Discusses student tracking system development in terms of purposes, audience, organizational issues, and data utilization. Considers benefits (e.g., facilitates reporting behavioral outcomes, and illuminates the complementary/conflicting nature of college services) and costs (e.g., direct costs for computer programing, postage, printing, etc., and…

Describes how automation has transformed the library and how super-catalogs have affected the process of doing research. Explains how faculty and librarians can work together to help students to use the available databases effectively, by teaching them Boolean logic, standard record formats, filing rules, etc. (DMM)

Describes Hawaii Community College's vocational preparation (Voc Prep) program, which focuses on basic communication, literacy, and mathematics skills to prepare students to enter vocational programs. Compares the Voc Prep learning community model, which includes vocational and basic skills instruction, personal development, and counseling, with…

Stresses the central role of academic advising in student retention. Reviews Tinto's model of retention stressing the importance of student academic and social integration. Describes studies demonstrating the predictive validity of integration for retention, and identifying attitudinal and behavioral correlates of attrition. Reviews obstacles to…

Addresses issues of open-access and educational quality. Reviews the unique mission of community colleges to educate a student population with wide-ranging academic abilities, motivational levels, and scholastic preparedness. Advocates careful assessment and placement of underprepared students, and special faculty development efforts to improve…

Reviews the efforts of the American Council on Education, Education Commission of the States, American Association of Community and Junior Colleges, and the Quality Education for Minorities Project to revitalization minority participation in higher education. Highlights encouraging enrollment trends. (DMM)

Describes a study of the college-related experiences of 1980 high school graduates who enrolled full time at one of six San Francisco area community colleges in fall 1980 and were still enrolled at the same college in fall 1984. Reports that 28 percent were concurrently enrolled in a four-year college. (PAA)

Refutes the statements that (a) community colleges do not provide an equivalent education to that given students native to a university, and (b) community colleges prevent students from earning a bachelor's degree in a timely fashion. Also asserts that the location where transfer students begin postsecondary education accounts for only 8% of the…

Analyzes the developmental learning needs of community college students by age group, using data gathered by North Carolina State University's Student Assessment of the College Environment (SACE). Asserts that colleges must accommodate students ranging in age from under 20 to over 70. (JDI)

Describes a study examining the academic achievement of General Education Development (GED) certificate holders at a community college over a 23-year period. Reviews outcomes related to credit hours attempted and earned, grades, graduation rates, and courses taken at the college, indicating that GED holders' achievement was comparable to that of…

In 1994, the New York State Office of the Comptroller performed an audit of Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) and Supplemental Tuition Assistance Program (STAP) awards at Katharine Gibbs School, a two-year secretarial and business education institution. TAP, the largest student grant and scholarship program administered by the Higher Education…

In order to gather data on the causes of student attrition, a study was conducted at a Florida community college to identify the relative importance of a set of selected environmental factors and student characteristics. A cohort was developed from the fall 1990 first-time-in-college students and was tracked for 2 years using the college's…

A study was undertaken to examine the influence of in- and out-of-class experiences on the learning and retention of diverse first-year community college students, examining three critical dynamics of the first-year college experience: the transition to college, student involvement and connections on campus, and the view students form of…

In the fall of 1992, Mesa Community College (MCC), in Phoenix, Arizona, established the Center for Public Policy and Service to promote community service and active participation in the social and political process as integral parts of a community college education. Through the Center, students are provided with educational opportunities in…

In an effort to determine success in fostering student development as well-rounded human beings, Northwestern Michigan College (NMC) undertook a study of student achievement related to significant learning outcomes established by the college. The study focused on four measures of achievement: results from a spring 1995 administration of the…