ART APPRECIATION COURSES IN ILLINOIS COMMUNITY COLLEGES

The primary purpose of the study was to determine the content of art appreciation courses in the Illinois community colleges. Other purposes were to determine instructor characteristics, institutional characteristics, and the methodology used to teach the courses. A mailed survey was used to gather the data from the lead art appreciation instructor at each of 52 colleges. Thirty‐six surveys were returned, for a response rate of 69%. On average, nearly four art appreciation course sections, with a range of 1 to 20, were taught at each 2‐year college. Most instructors used textbooks; 15 different titles were furnished by the respondents. Cultural art, art production, and studio art were included in most courses. Numerous art periods and the works of many artists were studied.     

FACULTY DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES IN THE ILLINOIS COMMUNITY COLLEGE SYSTEM

In a time of declining resources and restricted faculty mobility, faculty mobility, faculty development has become increasingly important. This study addressed faculty development activities, their evaluation, and their perceived impact on the improvement of instruction in the community colleges of Illinois. Data gathered through the use of a questionnaire mailed to the chief academic officer of each of the state's community colleges were analyzed and interpreted. It was found that a wide variety of activities — orientation, inservice, professional, individual, and group — are available to faculty members. Orientation activities were viewed as being moderately useful for the improvement of instruction. Respondents saw professional activities as somewhat more useful than inservice activities. With some qualifications, group activities were perceived as being more useful than individual activities. Evaluation efforts, for the most part, are as yet sporadic and unsophisticated.

The results of this study suggest that perhaps the traditional inservice‐type activities may not be the “one best way” to deliver quality faculty development aimed at the improvement of instruction. Faculty‐development planners may want to examine more closely the needs of their faculty in relation to the activities available. In addition to continuing the most useful of the group and inservice activities, attention should be directed toward those individual and professional activities not frequently offered but rated as highly effective in improving instruction.     

COMPONENTS OF QUALITY COMMUNITY COLLEGE CHILD CARE PROGRAMS

A critical information literacy model centers libraries within the curriculum where students find, evaluate and use information in order to conduct successful research (Swanson, 2011). This report documents the process by which the El Centro College (Dallas County Community College District) librarians and the psychology faculty collaborated in bringing information and research skills into the psychology curriculum. The sessions included (a) the research process of finding articles in professional psychology journals, (b) instruction on creating references using NoodleTools ? (an integrated tool for note-taking, outlining, and building references), and (c) how to write in American Psychological Association (APA) style. The integration of the library sessions within the classroom setting of team teaching with the instructor suggests an ideal opportunity for educators to enhance the academic, research, and information literacy education for all students.     

PREFERRED LEARNING STYLES OF COMMUNITY COLLEGE CAREER AND TRANSFER STUDENTS

The purpose of this study was to ascertain differences in learning styles of 400 community college students in career and transfer programs as measured by the Canfield Learning Styles Inventory. Independent variables were program area and sex. Dependent variables were scores regarding each of the Learning Style Inventory Scales for the following categories: (a) conditions, (b) content, (c) mode, and (d) expectation. The data indicated: (1) female students have greater interest in areas of qualitative, people, and listening, (2) male students have a greater interest for the inanimate, (3) career students have greater interest for inanimate, greater expectations for average and below average performance, and (4) transfer students have greater expectations for above average performance.     

TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER AND THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE: A NEW MODEL

In this article, I examine the present state of community college‐based technology transfer, beginning with a brief historical survey of corporate‐university relationships and an analysis of the most common form of community college‐based technology transfer (worker training). I then focus on a state‐of‐the‐art development in technology transfer at the community college: the Pennsylvania College of Technology (PCT). Finally, I offer a general paradigm of technology transfer for community colleges based on the PCT model.     

