Background. As part of the nationwide student completion agenda, the Achieving the Dream (ATD) national reform network was established to help community colleges quickly institute sustainable change scaled to impact all students at the institution in a short period of time. Although ATD has been in existence for over a...
Background: Prior research has shown that distance learning courses have higher failure rates at community colleges then equivalent face-to-face to courses. There are a few programs and courses, however, that consistently achieve completion rates as high as or higher than their equivalent face-to-face courses. The research to date has not...
Background: The United States has been under-producing college graduates since at least 1980, with many challenges suppressing students’ self-efficacy. One approach to improving student outcomes is through mentorship. This dissertation applied Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) and Kram’s Mentor Relationship Development Theory (MRD) to discover whether students’ campus mentorship experiences...
This phenomenological study explores the effects that an interdisciplinary program of study at a community college has on students once they transfer to a four-year institution. Interdisciplinary approaches have been proposed as a way of meeting the complex thinking skills needed for 21st Century learning. Because interdisciplinary learning is complex,...
This manuscript-style dissertation explores Diné (Navajo) education and teaching in the context of a research project that negotiated the demands of both Navajo Nation IRB and Oregon State University IRB. In the first manuscript, the researcher examines his journey of using cultural resilience strategies to succeed in the education system...
This dissertation was a qualitative case study focused on part-time faculty teachingdevelopmental mathematics courses in one large Pacific Northwest community college. Thecollege was selected for its size and maturity; the topic was selected for three related reasons:part-time faculty have been widely relied upon to teach these courses nationwide; students indevelopmental...
The study of motivation in second language acquisition has been a matter of interest for many years. The research objective of this project was to conduct a study that would determine the motivation level of students of Spanish 113 during Spring term 2016 at Oregon State University, and how their...
Youth in foster care often perform at lower levels academically than those not in foster care. Prior research on the nature of the relationships that affect former foster youth's educational path has been inconclusive. Though it is widely believed that positive relationships with faculty, staff and peers is beneficial for...
At the intersection of higher education and politics, there is demand for an easily understood measure of student success. Graduation rate is the current measure of choice, but the definition of graduation rate excludes many categories of students and types of success particularly applicable to community colleges. The purpose of...
African American male students are a small portion of the student body at NCAA Division 1-A schools, but they make up a large portion of population of college football players. African American male college students are also one of the most at-risk student populations on campus in regards to retention....
This study documented the influence of the completion agenda on decision-making by community college career and technical education (CTE) deans. Ten career and technical programs deans were identified as the sample for the study. Washington State was selected because of the Student Achievement Initiative that was developed as a completion...
This dissertation serves a threefold purpose: 1. identify the principles, practices and assumptions implicated in an academic theory of social justice; 2. continue moving towards articulating a theory of social justice judgment and decision making; and 3. develop a model of social justice judgment and decision making that will assist...
Student engagement with faculty is positively associated with increases in the retention and graduation rates of students enrolled in institutions of higher education. Although a considerable amount of research has focused on understanding the engagement experiences of students enrolled at four-year colleges and universities, little emphasis has been placed on...
Approximately 600,000 individuals will be eventually released from the prison system and millions will be released from jails across the United States each year (Mukamal et al., 2015). Some of these individuals will make their way to a local community college to make a better life for themselves. There is...
Job satisfaction has received considerable attention within the community college sector, but there is limited research focused solely on the job satisfaction of foreign-born faculty members employed at community colleges. The purpose of this study was to examine factors associated with job satisfaction among foreign-born faculty members employed at U.S....
The Utah System of Higher Education (USHE) and the eight public colleges and universities in the system, have depended on the Federal Pell Grant program for more than 40 years to assist students to attend. For some of these institutions, the amount of Pell grant dollars received is as much...
Many low-income and first-generation community college students face disproportionate challenges in their quest for a college education. They typically balance multiple outside obligations, while being solely responsible for making these decisions without adequate knowledge, guidance, or support (Lyons, 2004). Many students begin college without ever having been responsible for their...
