Institute for Community College Development Addresses Leadership Crisis

[Excerpt] It is projected that between 2001 and 2007, 47 percent of community college presidents will have left their positions. At a time when challenges are growing more complex, the senior administrators who typically moved into presidencies are also "aging out," leaving fewer qualified individuals in the pipeline. The Institute for Community College Development (ICCD), a partnership between the State University of New York (SUNY) and Cornell, was founded by a group of community college presidents to respond to this leadership crisis. ICCD has been part of ILR since 2001.

Leadership in higher education : a decanal perspective /

This is a study which examines the roles and responsibilities of Deans, specifically focussing on the Deans in the Faculties of Education at three Ontario Universities - Brock University, the University of Western Ontario, and the University of Windsor. This study examines the roles of Deans in the context of leadership and as a management position. The initial belief of the researcher was that Deans acted as middle managers at their institution besides being role models, scholars and leaders. Data were collected through interviews with the various participants and through the examination of the official job descriptions at each institution. Concepts such as leadership, motivation, empowerment, and management are discussed in relation to the position of Dean. The research concludes that a Dean is a leader in higher education who is responsible for a variety of issues. Besides academic related responsibilities such as faculty development, program development and research, a Dean is also responsible for a wide range of administrative tasks including financial management and obligations to external groups. As a role model and scholar, the Dean must ensure that all areas have sufficient energies devoted to them. This creates a heavy burden on Deans as they have a great deal of responsibilities to manage while still maintaining their role as a scholar. The researcher concludes that the position of Dean requires additional support from the institution. This support could be in an Associate Dean or an Executive Assistant with training and support mechanisms on an ongoing basis.

The role of community college faculty in teaching and learning for sustainable development

The purpose of this study was to explore the attitudes, beliefs, and practices of community college professors regarding education for sustainable development (ESD). In-depth interviews with 14 professors from different disciplines were conducted. The participants taught at Miami Dade College, Florida, a Talloires Declaration signatory since 2006, and all had attended Green Studies professional development workshops. Written documents such as assignments and samples of student work were used for triangulation. The annual report of the college’s Earth Ethics Institute and its Web site served as additional sources. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed for common themes. The Talloires Declaration’s 10-point action plan and the key characteristics of ESD (UN DESD, 2006) served as the conceptual framework. The study found that the professors considered ESD an essential issue. The majority discussed the economic and social aspects of ESD; however, the environmental aspect was mentioned most frequently. The professors’ conceptualizations of ESD were influenced by their experiences and evidenced by the metaphors they used. Although their engagement with ESD differed, the professors expressed optimism toward ESD related teaching and learning. They regarded ESD as compatible with their subjects, and most had already been infusing sustainability into their courses or planned to do so. Additionally, the participants’ teaching practices reflected many of the characteristics of ESD. Even though the professors considered ESD challenging, they believed that they could make contributions to the college’s effort. The metaphor of “Planting a Seed” was frequently used to describe this holistic approach. The study also found that many professors regarded interpersonal relationships and communication significant factors for the advancement of ESD. The participants described several challenges to integrating ESD at their college. These related to time constraints, density of curriculum, institutional size and fragmentation, dearth of administrative support and incentives, students’ lack of academic preparation and sustainability awareness, students’ inability to focus on ESD because of personal, social, or economic circumstances, and professors’ frustration about a divisive atmosphere as a result of their engagement with sustainability. Despite these obstacles, the professors believed that ESD could be successfully woven into the community college experience.

The Bucknell Community College Scholarship Program: a Documentary as a Performative Social Science

Reviews Bucknell participation with the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation (a non-profit foundation with a mission to “help under-resourced students of exceptional promise reach their full potential through education".

