This study developed an equity-minded and trauma-informed model for improving community college student success rates. Since up to 94% of community college students have experienced trauma, it was imperative to establish a comprehensive approach to overcoming the resulting non-academic barriers and low completion rates. Since there is no existing…

Hispanic women in higher education are underrepresented as faculty and mid-level administrators and are not ascending through the career pipeline into higher leadership positions at community colleges. The purpose of this dissertation was to explore the experiences of Latinas in a career in academia. This study was conducted as a qualitative…

During the COVID-19 pandemic, higher education moved almost exclusively to online operations, causing an unprecedented technological shift in college operations, teaching and learning, and professional and social interactions to the digital space of modern videoconferencing. Utilizing Prensky's (2001) digital natives and digital immigrants theory,…

Latino students represent the fastest-growing population in the state of California, the United States, and the California Community College (CCC) system. Unfortunately, compared to other ethnic groups, Latino community college students continue to lag academically. Given the importance of counseling services and the scarce research related to…

The problem addressed in this qualitative grounded theory study was that there are different curricula designs for online biology courses resulting in students having significant challenges. The purpose of this qualitative grounded theory study was to use the theories of Mezirow (1990) and Tomlinson (1996) as the theoretical framework to explore…

Purpose: This study addressed issues of chief diversity officers who often face diversity challenges when attracting, recruiting, and retaining, faculty of color in community colleges in California. Perceptions and meaning-making of chief diversity officers were explored as they encountered racism and shaped the discourse on race embedded in the…

The topic for this study is the lack of engagement of full-time faculty at a Midwest community college. The problem to be addressed by this study is determining the factors leading to the need for more employee commitment, also known as disengagement, in the operation of a community college. The impact of disengaged faculty on other faculty could…

Congolese/Zairean immigrant community college students face challenges at a US community college setting. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive research was to understand participants' description of their encounters. Theories helped understand the phenomenon under research. Ogbu and Simons (1998) Cultural Ecology Theory was used to…

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study is to discover the asynchronous online learning experiences that support learning motivation for community college degree-seeking non-traditional adult learners in the United States. The theoretical framework guiding this study is Knowles' andragogy adult learning theory. The utilization of…

School officials, policymakers, administrators, and colleges and universities express concerns express concern regarding issues that affect the persistence of community college students. Graduation rates from community colleges continue to decline at colleges across the United States. The problem investigated in this study was how the negative…

This qualitative descriptive study aimed to explore how community college students describe their motivations and reasoning when learning about controversial science topics at a southwestern community college. Anti-science attitudes have been increasing globally, but is not fully understood. Two research questions were developed using the theory…

Objective: The purpose of this research is twofold: first, to investigate financially eligible Pell Grant community college students' perceptions of barriers and enablers to student success, and second, to critique the financial aid satisfactory academic progress (SAP) criteria through a cross-case comparison of students who are meeting and are…

Projected qualified nursing deficits and high student attrition levels highlighted need to investigate cultivation of grit, a malleable trait involving perseverance and passion despite challenges and difficulties. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to investigate how second-year nursing students with high levels of…

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to investigate how community college supervisors in Arizona describe their role in promoting feedback-seeking, reflection, and active experimentation. The theoretical frameworks supporting this study were Bandura's social cognitive theory, Marsick and Watkins informal and incidental learning…

In this qualitative grounded theory study, I interviewed participants from and analyzed documents associated with three community/state colleges in Florida. Additionally, I have included the perspective of key informants from the state and/or the Florida College System. The purpose of this qualitative grounded theory study was to develop a…