Community colleges concentrate on the neglected first two years of college; raise educational levels of underprepared students; educates and trains students to be qualified, skilled workers; and re-educates those whose skills are outdated; and those who have college degrees but no work skills. Drawing from interviews with community college…

The Coast Community College District (CCCD) in Southern California conducted a study to determine how representative the district and college student populations were of the primary service population. Recent increases in community college credit student fees significantly affected the defined student and service population. For the purpose of…

In an effort to evaluate the academic persistence and performance of all 271 fall 1989 first-time college students and first-time transfer students at Mendocino College (MC), the students' academic histories were analyzed for 4 sequential semesters from fall 1989 through spring 1991. In addition, students who persisted were compared with students…

The eight general session, exemplary practice, and roundtable papers contained in this conference proceedings report focus on various aspects of institutional effectiveness and student outcomes. The volume includes: (1) "Effectiveness and Student Success in Community Colleges: Practices, Realities, and Imperatives," by Peter Ewell; (2) "Rhetoric…

In 1983, Charles County Community College (CCCC) initiated a project to infuse academic information from the sciences, humanities, and social sciences into developmental courses. The reorganization assignments related to 27 topics that promoted academic examination and cultural literacy while at the same time drawing from students' own…

John Wood Community College's Open Learning Center (OLC) offers an alternative to traditional classroom approaches using one-to-one instruction, a competency-based learning format, and flexible scheduling. Due to concern over the high attrition rate in OLC courses, a study was conducted to identify the characteristics and variables contributing to…

The great diversity of the student population in California's community colleges and the 1982 cut of $30 million in the community colleges' budget are forcing colleges to make decisions regarding which courses and programs to eliminate, which students to disenfranchise educationally, and the priorities that should be assigned to courses. In…

In spring 1983, a survey was conducted at Bakersfield College to ascertain the effectiveness of the college's promotional efforts and to determine better ways of serving the student body. A 16-item questionnaire was distributed to all students, soliciting information on course load; educational objectives, background, and plans; student major;…

Suggestions are offered for faculty, librarians, and administrators to encourage students to make greater use of the library and its resources. The suggestions, developed by faculty and staff of Jefferson Community College (Kentucky) through a cooperative small-group process, are divided into five categories: (1) ways in which faculty can increase…

A study was conducted at Miami-Dade Community Colleges (MDCC) to investigate whether a combination of freshman and sophomore grades and student scores on the College Level Academic Skills Test (CLAST) would be a better predictor of student academic success at the four-year level than CLAST scores alone. Since there were insufficient data to…

In January 1982, a study was conducted at William Rainey Harper College (WRHC) to gather follow-up data on transfer-oriented students 1 year after they had accumulated at least 48 semester hours of credit. All 820 alumni meeting these criteria were mailed a survey form asking about their current status, evaluation of WRHC, and activity patterns…

Data were collected in fall 1983 to provide a profile of the student population of the Peralta Community College District (PCCD). The data revealed: (1) total student enrollment declined by 12% from fall 1982 (N=38,976) to fall 1983 (N=34,183); (2) 57% of the students whose sex was identified were women; (3) minorities constituted 58% of the…

A study was conducted at Walters State Community College (WSCC) using a "base rate" approach to evaluate developmental mathematics and English courses. The study involved the collection of data on students' success rates in developmental courses and later in college-level courses; on developmental students' success rates compared with…

Art education in the community colleges of America is much like art education in the comprehensive four-year colleges and universities, that is, important and enduring, but not central to institutional mission. Many students taking the classes in handicrafts, painting and drawing, design, and graphics intend to make careers in the arts. Others…

Drawing from a nationwide pilot test of the Community College Student Experiences Questionnaire (CCSEQ), a study was conducted to compare Santa Monica College (SMC) students (N=106) with students attending nine other Southern California community colleges (N=498). The CCSEQ was designed to provide information on the relationship between students'…