Molly H. Duggan

Differential Predictors of Persistence Between Community College Adult and Traditional-Aged Students

This study examined the differential predictors of institutional persistence between adult and traditional-aged degree-seeking, first-time enrollees at a public, multicampus 2-year community college in southeast Virginia. Differential predictors of institutional persistence were found between the traditional-aged and adult students. For traditional-aged students, encouragement and support, academic integration, fall grade-point average, and an expressed intent to leave were most predictive of institutional persistence. Chief among the predictors of persistence for adult students were social integration, institutional commitment, degree utility, encouragement and support, finances, an expressed intent to leave, and academic integration.This study examined the differential predictors of institutional persistence between adult and traditional-aged degree-seeking, first-time enrollees at a public, multicampus 2-year community college in southeast Virginia. Differential predictors of institutional persistence were found between the traditional-aged and adult students. For traditional-aged students, encouragement and support, academic integration, fall grade-point average, and an expressed intent to leave were most predictive of institutional persistence. Chief among the predictors of persistence for adult students were social integration, institutional commitment, degree utility, encouragement and support, finances, an expressed intent to leave, and academic integration.

Barriers to Transfer Student Academic Success and Retention.

The Transition to College Inventory (TCI) designed to identify patterns of noncognitive factors related to academic performance and persistence was adapted and validated for use with first-year transfer students in a university setting. In this study, 369 entering transfer students were surveyed during Transfer Preview, an orientation program for transfer students. This study confirmed that noncognitive factors can be used to predict academic success and persistence for first-year transfer students. A major finding was that the barriers differed between freshman, sophomore, and upper division (junior/senior) transfer students. The results of this study show promise in giving four-year institutions the ability to identify at-risk transfer students, pin-pointing areas of needs for intervention.

Confirmation among College Women: The Eating Disorders Not Otherwise Specified Diagnostic Profile.

Previously, the researchers proposed and tested a diagnostic framework for women with eating-related concerns who seek college health and mental health treatment. The framework emphasized moderate problems characterized by frequent binging, occasional purging, and frequent exercise; rumination; body image and self-esteem concerns; ambivalence about help seeking; and developmental themes. Several questions remained about the frameworks generalizability beyond women in treatment. Objective: In the current study, the authors provide new support for the frameworks generalizability to college women with clinically significant eating concerns who do not seek treatment. Participants and Methods: Female students (N = 112) completed a screening instrument providing descriptive and comparative data about primary symptoms, associated features, and help seeking. Results: Results suggested that the framework is specific to women with eating problems and does not suffer the pitfalls of applying over-generally to all college women or all female patients and clients. Conclusions: Implications for practice, research limitations, and remaining questions are discussed.

Community College Student Success Courses: The Student Perspective

This study explores student success courses from the student perspective to answer three questions: What topics do students find the most useful? What teaching methods do the students find most helpful? How can these courses be customized to better serve the students? The purpose of this study is to interview students from a number of community colleges, exploring these topics from the student perspective with the goal of orientation course enhancement. Although students reported the skills and information provided in these orientations classes to be useful, the usefulness of specific topics varied according to the precollege preparation of each student. The authors offer suggestions for creating specialized orientation programs and courses to fit the needs of the diverse community college population.

Are Community Colleges “Home-School Friendly?”: An Exploration of Community College Web Sites as an Indicator of “Friendliness”

With the popularity of home schooling strengthening at the secondary level, the prevalence of home schoolers now attempting to enter higher education is escalating. Community colleges, however, may be inadvertently closing our doors to home-schooled applicants. This content analysis study uses the Home School Legal Defense Associations recommended college admissions policies as an indicator of home-school friendly cultures in an inductive analysis of admissions information appearing on 105 community college Web sites in an 11-state accreditation region. Findings suggest that community college Web sites frequently do not provide information for home-schooled applicants, and home-school admissions policies often differ from college to college. Suggestions for improvement include customizing information to better meet the needs of the individual audiences visiting the site, adding a “doorway” or “landing page,” posting YouTube-type videos, and providing interactive functions—such as instant messaging and live online chat rooms—for students to communicate with admissions officers as they explore college options. Implications for community colleges and future research are also provided.

