In partnership with the Illinois Community College Board (ICCB), the Office of Community College Research and Leadership (OCCRL) has had an ongoing commitment toward providing support for Illinois community colleges, with the goal of advancing equitable outcomes for students. In pursuit of this objective, OCCRL researchers have worked with…

Background/context: Challenges faced by community college students have both intensified and transformed since COVID-19 hit in spring 2020. As colleges transitioned operations online and are still gradually returning to in-person teaching and learning, they have had to experiment with how to help students maintain some sense of connection to their…

A rise in racial tensions nationwide has heightened the need for community college leaders to have candid conversations about race on their campuses. "Dialogue is the only path to creating community," says Joseph Grenny, co-author of "Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High." But talking about race,…

Community colleges have long provided students a gateway to greater economic opportunities, primarily through two pathways: completing two years of college courses while preparing to transfer to earn a four-year degree or career training that can lead to stable, well-paying positions. Eva L. Rivera Lebrón, a professor of mathematics at…

In this article, the authors present a collegiate recovery model of service that prioritizes a programmatic approach and intentionally designed services, activities, and mentoring that is structured upon a foundation of what we identify as five "Healing Pillars of Collegiate Recovery." The guiding principle of service is to provide…

Given that multiple forms of oppression are endemic to higher education, strategies intended to retain queer and trans college students should mirror the strategies of survival and thriving found within queer and trans communities. Fostering and bolstering connections, community, and kinship among queer and trans college students through a lens of…

Many community colleges are unwelcoming to LGBTQ students and this chapter provides practical suggestions to community college leaders to develop a more inclusive campus culture.

Through an illustrative example of Together We Achieve at Parkland College in Champaign, Illinois, this chapter outlines an institutional approach for improving conditions for Black men on campus.

Community and technical colleges have a long-established tradition of instructing students in library use with the goal of increasing information literacy and life-long learning (Branch & Gilchrist, 1996). This article will briefly summarize that history and discuss the impact the information age has had in altering the ways in which that…

This article provides a framework for understanding and supporting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered students in community colleges. It should be noted that many of the understandings and structural supports often apply to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) faculty and staff as well. The study is based upon…

While admission to a community college is simple--"apply and you're in!"--the institution itself is quite complex. Community colleges serve several purposes: transfer, vocational, recreational, and remedial. Community colleges see students through many lenses. What should counselors know in order to help their community college-bound students make…

Researchers Barbara Gault, Elizabeth Noll, and Lindsey Reichlin, from the Institute for Women's Policy Research (DC), assess the unique needs of community college students who are also parents. The majority of students with children attend community college. Single parents, the majority of whom are mothers, are more likely to work fulltime and…

The community college environment is complex and dynamic, requiring constant monitoring. To ensure that workforce education, a core component of community colleges' missions, remains aligned with colleges' environments, responsive to employers' needs, suited to students' interests and abilities, and current in content and technology, it is…

Several national studies have documented high rates of drinking on college campuses and a wide range of negative repercussions of student alcohol use. Associated with fighting, vandalism, acquaintance rape, and unprotected sex, drinking on college campuses has a clear and damaging effect on campus life. Difficulty meeting academic responsibilities…

This pilot study was conducted in order to explore factors that facilitate and inhibit the teaching of online courses from an administrative perspective. A random sample of community college and public and private universities was selected, and administrators working closely in online education were invited to participate. A qualitative…