Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2004. / Supervisor: John E. Roueche. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

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Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2005. / Supervisor: William Moore Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

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.

The purpose of this study was to examine the predictors and pre-transfer navigation experiences of community college students enrolled in Associate of Arts (AA), Associate in Science (AS), or Associate in Applied Science (AAS) degrees with transfer intent to Florida’s public universities. The population included adult students aged 26 and above enrolled in Florida state/community college AA, AS, or AAS programs. One hundred and seventy-five students from two community colleges participated in this study with a response rate of 10%. The valid data set included 101 respondents, AA (n =17), AS (n =76), AAS (n =4), other (n = 4), and missing degree (n = 1). There were more females (n = 75, 74.3%) than males (n = 26, 25.7%) who participated in this study. The students had a mean age of 34.09 years. Most respondents (total = 89.6%) reported having an intent to transfer to a 4-year public or private university. Data were collected using the STEM Student Success Literacy Survey (SSLS), a 63-item questionnaire launched and administered via Qualtrics. The purpose of the instrument was to measure Community College Students Self-Efficacy, Social Capital, and Transfer Knowledge. The SSLS was adapted to a 66-item questionnaire to include new items regarding transfer experiences, navigation experiences, and intent to transfer. Results indicated that adult students enrolled in non-transfer degree programs had intent to transfer to a four-year college. Significant relationships were found for four predictors (research 4-year college, visit transfer center, highest degree, college chemistry) of 240 variables in combination to predict the discrete outcome of intent to transfer (yes vs. no). Implications included /AS/AAS students had intent even though the degree itself does not indicate intent; therefore, community/state colleges should treat this population with intent and advisors, policy makers, and administrators need to ensure that the correct information is readily available to those intending to transfer to Florida’s public universities.

Florida's undergraduate organization of higher education is a 2 + 2 system in which students are encouraged to complete freshmen and sophomore years at a community college and then transfer to a state university. Florida statutes provide for a highly articulated educational system to facilitate seamless transition from one public institution to another. The researcher investigated the transfer function's effectiveness among community college students subsequent to enrollment at a large, urban, doctoral/research extensive university in Florida using a course-based model of transfer success. The research explored whether differences existed in academic performance in targeted upper-division undergraduate courses between native and Florida Community College System (FCCS) transfer students who completed prerequisite courses prior to transferring to the university. Four upper-division courses were chosen specifically because many transfer students complete prerequisite coursework at a community college prior to matriculating at the university. A total of 764 native students and 1,053 FCCS transfer students were enrolled in at least one course of interest in fall 2002. Preliminary investigation of selected demographic characteristics identified statistically significant differences between these two groups. Native students were younger and more racially/ethnically diverse; more native students were enrolled full time (for 12 or more credits) than transfer students. Although first-term transfer students experienced transfer shock, university native students who were enrolled in three courses also experienced declines in fall 2002 GPA when compared to their previous GPA at the university. Statistically significant mean grade differences occurred between transfer and native students in three courses; transfers outperformed native students in two courses. Additional comparisons of fall 2002 term GPA between native and transfer students yielded no significant differences. Findings lend support to the effectiveness of Florida's community colleges in preparing students for upper-division undergraduate coursework, but that transition for some is not seamless, suggesting need for collaboration among universities and community colleges.

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