The era of "customer satisfaction" brings students to colleges who are increasingly identifying themselves as customers. Competition among a growing number of institutions and learning organizations is sharpening the desire of institutions to deliver high quality service in order to attract and retain students. Some examples of interactions where service...
The purpose of this study was to analyze the individual reasoning of
24 adults as they made decisions for two communities regarding municipal
wastewater treatment. The two western Oregon communities were both
responding to notices from governmental agencies of higher environmental
standards for the purification of wastewater before it could...
Five student-researchers and the author engaged in
a continually-evolving, student-driven qualitative
research study. Despite significant disadvantages,
including navigating a. foreign culture without speaking
the language, these invulnerable learners succeeded.
Ultimately of greatest interest to the six were an
analysis of their collective knowledge and experiences,
and their individual transformation over...
This study describes the historical development of the Associate Degree Nursing Program at Portland Community College by women faculty leaders in a male-dominated organization. In-depth interviews of eleven participants were transcribed and analyzed. The participants gave a very rich description of this nursing programthus describing its culture. Six themes were...
The adoption and increasing uses of the Internet in higher education
in many parts of the world have resulted in fundamental changes in
academic cultures. The transfer of information is essential to academic
life, and the Internet offers faster and easier access to information and
communication between people than ever...
Community colleges are in a strategic position to meet the growing demands for educating a population that is in a dynamic state of change, a population that is becoming more diverse with each passing year. A diverse population and other critical issues have created a new challenge for community colleges....
The purpose of this study was to understand how adult learners in an online teacher licensure program selected and used learning strategies, transformed existing strategies or developed new strategies. Also examined was whether the environment itself facilitated or impeded usage of transformed strategies, or development of new strategies. Participants in...
Racial integration of the Louisiana public school system had a devastating
effect on its number of Black teachers. The state has yet to recover from this
reduction, as fewer Black college students pursue education degrees. This study
reports on whether or not the lack of Black educators has influenced high...
This study presented an in-depth exploration of international student perceptions of a coordinated studies program (CSP) at Seattle Central Community College. In conducting this research project, a phenomenological research methodology was used. Qualitative data were collected through participant observations, focus group, document review and individual in-depth interviews with nine students....
The purpose of this study was to describe the presidential search process at a
newly created community college and to learn how that process reflected the
emerging organizational culture. A single research question guided the inquiry: How
did the presidential search process at a newly created community college reflect the...
This study documents thick-description single-source data from the life and experiences of a Native American / Native Canadian language worker. The worker, raised and educated in the United States, was separated from his ancestral village until his thirties. The worker, with a Masters degree in education from Oregon State University,...
Critics of higher education urge educators to transform their institutions so as to align them with the needs of the twenty-first-century learner. However, colleges desiring to survive in a rapidly changing external environment often discover they must first find a way to make
fundamental changes in their institutional culture. Some...
The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of youth
gang awareness training on school personnel. Middle and high school level
teachers, counselors, and school administrators in a rural Oregon school
district were the focus of this study.
Six specially designed modules were created by the researcher and...
This qualitative study explores the experiences of women who are welfare
recipients attending a community college under the auspices of a new program,
Washington State's WorkFirst/Work Study program. The study, conducted over
two academic quarters, includes in-depth interviews with WorkFirst/Work Study
students, observations in a weekly seminar, and interviews with...
The study established how community college leaders establish connections
with other community leaders. Connections that form broad and inclusive networks
can be used to develop positive social capital in communities. Results showed that
new community college leaders follow a pattern of community engagement
including the identification of other leaders, making...
The purpose of this study was to examine how faculty curriculum committees from different disciplines moved through a major curriculum change process from content-focused curriculum to outcomes-based curriculum. Data was gathered through direct observations, committee member interviews, a questionnaire, and the Gregorc Style Delineator from four curriculum committees representing different...
