In professional education literature, the American community college is referred to as "democracy's college" (Diekhoff, 1950, Griffith & Connor, 1994). Yet, what it means to be democracy's college is cloudy and uncertain. In the literature on community colleges, there is a great deal of ambiguity with respect to the schools' social and political goals. This study was designed to generate theoretical concepts that describe the processes involved in the structuring of a particular college's social and political purpose. This is a case study of Cactus Community College. In this study I used a variety of qualitative methods to explore and document some of the institution's basic social processes. The techniques I used include participant observation, interviews, a survey, and content analysis. Through each of these means, I gathered data that describe the public role of the college as it is enacted by the students and personnel who live and work there. I used Glaser and Strauss' "grounded theory method" to organize the sampling and analysis of data (Glaser & Strauss, 1967), and I used Anthony Giddens' "structuration" theory as an interpretive framework (Giddens, 1976, 1984, 1992). Together, the method and framework allowed me to develop a model of theoretical concepts that describe some of the basic social processes at Cactus Community College.

This is a case study of one state's community college presidents as an organized power network. I examine community college leadership as a function of group or class interests and social and institutional environments. Institutional leadership is not seen as the efforts of a single leader in a single institution. This case study uses a Delphi survey and content analysis to explore the general and specific transmission mechanisms of class interests, structural dependence, and power networks. The Delphi survey examined class formation and interests through identifying the consensus ideology held by community college presidents. Content analysis of the minutes of a statewide community college presidents' organization identified collective presidential concerns and actions. Content analysis of the minutes of local community college district governing boards identified institutional decision making related to collective presidential interests. Together, the Delphi survey and content analyses led to interpretations regarding statewide structural dependence on community college presidents and their operating as an organized power network, both micro-level social mechanisms involved in system reproduction. I have drawn the following conclusions about community college presidents and institutional decision making (1) Community college leadership can be understood as the result of group or class interests. (2) Community college presidents are powerful and dominant actors in the community college system. (3) Community college presidents can be shown to have organized into elite power networks. (4) Community college presidents in this case study occupy central positions that have local governing boards, the state board, affiliated associations, and top administrators, to a greater or lesser degree, in structurally dependent positions. (5) Community college presidents, as a collective, shape institutional decisions across individual community colleges. (6) Community college presidents, as educational leaders of "democracy's colleges," do not embrace democratic mechanisms.

Community colleges are unique among higher education institutions in their potential access to local appropriations as well as state funding. Twenty-six states reported to the Education Commission of the States in 2001 that community colleges in their states received some share of local funding. In research question one, using data for 781 public community colleges, we explore the implications of resource dependency theory for mission differentiation between dual-funded and state-funded colleges. Research question two studies the influences of state demographics, economics, politics and college governance on state and local appropriations. We examine how these factors similarly and differently influence the two streams of public funding as well as how the two interact. We also investigate the question of whether local appropriations "pay off" for community colleges. This work extends prior research that has focused on funding for higher education in the aggregate or for four-year colleges and universities.

Science content area literacy, particularly literacy development in college level biology, is the focus of this study. The study investigates the actions and activities of an instructor and six students over the course of 16 weeks. The study is in response to interest in the literate practices in science classes (NSES, 1996) and to the call for contextual studies that facilitate the learning of science (Borasi & Siegel, 1999; Moje, 1996; Nist & Holschuh, 1996; Prentiss, 1998). A collaborative study between the biology teacher and the researcher, this study investigates the practices believed to be effective for the development of biology literacy. Data sources, in the qualitative bounded case study (Bogdin & Biklin, 1982; Glaser & Strauss, 1967; Miles & Huberman, 1994), include: field notes of classroom observations, in-depth interviews (Seidman, 1992), class surveys, and literate artifacts. The data were coded and analyzed using a constant comparative method (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). The six students reveal similarities and differences regarding the actions, patterns, practices and use of materials and their beliefs about effective practice in the development of biology literacy. The results indicate that a variety of actions and activities are needed to facilitate the development of biology literacy. The common themes to develop from the students' data about effective teacher actions are the following: (a) involves and engages students in inquiry learning through group projects, hands-on, and group discussions; (b) relates examples, experiences, and stories; (c) exhibits expertise; (d) encourages a relaxed classroom atmosphere; (e) facilitates and coaches students; and (f) credits creativity. Further, students report their teacher to be an expert, in terms of science knowledge and literate practices, and that her expertise contributes to their understanding of biology literacy. The teachers' data reveals three themes embedded in her classroom actions: science as a language, science as a social activity, and science as an experiential activity. The researcher's role in the study suggests that other researchers may benefit from a similar collaborative effort where the teacher and researcher learn from each other and from their students while supporting content literacy development. Content literacy practice from a constructivist paradigm (Anders & Guzzetti, 1996; Staver, 1998) has merit beyond high school and powerful implications for practice at the college level.

No description available.