JUNIOR COLLEGE ARTICULATION: ADMISSION,RETENTION, REMEDIATION,TRANSFER

The “open‐door” policy, which described admissions into the public junior college, was an expression of the ideal of universal access to postsecondary education. The intention was that disadvantaged high‐school graduates would be given another chance to break the poverty cycle, and minority students an opportunity to extend their skills and realize wider career choices. As the number of applicants thus becoming eligible for a college education increased, so did the problems of the two‐year institutions. The open door was beginning to look like a revolving door, when more and more of these students could not perform satisfactorily in any college program. The state boards of education began to realize that not only admissions policies, but also retention standards, degree requirements, and transfer credits would need review.     

CURRICULUM APPROVAL IN ILLINOIS COMMUNITY COLLEGES: LOCAL AND STATE PROCESSES

Following a discussion of the historical relationship between education and democracy, from which the concept of curriculum emerges as a legitimate field of research, this paper traces the development of curricular diversity in U.S. two‐year institutions and reviews the control and coordinating functions of curriculum governance in the community college systems of several states. The paper focuses on the system of curricular administration in Illinois, in which primary responsibility rests with the local two‐year school board and a coordinating function with a state agency, the Illinois Community College Board (ICCB). The state process is summarized and the local process of course and program approval from initiation to implementation in Illinois community colleges is identified. The data suggest that while the state role in curricular governance is formally defined as one of coordination, the local community college curriculum administrators may in fact view it as one of control.     

UNDERSTANDING CONFLICT AND CLIMATE IN A COMMUNITY COLLEGE

This study examined the relationship between community college organizational climate and the conflict communication styles of individuals and job groups within the college. More specifically, this study investigated the relationships of employee perceptions concerning organizational communications, collaboration, formal influence, structure, focus on students, and work design/technology to their self-identified affinities for seeking solutions, control, or avoidance in conflict situations with their immediate supervisors. Effective leadership strategies are explored based on these relationships.     

PARTICIPATION AND CONTENT IN COMMUNITY AND TECHNICAL COLLEGE BOARD MEETINGS

This study examined meetings of North Carolina community and technical college boards of trustees, focusing on the participation and contributions to the content of those meetings by board members. The boards represented smallest to largest institutions, in the eastern, central and western regions of the State. They met morning, mid‐day, afternoon and evening on a monthly, bi‐monthly, and tri‐monthly schedule from August 1986 through February 1987. Attendance was high, with few late arrivals or early departures. All agendas, ranging from 6 to 18 items, were completed in 50 to 115 minutes, with limited comments or questions by trustees. Members initiated little during the meetings and provided little evidence of use of sources of information from other than their college personnel.

It is suggested that meeting at least monthly for at least 1 1/2 hours (mean for the study was 73 minutes) could encourage more initiating contributions by members. Boards should consider regular examination of the processes of their subcommittee and full board meetings to determine their effectiveness and member satisfaction with them. Orientation of new board members should stress the importance of members seeking relevant information to contribute or undergird their participation in board meetings.     

COMMUNITY COLLEGE REVERSE TRANSFER STUDENTS: A MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS

Reverse transfer students (i.e., students transferring from a baccalaureate institution to a community college) are either completers (i.e., earned a bachelor's degree) or noncompleters (i.e., did not earn a bachelor's degree). The investigation reported in this article included a procedure to construct-validate an instrument that captures data about why reverse transfer occurs and a discriminant-analysis profile that highlights differences among completers and noncompleters. The findings have implications for student recruitment, student services, and future research.     

WORKFORCE TRAINING PROGRAMS IN COMMUNITY COLLEGES

Georgia has one of the largest distance learning networks in the United States with nearly 300 sites connected to a statewide network of two‐way interactive audio and video. Research was conducted to examine the nature and importance of participant interactivity in credit courses at technical institutes using the distance education technology. Six faculty and 62 students who enrolled at host and remote sites at the technical institutes constituted the population of the study. Data were collected from students through a structured, forced‐choice survey questionnaire. Information was collected from faculty through two questionnaires to measure changes in attitudes toward teaching the course. Overall level of satisfaction of both students and faculty was quite high. The students at the remote sites in this study reported more negative experiences with the various types of interaction, but overall they were satisfied with the experience. Experiences that enhance and maximize the various types of interaction need to be intentionally designed and used by instructors. Teaching behaviors, such as calling on students at remote sites frequently and by name, establishing eye contact by looking into the camera when speaking, and including both remote and host site students in discussions seem to be related to student satisfaction and perceptions of effective interaction. To overcome the differences between sites related to instructor presence in the room, instructors can occasionally travel to a remote site to conduct class and interact directly with students there, and use phone, fax, and e‐mail to be more accessible to students.     