Exploring the Impact of Classified Staff Interactions on Student Retention: A Multiple Case Study Approach

This multiple case study explored classified staff interactions with students as a possible strategy for increasing student success. Individual interviews, observations, and a focus group with support staff were used to investigate their interactions with students, their view of these interactions, and their expectations of students. Findings showed classified staff members enhance the educational process by empowering students with information, offering individual support, and holding students accountable. Interactions with classified staff appear to have a positive impact on the student experience. The authors recommend increasing institutional support of classified staff in order to enhance student success. Future research focusing on how students perceive the impact of classified staff interactions is also suggested.

Is all College Preparation Equal? Pre-Community College Experiences of Home-Schooled, Private-Schooled, and Public-Schooled Students

The goal of this descriptive cross-sectional pilot study was to increase researcher knowledge of precollege preparation in three populations of traditional students attending a community college in a mid-Atlantic state: public-school students, home-schooled students, and private-schooled students. By its exploration of precollege experiences and their perceived impact among these three populations, this research extends the conversation on traditional student college preparation to include students from home-schooled and private-schooled backgrounds, two groups attending the community college in increasing numbers. Findings suggest that precollege preparation differs amongst the groups. Home-schooled students were more likely to credit their current abilities, skills, and knowledge to their previous educational experiences than were either of the remaining groups. Private-schooled student responses tended to be the next highest, followed by public-schooled student responses. In general, more home-schooled students rated themselves as above average and in the top 10% of their peers on their general academic ability, mathematical ability, reading comprehension, and their drive to achieve than the other student groups. More private-schooled respondents rated themselves as above average and in the top 10% of their peers on their study skills compared to the other groups, and more public-schooled respondents rated themselves as above average and in the top 10% of their peers on their computer skills and in their writing ability. Responses differed among respondents as to their intent to return to the community college within in the next 12 months although a two-sample t-test between proportions was not significant. Implications for research and practice are included.

Community College Adjustment Among Dislocated Workers

Community colleges often are catalysts for economic and workforce development in localities with high unemployment or large numbers of dislocated workers. Increasingly, dislocated workers—individuals who have experienced job loss due to occupational closings, reduced workforces, or severe local economic downturns—are enrolling in educational and retraining opportunities, career counseling, and other supports offered by their local community college in partnership with federal and state assistance programs. Although benchmarks for two-year college success include providing institutional supports to address students’ academic, social, and personal adjustment needs, little research exists to help guide effective practices aimed at supporting dislocated workers’ two-year college adjustment, retention, and success. To help fill this gap, this study collected data describing 117 dislocated-worker students’ academic, social, personal-emotional, and institutional adjustment. Next we compared dislocated worker adjustment factors with those of 143 nondislocated worker students. Contrary to our expectations, the dislocated workers in our study actually reported better academic adjustment and better academic performance than other students. Also contrary to our expectations, we found no differences in adjustment needs between the two different groups on the basis of social support, goal-directedness, or barriers to employment success. We discuss implications for practice arising from our unexpected findings and present limitations of the study and directions for future research.

The evaluation of interactive learning modules to reinforce helping skills in a web‐based interview simulation training environment

The research presented in this paper shows the continued evaluation of a web‐based interview simulation designed for human services and counseling students. The system allows students to practice empathetic helping skills in their own time. As a possible means to reinforce acquisition and transfer of these skills, interactive learning modules (ILMs) were developed and implemented. The ILMs act as supplemental instruction presenting scenarios and demonstrating best practices responses to client behaviors. Data were collected to assess the impact of these modules on empathetic helping skill acquisition and to assess the efficacy of repeated interactions with the system. Survey items and comments from users were also collected. Findings show some positive trends in empathetic helping skill acquisition through repeated interactions but no significant effects of the ILMs. Attitudinal survey results and comments from users were collected to assess user perceptions of the system as a whole and of the ILMs.

Community College Dual Enrollment Faculty Orientation: A Utilization-Focused Approach.

The current climate of accountability demands that institutions engage in data-driven program evaluation. In order to promote quality dual enrollment (DE) programs, institutions must support the adjunct faculty teaching college courses in high schools. This study uses Pattons utilization-focused model (1997) to conduct a formative evaluation of a pilot Dual Enrollment Faculty Orientation Program (DEFOP) at a community college. Data from surveys, interviews, observations, and analysis of syllabi indicated faculty appreciated establishing relationships with the college and gained an understanding of DE expectations. While participants did not make changes to syllabi or pedagogy, they employed effective teaching strategies to deliver successful, college-level DE courses. Implications for future DE orientation programs include focusing on the cultivation of institutional relationships and establishing expectations while deemphasizing information related to specific instructional strategies.