk County eleventh graders. There were, however, no marked negative perceptions indicated in the data. The responses seemed, rather, to show a lack of real knowledge about the college among the student respondents. (2) No significant differences of opinion were shown to exist when the data were analyzed by high school, by economic level, and by ethnic groups. / The following recommendations were proposed: (1) As the chief source of respondents' information was found to be family, friends, and Polk Community College graduates, it was recommended that college personnel encourage present students and alumni of the college to become voluntary recruiters. (2) College personnel should encourage visits from potential students and their families, and should design special college functions to provide them with information about the college. (3) There should be increased effort on the part of the college personnel to work with high school guidance counselors in providing all high school students with information on all aspects of the college. (4) A survey should be conducted periodically to observe whether there has been any change in the perceptions of high school students within the Polk County area, and to investigate the factors that influence high school students' perceptions of the college. (5) The information dissemination and recruitment programs of the college should be continually adjusted in the light of the ongoing surveys recommended above. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 41-02, Section: A, page: 0513. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1980.

As the United States moves from an industrial society to an informational society, the need for the skills and knowledge generally obtained from institutions of higher education is expanding. The graduation rate of an institution is often viewed by the public as an indication of the institution's ability to meet this need. / Community colleges serve a unique function in the Unites States' system of higher education. While providing a second chance for many individuals who otherwise would not be able to continue their education, this specific clientele tends to have low graduation rates. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relative importance of factors which have been shown to influence student attrition. The variables were extracted from two standard student record systems. / The statistical techniques used were logistic regression and Classification and Regression Trees (CART). The dependent variables were structured in two different ways. The first was based upon the length of follow-up and whether the students remained enrolled in the original institution or higher education. The second was a uniquely defined outcome based upon attendance. The results indicated a strong relationship between attrition and the following variables: age, grade point average, college prep classes, full-time/part-time status, type of high school diploma and employment. / The most important status variable was employment. Working full-time negated the advantages of working at all. Students working full-time were between two and three times more likely to drop out than students not working full-time. / The most important continuous variable was GPA. The standardized odds ratios for the dichotomous outcomes indicated the chances of remaining enrolled increased by a factor of 1.30 to 1.40 per standard deviation increase. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 55-04, Section: A, page: 0846. / Major Professor: F. Craig Johnson. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1994.

The primary purpose of this study was to analyze and compare the performance of black students who completed courses in developmental services with black students who chose to bypass developmental services at Seminole Community College from 1977 through 1980. The developmental services program at Seminole Community College was chosen because it had many of the same characteristics of a successful program as described by Roueche and Kirk (1973). Thus, a second purpose of this study was concerned with the validation of Roueche's and Kirk's model for successful developmental service programs. / The population for this study consisted of 681 students, 234 who completed developmental services and enrolled in college English and Algebra (experimental group) and 447 who chose to bypass developmental services and enrolled directly into college English and Algebra (control group). / Twenty-nine comparisons between various aspects of academic performance of the two groups were made. The vast majority (22 of 29) of the comparisons revealed that there were no statistically significant differences in the performances of the two groups. Five of the comparisons indicated better academic performance by the control group and two of the comparisons indicated better performance by the experimental group. / If the findings in this study are generalized to programs similar to the one observed, one might conclude that programs designed to the criteria suggested by Roueche and Kirk may not improve the academic performance of black students who complete the programs. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-11, Section: A, page: 3259. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1982.

A great disparity in average state allocations and a wide range of variation in instructional costs per FTE student have existed among Florida's 28 public community colleges. The problem of this study was to identify the effect of unequal state funding on the management and operation of those colleges, and consisted of two major approaches: a macro approach, and a micro approach. / Under the macro approach, Pearson product moment correlation coefficients led to the initial conclusions that cost and funding are near identities, and that the Advanced and Professional program is the most appropriate instructional program to use for analyzing the effect of state funding. / The multiple regression analysis which was used to identify the instructional variables most related to the average direct costs of instruction in the A and P program revealed that only three independent variables--student/faculty ratio, faculty salary, and supplies and equipment and expenditure--have significant statistical relationships with the dependent variable FTE cost (average instructional cost per FTE student). / The micro approach consisted of a pilot study and four case studies that were geared toward answering the question of whether the level of state funding has affected the behavior of the variables that were found to have significant relationships with average cost. / Two initial conclusions were reached: (1) That high levels of supplies and equipment expenditures as well as low levels of student faculty ratio are reflections of the level of each college's commitment to the various discipline categories. (2) Small colleges showed higher levels of instructional costs because they had to offer the same comprehensive programs offered at large colleges despite the adverse effects of low enrollment on average class size. / The overall conclusion of the study was that the state funding process did not affect the behavior of instructional costs in Florida's public community colleges. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 47-07, Section: A, page: 2428. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1986.

The purposes of this study were to: (1) identify and compare the components, stages, and strategies used in perceived exemplary planning systems at four selected community colleges; and (2) make recommendations to individuals and institutions interested in designing, developing, and implementing a comprehensive planning system. An extensive review of the literature provided conceptual models, taxonomies, and frameworks for an in-depth comparative case study analysis. / Ten criteria were used to select the four community colleges included in this study. Two large institutions, located in large, urban, multi-ethnic communities and two colleges in small, non-urban communities were contacted initially in 1983. During visits to each college, selected administrators and faculty were interviewed. Data collection included semi-structured questions, written documents, and personal observations. A follow up survey was conducted in 1985 to review changes in the planning systems over a subsequent two-year period. / A comparative analysis structure was used to analyze the data, based on five research questions, and to present the findings, conclusions, discussion, and recommendations. The findings indicated that the comprehensive planning systems, which included organization, education, financial, and facility components, were integrated into the ongoing operations of the four colleges. The planning systems appeared to be continually evolving, were found to have been developed and implemented in stages, utilized both strategic and operational planning, and were linked to other management functions such as budgeting, marketing, and evaluation. / The conclusions provided a synthesized analysis of the findings regarding the characteristics of comprehensive planning systems and research methods found to be appropriate for the comparative study of planning systems. Recommendations for establishing a comprehensive planning system and for further study are presented to assist planners and those interested in conducting further research and to provide insights regarding the current status and future directions of comprehensive planning as an effective management system. It is suggested that a substantial body of knowledge is emerging that may lead to the development of a general theory of comprehensive planning. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 47-05, Section: A, page: 1583. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1986.