FINANCIAL REPORTING PRACTICES IN ILLINOIS PUBLIC COMMUNITY COLLEGES

Evaluating the efficiency and effectiveness of a given financial entity requires comparisons of two kinds. We must examine current data in light of the historical data of the entity with which we are concerned; and we must assess all such data in relation to that of other, similar, entities. Making the necessary comparisons is not currently possible for Illinois Public Community College Districts because all independent public accounting firms do not prepare their financial reports in the same way. The firms do prepare their financial reports consistently from year to year, but reports are not uniform throughout the industry. This lack of industry‐wide uniformity prohibits locally‐elected boards, creditors, investors and taxpayers from analyzing a district's financial report and determining its overall financial position. This study points out the need for a financial reporting methodology that allows not only for an accurate determination of a district's past and present success, but also for a reasonable projection of its financial future.     

A FRAMEWORK FOR EVALUATING COMMUNITY COLLEGE COUNSELING PROGRAMS AND FUNCTIONS: SHOWING CONTRIBUTIONS THROUGH STUDENT SUCCESS

This article describes a framework for the comprehensive evaluation of counseling programs and functions within the community college, using Astin's student success conceptualization. Some evaluative results using this framework are included. With such a framework, counselors can clearly show their contributions to the community college and the students they serve. The topic of counselors as sources of pertinent information about campus students in general is also discussed.     

ISSUES IN COUNSELING IMMIGRANT COLLEGE STUDENTS

The immigrant population of urban community colleges has grown in recent years, creating new challenges for college counselors. Counseling intervention is essential to enable immigrant students to cope with the stresses of immigration and the effects of those stresses on their college performance. Acculturation is a process that changes with time and that affects students of different ages differently. Cultural variations among immigrants affect social and academic performance in college as well. Developing English language fluency both accompanies and is accompanied by other adjustment issues. College counselors can facilitate both student' adjustment and the college's recognition of immigrant students' cultural perspective.     

COMMUNITY SERVICES: COMMUNITY COLLEGE FACULTY PERCEPTIONS AND PARTICIPATION

This study determined full‐time faculty members’ perceptions of and involvement in community services at community colleges in Ohio. A total of 249 full‐time faculty responded to the survey instrument representing 83.0% of the total sample. Data were analyzed by either the t test or the one‐way analysis of variance and Scheffe's post hoc analysis.

Results showed that involvement in planning and teaching within community services seem to be a key factor relative to how full‐time faculty perceive community services activities. Moreover, certain personal and professional characteristics of full‐time faculty members seem to influence their attitudes toward and their involvement in community services.     

ADMINISTRATIVE REORGANIZATION IN THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Reorganization within the administrative structure of community colleges is an activity that has been much indulged in but little written about during recent years. This study was undertaken to determine perceptions of the roles that community college presidents play when reorganization within the administrative structure takes place. Colleges used for collection of data were two Texas metroplitan community college districts. Collection of data was limited to administrative changes from the division level through the president's level at each college. No attempt was made to study the district level or the department or curriculum levels.     

TRANSITION COUNSELING IN THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

According to the U.S. Department of Education, 44% of students entering American colleges and universities in 1995 were over age 25.As increasing numbers of students make changes to enter community college, it is imperative that counselors address the fundamental dilemmas facing this population. Addressing the transition concerns of these students as they navigate through community college may provide a counseling perspective that effectively enhances overall student development while simultaneously influencing future growth and success. This article outlines counseling considerations, from assessment to intervention, designed to help the community college counselor meet students' transition needs.