This ethnography describes a learning context where transformational learning routinely creates an emancipatory experience. It identifies those elements that increase understanding of transformative process-describing how the context that contains and supports this learning is constructed and a perspective transformation is sparked by group synergy. It names three transformational learning outcomes:...
This research sought to "get at" students' understandings of their own racial identity development. The limited degree with which participants have been heard and honored in research activities points to the need to inquire about their experiences first-hand, respect their stories, and consider their voices among, or in spite of,...
The purpose of this study is to identify the internal support systems that contributed to the success of community college faculty teaching in a distance education setting. How do those faculty who are perceived as being successful in this setting attain such stature? What are the contributing factors? If contributing...
The purpose of this study is to describe the factors and issues surrounding development of one community college baccalaureate degree program, the three-year Bachelor of Manufacturing Technology at Westark College in Arkansas. This study probes three primary movements at play in the Westark baccalaureate program, which was developed to respond...
Employers often lament that many American workers are not qualified for present and future jobs due to changing skills requirements and deficiencies of schools. In 1991, the Secretary of Labor's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) report recommended educators use work sites to help students achieve foundation skills and workplace...
The purpose of this study was to document a community college faculty development process through which the faculty learned to reconstruct their curriculum around significant learning outcomes and authentic assessment strategies. The following questions focused the inquiry: 1. What kind of organizational support systems were necessary for the faculty to...
This study sought to understand how post-secondary students experience and process issues of diversity, to discover what those views of diversity are, and how those views might change. The two issues that participants felt most strongly about were homosexuality and scholarships for students of color. Their views on homosexuality ranged...
This is a study of the process of collaboration between a community college and selected social service agencies for the purpose of developing an integrative social service and education delivery system, the One-Stop Center. Particular focus is on the interpersonal dynamics among the key stakeholders involved in a collaborative partnership....
Low completion rates have created serious "leakage points" (Astin, 1988) and "severe hemorrhaging" (Lango, 1996) in higher education to a large number of Hispanics. Traditional research on college persistence, which has blamed the students' culture for low performance, is inaccurate. Little research has specifically investigated academic persistence from a cultural...
Although community colleges have emphasized service-learning programs for traditional students, by in large, non-traditional students from post-secondary remedial programs have not been involved. This lack of reaching post-secondary remedial programs may be of particular interest to college personnel who may not be aware of the need to include service activities...
The purpose of this study was to: (a) determine the design features of the physical learning environment that support and enhance collaborative, project-based learning at the community college level; and (b) to gain an understanding of the rationale for the selection of the features. The characteristics of the physical environment...
This study was conducted to investigate the student-to-student interactions that take place in an online community college course, and how the interactions impact an online learning community. The literature review revealed three related themes: (a) the impact of the teaching/learning environment on student interaction, (b) barriers in the online environment,...
The purpose of this qualitative research study was to describe the experiences of secondary teachers who were actively involved in positions of teacher leadership in their schools and to discover the meaning that leadership activities had for them in their work. The informal teacher leaders performed their leadership functions in...
The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe and communicate a student-constructed model of student services for electronic distance education (EDE). This study seeks to answer the following questions: Do students enrolled in EDE perceive a need for student services? If not, why not? Which services do students want/need?...
Since the passage of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act in 1975, a number of common problems have emerged. Primarily they involve the difficulties both experienced and created by public schools attempting to fulfill the federal mandate to provide students with disabilities an appropriate public education. The purpose of...
In juvenile corrections education approximately 50% of the students are eligible for special education services. This dissertation examines Oregon's juvenile corrections educators' understanding of their role in the special education process. This process involves student referrals, evaluations, and eligibility determination for special education services, and the development of individualized education...
The purpose of this study was to identify the strategies and tactics community college presidents used to influence state legislators. Selected State Board for Community and Technical Colleges staff and legislative staff members were asked to independently name 3-5 presidents whom they perceived to be most influential with legislators. Ten...
Community colleges are being pressured to increase their direct support of the economic development agendas of their communities, their states, and even the nation. These pressures develop both externally and internally, and are exacerbated when increased demands for access to community college education must be met with chronically flat-lined or...
