As colleges and universities continue to navigate the longer-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, a wealth of knowledge and insights exists within many community colleges to inform how to best prepare students for the fast-changing demands of learning, work, and life. Using a strengths-based approach and interviews with students from three large…

Community college student success metrics have become increasingly synonymous with the completion rate and other key academic performance measures over the past quarter century. These measures, however, do not fully capture students' subjective interpretations of success, including their individual goals and aspirations. This article aims to…

Background: Upon returning to in-person teaching at Kingsborough Community College after the pandemic, I realized something profound had shifted in my students. The well-documented drop in community college enrollment attributed to the pandemic seemed to reflect deeper disjunctures that had led students to an existential questioning of the purpose…

In recent years, increased attention has been paid to mental health struggles among students, and a range of interventions have been proposed to improve student retention and learning through "trauma-engaged pedagogy" and "cultures of caring." Drawing on the insights of affect theory, we argue that such a focus, although…

Academic libraries have long been called the heart of their campuses. As priorities have shifted away from print collections and other repository services, college libraries have expanded their services to be welcoming spaces that support students' sense of belonging and meet a wide range of needs. This is perhaps especially true of community…

Background/Context: Community colleges are seen as malleable institutions that work closely with high schools, vocational programs, employers, and community organizations to provide an education for all members of their local community. As an extension of the community, the education provided must address larger social changes (i.e., Affirmative…

Background or Context: The COVID-19 pandemic may be considered a focusing event that has drawn greater attention to the physical and mental health of community college students. Purpose, Objective, Research Question, or Focus of Study: This study examined community college students' self-reported life stressors pre- and post-pandemic-onset to…

Background: Between 70 million and 100 million Americans have a record of interaction with the criminal legal system, a group facing stigma and discrimination in civic participation, housing, employment, and education. Justice-impacted people face collateral consequences in the community, making reentry programs essential to success at…

Background/Context: There is a misalignment in contemporary society between the assumption that all high school graduates can and should attend college and the lack of funding and support to make that happen. This is especially apparent at community colleges that enroll disproportionally low-income students, who deal with a variety of obstacles…

Background/Context: The Holistic Oasis for Parents' Education (HOPE) Program is an on-campus summer program designed to serve the whole student with a three-dimensional support model. Low-income, Black, and Hispanic parents experienced some of the most egregious effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, which reflects the demographics of one in three…

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…