<p> The purpose of this study was to determine the presence (or absence) of barriers that hindered the ability of veteran student populations in completing degrees in the applied sciences field. Furthermore, in this study, the researcher sought to identify and to understand any detected barriers. The researcher examined the academic performances of veterans and non-veterans in the environmental science program at a Missouri community college. This study focused on collecting supplemental sources and gathering additional research on veterans pursuing applied science degrees. The researcher analyzed quantitative metrics and qualitative data, as well as compared personal responses from students to determine the leading perceived barriers and, conversely, the strategies most commonly employed to assist veterans in completion of the degree program. Additionally, the researcher compared academic performances of veteran and non-veteran students across multiple categories. The data indicated veteran students performed as well as non-veteran students, overall. However, some factors, such as educational background and military occupational specialties, had a favorable effect on veteran student retention and achievement rates. Based on the data presented, the researcher recommended a future longitudinal study investigating veteran resource center services and the academic performances of the veteran students who utilized them. Findings from such a study would provide valuable information regarding the effectiveness of the veteran resource centers and their ability to help veteran students transition to higher education. </p><p>

<p> The purpose of this phenomenology study was to determine the best practices that CalWORKs students utilize to be successful in the community college. This objective was achieved by identifying successes and challenges that current CalWORKs students in the community college have experienced while managing the responsibilities of college, parenting, and work. Obtaining higher education is a key for these students to have the ability to become self-sufficient and leave poverty behind. </p><p> To understand the significance of the study 15 CalWORKs students from Los Angeles Pierce College were interviewed. The face-to-face interviews consisted of eight semi-structured questions that were created from the four research questions that guided the study. The data collected from these interviews was rich on personal experiences and past recollections of student&rsquo;s challenges, and success that juggle parenthood, school, and requirements, and regulations of the CalWORKs program. </p><p> The main conclusions of the study yielded 26 themes that answered four research questions. The researcher found out that the CalWORKs students have a lot of resilience and strength to accomplish their objective to leave poverty behind, by attaining higher education. These students firmly believe that through education they can break the cycle of poverty, and improve the lives of their kids and themselves. The data collected in the study is believed to contribute to providing best practices to future CalWORKs students.</p><p>

<p> Conventional wisdom suggests attending the first day of class matters with regard to student course completion and final course grade. However, relatively little quantitative research exists on the effects of attending or not attending the first day of class (Wilson &amp; Wilson, 2007; Henslee, Burgess, &amp; Buskist, 2006; Iannarelli, Bardsley, &amp; Foote, 2010). Qualitative research on student perceptions of the value and importance of the first day is also limited. Looking at past research and literature on student engagement, social constructivism, late registration, attendance policies, and first-day class design, this study explored the relationship between first-day attendance and student course success for first-time English composition students at a small, rural community college. While first-day attendance alone may not be a strong predictor of course success, results of this study have the potential to help both students and colleges by informing enrollment management policies and procedures, professional development efforts for instructors to promote positive first-day experiences, and incentives for students that promote first-day attendance.</p>

Students who first enroll in a community college may experience barriers to attain a bachelor’s degree if they lose credits in the process of transferring to a four-year institution. Statewide articulation policies establish curricular agreements between state colleges to prevent credit loss. Although there are various articulation approaches, few studies have disentangled differences in their effectiveness or examined their effects on directing students to optimal transfer pathways. This dissertation features two papers employing difference-in-differences strategies to estimate the articulation impact in this effort. In the first paper, I examine whether an articulation approach featuring the associate degree as a transfer mechanism compels community colleges to increase degree completion. Using institution-level data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, I exploit variation in the introduction of these policies across multiple states as a natural experiment. I find that such policies increase rates of associate degree completion but the magnitude of this effect varies across states. In the second paper, I investigate the effectiveness of course guides to help students identify transferrable prerequisite credits. Using student-level data, I exploit variation in the rollout of guides across Ohio colleges in 2005 as another natural experiment. I find that effects on prerequisite course-taking differed across academic majors, and the effects were lower for students enrolled in their first year compared to returning students. The findings from both papers suggest that articulation policies may redirect students’ transfer pathways, but the effect may vary contextually—across states, as well as by the preparedness level of students.

<p> The costs associated with attending a community college have increased over the years, not unlike most sectors within higher education (Mitchell &amp; Leachman, 2015). As such, community college students often find borrowing student loans a necessity in order to seek the academic credential they intend (McKinney &amp; Backscheider Burridge, 2015). In recent years, it is community college students who stop or drop out without completing an academic credential, with little increased earning potential, who are at high risk of defaulting on their student loan balance (McKinney &amp; Backscheider Burridge, 2015). While enrolled in college, these students are at-risk for completing a degree and demonstrate risky borrowing behaviors along the way, both a recipe for increased default and a life less improved, contrary to the promise of higher education (Mettler, 2014). There is little research on the perceptions of students who represent the community college student loan borrower (Cho, Xu, &amp; Kiss, 2015); therefore, this qualitative study was designed to investigate the perceptions of the participants regarding their academic progress and their obligations to their federal loans as viewed through the lens of student choice (Perna, 2006). Interviews with student loan borrowers at a Midwest community college were conducted. The students in this study discussed their perceptions and understandings, and multiple themes emerged as issues with which they were confronted. Overall, the findings imply changes to the structure and delivery of information necessary for student loan borrowers needs modifying. These findings imply students experience a disconnect between information presented to them and recall of the information when asked. Taken as a whole, these findings may be useful to practitioners and policy makers as student loan borrowing behaviors are examined.</p><p>

Following is a study that explores learning in community in a fully-integrated, team taught course at a community college in New England. These classes, Learning Communities (LCs) represent rich opportunities for exploring and practicing democratic education. From a theoretical grounding in social learning theories and an exploration into learning and community as active, ongoing phenomena, I present narrative, relational research as enactment. Data from field notes, interviews, focus groups and researcher reflections inform findings and analysis. I represent this as an experience parallel to — not claiming either to mirror or replace — the experiences of the other participants. In these findings, I identify a duality of circles and lines, with circles representing open inquiry, community, collaboration, and democratic discourse. Lines represent reification, hierarchical and binary thinking, and the threat of positivism. Long hours, intense interactions, openness to collaboration, flexible pedagogy, and emerging curriculum all make for complicated relationships that allow for questions, confusions and tensions around what it means to know, who gets to decide, and what are the parameters and epistemologies of academic disciplines. I hope, through this text, to report, celebrate, and participate in these conversations.

