This study sought to explore the relationships between changes in net revenues and the changes in different classifications of institutional expenditures within community colleges in the United States in order to identify trends in how teaching-focused colleges prioritize their efforts in response to financial stimuli using multivariate multiple linear regression....
The shortage of physicians serving rural communities is well documented. To address the rural shortage, medical schools have developed extracurricular programs, called rural health tracks, with an intent to foster medical students’ interest in serving rural communities. While there has been some research about the effects of these tracks, almost...
The proportion of professional staff on higher education campuses has significantly grown in recent decades. Despite this growth, the racial makeup of this employee population still does not reflect the increasing diversity of students in higher education. While higher education institutions pronounce their commitments to developing diversity, equity, and inclusion...
The counseling field is infused with multiculturalism and social justice competencies from the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs accreditation standards of the academic institutions to the American Counseling Association Code of Ethics. Counselors are tasked with understanding multiculturalism from self-awareness to clients’ worldviews to larger implications...
While there is an abundance of literature written on academic program review in higher education, there is a gap in the literature found in program review related to community college workforce education programs, employer responsiveness, student employment outcomes, and program discontinuance (Fleming, 2015). Additionally, in the literature review, the researcher...
There have been some gains in the number of women who occupy the college presidency (Gagliardi, Espinosa, Turk & Taylor, 2017), yet the gains reflect a slow pace towards gender parity, particularly at the community college level. Public two-year colleges are represented by 36% women presidents (Gagliardi et. al., 2017)....
The majority of teachers in the state of Oregon are White, prompting the state’s legislative bodies to explore and create ways to increase racial diversity in the profession. Contextually, both state level mandates and national accreditation bodies have attempted to address the lack of diversity amongst teachers in the K-12...
This study frames the problem of needing to better understand retention patterns in Alaska among students from distinct levels of rurality and how those levels of rurality or geographical distance may interact with other variables including race and gender in predicting student retention. Alaska is a highly rural state with...
The purpose of this quantitative study was to identify the combination of factors, both individual and programmatic, that contributed most significantly to the persistence and progression of students enrolled in a public comprehensive community college. As open-access institutions, community colleges cater to students from a broad range of socioeconomic, cultural,...
The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of faculty in Washington State regarding climate for instructional improvement. The Survey of Climate for Instructional Improvement (SCII) was administered to faculty at a community college in Washington State. Through exploratory factor analysis, four factors emerged which aligned with four...
Background: The numbers of Southeast Asian women in higher education, whether within administration, teaching faculty, or counseling and student services are scarce. The specific needs of minority women go largely unnoticed and remain unaddressed and may contribute to the low numbers of minority women in higher education leadership.
Purpose: The...
Background: As the number of multiracial individuals in the United States continues to grow, institutions of higher education have also seen an increase in enrollment of multiracial students. Subsequently, there has also been an increase in studies on multiracial identity and the effects of campus climate on multiracial students. Although...
The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between student involvement in tutoring and timely completion of an associate’s degree among first-time, full-time students attending Oregon rural community colleges. Timely completion was defined as earning an associate’s degree within three years. Propensity score matching was used to control...
Community colleges are changing to meet the needs and demands of the 21st century and these changes are also a driving force behind the shifts that are happening to the essential functions of the presidents who lead the community colleges. In order to navigate the complex systems and lead colleges...
The purpose of this narrative inquiry study was to describe the lived experiences of librarians and how they provided support and innovation for community college OER programs. Examining the experiences of librarians as innovators sought to understanding how best practices developed for OER programs. It further sought to examine how...
The purpose of this study was to understand the lived experience of students to discern the impact of their interaction with the food pantry. This knowledge may, in turn, influence future food pantry methods and wider policy, both at PNW College and more broadly. Not only does student hunger have...
Retention literature has shown that student retention is impacted when economic factors are considered when selecting a college. Students who are low income typically choose colleges that are closer to home and rely on financial aid to pay for college. Further, financial aid is generally a positive indicator of retention...
The role of community colleges as open-access institutions that bring racial diversity to careers in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields is essential (Musante, 2012; Reyes, 2011). Yet, the opportunity to attend postsecondary institutions is not enough to guarantee the success of People of Color as they navigate...
More than half of students in Washington state community colleges enroll in developmental mathematics, but a relatively small percentage of these students persist to the second year. Many students place into these courses and never enroll; others enroll at some point after the first academic term, even when faced with...
Understanding the relationship between motivation, academic achievement, and persistence may help higher education administrators develop plans for increasing student engagement and student success. Prior research on higher education indicated connections between motivation, academic achievement, and persistence, but there has been limited research that relates these concepts to the rural community...