Stephen G. Katsinas

THE DIGITAL DIVIDE AND RURAL COMMUNITY COLLEGES: PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS

This article reviews four major reports of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce, regarding the digital divide and rural community colleges. The first report was published in 1995; subsequent reports were issued in 1998, 1999, and 2000. It is clear that a digital divide, as measured by lower penetration rates of telephone usage, personal computer ownership, and Internet access and usage, exist in rural America. These lower rates exist for nearly every category measured, including single parent households, young and old persons, minority and majority populations, persons with disabilities, adult educational attainment, and income. The reports reveal that in many aspects the divide is growing. Current data on PC ownership and Internet usage are presented for dissemination to practitioners. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications of this divide for rural community college students, teachers, administrators, and policymakers.

Latino Leadership in Community Colleges: Issues and Challenges.

Is there a crisis in Latino leadership at community colleges? This article argues that one exists. Evidence of the crisis is found in a review of the literature pertaining to Latino leadership in community colleges, results of a qualitative survey of Latino and Latina senior level administrators, and an examination of higher education enrollment patterns. Although 56% of Latino students are beginning their higher education at community colleges, the percentage of Latino CEOs is only at 3 - 4%, and attainment of the doctorate by Latinos falls below 4%. This article suggests that while progress has been made, much more remains to be done to expand the pool of prepared Latinos for leadership positions at community colleges.

Using Community College Classifications in Research: From Conceptual Model to Useful Tool

ABSTRACT This paper describes the methodology utilized to bring the 1993/1996 Katsinas-Lacey 2 year college classification system into the 21st century. The methodology involved using data from the 2000 United States Census and the National Center for Education Statistics Integrated Postsecondary Educational Data System surveys for the 2000–2001 and 2001–2002 academic years. The primary purpose of this work was to create an empirically supported, valid tool that can be used by researchers to create useful descriptive portraits of the universe of 2 year, publicly controlled institutions that primarily offer the associates degree. The study concludes with recommendations for further research. These include using the new Katsinas, Lacey, and Hardy 2005 Classification System to describe and discern similarities and differences within this particular institutional population by class and subclass within the model. This would be achieved through its application to existing national datasets, to researcher-designed surveys, and other research protocols.

Current Developments in Community College Performance Funding.

Since the initiation of performance funding in Tennessee in the late 1970s, approximately 30 states have, at some point, attempted a funding model that includes performance on a set of indicators. The purpose of the present study was to capture the current status of performance funding in public statewide community college systems and to assess which performance indicators were collected at the state level. Data were obtained through the 2012 Survey of Finance and Access Issues conducted by the Education Policy Center at the University of Alabama. The survey was administered to the National Council of State Directors of Community Colleges, and 50 responses were obtained from 49 states. Not every survey respondent answered each survey item. Findings showed that 19 states used performance funding for community colleges, with six of those states allocating at least 10% of state funds based on performance. An analysis of indicators captured at the state level (not exclusively for performance funding) showed a decline of emphasis on process indicators and greater emphasis on outputs. The performance-based distribution of base funding and the inclusion of output measures that capture intermediate indicators of success are consistent with the principles of Performance Funding 2.0, a new form of performance funding recently discussed in the literature. Future research should include tracking the current findings over time and expanding the existing literature on whether performance funding influences outcomes.

The New Norm: Community Colleges to Deal with Recessionary Fallout

Since the beginning of the Great Recession, many community colleges have experienced significant declines in state revenue, increases in enrollment, higher tuition, and flat or declining state student aid. These conditions have also occurred in an environment of heightened accountability with pressure to advance a student success agenda and to meet workforce training needs. Findings from the annual survey of state community college directors conducted by the Education Policy Center at the University of Alabama, in partnership with Iowa State University and The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, show that the majority of state directors feel states are moving toward a privatized model of higher education and that structural deficits exist in state budgets disadvantaging community colleges. The concern is that these and other related findings demonstrate a situation that may not improve as the nation climbs out of recession; this situation is creating a new norm in community college funding.

An Early History of the Rural Community College Initiative: Reflections on the Past and Implications for the Future

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Assessing What Matters: Improving College Readiness 50 Years Beyond Brown

17.2 million Rural Community College Initiative (RCCI) demonstration grant program funded by the Ford Foundation which ran from 1994 to 2001 represents the largest philanthropic project specifically aimed at rural community colleges in United States history. While a good deal of literature has been published about this initiative, much was specifically commissioned by the foundation and can be seen as coming from a public relations perspective. This paper provides a historical perspective from an independent point of view. Its purpose is to create a documentary record for future community college leaders and potential funders interested in reaching the nations 553 rural community colleges.

COMMUNITY COLLEGE INVOLVEMENT IN WELFARE-TO-WORK PROGRAMS

50 years after the Brown v. Board of Education decision, a high-stakes testing movement, significantly boosted by provisions contained in No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, has emerged with the potential of both positive and negative implications. This paper argues that assessment generally is not tied to the 3 positive outcomes of urban, suburban, or rural schools—admission to college, military, and workforce entry—which are relevant to the private and public sectors, and to students and their parents. Benchmarking performance directly in relation to positive outcomes that matter is crucial if high-stakes testing, which ostensibly has as its purpose the improvement of overall system performance, is to be tied to all the desired outcomes that matter.

On-Campus Housing at Rural Community Colleges.

This article discusses community college involvement in a key welfare-to-work training program, the Jobs Opportunities and Basic Skills Training Program (JOBS), as a mirror to reflect on the larger issue of how federal and state workforce policy impacts publicly-controlled institutions of higher education. A qualitative assessment of JOBS programs at community colleges framed discussion regarding the challenges community colleges face as they attempt to preserve these programs within an era of devolved responsibility for welfare-to-work funding from the federal government to the states.

Rural Community Colleges

A certain “mythology” appears to exists within higher education that residence halls do not exist at community colleges. The reality is that residence halls do exist at community colleges, and they play an integral role in the fabric of the institutions that have them. This article identifies the number of rural-serving community colleges, and it reports selected results of the first national study on residence halls at community colleges in the United States. Focusing on rural-serving public community colleges, the motivation for community college involvement in operating on-campus housing is examined. Recommendations for future areas of needed research are discussed.