The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological research study was to understand the workplace experiences of African/African diaspora/African American/Black (A/Ad/AA/B) women employed with diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) responsibilities in the California community college system during a time of new equity funding and contemporary social…

Organizational theorists have argued that managing change without addressing organizational culture will likely fail; a strong organizational culture is often regarded as a cohesive force. However, a feature of all mature organizations is the presence of subcultures (Schein, 2010), which can be destructive in organizations where there is a lack of…

The purpose of this project dissertation was to research, create and assess a hypothetical two-year musical theatre/music theater (MT) curriculum to serve as a model for future implementation at community colleges. As one of the fastest growing and most prolific forms of popular entertainment today, the 21st Century musical is uniquely poised to…

The dearth of research on the journeys of Black women led to the desire to conduct a research project that seeks to fill a void of research on the lived experiences of racially marginalized Black women community college presidents. A qualitative multiple bounded case study design was used in this study. As the number of minority women who become…

The community college serves a diverse undergraduate student population and community. Since its inception over a century ago, the mission of the community college has been to provide access and to be inclusive by offering courses that support historically disadvantaged populations, university transfer students, developmental education courses to…

Community colleges nationwide continue to face a leadership crisis. Lack of succession planning, the dynamic leadership challenge landscape, stress, and lack of incentives to become an administrator have created leadership voids throughout entire institutions. As leaders retire and new challenges, such as the COVID-19 global pandemic, emerge, the…

Using the theoretical framework of Astin's (1993) I-E-O model and Kuh's (2009) notion of student engagement, the present study investigates the participation of tutoring for various student groups at the Metropolitan Community College of Kansas City (MCCKC) and the relationship between frequency of students' participation in tutoring and perceived…

Exploring the effectiveness of student attainment of industry certification through CTE programs in community colleges in the United States is critical when considering the potential impact on gainful employment. The effect of information technology industry certification on the certificate holder(s) is unclear. This study focuses on how obtaining…

The purpose of this study is to understand how community college faculty make meaning of their experiences with grants in order to expand their professional identity as Principal Investigators (PIs) and co-Principal Investigators (co-PIs). Extramural funding provides resources to community colleges that supplement support for teaching and…

Rural community colleges, like most institutions of higher education, have been called upon to respond to the forces of globalization through internationalization. Institutional leaders and educational policymakers continue to turn their attention to this issue due to the increased demand for globally competent workers. Internationalization can…

The focus of this study centered on the lack of achievement among students who receive special education services and the general population. This achievement gap has been identified at the federal and state levels since 1965 and countless laws and initiatives have attempted to ensure equality in the education of our youth. Professional Learning…

This was a causal comparative study examining and comparing student class schedules and credit load to academic success by grade point average earned at a Tennessee community college. The results of this causal comparative study utilizing a mixed methods data collection revealed significant differences in credit load, grade point average (GPA) and…

A major focus of policymakers in recent years has been community colleges, which have been viewed as potential engines for economic advancement and student success. I examined the leadership history of Roane State Community College, a two-year institution of higher learning serving a nine-county service area mostly in rural East Tennessee as…

Rural community colleges are the only institutions of higher education for huge swaths of the United States. Their role in their communities requires them to serve a variety of functions, from education provider, to economic development center, to a source of entertainment. Often this entertainment comes in the form of community college athletics.…

Researchers analyzed data from 14 participants in a collaborative, interarts, intergenerational community partnership project entitled "An Evening with Harvey Dunn's Feminine Images," to understand the effects of the project design on participant learning. The year-long project included collaboration among faculty and students from six…