The history of Black people across the globe is marred by structural racism created by colonialism. Structural racism is deeply embedded in the American culture and academia is not excluded from this phenomenon. The research demonstrates that the problem of racism is not only prevalent in four-year academic institutions but also exists in two-year…

This chapter highlights the role of institutional coaches in supporting community college transformational reform efforts, such as guided pathways. The history of coaching support for student success is explored along with a description of a national network of state intermediaries supporting the work of coaches focused on campus-level change.…

The impact of evolving feedback ecology on students' feedback literacy development remains underexplored. This study examined the effects of transitioning from secondary to higher education on students' conceptions and practices of feedback literacy. The research involved 35 first-year associate's degree students from various disciplines at a Hong…

Organizational climate (OC) affects employees, their interactions with students, and is essential to student achievement. However, the research is limited in that it is not clear how college faculty and staff perceive OC factors that may contribute to student academic achievement. The aim of this study was to answer the following research…

As the historically "traditional" college student body begins to include more marginalized and minoritized populations, institutions of higher education need to be cognizant of making all students feel welcomed, appreciated, and included. Doing so necessitates an understanding of dynamics surrounding gender, power, and privilege.…

This study aimed to understand the barriers that two-year college students face that prevent graduation and the possible intervention program to assist them with overcoming these barriers. The perceptions of academic advisors working at a two-year college were gained in the areas of barriers related to environmental factors, social integration,…

As an institution that aims to create more access to higher education by removing barriers to entry, the California Community College (CCC) system supports what is often described as "nontraditional" students (i.e., first-generation and systems-impacted students), but also of most importance to this study, Students of Color (Knoell,…

This qualitative phenomenological inquiry aimed to explore the experiential dimensions of first-year, first-semester college students' perceptions of their college readiness from high school to a junior college in Belize. Employing Leedy and Ormrod's (2016) methodology for data analysis, the researcher engaged a purposeful sample of 30 first-year,…

This research aimed to assess students' perception of the campus climate as it relates to issues of gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation at a community college in Hawai'i. Despite LGBTQ+ individuals' historical acceptance in Hawai'i, little research explores their current experiences within higher education, specifically…

Trans community college students are facing increasingly hostile campus environments across the United States in the form of Transphobic language, gendered administrative forms and processes, and inaccessible restrooms (Lange et al., 2021; Rankin, 2003). Using an Appreciative Inquiry (AI) framework, the goal in this qualitative study was to engage…

This article explores the experiences of project directors at two-year Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander serving institutions in the Midwest. Specifically, we examined how project directors faced racialized campus environments, navigated support structures (or the lack thereof), and continually combatted misperceptions about the…

This manuscript focuses on student veterans' best option to start their post-high-school education: attending community colleges. It illustrates this point using the story of the author, a US Army combat veteran who began his career at a community college, and other veterans who also began their college careers at the community college. Using…

"The Laboring Scholar: Community College Geographies and the Politics of Care" is an institutional ethnography that investigates the personal, political, and economic costs to student caregivers seeking a college degree. Through a critical analysis of student interviews and a close examination of community college structures and…

This study explores how aesthetic decisions influence community college presidents. Aesthetic choices communicate powerful messages (McArdle-Clinton, 2008). These messages influence a campus community, affecting access, cost, decision, and equity (Bouillard & Deslandes, 2015; Connor & Schrecker, 2010; Fairclough, 1995; James, 2013). These…

First-generation college students are a prominent higher education student population and are well-represented at the community college. Unfortunately, many first-generation community college students do not persist for degree completion. These students face many academic and social challenges that impact their persistence. However, research has…