The socialization of adjunct faculty into the academic culture of a public community college campus

This study investigated the socialization of adjunct faculty into the academic culture of a community college campus. Because of the increased utilization of adjunct faculty, the need to socialize them to effectively function within the organizational culture has become more acute. A review of the literature revealed that when employees are socialized, they are more committed to the goals and welfare of the organization, are less likely to leave the organization, and are more productive and innovative. Therefore, it is important that administrators have programs and practices in place that would help to integrate adjunct faculty into the academic culture. The model of organizational socialization (Chao, O'Leary-Kelly, Wolf, Klein, & Gardner, 1994) formed the framework for this study, which was guided by the following research questions: How do adjunct faculty members describe their socialization into the culture of their college campus? How do administrators describe their roles and that of the organization in the socialization of adjunct faculty members? What organizational programs and activities are in place for the socialization of adjunct faculty? The North Campus of Miami Dade College was the site for this study, as it is a campus with a long history of utilizing adjunct faculty members and one that has a clearly-stated mission of adjunct faculty socialization. A qualitative case study method was used, and data collection included interviews and the review and analysis of institutional documents. The participants included 11 adjunct faculty members, 4 department chairpersons, the campus president, and the college training and development coordinator. The study revealed that there were structured and consistent professional development programs, but these conflicted with the schedules of adjunct faculty. Overall, adjunct faculty found support from the leadership; however, they revealed a need for more mentoring, more interactions with full-time faculty, and more input in decision making concerning textbooks and curricula. Implications and recommendations for practice include making professional development more accessible and relevant to adjunct faculty, developing a formal mentoring program where full-time faculty and veteran adjunct faculty mentor novice adjunct faculty, and involving adjuncts in decisions regarding curriculum and textbook selection.

Effects of student-faculty interactions on persistence of underprepared community college students

The high concentration of underprepared students in community colleges presents a challenge to educators, policy-makers, and researchers. All have pointed to low completion rates and caution that institutional practices and policy ought to focus on improving retention and graduation rates. However, a multitude of inhibiting factors limits the educational opportunities of underprepared community college students. Using Tinto's (1993) and Astin's (1999) models of student departure as the primary theoretical framework, as well as faculty mentoring as a strategy to impact student performance and retention, the purpose of this study was to determine whether a mentoring program designed to promote greater student-faculty interactions with underprepared community college students is predictive of higher retention for such students. While many studies have documented the positive effects of faculty mentoring with 4-year university students, very few have examined faculty mentoring with underprepared community college students (Campbell and Campbell, 1997; Nora & Crisp, 2007). In this study, the content of student-faculty interactions captured during the mentoring experience was operationalized into eight domains. Faculty members used a log to record their interactions with students. During interactions they tried to help students develop study skills, set goals, and manage their time. They also provided counseling, gave encouragement, nurtured confidence, secured financial aid/grants/scholarships, and helped students navigate their first semester at college. Logistic regression results showed that both frequency and content of faculty interactions were important predictors of retention. Students with high levels of faculty interactions in the area of educational planning and personal/family concerns were more likely to persist. Those with high levels of interactions in time-management and academic concerns were less likely to persist. Interactions that focused on students' poor grades, unpreparedness for class, or excessive absences were predictive of dropping out. Those that focused on developing a program of study, creating a road map to completion, or students' self-perceptions, feelings of self-efficacy, and personal control were predictive of persistence.

Administrators' perspectives of culture at a multicampus community college

The purpose of this study was to explore how administrators’ perceived the campus and administrative cultures found on a single campus of a multicampus community college system. A review of the literature revealed that the culture found in higher education institutions contains a high degree of human interactions, has a myriad of cultures, and that individuals play a significant role in the maintenance or the evolution of the cultures present. The study site was Neighborhood Campus which is one campus of a large urban community college system containing a total of eight campuses, Urban College. Kuh’s conventional organizational models served to identify the model on Neighborhood Campus, Levin’s cultural definitions described the campus culture, and cultural definitions from Bergquist and Pawlak formed the framework for the administrative culture. The study was guided by the following research questions: What are the administrators’ perspectives of the campus culture on a community college campus and what are the administrators’ perspectives of the administrative culture on a community college campus? A qualitative case study method was used, data collection included interviews, document and videograph reviews, and observations of administrative meetings. The participants for the interview portion of the study included 10 individuals defined as administrators. ^ The study revealed that administrators’ perspectives of these cultures demonstrated five themes (student-centered, size, location, Hispanics, and family) served as contributors to the campus culture. The administrative culture was supported by six themes (size, team, collaboration, open, Inclusion, and rewards and recognition). ^ The findings revealed three of Kuh’s conventional organizational models (rational, bureaucratic, and collegial models) were seen as being in place at Neighborhood Campus. Levin’s traditional and service cultures were seen in the campus culture with the service culture demonstrating dominance. Using Bergquist and Pawlak’s definitions, components of the collegial, managerial, and developmental cultures appear to be present in the administrative culture with the collegial culture serving as the dominant administrative culture. ^ Through an understanding of these cultures and themes, administrators can provide leadership that is sensitive to these cultures, especially if institutional change is required.^

