Deborah L. Floyd

THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE BACCALAUREATE: PUTTING THE PIECES TOGETHER

This article will address important puzzles about community colleges and their roles with baccalaureate delivery. To that purpose, the article is organized into five key sections. First, the rationale underlying the community college baccalaureate (CCB) and key policy issues will be described. Second, a glossary of terms will be offered to provide a foundation for research about baccalaureate degree programs and models involving community colleges. Third, a national summary of states where community colleges are authorized to confer baccalaureates will be discussed. Florida is home to the largest number of community colleges authorized to confer baccalaureates and will be discussed as an illustrative case of a bellwether movement. The fourth section will build on the first three and discuss issues and challenges for local and state leaders, policymakers, and practitioners to guide program development, future research, and policy exploration at the local, state and federal levels. Finally, our fifth section will offer our closing remarks and summarize briefly key predictions for the future in relation to the nations CCB movement.

Distance Learning in Community Colleges; Leadership Challenges for Change and Development.

The wave of technology sweeping community college campuses, including a concurrent and equally phenomenal growth in distance education programs, necessitates fundamental changes in many faculty roles. As faculty face these changes, how can community college leaders provide them with the support to successfully transform themselves into technology-savvy 21st century instructors? By skillfully leading, while investing in professional development programs grounded in the Kouzes and Posner leadership model, community college leaders can facilitate the successful transformation of campuses into centers of technology-based learning. Change is difficult, and all employees may not be comfortable with technology, but all have a commitment and responsibility to work to ensure access and success for all students, regardless of their social status, skills, or prior learning experience.

COMMUNITY COLLEGE TEACHER EDUCATION: A TYPOLOGY, CHALLENGING ISSUES, AND STATE VIEWS

Across the country, educational and policy leaders are challenged to find solutions to the potentially serious shortage of certified public school teachers. Although community colleges enroll almost half of the undergraduate students in American colleges and universities, until very recently, little attention has been focused on their potential role in meeting this critical societal need. In addition to discussing pertinent literature, proposing a basic typology of teacher education delivery models based on those already being utilized by community colleges, and describing relevant issues and challenges, this article reports and analyzes the findings of a 2002 survey of state community college directors. The survey was designed to ascertain perceptions of these state leaders with respect to the current role of community colleges in teacher education and the importance of the issue in their respective states. Questions for further study and policy considerations are offered as an extension of the analysis of these data and issues.

An Exploratory Study of Community College Baccalaureate Teacher Education Programs: Lessons Learned.

Historically, community colleges have played a role in preparing teachers by strengthening articulation and transfer with university-based teacher colleges, hosting university center programs that provide upper division teacher education courses, and providing alternative teacher certification programming for holders of bachelors and higher degrees. In the past several years, a growing number of community colleges have expanded their work in teacher education programs by developing and conferring their own baccalaureate degrees. Perhaps because these baccalaureate programs are so new, little has been written from the perspective of the practitioners who have implemented them. Their stories deserve to be told. Drawing on interviews with representatives from 10 community colleges or former community colleges, this article reports the initial findings of an exploratory study of what can be learned from the experiences of community college practitioners who have established bachelors degree programs in teacher education.

STUDENT HEALTH: CHALLENGES FOR COMMUNITY COLLEGES

Little has been written in the academic literature about community college student health services. Perhaps community college student health services have been overlooked because some leaders, such as presidents, trustees, and policy makers, are simply uninformed about the direct relevance of student health to the community college mission of student success. This article describes community colleges--historically, philosophically, and demographically--and makes a case that a true learning college, a college committed to student success, is one that is committed to a healthy climate for students and to student health. A policy agenda for community college student health programs is discussed in the context of leadership policy issues and individual college and consortia issues.

Perceptions and Reflections of Administrators: Community Colleges Transitioning to Baccalaureate Colleges

Community colleges in a number of states are expanding their roles to include baccalaureate degree programming. While the lower cost for delivery of these programs is often a motivating reason for community college baccalaureate, other factors also make these programs attractive alternatives. This article reports the findings of a case study that was used to assess the factors other than costs that could make community college baccalaureate programs a more attractive alternative than the current university baccalaureate programs. Using a comprehensive literature search and the voices and work experiences of five community college administrators a total of 8 major themes were identified or emerged: (a) political, (b) location and access, (c) ranking within the state, (d) quality, (e) growth, (f) salary structure, (g) expense allocation, and (h) a funding model. The study also identified several factors that could make the community college baccalaureate a more attractive alternative and concluded with recommendations for practice, policy, and future research.

Daunting Realities of Leading Complicated by the New Media: Wounding and Community College Presidents

Community college presidential leadership is more taxing than ever; leaders face unprecedented economic declines, increased expectations, and the immediacy of media reporting. The smallest of rumors can escalate into campaigns for good or ill within minutes via the Internet, social media (such as blogs, Twitter, Facebook) and electronic news. Using a basic qualitative design, this paper examines key struggles of community college presidents and describes challenges of leading in the new media spotlight. In-depth interviews were conducted with four presidents to identify their perspectives of how a crisis became a “wounding experience.” The leader stories reveal how the daunting realities of leading can be complicated in the digital era, and the paper concludes with some insights and implications for how to cope with a leadership crisis and the new media.

Using Student and Institutional Characteristics to Predict Graduation Rates at Community Colleges: New Developments in Performance Measures and Institutional Effectiveness

Prediction models using graduation rate as the performance indicator were obtained for community colleges in California, Florida, and Michigan. The results of this study indicated that institutional graduation rate could be predicted effectively from an aggregate of student and institutional characteristics. A performance measure was computed, the Institutional Performance Ratio (IPR), for each institution to form a metric. This metric was used to measure one institutions performance against another in terms of graduation rate. Based on the IPR value, an institution could determine whether its performance exceeded, met, or was below expectation.

Celebrating the Past, Creating the Future: 50 Years of Community College Research

The Council for the Study of Community Colleges (CSCC) celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2008. This article summarizes the establishment of the Council and sets it in the context of the development of the community college movement. Highlights of research conducted by CSCC members to address contemporary issues facing community colleges are described. A summary of insights offered by members during a 2008 plenary session, research presented at the 50th annual conference, and key community college leaders are described in the context of the historical evolution of community college research and future directions.

The AACC Competencies and the PhD Completion Project: Practical Implications

The American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) has identified a set of six competencies essential to effective community college leadership. Studies have been conducted to test the validity and usefulness of these competencies in such ways as by surveying community college professionals and to examine the effectiveness of graduate programs in preparing students to become community colleges leaders by incorporating some or all of the competencies. The Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) has conducted a seven-year project to address issues surrounding PhD completion and attrition, called the PhD completion project. This project found six institutional and program characteristics that are key factors in determining whether a particular student is likely to complete a PhD program. This paper seeks to review the AACC competencies for community college leaders and the PhD completion project and examine the practical implications of both studies.