Facilitating College Students' Recovery Through the Use of Collegiate Recovery Programs

This article describes an untapped resource that counselors can use to help serve the multiple needs of college students recovering from addiction: collegiate recovery programs. The authors provide detailed information about the collegiate recovery population and give examples of successful programs. Implications for future research are discussed, and suggestions are provided for facilitating student recovery and advocating for collegiate recovery programs.     

Introduction to the Special Issue on Perspectivesand Experiences on Mentoring Undergraduate Students in Research: Part II

Abstract

This issue is the second of a special PRIMUS two-part issue collecting articles on undergraduate research from experienced faculty mentors. We offer it as a valuable resource for faculty leading undergraduate research programs. This issue presents a collection of papers offering advice on a variety of specific topics important for leaders of undergraduate research programs. Issues of finding and designing appropriate and accessible research projects, assessing undergraduate research, and publicizing it in the media are addressed.     

PEER AND STUDENT-FACULTY RELATIONS IN COMMUNITY COLLEGES

This study investigated differences in peer and student?faculty relationships of male and female community college students. Men reported more frequent participation in college activities, whereas women reported more frequent involvement in less formal activities such as studying with other students. Women had less difficulty than men meeting and making friends. For both men and women, little student?faculty interaction outside the classroom was reported.     

C Problem: Climb or Catastrophe

While community colleges serve as a postsecondary entry point for many “at-risk” students, not many who enroll will be ready or able to participate in college level courses on entry. Statistically, large numbers of community college students require college remediation, and only a handful are able to successfully emerge from the remediation pipeline. Many students find mathematics the most challenging course sequence and frequently report high levels of math anxiety and lower completion rates. Using population data from a large urban district in a western state, this study examined the impact of course grades on subsequent grades within math courses.     

Transfer Between Community Colleges and 4-Year Colleges: The All-American Game

ABSTRACT

In this article, the authors introduce a novel way, using the metaphor of a baseball game, to evaluate and measure community college student progress for those whose stated goal is to transfer to a 4-year institution and, ultimately, earn a bachelor's degree. The proposed framework of “the Transfer Game” is an outgrowth of the Transfer and Retention of Urban Community College Students (TRUCCS) project, which is a longitudinal study of 5,000 community college students from the 9-campuses of the Los Angeles Community College District. The goal of the project is to explain how the “all-American game” provides a method to measure, comprehend, and visualize student progression, and identify the factors that predict both success and barriers. The framework provides a scholarly comparison of the all-American game of baseball to the All-American invention of the community college.     

AN INVESTIGATION OF CRITICAL MASS: The Role of Latino Representation in the Success of Urban Community College Students

The community college has historically functioned as a primary access point to postsecondary education for Latino students. This study, an investigation conducted through an analysis of the Transfer and Retention of Urban Community College Students (TRUCCS) project, focuses on Latino students enrolled in urban “minority-majority” community colleges, where Latino students have a high representation. The specific interest of this research is the role and effect of the level of representation of Latino community college students on their academic outcomes. The relationship between the level of representation of Latinos, and the levels of academic success are analyzed in concert with other variables, such as, the level of representation of Latino faculty on campus, student age, attitude, academic integration, English ability and aspiration. Findings indicate a relationship between academic success of Latino community college students and the proportion of Latino students and faculty on campus. The findings thus suggest that a critical mass of Latinos may be a positive influence encouraging “minority” students to higher academic performance.     

Introduction to the Special Issue on Perspectives and Experiences on Mentoring Undergraduate Students in Research: Part I

Abstract

This issue is the first of a special PRIMUS two-part issue collecting articles from experienced faculty mentors. We offer it as a valuable resource for faculty leading undergraduate research programs. It is inspired by the “Regional Faculty Workshop on REU Issues” in 2013 and the Joint Mathematics Meeting 2015 Mathematical Association of America’s “Themed Session on Perspectives and Experiences on Mentoring Undergraduate Students in Research.” This issue consists of seven papers focusing on the larger issues involved in creating, running, and sustaining an undergraduate research program in mathematics.     

Wage equity and female faculty job satisfaction: The role of wage differentials in a job satisfaction causal model

The present study examined the role of female/male wage differentials in a model of job satisfaction. Female/male wage differentials were initially derived in a manner designed to eliminate much of past discriminatory practices. Subsequently, wage differentials were incorporated in a causal model to predict multiple aspects of academic job satisfaction for female faculty. It was hypothesized that the magnitude of the gender-based wage differential not only affected global job satisfaction but also intentions to remain in the academy, perceived stress level, perceptions of collegiality, and perception of the institution among female faculty. The findings indicated that as gender-based wage differentials increased, global job satisfaction of female faculty decreased. This significant effect was manifested predominantly through faculty perceptions of the institution.     

Differential impacts of academic and social experiences on college-related behavioral outcomes across different ethnic and gender groups at four-year institutions

The results of the study indicated that institutional experiences, academic achievement, and environmental pull factors contributed the most to persistence decisions. Furthermore, analyses revealed that differences in the effects of these factors for different ethnic and gender groups were important in explaining persistence decisions. No precollege factors (educational aspirations, prior academic achievement, attitudes toward learning, and support and encouragement to attend college) were found to improve the overall fit of the models for any of the groups in the study. For minorities, the biggest detrimental effects on dropout behavior were derived from pull factors in the form of family responsibilities and working off-campus. No significant positive effects from informal and formal interactions with faculty, close personal relationships with peers, and academic experiences during their first year in college were found to negate the large negative influences from the pull factors. For females, the most significant positive effect on college persistence came from mentoring experiences in the form of nonclassroom interactions with faculty.