Raymond J. Young (1923-2007) played a key role in the post-World War II development of community colleges in Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, and elsewhere. This article describes his scholarly and professional contributions in developing "bottom-up," grassroots citizen's participatory studies that led to the establishment of 60 community colleges in 33…

Organizational cultures shape and reinforce socially appropriate roles for men and women. Drawing on a performativity framework, which assumes that gender is socially constructed through gendered "performances," this study employs interviews with and observations of six women faculty members to examine how dominant discourses define and maintain…

In light of growing speculation that the autonomy of community college faculty members is eroding, this study draws on the 2004 National Study of Postsecondary Faculty to explore the institutional and personal variables that predict faculty satisfaction with authority to make decisions about content and methods in instructional activities. Results…

Many rural community colleges have long provided on-campus housing. This article profiles the availability of housing at rural community colleges in 2001-2002 and 2005-2006, examines the factors that will continue to make on-campus housing an important service at rural institutions, and draws on 2005-2006 data from the Institutional…

Remediation is the most common approach to preparing students academically and socially during their early stages of college. However, despite its profound importance and its significant costs, there is very little rigorous research analyzing its effectiveness. The goal of this article is to provide a conceptual framework for the evaluation of…

This study examines student learning experiences in nine occupational education programs at two Midwestern community colleges. Interviews with 39 program graduates and 10 of their supervisors provided information about the features of the occupational programs that were most beneficial for job preparation, those that were least beneficial for job…

This study examines the influences of social and cultural capital on persistence from 1st to 2nd year and how these effects differ between community colleges and 4-year institutions. Results show that social and cultural capital have a positive association with student persistence overall but matter less when students begin at a community college.…

This review of existing literature about community college faculty members speculates about why they have received so little scholarly attention, summarizes the nature of existing research, including its methodology and topics, and suggests what else needs to be known about them. (Contains 1 table.)

The impact of an experimental, one-semester suspension of mathematics and English prerequisites from 12 courses is investigated. Data on enrollment, student performance, and instructor opinions are analyzed for the total group, and results concerning English versus mathematics prerequisites are compared. Implications for further research on the…

The impending retirements of many community college leaders creates a need to better understand who the chief academic officers (CAOs) are and the paths they followed to become CAOs. Nonetheless, researchers have paid relatively little attention to this important leadership position. To address this gap in the literature, the authors undertook a…

Increasingly hostile and turbulent environments have rendered top-down, problem-focused management structures inadequate for competing in the ever-changing postsecondary knowledge industry. The community college abundance model (CCAM), a strengths-based approach to performance enhancement in community colleges, is presented as a viable…

Binary logistic regression analyses were performed on institutional data from a large urban community college in order to identify predictors of performance in a content course (psychology) that had high literacy demands. It was found that students who completed college English were more likely to pass the content course than students with…

This study analyzed predictors of fall-to-spring and fall-to-fall retention for 9,200 first-time-in-college students who enrolled in a community college over a four-year period. Findings highlight the impact of developmental education programs and internet-based courses on student persistence. Additional predictors include financial aid, parents'…

Because K-12 teacher preparation is enormously important to the future of the nation, university teacher education programs are being joined by programs at other educational institutions to address the teacher shortage. Community colleges are one of the most eager and entrepreneurial new providers. In addition to providing the first 2 years of…

To address the teacher shortage, some states have developed special associate's degrees in teacher education. This article explores the prevalence and structure of these specialized associate's degrees and presents a case for their development to smooth the transfer pathway for community college students who wish to become teachers. (Contains 3…