This phenomenological study explores what it means to teach part-time in community colleges in the United States. The increasing use of part-time faculty in community colleges and the concomitant emergence of a two-tiered faculty are discussed.
The study examines the nature of part-time work in the United States, thus providing...
This phenomenological research study focused on educational change as perceived by 16 Liberal Arts faculty members at a Pacific Northwest community college. Research data were collected through in-depth dialogic interviews and a follow-up dialogue session with six participants. The principal guiding research questions comprised the following: 1) What is the...
Strategic planning is a frequently used method for defining appropriate institutional responses to changing internal and external conditions. Numerous efforts have been made to adopt strategic planning styles that were originally developed in manufacturing businesses to the purposes of higher education. Despite theses efforts, community colleges have not yet developed...
This is a study of how the use of Baldrige Educational Quality Criteria provides community college leaders and external evaluators with richer, more meaningful data for organizational improvement, more comprehensive information about the institution, and a better means for illustrating clear connections between campus systems and processes. This study was...
When older women return to the workplace after an absence they can find the decision-making process difficult. Either their skills are not current or their knowledge of the workplace is out of date. As a community college administrator, my interest was in understanding the process older women went through in...
Today's community colleges are challenged to respond to rapidly changing internal and external environments. Their responses must promote highly responsive and relevant programs and services, while keeping intact the strengths of community colleges--access, student success, and a focus on teaching and learning. Further, these responses must occur in the context...
In the 27 years since the establishment of federal law mandating special education, no state has been fully in compliance. In addition, the voices of school personnel (special education teachers, speech and language pathologists, and school psychologists) charged with implementing these laws and regulations have been largely silent in the...
The study was designed to determine how learner outcomes, one aspect of a comprehensive assessment plan at an urban community college in the Northwest, may have influenced professional practice. Research subjects were selected from a group of forty-four faculty who participated in a college sponsored professional development activity. The purpose...
This study co-investigated with students with hidden disabilities the phenomenon of disability identity. This qualitative study utilized phenomenology and strategies proposed by Paulo Freire in an effort to understand identity development specific to individuals with hidden disabilities. There were seven students from a medium-sized, public university who participated in the...
From 1990 to 2000, Oregon community colleges experienced a shift in their revenue sources from primarily local taxes to primarily state funding. Additionally during this time Oregon approved term limits for state officials and legislators. In preparation for the 2001-2003 biennial Legislative session, the community colleges pursued new approaches to...
The purpose of this study was to better understand the historical development of the British Columbia (B.C.) community college, university college, and institute system with the focus on the changing nature of voluntary inter-institutional collaboration in relation to provincial coordination. The study also examined the related themes of centralization and...
This is a qualitative research project that seeks to understand the meanings that Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselors (CADC's) have ascribed to their life experiences in relation to their choices about higher education. The participants are four Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselors in Oregon who have less than bachelor degrees....
The study was designed to gain an understanding of the implementation of Performance Measures Funding at one Washington State community college. The research participants included the nine
individuals who were charged with the design and implementation of the college's Improvement Plan, which addressed the four legislatively, prescribed goals outlined in...
No research to date has involved ESL students as researchers in investigations of community language practices. This study examined the research processes of 23 international college students in an advanced ESL course. The students worked on an original curriculum, the Language Research Project, through which they performed ethnographic and discourse...
The purpose of this qualitative study was to research the experience of six Hispanic students who were interviewed in depth regarding their persistence in school and success at a community college. The students reported on their educational experiences prior to college and how that related to attendance at the college;...
Online courses and even degree programs are becoming a widespread phenomenon at universities across the United States. Research into the effectiveness of these courses is in the early stages. This qualitative study explored student perceptions of their online class experience using expectancy-value theory as a framework in an attempt to...
