Through no fault of our own, higher education and the world writ large were metaphorically without vision and clarity of sight for the initial few months of the COVID-19 global health crisis as we all tried to stand up protocols, processes, and systems to better identify how our institutions could continue forward safely -- supporting both our…

In this National Science Foundation Advanced Technician Education program (NSF ATE) project, we aimed to explore factors that would strengthen the rural IT employee workforce and improve educational support related to broadband, telecommunications, and networks in rural settings. Using multiple methods to triangulate rural IT program curricula…

From their very beginnings, the community colleges have demonstrated a commitment to their founding principles of access, affordability, and quality. However, following February 2009, when President Obama set forth the agenda for U.S. postsecondary education to have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020, priority shifted…

The shortage of skilled labor and the consequent need for workforce training have become critical issues for American businesses in our fast changing, highly technical, and competitive, global economy. College contract training programs are one potential source for meeting the growing need for training. The purpose of this research was to develop…

Excessive course attrition is costly to both the student and the institution. While most institutions have systems to quantify and report the numbers, far less attention is typically paid to each student's reason(s) for withdrawal. In this case study, text analytics was used to analyze a large set of open-ended written comments in which students…

In 2008 Florida's Senate Bill No. 1716 was enacted, which replaced the Florida Community College System with the Florida College System and presented 9 out of the 28 community colleges with the option to transition to state colleges. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of Senate Bill No. 1716 and, in doing so, discuss the…

Strategic planning and innovation at Bismarck State College (BSC) found common ground in the college's goal to recruit and retain employees in an environment of low unemployment and strong competition for skilled employees. BSC's strategic plan for 2007-09 included the objective "to increase retention of employees." One of the strategies…

Since 2004, Rhodes State College has been at the forefront of developing an institution-wide model of institutional effectiveness--Strategic and Institutional Effectiveness Planning System (SIEPS). A focus on both measuring mission effectiveness and strategic achievement led to development of a unique electronic application that tracks the direct…

Evaluates outcomes of the Virginia Community College System's (VCCS's) Professional Development Initiative, specifically to determine the extent to which documented professional development needs of faculty members had been addressed and the extent to which student learning had been enhanced. Finds that the VCCS Professional Development Initiative…

Surveys faculty members of the University of Kentucky Community College System about how they use videotape programs in their classroom instruction. Finds that most faculty members use video occasionally for showing visual examples of the topics they are teaching and to stimulate classroom conversation. Indicates a relationship between teaching…

Summarizes the ways in which the Education Pilot Criteria for the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award were adapted for use in institutional self-assessment. Presents the perceptions of academic deans in the North Carolina Community College System regarding current and future applications of continuous quality improvement principles in the…

Uses components of effective faculty development identified from a review of the literature to assess faculty development at 49 Texas two-year colleges. Finds that good teaching is valued and connected to evaluation and tenure decisions. However, the lack of leadership and a formalized, structured program are serious detriments to effective…