scholarly journals No Longer Junior Colleges: Integrating Institutional Diversity in Graduate Higher Education Programs

10.28945/3888 ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 147-163
Author(s):  
Jennifer L Lebron ◽  
Jaime Lester
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Community Colleges ◽  
Junior Colleges ◽  
Integrated System ◽  
Institutional Diversity ◽  
Education Programs ◽  
Graduate Course ◽  
College Leadership ◽  
Graduate Curriculum ◽  
Four Year Institutions

Aim/Purpose: This article argues that given the isomorphic pressures on both community colleges and four-year institutions, historic divisions between community college leadership programs and general higher education programs are no longer serving the needs of new scholars and practitioners in the field. Graduate programs of higher education should integrate an understanding of community colleges and institutional diversity in meaningful ways throughout a graduate curriculum now focused on four-year institutions. Background: Community colleges and four-year institutions are engaging in isomorphic change which is weakening traditional boundaries between these sectors to create a more integrated system of higher education. Methodology: Using a framework of institutional isomorphism, this article reviews recent literature on changes within community colleges and four-year institutions and provides recommendations for infusing this isomorphism into graduate higher education programs. Contribution: By infusing an understanding of institutional diversity into all graduate course-work, educators can prepare future scholars and practitioners for a changing higher education landscape and expand beyond reductive representations of the higher education field.

Community Colleges in America and Distance Learning

2011 ◽  
pp. 302-303
Author(s):  
Gary A. Berg
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
United States ◽  
Community Colleges ◽  
Distance Learning ◽  
The United States ◽  
American Higher Education ◽  
Common Mistake ◽  
External Pressures ◽  
Institutional Types ◽  
Four Year Institutions

Community colleges in the United States have played an important role in the development and implementation of various forms of computer- and media-based education. A common mistake made when discussing distance learning in American higher education is to fail to distinguish the policies and practices of different institutional types. Generalizations about distance learning are particularly misleading if one does not recognize the very large differences in mission, resources, stakeholders, and external pressures between community colleges and four-year institutions.

An Accredited Program for Foreign Study in Community Colleges

1984 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
pp. 19-20
Author(s):  
Erwin C. Cornelius
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Community Colleges ◽  
International Education ◽  
Junior Colleges ◽  
International Affairs ◽  
Foreign Study ◽  
Government Grants ◽  
Foreign Governments ◽  
College Type ◽  
Capital Development

Within the last ten years only the most bold and innovative American community colleges have ventured to make an association between on-campus education and international education. Wasn't the latter better left to senior institutions which were equipped to handle highly technical, sophisticated, elitist manpower needs? Most all government grants and contracting involving American higher education and U.S. or foreign governments flowed to and through senior universities. For the most part this pattern remains the same today.But a viable argument has persistently been raised over the last ten years for increasing involvement of community-based junior colleges in international affairs. Raymond E. Schultz and others, documenting the maturation process of community colleges, have noted the urgent need for community college-type institutions abroad to train middle-manpower work forces and provide for greater human capital development through non-traditional higher education.

Teaching in the American Community College

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-27
Author(s):  
Carol Hittson Kent
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Professional Development ◽  
Community College ◽  
Community Colleges ◽  
Faculty Perceptions ◽  
Relevant Literature ◽  
Faculty Professional Development ◽  
Four Year Institutions ◽  
College Setting ◽  
Internal Pressures

With increasing emphasis on accountability in higher education, the value of faculty professional development continues to gain traction across campuses. Prompted by growing accreditation, assessment, and accountability measures, higher education institutions must provide evidence of faculty compliance with requirements that are tied to professional development. This is as true for community colleges as well as for four-year institutions. External and internal pressures for continuous improvement in teaching necessitates institutional commitment to understanding faculty perceptions and acceptance of high-quality professional development. Community colleges need to gain faculty acceptance of and participation in professional development in order to achieve fidelity to institutional instructional goals and initiatives. This chapter investigates community college faculty buy-in and support for professional development and considers cogent and relevant literature related to faculty professional development within the contemporary American community college setting.

