<p> In higher education, adjuncts are employed at higher percentages than are full-time instructors. These teachers are vital to colleges because they form such a large contingent of teachers, especially in community college systems. At rural community colleges, adjuncts fill the greatest percentage of teaching positions; but, because of factors associated with small rural communities, qualified adjuncts are difficult to recruit and to retain. One factor that leads to higher levels of retention, more positive teaching experiences, and better perceptions of fitting in the career is having positive professional self-identity. The problem addressed in this study was that adjunct instructors often are not perceived to be professional teachers. The purpose of this qualitative study was to discover and describe the perceptions of professional identity among adjunct instructors at a small rural community college, adding both to theory and to understanding of how this group identifies itself as professionals. A generic qualitative research approach was utilized throughout the research process. Data were collected during semi-structured, one-on-one, interviews with 10 adjunct instructors at one campus of a larger 11-campus system. The results indicated that these adjunct instructors could be studied through the lenses of three professional identity theories. First, classical professionalism theory provided the framework for showing that these adjuncts have created their professional identities through the attributes of knowledge and training, autonomy, calling and service, and ethicality. Second, self-categorization was the scaffolding for determining identity by perceptions of belonging, or not belonging, to a group. Ninety percent of the adjunct instructors came to SRCC identifying as a member of professional teachers, previously created through experiences and self-assignation. The third theory germane for this group of adjuncts was psychosocial identity development, the theory under which these adjuncts found themselves at a developmental stage where they could achieve their own life&rsquo;s goals while at the same time helping their students attain their goals. Future studies could be conducted at other campuses within the same college system, at other small rural community colleges, and colleges in general to determine similarities or differences in results due to context.</p>

<p> Financial instability is a common fiscal burden for many community college students and can serve as primary barrier to educational success (Quaye &amp; Harper, 2015). Although traditional financial aid is structured to assist students in financing college expenses, many low-income students often face financial emergencies beyond the scope of financial aid (Johnson, 2015). These financial emergencies have been specifically identified as serious obstacles to educational success and have prompted many institutions to establish student emergency financial assistance programs (Geckeler, Beach, Pih, &amp; Yan, 2008). This study explored one student emergency financial assistance program at a public community college and the impact it had on student success, persistence, and completion rates. Although findings from the study lacked positive statistical significance, it could be argued that students who received emergency financial assistance lacked a chance to achieve successful academic outcomes. The association of financial emergencies, to low academic performance (Cady, 2014), coupled with heightened negative impacts of students&rsquo; financial circumstances to educational success (Bean &amp; Metzner, 1985), and the absence of a comprehensive emergency financial assistance program structure at the studied institution (Goldrick-Rab, Broton, &amp; Frank, 2014) all contributed to study findings. These findings imply changes to the structure of emergency financial assistance programs which promote comprehensive services to students, align social and educational policy, and have complete institutional support (Baum, McDemmond, &amp; Jones, 2014).</p>

<p> The perceptions of six community college faculty members about the qualities of college-level writing were explored in a series of guided interviews conducted at Prairie Community College (a pseudonym) located in the central time zone of the United States. The study examined the perceptions of the six faculty members with regard to important characteristics of college-level writing, acceptable multiple discourses within college-level writing, and perceptions of faculty members from different academic disciplines about college-level writing. Interview data were analyzed through the lens of transcendental phenomenology. </p><p> The results showed that the six community college faculty members differed greatly by academic discipline about what they perceived college-level writing to be. The English faculty members believed that college-level writing consists of grammatically correct sentences presented within essay structures. However, faculty members of biology, economics, and mathematics were much more open in their perceptions about what could be accepted as college-level writing. </p><p> The results of the study suggest a need for dialogue among faculty members of different disciplines within community colleges about the characteristics of college-level writing and what community college students need to learn to become successful college-level writers.</p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to survey the levels of job satisfaction among full-time faculty members at a selected Mississippi community college using the constructs of Herzberg&rsquo;s Motivation-Hygiene Theory as defined by Wood (1973). The researcher used Wood&rsquo;s 1976 refined Faculty Job Satisfaction/Dissatisfaction Scale to discover the participants&rsquo; levels of total job satisfaction; to discover the participants&rsquo; levels of overall job satisfaction; to compare the means of total job satisfaction factors to the mean of total job satisfaction; and to examine the correlation of the faculty&rsquo;s mean responses to the total job satisfaction individual questions to the mean of the overall job satisfaction. The target population of this study was all full-time faculty at a Mississippi community college. The population consisted of 152 full-time faculty members. The findings of the survey indicated that the 85 participants were moderately satisfied with their jobs. The survey was designed to incorporate 2 treatments to ask the respondents to answer questions about job satisfaction. The participants chose a higher value on the Likert scale when asked the single question relating to overall job satisfaction. When the information was broken down into factors, the participants rated their job satisfaction lower. The Wilcoxon results stated the 2 treatments were significant at alpha level .05, and the null hypothesis was rejected, meaning there was a difference in the responses with two treatments of surveying respondents.</p>