The purpose of this study was to identify if differences existed in perceived barrier factors and perceived attitude factors toward distance education between faculty and administrators in the decision stage and those in the implementation stage of distance education technology adoption. Information was gathered from teaching faculty and program leaders...
The purpose of this research study is to investigate and gain understanding of the factors contributing to development of the Center for Advanced Learning (CAL), a regional collaborative educational reform project and the partnerships that emerged from that process. The development process and partnerships are examined from a systems thinking...
Research into community college governance has in the past centered on the formal aspects of decision-making of these institutions. These past studies often ignore the informal governance practices and policies that operate within all organizations. Staff perceptions of community
college governance have not been studied and possible disjunction between formal...
Different racial/ethnic groups often perceive the realities of the campus environment differently: This difference in perspective and the attendant reactions can be a factor in student satisfaction or dissatisfaction. A quantitative survey administered in 1996 and 1999 revealed that African-American students on the campus of a diverse two-year community college...
This study is a critical ethnography of my professional career as an educator born and raised in the Shona culture in Zimbabwe. In this metaphysical study I reconstruct a worldview that I consider to be representative of Shona customs and beliefs. Doing this project has challenged my own ethnic identity...
The purpose of this study was to describe and record the experiences of people of color in a community leadership development program. Selected people of color were asked to describe their experiences as participants in the American Leadership program in Tacoma-Pierce County in the State of Washington. The American Leadership...
Many youth are able to be successful in the traditional school setting. Large numbers are not successful. Dropout rates are alarming. There is little research that examines the drop out problem from the perspective of the youth. Traditionally programs that are designed to help have been designed by adults. This...
The purpose of this qualitative study was to learn about the perceptions and
experiences of students who graduated with the Associates of Arts/Oregon Transfer
(AA/OT) degree. This study answered the following questions:
1) How did the AA/OT degree attainment assist in the overall achievement
of goals?
2) How did AA/OT...
This autoethnographic research explores learning, teaching, and leading from the perspective of an adult woman who is both a nontraditional student and a non-traditional worker in the academy. Because she returned to school at the age of forty to earn a bachelor's degree, and is currently an associate professor of...
The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics published their vision of active, problem-centered instruction with a goal of conceptual understanding in 1989. Fifteen years after these reforms were proposed the changes are reflected in school policy and elementary mathematics curriculum, but only limited change has actually occurred in classroom instruction....
This research explored the self-concept of Chicanas in terms of their lived experiences and how those experiences influenced the shaping of their identity. It examined the multiple labels Chicanas use to self-identify and the context or situations in which they use specific labels. Moreover, it took into account the influence...
The purpose of this study was to describe the perceptions of the first year experience of teaching secondary agriculture and to explore the relationships between these perceptions, the characteristics of beginning agriculture teachers, and the types of support provided to beginning teachers. An additional focus of the study was to...
The founders of Cascadia Community College changed faculty role and duties as they designed a new college. The college founders chose which themes of learning reform would be enacted by faculty in this new setting. They determined what elements of traditional roles continued to be important and what new expectations...
This study was purposed to extract, collate, and statistically format data contained in the national Beginning Postsecondary Students (BPS) Longitudinal Study: 1996-2001database that pertained to persistence and attainment rates of GED recipients who began their postsecondary education at a community college during the 1995-96 academic year. The
primary objective was...
The focus of this study is a search for the voice of African American community college trustees as they work to impact the changes community colleges must make over the next quarter century. It examined the lived experiences and perceptions that selected African American community college trustees have of their...
The existence of the ethnic "barrios" (ghettos) across American society is proof of the legacy of racism, injustice and inequality in society today. In this thesis, the human experiences of Native, African, Mexican, and Asian people, are presented to contradict the notion that the "American Dream" is for all. In...
As community colleges have responded to shifts in funding structures,
demands from an aging population, the emergence of for-profit competitors, the
development of globalization, and the increasing use of technology, the role of
faculty has evolved and new leadership opportunities have emerged. This study
examines informal faculty leadership at a...