The student-loan market has surpassed 1.3 trillion dollars; rising student-loan cohort default rates are a growing concern among educational institutions. Many colleges are implementing financial-education programs for students to help increase their knowledge, aptitude, and skills so they may become informed consumers. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study: The purpose of this...
Background: African American males' experience in higher education is often categorized with negative terminology that does not reflect notions of success. Most research addressing the success of African American males in higher education illuminates factors that impede access to success and is often situated in university settings. Very little research...
Institutions of higher education are increasingly being held accountable and experiencing pressure to demonstrate how well their students are achieving intended learning outcomes. External and internal influences fuel this pressure. After decades of rhetoric on student learning outcomes assessment there remains a question of whether the practice has been fully...
Background: Social interaction among peers on a campus of higher education has long been considered an important part of the college student experience, in particular for the first-term students transitioning into college life. Students who socially connect with peers on campus tend to persist at higher rates, while other benefits...
Background: Legislators and higher education policy makers increasingly are turning to policy initiatives to incentivize institutions of higher education to transform policies and practices in the name of student success, with success typically defined as retention and graduation rates. One such policy receiving increased attention amongst states is outcomes-based funding,...
In 2010 the American taxpayers spent $697 million educating veterans under the provisions of the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944 (commonly referred to as the GI Bill). Most veterans begin their college education at a community college. However, the number of veterans succeeding in community colleges is exceedingly low. Based...
Community colleges serve various populations as part of their missions. Many community colleges serve the people who live in rural communities and are challenged with fewer financial resources. The term rural is not easily defined, and many variables need to be considered when creating academic programming for rural populations. There...
The purpose of this multi-case study was to explore the stories and lived experiences of Native American police chiefs who have faced the systemic conflicts and challenges created between Native American tribal policing and an opposing U.S. legal system. It sought to understand the essence of tribal police chiefs’ experiences...
Higher education is being asked to address issues of quality, accountability, and transparency. Accreditation is one tool higher education institutions use to address these concerns. The purpose of this quantitative study was to analyze the impact of the new accreditation standards adopted by the Northwest Commission for Colleges and Universities...
Research examining disparity between baccalaureate completion among "native" and community college transfer students has gained attention in recent years. Current and prior research has identified important pre-college and demographic characteristics with a positive relationship to baccalaureate completion. Yet few studies have focused on the influence of nonacademic and academic environmental...
Latina/o student enrollments in community colleges in the United States are rapidly growing, yet Latina/o student success rates have not matched this growth. There is a need for community college programs that serve Latina/o student populations more effectively and that incorporate multicultural educational practices into college programs. The purpose of...
Corporate universities (CUs) have been in existence in the United States since the early 1900s. They are increasingly providing educational and developmental opportunities for workers; however, there is little empirical research on these types of organizations. This study examined a specific electrical distributor's CU using a theoretical framework as a...
This qualitative study examines the role of a graduate level multicultural teacher education course in disrupting preservice teachers' beliefs and assumptions about teaching culturally and linguistically diverse learners. This study is motivated by the following research question: What are the actions that take place in a funds of knowledge course...
Background: Previous studies suggested that the professional identity of community college faculty is less than clearly articulated. Lack of clarity with regard to professional identity may have impacts in a number of areas, including recruitment, professional development, and the overall reputation of community colleges.
Purpose: To examine how community college...
Considerable research has been done on women and leadership styles, and while most have found very little to no difference in leadership style between men and women, there has been conflict with individual gender roles and organizational roles (Eagly & Johnson, 1990; Eddy & Cox, 2008; Kanter, 1997). These studies...
How do organizational members socially construct the shared meaning of a mandated change in the external environment? The opportunity to address this question presented itself when President Barack Obama set forth a goal for American community colleges to increase the number of students completing certificates and degrees by 5 million...
Research has established that poor outcomes are the future for those without a
high school diploma--yet students continue to drop out and become members of
that population. The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the
experiences and perceptions of individuals who did not complete high school
within the...