A retrospective-longitudinal examination of the relationship between apportionment of seat time in community-college algebra courses and student academic performance

During the past decade, there has been a dramatic increase by postsecondary institutions in providing academic programs and course offerings in a multitude of formats and venues (Biemiller, 2009; Kucsera & Zimmaro, 2010; Lang, 2009; Mangan, 2008). Strategies pertaining to reapportionment of course-delivery seat time have been a major facet of these institutional initiatives; most notably, within many open-door 2-year colleges. Often, these enrollment-management decisions are driven by the desire to increase market-share, optimize the usage of finite facility capacity, and contain costs, especially during these economically turbulent times. So, while enrollments have surged to the point where nearly one in three 18-to-24 year-old U.S. undergraduates are community college students (Pew Research Center, 2009), graduation rates, on average, still remain distressingly low (Complete College America, 2011). Among the learning-theory constructs related to seat-time reapportionment efforts is the cognitive phenomenon commonly referred to as the spacing effect, the degree to which learning is enhanced by a series of shorter, separated sessions as opposed to fewer, more massed episodes. This ex post facto study explored whether seat time in a postsecondary developmental-level algebra course is significantly related to: course success; course-enrollment persistence; and, longitudinally, the time to successfully complete a general-education-level mathematics course. Hierarchical logistic regression and discrete-time survival analysis were used to perform a multi-level, multivariable analysis of a student cohort (N = 3,284) enrolled at a large, multi-campus, urban community college. The subjects were retrospectively tracked over a 2-year longitudinal period. The study found that students in long seat-time classes tended to withdraw earlier and more often than did their peers in short seat-time classes (p < .05). Additionally, a model comprised of nine statistically significant covariates (all with p-values less than .01) was constructed. However, no longitudinal seat-time group differences were detected nor was there sufficient statistical evidence to conclude that seat time was predictive of developmental-level course success. A principal aim of this study was to demonstrate—to educational leaders, researchers, and institutional-research/business-intelligence professionals—the advantages and computational practicability of survival analysis, an underused but more powerful way to investigate changes in students over time.

An interview study of community college student perspectives on service -learning

Over the past two decades, the community college in the United States has boasted a leadership role in the movement to make education community-based and performance-oriented. This has led to an intensification in attempts to search for more innovative means to make education more experiential and relevant to students' lived experiences. ^ One such innovative program that holds promise to meet this challenge is service-learning. This paradigm attempts to relate the academic education in the classroom to community-based problems, which fits in neatly with the community-based characteristics of the community college. It promises to link ideas developed in the classroom and their practical application within the community through guided reflection. It is designed to enhance and enrich student learning of course material by combining citizenship, academic subjects, skills, and values. ^ Though many studies have been carried out in regard to the outcomes of service-learning through quantitative means, relatively few qualitative studies are available, and those available have primarily studied traditional students at four-year residential colleges or universities. Therefore, there is an urgent need to study non-traditional students' perspectives at the community college level. ^ The purpose of this study was to describe and explain the perspectives of five students at Broward Community College, Central Campus, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. The following exploratory questions guided this study: (1) What elements constitute these students' perspectives? (2) What variables influence their perspectives? (3) What beliefs do these students hold about their service-learning experience which support or are contrary to their perspectives? ^ This ethnographic interview study was conducted over a period of twelve months and consisted of three interviews for each of the five participants. The analysis of the data was conducted following the stringent principles of ethnographic research which included constant comparative analysis. The interviews were tape recorded with the participants' permission, transcribed verbatim, and organized into categories for in-depth understanding. Furthermore, these categories were developed from the data collected and an organizational scheme for understanding and interpreting of these perspectives emerged. The researcher, as well, kept a reflective journal of the research process as part of the data set. ^ The results of this study show the need for a better grasp of the concepts of service-learning on the part of all involved with its implementation. In spite of this, all of the participants displayed gains to a greater or lesser degree in personal growth, academic skills, and citizenship skills. ^

Effects of student-faculty interactions on persistence of underprepared community college students.