The purpose of this cross-cultural study is to improve the understanding of the educational experiences of immigrant students who leave postsecondary education prior to completion of a program in two traditionally immigrant-magnet countries. This research focuses on Bangladeshi immigrants in the United Kingdom and Mexican immigrants in the United States,...
The purpose of this phenomenological research is to deepen understanding of the interrelationship between being lesbian and community college leadership experiences, values, priorities, practices, and identity negotiation. The following outlines thematic research findings.
1. Lesbian community college administrators' have experiences in:
-- Anti-lesbian work environments that exposed them to homophobic...
The purpose of this study was to understand the experiences of single fathers attending a community college. Single fathers comprise one-fifth of all single parent families, yet little research has been done on this growing segment of the population. A phenomenological approach was utilized to examine the attributes, needs, and...
This study was designed to investigate a phenomenon, retention of Hispanic adult second language learners in Washington State's community colleges, from a qualitative paradigm and phenomenological approach. The focus of this study was to capture eight foreign-born Hispanic ESL non-continuators' voices and experiences, in their native language of Spanish, who...
This purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the role of the community
college chief academic officer and to describe how CAOs define successful
performance. It examined (a) experience candidates brought to the position; (b) job
duties and responsibilities; (c) knowledge, skills, and abilities required; (d) challenges
and barriers;...
The purpose of this research was to hear the stories of Northern Cheyenne women's educational experiences using the method of testimonio, a method culturally aligned and academically appropriate for use among indigenous people. The researcher, also a Northern Cheyenne tribal member used testimonio based on its roots in resistance literature...
Task prioritization performance was evaluated for pilots who participated in a concurrent task management (CTM) training course and pilots who did not. CTM is the process by which pilots selectively attend to high priority tasks and shed non-priority tasks. Twenty seven pilots enrolled in a university flight technology program were...
More than any other single factor, access to community college education depends on proximity. The advent of the community college branch campus has opened higher education to broader segments of the population.
The purpose of this study was twofold: 1) to discover services that students who attend a branch campus...
The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions that community college and
university faculty have about similarities and differences in their professional roles.
The research design included a qualitative ethnographic case study methodology
with faculty participants purposively selected from two public colleges in the Pacific
Northwest: a community...
This is a phenomenological research study of the lived experience of women student mentors at one community college located in an urban setting on the West Coast. The study participants were women students who served as mentors to other women at the community college who are participants in a returning...
Community colleges are experiencing a decline in state allocated funding. Traditionally, college administrators look for ways to cut expenditures and raise tuition and fees to make up for the shortfall. Using available land resources to generate a revenue stream may provide revenue for community colleges.
The purpose of this study...
The purpose of this study was to explore the phenomenon of community colleges creating pathways to degree completion in professional-technical programs by breaking degree programs into smaller portions, referred to as "chunks." The purpose or possible advantage of chunking was that it would improve the rate of degree completion among...
The purpose of this study was to examine one case of embezzlement at one community college in order to assess the sociological effects of the embezzlement on that college. The research design for this study was qualitative using a case study approach. Although there was no attempt to generalize the...
The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences, events, and circumstances that provided Latino educators the opportunity for ascendancy to the presidency of a California community college. This study aimed to recapture the individual experiences of current Latino community college presidents from working class, immigrant family backgrounds as...
The primary responsibility of electric utilities is to supply consistent, dependable, and affordable energy to private customers, businesses, and industries. As with many businesses, electric utilities are experiencing the effects of an aging workforce and expending considerable resources to train their current and replacement workers. Community colleges can partner with...
This research addressed the complexities of identity development in the lives of seven elementary and middle school preservice literacy teachers during their graduate teacher education program at a private western university using a poststructural feminism theoretical lens. This research investigated two questions: 1) How do preservice teachers develop their identity...
The community college, now over 100 years old, began with the singular mission of preparing students for transfer to the university. Throughout the 20th century, the community college has expanded its missions to serve increasingly complex and comprehensive community needs. Through a textual analysis of community engagement within seven seminal...