“To Meet the Training and Retraining Needs of Established Business”

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Dorn
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Community College ◽  
Community Colleges ◽  
Rhode Island ◽  
Junior Colleges ◽  
Bachelor's Degree ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Santa Fe ◽  
Small Business Development ◽  
Undergraduate Study

This chapter explores community colleges. The community college is the workhorse of American higher education—and it has never been more popular. Yet community colleges have received relatively little attention from historians, an unfortunate shortcoming both because the community college is the single form of higher education that Americans can lay legitimate claim to having “invented” and because the institution has undergone a remarkable historical transformation. Beginning in the early twentieth century as “junior colleges,” community colleges were designed to provide the first two years of undergraduate study leading to the bachelor's degree. Over time, however, many became training grounds for individuals seeking occupational certification while also serving as resources for small-business development and agents of small-scale technology transfer. The chapter then looks at the cases of the Community College of Rhode Island and Santa Fe Community College to illustrate how a rising ethos of affluence guided the transformation of community colleges.

Catching up in Community Colleges: Academic Preparation and Transfer to Four-Year Institutions

2010 ◽  
Vol 112 (1) ◽  
pp. 260-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Josipa Roksa ◽  
Juan Carlos Calcagno
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Community Colleges ◽  
Academic Preparation ◽  
College Level ◽  
Writing Courses ◽  
Intermediate Outcomes ◽  
Unprepared Students ◽  
Associate's Degree ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Four Year Institutions

Background/Context Transfer from community colleges to four-year institutions remains a contentious issue in higher education, with proponents showing that students do indeed transfer to four-year institutions and opponents arguing that starting in community colleges hinders baccalaureate degree attainment. One particularly salient issue in this debate is academic preparation. Although virtually all studies of transfer control for academic preparation, there is a dearth of research focusing on whether and how academically unprepared students can catch up in higher education. Research Questions We address two research questions: To what extent do academically unprepared students transfer to four-year institutions? And, can successful completion of intermediate outcomes, such as passing college-level math and writing courses, meeting specific credit thresholds, and earning an associate's degree, diminish the role of initial preparation and increase the probability of transfer? Research Design Using event history techniques, we estimate the likelihood of transfer from community colleges to four-year institutions. Analyses include 20,900 first-time degree-seeking students who enrolled in Florida community colleges in the fall of 1998. Student enrollment is tracked through the summer of 2003. Results Community colleges can indeed serve as an alternative road of access to four-year institutions, even for academically unprepared students: Almost 20% of students in our sample who entered community colleges unprepared for college-level work made the transition to four-year institutions. Moreover, we found that successful completion of intermediate outcomes, such as passing college-level math and writing courses, meeting specific credit thresholds, and earning an associate's degree, enhances the probability of transfer. However, the ability of community colleges to mitigate the negative effects of inadequate academic preparation on transfer is limited; regardless of the intermediate outcome completed, academically unprepared students continued to lag substantially behind their more prepared counterparts. Conclusion Community colleges can serve as a democratizing force in higher education; however, their ability to overcome inadequate academic preparation with which some students enter higher education is limited. Improving academic preparation in K–12 is thus a crucial component of enhancing transfer.

“Where is Our Space Within this Ivory Tower?” The Teaching Experiences of Black Women Faculty in Education Programs

2021 ◽  
pp. 194277512110022
Author(s):  
Tomika L. Ferguson ◽  
Risha R. Berry ◽  
Jasmine D. Collins
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Black Women ◽  
Culturally Relevant ◽  
Organizational Structures ◽  
Women Faculty ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Education Programs ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
Culturally Relevant Practices ◽  
Black Women Faculty

Black women faculty represent a small percentage of full-time faculty in higher education and are often invisible, marginalized, and expected to perform duties beyond teaching, research, and service. Yet, their success in higher education positions them as possibility models for change on their campuses. The purpose of this study is to investigate the experiences of three Black women faculty who teach in graduate education programs. Specifically, we examined how teaching using culturally relevant practices may cause Black women faculty to negotiate their identity within higher education organizational structures. Using a theoretical framework informed by Black feminism and the Culturally Relevant Leadership Learning Model, three salient themes were identified: roles and responsibilities, resistance, and limitations within the academy. Implications for practice include the creation of identity specific support for Black women faculty and attention be given to faculty and student readiness prior to engaging in culturally relevant practices beyond critical self-reflection.

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