Urban community colleges fulfill a critical role in metropolitan areas. These institutions are often large by design, with campuses in various communities and neighborhoods so that the institution may fulfill its open access mission across a metropolitan area. This article addresses three emerging initiatives that enable the urban community…

In this article, the authors focus on the intersection of the study of activism and the urban community college. Leveraging the Actors, Contexts, Tactics, and Strategies (ACTS) Framework, the authors (re)examine activism scholarship that illuminates similarities and differences between 2- and 4-year institutions. Ultimately, the article concludes…

In this chapter, we examine how spatial access, the extent to which individuals must traverse space or time to reach a community college, varies by time of day across socio-demographic groups. We specifically measure spatial access as the time required to travel to a community college by public transit, a common mode of transportation for many…

Community colleges are vital sources of educational and economic opportunities in urban areas. This chapter provides readers with a review of the research on students served by these institutions. While the experiences of this population are similar in many ways to those of community college students across the country, the influence of their…

This article assesses the changing dynamics of urbanization and urbanism in the contemporary US through three lenses. First, it examines economic shifts spurred by the rise of the knowledge economy, which position higher education institutions (HEIs) as drivers of innovation and urban growth. Second, it draws attention to new metropolitan…

The COVID-19 pandemic illuminated the need for urban community colleges to utilize an adaptive leadership approach to thrive during times of uncertainty. Adaptive leaders encourage team members to address problems through new ways of thinking to meet organizational goals. The community college sector, especially institutions in urban environments,…

Urban community colleges have been studied primarily from a case study perspective, often highlighted by doctoral students conducting research at their institutions. Little of this scholarship, however, has been translated into the base of literature, as less than 5% of the citations in the largest search engines are focused on urban community…

The goal of this article is to enhance understanding and appreciation of the current and potential role of trustees in urban community colleges. In working to make sure students are successful, trustees face numerous challenges in implementing high-impact policies and practices that center student success. This article establishes a node…

The financial aid process extends beyond once a student submits the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) application. Scholars have found that the financial aid process can be cumbersome, especially for minoritized students. What is unclear in the literature are the additional hurdles students encounter to obtain financial aid. I…

Biology education research (BER), currently conducted mostly at four-year colleges and universities, is changing the culture of teaching biology and improving student success. We are community college faculty participating in the NSF-funded CC Bio INSITES network, getting training and support in BER to ask questions to improve student success in…

This chapter presents the leadership journeys of five faculty who participated in the SAGE 2YC: Faculty as Change Agents project. These faculty stories illustrate the influence of the project on their leadership and work as mid-level administrative or grassroots leaders. Key to the project was the explicit inclusion of leadership development in…

This chapter captures the authors' voices as faculty who were abruptly required to learn how to teach courses remotely in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. They share how they successfully made changes and stayed committed to maintaining high standards in an online environment. Based on these experiences, they present recommendations for…

Online education has increased rapidly since its inception and will likely continue this upward trend post-pandemic. Strategies of successful online instructors include incorporating active learning, effectively communicating with students, and using universal design and backwards design principles in course development. Additionally, online…

Although community colleges are increasingly diverse, student outcomes across demographics are not necessarily equitable, nor does the representation of student demographics in a given class always reflect the diversity of the greater institutional student population. To achieve colleges' stated diversity and equity goals, we must broaden…

This chapter presents research and evaluation results on the SAGE 2YC project's intentional focus on a cycle of change rooted in modeling evidence-based pedagogies and facilitating change in teaching and leadership among faculty peers on multiple levels. Based on five years of qualitative and quantitative data involving 40 community colleges and…