<p> The purpose of this explorative case study was to understand how the skill building, academic, and life learning experiences align and demonstrate an entrepreneurial mindset and individual entrepreneurial orientation. The study used a purposive sample of six self-selected students at Southwest Suburban Community College, part of a large community college district, in a major metropolitan area in the southwest United States. An action research approach provided an iterative process for the researcher to reflect and review the research process to ensure the participants&rsquo; stories demonstrated their lived experiences. </p><p> The study used two conceptual frameworks, Effectuation Theory and Individual Entrepreneurial Orientation, to provide different lenses of entrepreneurial orientation and mindset to frame the findings. The study&rsquo;s research question explored how skill building, academic, and life learning experiences of a purposive sample of self-selected community college students align with and demonstrate an entrepreneurial mindset and individual entrepreneurial orientation. </p><p> Two assertions emerged from the qualitative data analysis. The assertion of Willing Vulnerability and Purposeful Intentionality demonstrated the participants&rsquo; stories aligned with propositions inherent to the entrepreneurial mindset and individual entrepreneurial orientation found in the scholarship. Moreover, the assertions and the researcher&rsquo;s own meaning making during the action research process suggest several actions can be taken. These actions include curriculum development, faculty pedagogy, and institutional polices and can be employed by the researcher, colleagues, and leaders when developing and facilitating an entrepreneurial culture where students lived experiences are integrated and validated as emerging entrepreneurial mindset and orientation.</p><p>

The purpose of this study was to seek to understand faculty culture at a community college and at a public, regional, comprehensive university. Although public, regional, comprehensive universities and community colleges share a number of characteristics, there are areas where their differences are most apparent, such as student abilities and qualities, faculty credentials, and community orientations, to name a few. While quantitative indicators are readily available by institutional type, there is limited information on the nature of the work of faculty in these institutions or the faculty beliefs about their work. Research on culture in these institutions in particular is also necessary in light of the increasingly complex, economic, technological, and global influences impacting them. In this study, the impact of institutional mission, student abilities and qualities, teaching orientation, and the external pressures related to state, federal government, and national mandates on faculty at community colleges and public, regional, comprehensive universities are analyzed using institutional and neo-institutional theories, as well as culture theory.

The purpose of the research was to determine whether the situational, institutional, dispositional, epistemological, and technological barriers that affect attrition in distance education apply to the business-based distance training arena. Although reports about distance training students indicate that attrition from distance training is a significant issue, the results from this study find that 90 percent of the business professionals who answered this survey that have taken business-based e-learning courses are not discontinuing their e-learning courses. This finding contradicts many published articles. The free-form comments written by the online learners who answered this survey provided some hints as to what may be keeping these business professionals from abandoning their e-learning courses. The respondents to this study acknowledge that interaction with other learners and with course facilitators, chunking of courses and curricula into appropriate sized pieces, technical support, good course design, and incentives to reach course or curriculum completion have kept them online.

This qualitative study explores the academic experiences of single-parent undergraduate students at North Carolina Central University. The world of single parents is one of children, employers and themselves. When the parent adds the role of student, educational demands may be difficult to balance. Family and work responsibilities may interfere with educational attainment. This study suggests that the experiences of single-parent undergraduate students consist of complex roles and responsibilities. Yet, with a solid commitment, a reduction in daily situational barriers, and faculty, staff and family support, these students are capable of attaining educational goals.

A case study analysis was used to investigate the changes in the lives of adult daughters when they became primary caregivers to parents with Alzheimer's disease. This research also explored beliefs, feelings, and perceptions of participants about their role. Based on in-depth and face-to-face interviews with 21 adult daughters and two daughters-in-law, this study argues that although intergenerational caregiving is accepted as a part of membership in families, it is also a source of family disharmony and conflicts. Family nursing is considered a burden based on the length of service. The scope of the changes in the lives of adult daughters/caregivers ranges from living arrangements, family relationships, young children, personal affairs, social activities, employment and economics, health of caregiver to religion. Although caring for AD patients is rigorous, highly stressful, and filled with demanding challenges, the findings of this study show that a majority of adult caregivers would do it all over.

The purpose of this study is to examine pragmatist constructivism as a science education referent for adult learners. Specifically, this study seeks to determine whether George Herbert Mead?s doctrine, which conflates pragmatist learning theory and philosophy of natural science, might facilitate (a) scientific concept acquisition, (b) learning scientific methods, and (c) preparation of learners for careers in science and science-related areas. A philosophical examination of Mead?s doctrine in light of these three criteria has determined that pragmatist constructivism is not a viable science education referent for adult learners. Mead?s pragmatist constructivism does not portray scientific knowledge or scientific methods as they are understood by practicing scientists themselves, that is, according to scientific realism. Thus, employment of Mead?s doctrine does not adequately prepare future practitioners for careers in science-related areas. Mead?s metaphysics does not allow him to commit to the existence of the unobservable objects of science such as molecular cellulose or mosquito-borne malarial parasites. Mead?s anti-realist metaphysics also affects his conception of scientific methods. Because Mead does not commit existentially to the unobservable objects of realist science, Mead?s science does not seek to determine what causal role if any the hypothetical objects that scientists routinely posit while theorizing might play in observable phenomena. Instead, constructivist pragmatism promotes subjective epistemology and instrumental methods. The implication for learning science is that students are encouraged to derive scientific concepts based on a combination of personal experience and personal meaningfulness. Contrary to pragmatist constructivism, however, scientific concepts do not arise inductively from subjective experience driven by consummatory activity. The broader implication of this study for adult education is that the philosophically laden claims of constructivist learning theories need to be identified and assessed independently of any empirical support that these learning theories might enjoy. This in turn calls for educational experiences for graduate students of education that incorporate philosophical understanding such that future educators might be able to recognize and weigh the philosophically laden claims of adult learning theories.