The high concentration of underprepared students in community colleges presents a challenge to educators, policy-makers, and researchers. All have pointed to low completion rates and caution that institutional practices and policy ought to focus on improving retention and graduation rates. However, a multitude of inhibiting factors limits the educational opportunities of underprepared community college students. Using Tinto's (1993) and Astin's (1999) models of student departure as the primary theoretical framework, as well as faculty mentoring as a strategy to impact student performance and retention, the purpose of this study was to determine whether a mentoring program designed to promote greater student-faculty interactions with underprepared community college students is predictive of higher retention for such students. While many studies have documented the positive effects of faculty mentoring with 4-year university students, very few have examined faculty mentoring with underprepared community college students (Campbell and Campbell, 1997; Nora & Crisp, 2007). In this study, the content of student-faculty interactions captured during the mentoring experience was operationalized into eight domains. Faculty members used a log to record their interactions with students. During interactions they tried to help students develop study skills, set goals, and manage their time. They also provided counseling, gave encouragement, nurtured confidence, secured financial aid/grants/scholarships, and helped students navigate their first semester at college. Logistic regression results showed that both frequency and content of faculty interactions were important predictors of retention. Students with high levels of faculty interactions in the area of educational planning and personal/family concerns were more likely to persist. Those with high levels of interactions in time-management and academic concerns were less likely to persist. Interactions that focused on students' poor grades, unpreparedness for class, or excessive absences were predictive of dropping out. Those that focused on developing a program of study, creating a road map to completion, or students' self-perceptions, feelings of self-efficacy, and personal control were predictive of persistence.

State funding claims processed and paid by the Illinois Community College Board.

Mode of access: Internet.

A study of the effects of a service-learning experience on student success at an urban community college

The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of a service-learning experience on student success as measured by class attendance, course completion, final course grades, and end-of-term evaluation data.^ Though many outcomes of service-learning experiences have been studied, including ethical values, self-esteem, student personal development, and career preparation, relatively few studies have been conducted on the effects of such experiences on academic achievement, and the studies that have been done have primarily studied students at traditional, four-year, residential universities.^ The study consisted of 286 students enrolled in six paired courses taught by five instructors at a community college in the Fall term 1996. One section of each pair (the control group) was taught using traditional subject matter and course materials and the other section of each pair (the treatment group) participated in a 20-hour required service-learning activity in addition to the regular course curriculum. The courses in the study included American History, Sociology, College Preparatory English, and Introduction to English Composition.^ The results of this study indicate that, overall, students who participated in a class in which service-learning was a requirement, achieved higher final course grades and reported greater satisfaction with the course, the instructor, the reading assignments, and the grading system, and the treatment section of one course pair had fewer absences. In addition, the faculty members reported that, in the treatment sections, class discussions were more stimulating, the sections seemed more vital in terms of student involvement, the students seemed more challenged academically, more motivated to learn, and seemed to exert more effort in the course. ^

The effect of participation in a ``Greening the BCC Curriculum'' workshop series on the environmental literacy of a community college faculty

