The availability of student support systems and mentee-mentor relationships provide effective ways to increase the representation of women in STEM areas (Creamer & Laughlin, 2005). Support systems allow students the opportunity to engage in discussion and activities with individuals, including family, faculty, staff, or administrators with…

There is an abundance of research concerning the definition measurement, and promotion of engagement across various work-related organizations. However, little is known about how we might begin to understand and facilitate engagement among community college faculty. Community college faculty face a unique set of challenges that render them at…

Currently, a majority of two-year colleges in the United States are located in rural areas. Small, rural-serving community colleges are instrumental to the survival of the communities they reside in, as well as vital to the stakeholders they serve. How does being a rural community college present specialized challenges and in what ways do the…

The role of a community college department chairperson is not well defined and the job is often perceived as more of a burden than an honor. Faculty come to the position frequently by "default" and without a ready set of management and leadership skills. The matter is of concern since chairs influence academic department strategy, culture, and…

The extent to which Hispanic faculty members employed at all Texas community colleges had changed from 2000 to 2008 is examined. Both the number and percentage of Hispanic faculty members employed full-time at Texas community colleges had increased from 2000 to the 2008 school year. Though a statistically significant increase was present, the…

As the student affairs profession developed, expanded, and specialized over the last century, a disconnect occurred between student affairs professionals and academics. Despite that separation, the literature on student affairs in higher education supports the need for movement towards collaboration and integration of academic affairs and student…

The "Find Your Classroom Voice Program" has been offered at Kingsborough Community College for the past three years. Its purpose is to enable students who are consistently inactive in class discussions (and who might be called "classroom-specific social phobic") to develop the ability to take a more active role in the classroom. With its success,…

It is an event administrators, faculty, staff, and students dread every semester--the course cancellation meeting, when it is decided which low enrollment classes will be canceled. No one wins. Students are left scrambling to make last-minute adjustments to their schedules, and administrators are forced to cancel low-enrollment classes even though…

The notion of the essential balance needed between the art and science of teaching is explored through the introspection of a developmental mathematics instructor at a community college. A dialogue was held over a three year period between the authors and the instructor. Through the dialogue and discussion of college teaching research-based…

The fictitious story presented in the first part of this article reflects a culture where mentoring is a shared value of faculty and administration. This article offers suggestions which are intended to serve as a basic guide for making the fictitious faculty member's experience a reality. A community could use all components of an established…

Learning communities are a growing tool in use at colleges and universities around the country. In large part, these communities have been created in the hope that they will increase interaction among students and teach them to apply knowledge in meaningful ways. In addition to generating student interaction, learning communities should strive to…

The academically underprepared community college student may also be psychosocially underprepared for college, a condition contributing to the development of classroom-specific social phobia and to the high attrition rate at community colleges. The "Find Your Voice Program" uses individual and group cognitive-behavioral techniques to develop…

Dr. Richard Sagor is the Educational Leadership Program Director and a professor in the Department of Education at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon. Dr. Howard Tinberg is a professor of English at Bristol Community College in Fall River, Massachusetts, where he is also director of the Writing Lab. He is the editor of the journal "Teaching…

The average age of students at Lake Michigan College (LMC) is twenty-eight years old. In the current study, the application of customized internet assessment for Chemistry 101, Introductory College Chemistry, from 2001 to 2005 is compared with traditional assessment from 1996 to 2000. The authors describe the ways in which computerized assessment…

Rural America, in direct competition with growing suburban and urban America, has struggled to maintain a high quality of life. Rural out-migration levels are high, as are poverty and illiteracy rates. Rural community colleges have worked to defend and expand opportunities in rural settings, yet face their own challenges tied to resources,…