The dissertation research focused on how executive level administrators perceive external forces, environmental conditions and resource dependency as components in a new economy that shape entrepreneurial decision making in their community colleges. The objectives of the research examined an expansion from public-supported resource allocations, formulas and funding, tied to specific parts of a community college's mission, i.e., open access, to a decision-making model where the attainment other identified external resources may have become more competitive to fund less clear aspects of an institution's mission. The case studies reviewed reduction or elimination of past revenue streams that may have positioned executive level administrators into a decision-making posture where they reallocated institutional resources to areas of increased demand. Additionally, interviews, research documents and other materials also identified external environmental conditions and resource dependency as some of the forces that community college executive level administrators reported to have influenced their decision-making processes regarding institutional policy, strategies, identifying new revenue streams, and program initiatives in a new economy. To what extent have executive level administrators potentially shaped or reshaped institutional identification by focusing upon externally driven resources as funding opportunities through active pursuit of workforce development grants, partnerships, contracts or other revenue streams? In addition, the research also addressed the thinking, perspectives and "mind maps" of executive level administrators who make decisions about potential entrepreneurial opportunities for their community colleges. For community college administrators and other institutional stakeholders contemplating expanding the college's mission, this study provides foundational theory, options, concerns, implications and recommendations that should be carefully considered. Additionally, my goal was to shed light on two distinctly different community colleges where environmental forces and decision-making strategies can inform future practice at other community colleges across the nation. I hope that this research study will assist all internal and external constituents to understand the founding values of community colleges, their evolution, tradition, values and future roles in American higher education.

This case study investigated the influence of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) on community college faculty. This study identified a five-phase progressive model of participation, entitled Questing in Conversation for SoTL faculty participants at Four Seasons Community College (FSCC). The results of participation for faculty include stronger connections with colleagues, increased curricula and pedagogical innovations, and the regular collection of student data to inform classroom practice and administrative decisions. These results occurred within an organizational field of practical and philosophical support for faculty development efforts by college administration. This investigation generated three key findings. The first finding is that the influence on SoTL fellows is cumulative and grows from progressive participation in substantial faculty development programs. Second, fellows who engage in their SoTL inquiries with a greater capacity to conduct research connect more strongly with colleagues. Third, SoTL faculty report administrative support is invaluable and is primarily experienced through the Dean of Professional Development and the programs offered through the Office for Faculty and Staff Development.

Policy and procedure haven’t kept up with institutional practices at community colleges. With over 5.5 million college students taking online courses, 29% of college students are taking an online course. As student numbers taking online courses have increased, so have the number of faculty teaching online. The purpose of this study is to determine if and how community college, online, faculty are administratively evaluated. The Chief Academic Officer (CAO) of the members of the American Association of Community Colleges were surveyed to determine the factors considered relevant for online, asynchronous, administrative evaluation of faculty that are currently being used by community colleges and to determine the methods by which community college, online faculty are administratively evaluated. The literature review did not identify any research directly related to the administrative evaluation of community college, online faculty. A very limited amount of research on administrative evaluation of faculty was identified, but nearly all were over a decade old. The survey results indicate that a majority of community colleges do not specifically address evaluation of online faculty in policy. The results identify the criteria and methods used to evaluate online faculty and their rated importance. The most common criteria included in the evaluations were identified and their importance ranked by CAO’s. The data was analyzed by institutional size based on the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) categories and contrasted and compared with the other institutional size categories. A proposed model/method for developing a comprehensive faculty evaluation system based the survey results and best practices from the literature review is presented along with recommendations for further research.

Innovative physical training practices and concepts such as yoga, Pilates, tai chi, cardio kickboxing, cardio spinning, and step aerobics have emerged to provide college students with alternative fitness exercises. However, due to unavailable research, community college administrative and curriculum leaders may perceive nontraditional physical activity courses as unrelated to the values of physical education. The purpose of this quantitative study was to explore the perceptions of chairpersons/deans and faculty in physical education regarding nontraditional physical activity courses as compared to sport-related courses offered in community college physical education programs. Educational change theories of beliefs, values, and decision-making structures provided the conceptual framework for this study. Research questions focused on participants' perceptions toward health benefits, values, and contributions to students' learning experience of nontraditional physical activity courses. An 18-item survey was distributed via e-mail to 209 chairpersons/deans and 263 full-time faculty in community college physical education programs in the western region of the United States. An independent samples t test analysis revealed participants' perceptions differed regarding cardio kickboxing, cardio spinning, and step aerobics courses providing similar health benefits as compared to sport-related courses. Participants' perceptions also differed concerning yoga courses contributing to students' learning experience. Chi-square analysis showed participants' perceptions toward yoga, Pilates, cardio spinning, and step aerobics were dependent on their campus position in physical education. The findings in this study illustrate a positive social change community colleges can offer by teaching lifetime fitness activities that contribute to an active lifestyle and sustained wellness.