Objective/Research Question: Many localities have implemented promise programs, which cover tuition for students to attend college based on residency criteria. These "free college" programs have been shown to increase student enrollment, creating the need for additional institutional resources to support student graduation. We analyzed…

Industry experience is widely viewed as an important requirement for community college teachers, as it may provide instructors with insights on how to teach important workplace "soft" skills. In this chapter, we discuss a study exploring this issue and why industry experience alone is insufficient preparation for effective skills-focused…

This qualitative research study aimed to discover what obstacles and supports community college teachers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) face when teaching critical-thinking skills in their courses. The research was conducted using a basic qualitative research design that employed interviews to learn about the…

In adult education, the term "interdisciplinarity" is often treated as an agent for transforming teaching, learning, and research. This appreciation of the concept proliferates despite the fact that its actualization often supports competing interpretations and practices. Many adult educators are unaware of the distinctions made among…

This research seeks to answer the question of why sociologists teach at community colleges, how they view their choices and how they view the discipline of sociology. I theorize that contrary to community college teaching being a "fall back" position, many sociologists actively seek those positions deliberately to enact social justice…

Faculty members impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic inadvertently participated in a historic, widespread, and rapidly occurring educational development phenomenon: the global shift toward emergency remote teaching. We surveyed faculty members (n = 502) at four different institutions (a community college and a small, medium-sized, and large…

Preparing graduate students for teaching careers in academia can involve myriad approaches. One such approach is facilitating authentic teaching opportunities for graduate students. The purpose of this multiple case study was to chronicle the perspectives of four humanities graduate students as they participated in a mentored teaching experience…

Objective: This study is aimed at understanding the ways in which faculty at community colleges utilize their industry experiences to inform their teaching. Method: The research drew on Merriam's basic qualitative approach in analyzing data from 14 semi-structured qualitative interviews. Results: Our findings expand upon prior research surrounding…

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…

A significant number of students who enroll in community colleges are placed in remedial courses for which the credits do not count toward degree attainment. These remedial courses cost the same as first-year, credit-bearing college courses, and research indicates that students who enroll in these courses are less likely to finish their degree…

Reacting directly to the fact that even the best syllabus is worthless to the student who does not read it, this essay draws inspiration from research of the past decade, especially from the learning-focused syllabus concept that was introduced by three researchers at the University of Virginia, and uses a questionnaire to gauge our community…

In this article, the authors describe two independent efforts at "flipping" introductory economics courses employing econlowodown.org resources from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. From an instructor's perspective, it is relatively simple to locate the high-quality free resources available online and assign them to students. Their…

In corequisite models of instruction, marginally prepared students are placed directly into college-level coursework, taught with a paired support course. Initial research suggests that such models yield significant improvements in the number of students passing credit-level mathematics when compared to previous models of prerequisite remediation.…

This 17th edition of Minimum Qualifications for Faculty and Administrators in California Community Colleges is an update of the disciplines lists including those noticed to the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges (Board of Governors) at the July 12 and September 20, 2021 meetings. The handbook incorporates changes that resulted…

Student success and graduation rates are a continuing challenge for higher education institutions. A growing number of states connect funding to learning outcomes such as student progression, retention, and graduation rates (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2012; Complete College America, 2011; Diamond, 2012). Student attrition and graduation rates…