Title: African-American Women Faculty Teaching at Institutions of Higher Learning in the Pacific Northwest: Challenges, Dilemas, and Sustainability
Institutions of higher learning in the Pacific Northwest have successfully recruited African-American faculty, yet these institutions have difficulty retaining African-American faculty for at least five years. African-American women faculty experience problems obtaining...
This autoethnography explores issues that impact educational leadership by examining individual reflections, perceptions, and responses developed through the lens of a principal of two elementary schools. The main data source involves journal entries collected over a period of one year. Theories of educational leadership styles and effective school practices form...
College governance is a function of structure and of how people act within that
structure. Organizational strategies no longer identify administrations as monopolies
that possess all of the good ideas. Recent organizational management approaches to
governance promote inclusiveness in decision-making and are at odds with the
community college's historical structures,...
The purpose of this study was to understand how refrigeration, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (RHVAC) service technicians (techs) learned from troubleshooting. This understanding resulted in instructional and curricular strategies designed to help community colleges prepare vocational students to learn more effectively from informal workplace learning. RHVAC techs were studied...
This paper covers the impact of Franklin D Roosevelt's, "Indian New Deal"
and the effect it had on federally recognized Indian tribes. I have taken an
in-depth look at specific areas of New Deal legislation including the Indian
Reorganization Act, the Johnson O'Malley Act, and the Indian Arts and
Crafts...
Community college and university degree partnership programs allow students to tailor their educational experiences to fit personal goals and preferences while transitioning back and forth seamlessly between a community college and four-year university. This qualitative research study, telling the stories and lived experiences of six students participating in a community...
This phenomenological inquiry explored dimensions of reflection for older adults in a developmental oriented adventure education experience. Data were gathered from emergent interviews with four individuals while participating in a multi-day, self-contained experiential education program conducted in a rugged environment, and led by a Navajo leader. Two principle research questions...
Many White social scientists and educators are unaware of and/or
detached from the realities of racism and conduct social research that 1.)
perpetuates stereotypes, falsely setting People of Color as inferior and
White people as superior and/or 2.) explains the differences of White
people and People of Color in terms...
The purpose of this research project was to gain a deeper understanding of the
lived experience of faculty of color. More specifically, this project explores how
diversity-related workload expectations impact faculty of color who work in
predominantly white community colleges. Known by various descriptors, the term
used in this research...
This phenomenological inquiry explored the experiences of library leaders and discipline faculty members engaging in a collaborative instructional change initiative focused on a process-based learning pedagogy and led by an academic library. The investigation’s purpose was providing insight and understanding concerning the: (a) library’s role in instructional leadership; (b) experience...
There is a wealth of research on issues surrounding teacher burnout and school reform. The literature on burnout, however, does not provide information on system-based burnout prevention models. Comprehensive reform, although intended to improve schools as a whole, does not look at reform models developed as sources of teacher support....
Prior research has noted the changing demographics of higher education since the Civil Rights Movement and the expanded need for multicultural education. Armando Hernandez Morales (2003) wrote that, “A multiculturally competent person is aware of and knowledgeable about cultural differences, their own cultural identity, and the history and contemporary struggles...
Recent scientific studies show strong correlations between oral and systemic disease, creating a crucial need for increased collaboration between the medical and dental professions. Interdisciplinary collaboration between medical and dental providers is emerging as a critical component to effective patient care. The role of the dental hygienist in interdisciplinary collaboration...
The two-fold purpose of this study was to identify critically important factors that affect the
meaningful assessment of student learning outcomes and study why they were critically
important. A three-round Delphi process was used in both a pilot project and in a full study to
solicit the opinions of individuals...
This research addresses the complexities of White racial identity development in the lives of five elementary and middle school preservice teachers during their graduate teacher education program at a private Christian Pacific Northwestern university. Using a poststructural framework, this research investigated three questions: 1) How do the aspects of subjectivation...