Branch campuses play an important part in postsecondary degree attainment by providing place-bound students from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds in different geographical regions access to education that is convenient. Their heterogeneousness structures, including enrollment size, communities, and populations served, are not accurately reflected in the majority of the research. Currently, there...
Negative attitudes towards people with disabilities persist in our society, limiting the inclusion of people with disabilities in a multitude of social roles. Despite existing research on the nature of these attitudes and interventions to improve them, people with disabilities continue to cite social barriers as some of their greatest...
Higher education is faced with ever-increasing challenges, which require fundamental changes in order to ensure its relevance in the future. Business leaders and academic scholars urge organizations to continuously reshape and renew through learning and innovation to assure viability and sustainability. Organizational climate serves as a foundation that can promote...
The community college baccalaureate movement has shown strong growth across the country as a strategy to meet workforce shortages. A variety of forces are driving the movement including (a) employer demand for higher credentials; (b) geographical access to education; (c) lower cost education; (d) a trained workforce to compete in...
Community colleges have become a practical educational option for undocumented students seeking an associate degree; thus reflecting the community college's very mission and purpose by providing access and affordability for these students. Specifically, undocumented Latino students are known to select community colleges due to their low tuition cost, proximity to...
The topic of student success is beginning to grow in popularity throughout the United States. Student success has a wide variety of definitions ranging from a direct definition of graduation to an indirect definition of a student setting a goal of finishing a class successfully. Now there are stakeholders such...
The purpose of this phenomenological study was to discover the experiences nurse educators (NEs) have had with oppression and to uncover how their experiences may have impacted their teaching. This study was significant as nurse retention is negatively affected by oppressed group behaviors (Duchscher & Myrick, 2008; Tinsley & France,...
Drug courts are collaborative community programs that provide active oversight and compliance monitoring of individuals engaged in the criminal justice continuum. Adult drug court program requirements include alcohol and other drug treatment, community support services, and other ancillary services intended to promote life changes in participants and ultimately, prosocial behaviors....
Baccalaureate attainment represents an important goal among educators and policymakers. The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education has stated that affordability and transfer are critical to increasing baccalaureate attainment, and that community colleges have a critical role in this transfer process. On the other hand, some researchers disagree...
Over the past twenty years, the national three-year graduation rate for community college students has ranged from 44% to roughly 31% in 2013 (NCES, 2013). As a way to address such low graduation rates, colleges have implemented a myriad of services and programs (i.e., tutoring, mentoring, etc.). Another intervention is...
The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the successes of first generation, community college transfer students served by a TRiO/Student Support Services (TRiO/SSS) program. This study addresses a specific problem in higher education – there are a limited number of first generation transfer students who successfully matriculate...
Professional development is a critical part of education, especially in career and technical education (CTE). CTE programs have rapidly changing technological foundations, and while the CTE teachers' primary focus is to prepare students for entry-level positions in their occupational areas, CTE teachers are also required to embed academics into their...
As reverse transfer students become a larger part of community college enrollments, it is important to better understand the underlying causes of this nontraditional population’s emergence in the traditional community college system. This quantitative descriptive study found that approximately nine percent of the student body enrolled at Rogue Community College...
Community and technical colleges in the United States are experiencing an expansion of racial and ethnic diversity in students, faculty, and administrators. From 1996 to 2006, the number of Asian female college students increased 55.3%, from 13,184 to 20,477. The number of Asian male students increased 48.9%, from 9,731 to...
Organizational trust refers to the tendency of individuals or groups within an organization to trust each other. Tschannen-Moran (2004) describes trust as one's "willingness to be vulnerable to another based on the confidence that the other is benevolent, honest, open, reliable, and competent" (p. 17). The purpose of this study...
Institutions of higher education face a global mandate, understanding and addressing the concept of internationalization in the 21st century. As the world becomes "smaller", there is a need for college students to expand their awareness and understanding of multinational cultures and issues. Recently, many four-year colleges and universities have taken...