This study examined the role of stress in the persistence intentions of nontraditional community college students by surveying 244 students and interviewing 22 students at a single campus of an urban community college in the Southwest. All participants completed a demographic questionnaire, the Perceived Stress Scale (Cohen, Kamarck, & Mermelstein, 1983), and the Intention to Leave Questionnaire (DeLuca, 2004). From the survey group, 10 students reporting high levels of perceived stress and high intent to leave college, and 12 students reporting high perceived stress and low intent to leave college were selected for in-depth interviews. Interviews explored the stressors of traditional (ages 18-24) and nontraditional (ages 25 and older) students, compared ways high and low intent to leave college students differentially perceived and coped with stress, and examined participant knowledge and utilization of institutional support services.Survey results revealed significant differences in perceived stress between high and low intent to leave college students, and between female and male students. No significant differences were found between traditional and nontraditional students on the measure of perceived stress. Stressors for traditional and nontraditional community college students were found to be largely similar and related to external demands. Interviews revealed differences in the ways high and low intent students perceived and managed stress; with low intent students appraising stress as more of a challenge and coping through greater utilization of social support and problem-focused coping strategies, while high intent participants perceived stress as more of a threat and were more likely to report coping deficiencies and greater use of maladaptive strategies. Low intent students were highly committed to completing college despite their stress, whereas high intent students had weak goal commitment and considered leaving college to reduce stress and attend to external demands. Most participants had little knowledge of, or desire to utilize stress support services offered by the community college. The findings suggest the importance of considering appraisals of stress and ways of coping in research on the role of stress in persistence decisions. This study led to the development of eight propositions designed for further testing by community college researchers and practitioners.

<p>This exploratory qualitative study investigated the experiences of California community college undocumented students and their career development processes and issues. Twelve undocumented students from multiple backgrounds participated in semi-structured interviews. It was evident from the students' backgrounds that being undocumented was not just a Latino issue. Students identified career development barriers such as financial hardship, lack of support, and limitations in career related opportunities. Though these barriers were initially disruptive to the participants' career development, the same barriers eventually became an important part of the participants' identity as undocumented students. Making progress despite the barriers created learning experiences that enabled the students to garner support and ultimately forge forward. The idea of hope was a critical component of this process. While a faint sense of hope allowed participants to enter the community college, as they faced these barriers their sense of hope and resiliency was strengthened. An emerging theory of undocumented students' career development was presented as a result of the findings. </p>

<p> The definition of plagiarism that is used in university handbooks is a simple one, and policies along with tiers of disciplinary strategies are used by faculty members in higher education to deter students from committing a plagiarism infraction based on this simple definition. However, plagiarism still occurs on college campuses, and this may be a result of gray areas with regard to different aspects of plagiarism that are not contained in the definition. Because of these misunderstandings, students may commit accidental plagiarism or disagree about what constitutes plagiarism. This qualitative study attempted to discover what aspects of plagiarism are confusing for college students. The data collection method involved personal open-ended interviews with 15 college students of different ages, genders, years in college, and areas of study. The 9 different themes that were brought to the surface as a result of the interviews included findings in the reasons that students justify plagiarism, the levels of acceptability among students, the amount of prior education in plagiarism that students have when they enter college, and specific gray areas such as paraphrasing and common knowledge that the participants discussed as confusing. These findings could be used by faculty and administration in institutions of higher education to aid in formatting new policies and learning activities to help students learn about plagiarism from their own perspective and understand the concepts involved in a better way so that less unintentional plagiarism takes place.</p>

<p> This qualitative case study utilizing in-depth interviews examined academic advisers' perceptions of training and professional development resources at a Midwestern U.S. community college. In addition, the study examined the availability and accessibility of training and professional development resources at the community college. The study sought to gain a better understanding of influences that shaped academic advisers' perceptions. Four themes emerged from the interviews: Educational Experiences, Adviser Participation, New Advising Resources, and Funding. Findings of the study indicated that perceptions of training and professional development varied. However, there was a consensus among advisers that training and professional development opportunities existed on- and off-campus. However, there were divergent perspectives regarding availability, accessibility, and advisers' ability to participate. The findings also indicated that advisers' ability to participate and obtaining new advising resources were tied to funding. The findings of the study can be used by advising managers, administrators, and policymakers to improve advising practice, better serve a changing student population, and fulfill institutional goals and missions.</p>

<p> The community college serves a diverse student population with numerous programs and degrees designed to complete general education requirements and prepare students for job placement. As these students enter their anticipated occupation, most are unprepared for the oral skill requirements of their new job. They lack confidence to navigate any number of scenarios demanding interpersonal poise, teamwork, conflict resolution, presentation skills, and other occupation-specific speaking tasks. Since many of these degrees and certificates are offered partially or completely online, this Project presents a practical means of introducing speaking skills into the coursework of the growing online learning environment. The research examined the ethos of the community college and the impact of oral proficiency on the academic, personal, and occupational lives of students. Expanding on the core required speaking course, the study and resultant project informed by a genre study, presented genre-specific oral skill activities in online coursework integrating the application of multimedia tools. Constructivist learning theory was foundational to the experiential and dialogical instructional design. Interviews and ethnographic studies in online and live courses informed the teaching and assessment rubrics integrated into the Project. Reducing perceived transactional distance in online learning is critical to student success and a relational approach to teaching engenders favorable student responses.</p>