This study was designed to determine if directions for three different test modes influence the content and structural elements of notes taken by students on a 1500 word humanities passage. Furthermore, the study investigated if the note content and note structure influenced the students' scores on three different types of tests: essay, multiple choice, and completion. Finally, this study was designed to investigate notetaking attributes and the relationship of those attributes to the scores of the three aforementioned tests for three groups of community college students: college preparatory students, college reading techniques students, and economics students. / To accomplish the objectives, 265 students took notes on a 1500 word humanities textbook passsage; they then took three tests: essay, multiple choice, and completion. Afterwards, their notes were analyzed by preestablished content and structural attributes. The Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient, analysis of variance, and the Scheffe test were employed to ascertain if content or structure of notes varied under test directions, and if content and structure of notes influenced test performance. Descriptive data and characteristics of the note content and structure were presented. Also included was information on the performance of the three different class groups. / Results of the data analysis indicated that test mode directions did not affect significantly the scores of essay tests, multiple choice tests, and completion tests. Furthermore, the test mode expectancy did not interact significantly with the content and structure of the students' notetaking. Students did not vary their notetaking in response to the test type. / The results also revealed that regardless of the test directions given, major ideas correlated significantly with scores of all three test types; minor ideas showed less correlation. Elements of note structure, such as underlining, had no significant relationships to test scores. / For the three different class groups, frequency of major ideas again appeared as the distinguishing factor among the groups. Minor ideas occurred with comparable frequency for all three groups. Structural attributes did not differentiate the class groups as strongly as main ideas, but there were some significant relationships. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 47-05, Section: A, page: 1580. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1986.

An economic analysis methodology was used to identify and describe the most efficient cost faculty (teaching the most semester hours at least cost), and at the lowest instruction cost per student. This particular approach evidenced possible merit for use by college officials to achieve optimum faculty staffing at least-cost instructional expenditure. / In the Florida system, Part-time Faculty (PTF) numbers increased 32% between 1975-1982; Full-time Faculty (FTF) numbers rose 6%. Part-time students increased over 55%; and PTF employment rose at a per college annual rate of 11 to 1 FTF. The PTF output (semester hours taught) was about 76% of FTF output, and the growth rate of PTF instruction expenditure marginal cost was .08 million dollars to 3.28 million for FTF. / Study findings indicated that as FTF/PTF output/cost indexes attained approximate equivalency, at PTF substitution rates of 12-15:1, the FTF/PTF instructional expeditures would evidence a minimum average total cost. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 47-08, Section: A, page: 2862. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1986.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 40-09, Section: A, page: 4864. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1979.

The purpose of this study is to examine the perceptions of selected educational leaders and policymakers relative to the desired governance structrue for the State's 43 public, two-year institutions. The State of Alabama has 43 public two-year institutions--22 technical colleges, 15 junior colleges, and six community colleges. The 43 two-year institutions have the same governing structure in that the institutions are regulated by the Alabama State Board of Education. Authority to regulate these institutions was given by the Alabama State Legislature in 1963. / Within the past seven year's plans have been developed in the State of Alabama which address a governance problem with the two-year institutions. Additionally, a Special Committee to evaluate the Alabama Commission on Higher Education, more recently, indicated that there is a problem with governance of the two-year institutions. The Committee recommends that a study of governance of two-year institutions be carried out. / Data were obtained from an instrument devised by the researcher. The instrument was designed to identify the subjects' perceptions of governance in four categories: (1)The perception of the type of acceptable state level governance; (2)The control of the two-year institutions and their funding; (3)The power vested at state level in carrying out policies of the two-year institutions; and statements relative to the establishment and control of two-year institutions in the State of Alabama. / The results of the study indicate that, according to the selected educational leaders in the State of Alabama, a single state level system of governance for all two-year institutions is the desired structure for the State of Alabama. / There is no difference in the type of state level governance desired according to the type of two-year institutions. Although the educational leaders, as a whole, indicated that the single system was acceptable, the presidents of vocational/technical colleges and junior colleges indicated that it is conceivable to have a vocational/technical system separate from junior and community colleges. However, this was not the perception of the presidents of community colleges, four-year colleges, or educational associations. / The study further revealed that there is no basic difference in the type of state level governance favored by educational leaders compared with those favored by non-educational leaders. The majority of the educational leaders and policymakers perceived a single system of governance for all two-year institutions as the desired structure. A majority of the educational leaders and policymakers indicated that the appropriate agency to give control and direction to the two-year institutions is the Alabama State Board of Education. The four-year college presidents, however, perceived that there should be a separate board at state level to give control and direction to the two-year institutions. / The conclusion of the study indicate that a single system for all two-year institutions is acceptable by both the educational leaders and the policymakers. The agency which will give control and direction to the single system will be the Alabama State Board of Education. This agency should have control of new college campuses, off campus programs, degrees offered, salaries, long-rang planning, and budgets. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 42-03, Section: A, page: 0971. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1981.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 40-09, Section: A, page: 4864. / Thesis (Educat.D.)--The Florida State University, 1979.