The purpose of this study was to develop a series of workshops designed to raise the environmental literacy of a community college faculty and facilitate infusion of an environmental perspective into the courses they teach. Data was gathered on the effect of the workshops on the level of environmental literacy of the participants as well as the persistence of any observed effect. How faculty infused an environmental perspective into their courses was also explored.^ The workshop model was developed by reviewing adult learning and change theories, case studies of workshops at other colleges, environmental education research, and results of a pilot study. Content, organization, and delivery methods from these sources were selected and integrated to create the 14 components of the model employed by the workshops in this study.^ Forty-two faculty from the North Campus of Broward Community College participated in the study. The 20 workshop participants from seven academic departments attended seven two hour workshops during the fall term of 1996, and implemented projects to infuse environmental topics into their courses the following term. A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest-delayed posttest nonequivalent control group design was employed in which the 22 members of the control group who did not attend the workshops were administered the Wisconsin Environmental Survey at the same time as the workshop participants (immediately before the first workshop, immediately following the last workshop, and four months following the completion of the workshop series). This instrument, an adaption of the Wisconsin High School Student Environmental Survey, yielded three measures of environmental literacy: Affective, Behavior, and Cognitive Subscale scores.^ The repeated measures MANOVA performed using the scores of the two groups on the three administrations of WES revealed a significant interaction for group by time, so repeated measures ANOVA were performed for each of the three subscales to investigate the interaction. Tukey-HSD post hoc comparisons indicated that for all three subscale scores, the two groups were not significantly different on the pretest, but on the posttest and the delayed posttest, the workshop participants demonstrated significantly higher levels of environmental literacy. All statistical tests were performed at $\alpha$ =.05. ^

The effectiveness of an intelligent tutoring system on the attitude and achievement of developmental mathematics students in a community college

This study examined the effectiveness of intelligent tutoring system instruction, grounded in John Anderson's ACT theory of cognition, on the achievement and attitude of developmental mathematics students in the community college setting. The quasi-experimental research used a pretest-posttest control group design. The dependent variables were problem solving achievement, overall achievement, and attitude towards mathematics. The independent variable was instructional method.^ Four intact classes and two instructors participated in the study for one semester. Two classes (n = 35) served as experimental groups; they received six lessons with real-world problems using intelligent tutoring system instruction. The other two classes (n = 24) served as control groups; they received six lessons with real-world problems using traditional instruction including graphing calculator support. It was hypothesized that students taught problem solving using the intelligent tutoring system would achieve more on the dependent variables than students taught without the intelligent tutoring system.^ Posttest mean scores for one teacher produced a significant difference in overall achievement for the experimental group. The same teacher had higher means, not significantly, for the experimental group in problem solving achievement. The study did not indicate a significant difference in attitude mean scores.^ It was concluded that using an intelligent tutoring system in problem solving instruction may impact student's overall mathematics achievement and problem solving achievement. Other factors must be considered, such as the teacher's classroom experience, the teacher's experience with the intelligent tutoring system, trained technical support, and trained student support; as well as student learning styles, motivation, and overall mathematics ability. ^

Extending the Theory of Planned Behavior in the exercise domain: A study of community college students in an urban multicultural setting

The purpose of this study was to assess the intention to exercise among ethnically and racially diverse community college students using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). In addition to identifying the variables associated with motivation or intention of college students to engage in physical activity, this study tested the model of the Theory of Planned Behavior, asking: Does the TPB model explain intention to exercise among a racially/ethnically diverse group of college students? ^ The relevant variables were the TPB constructs (behavioral beliefs, normative beliefs, and control beliefs), which combined to form a measure of intention to exercise. Structural Equation Modeling was used to test the predictive power of the TPB constructs for predicting intention to exercise. Following procedures described by Ajzen (2002), the researcher developed a questionnaire encompassing the external variables of student demographics (age, gender, work status, student status, socio-economic status, access to exercise facilities, and past behavior), major constructs of the TPB, and two questions from the Godin Leisure Time Questionnaire (GLTQ; Godin & Shephard, 1985). Participants were students (N = 255) who enrolled in an on-campus wellness course at an urban community college. ^ The demographic profile of the sample revealed a racially/ethnically diverse study population. The original model that was used to reflect the TPB as developed by Ajzen was not supported by the data analyzed using SEM; however, a revised model that the researcher thought was theoretically a more accurate reflection of the causal relations between the TPB constructs was supported. The GLTQ questions were problematic for some students; those data could not be used in the modeling efforts. The GLTQ measure, however, revealed a significant correlation with intention to exercise (r = .27, p = .001). Post-hoc comparisons revealed significant differences in normative beliefs and attitude toward exercising behavior between Black students and Hispanic students. Compared to Black students, Hispanic students were more likely to (a) perceive “friends” as approving of them being physically active and (b) rate being physically active for 30 minutes per day as “beneficial”. No statistically significant difference was found among groups on overall intention to exercise. ^