ABSTRACT Although community colleges advance equity by providing opportunities for marginalized students to pursue higher education, barriers to earning credentials remain, particularly for students of color. Higher education stakeholders are investing in “equity work” as organizations take responsibility for ensuring equitable outcomes. While ample research explores individual organizational change efforts, the impact of cross‐institutional interventions such as guided communities of practice (COPs) remains understudied. This article examines the effects of one such intervention, the Illinois Equity in Attainment (ILEA) initiative. The ILEA initiative engaged 25 colleges and universities across the state of Illinois in an effort to operationalize “equity‐mindedness” and catalyze institutional change. Drawing on qualitative case study data from three participating community colleges, we trace how guided equity planning translated into specific organizational practices, analyzing the distinct understandings of equity formed at each college, the diagnosis of inequities through the use of disaggregated data, and the development of interventions to promote more equitable student outcomes. These findings offer insights into the promise and limits of communities of practice as a mechanism for racial equity reform in higher education and beyond.
ABSTRACT Thirteen Tribal College (TCU) faculty in Montana are pursuing graduate degrees through a reciprocal partnership with Montana State University (MSU) to strengthen TCU capacity and expand local educational opportunities. All TCUs in Montana serve as community colleges for the reservation, are vital to tribal members’ future, and are the academic heart of a community. This paper describes the Tribal College Faculty Pathways program and interviews with participating faculty, framed through the Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) model with a Cultural Interpretive framework. Three themes emerged: commitment to strengthening the Tribe, dedication to remaining in their Tribal communities, and resilience in overcoming time and financial challenges while developing advanced skills and knowledge as the faculty pursue a graduate education.
ABSTRACT Teaching practicum programs provide pathways for potential future faculty, such as graduate students and postdoctoral scholars at four‐year universities, to participate in immersive mentorship and professional development experiences at nearby institutions in preparation for a competitive academic job market. These regional initiatives train the next generation of undergraduate instructors and also address an urgent need to hire and retain a diverse, highly trained faculty. This study focuses on a portfolio of mentored teaching practicum programs embedded within the California Community College system in the southern California region, specifically Los Angeles and Orange counties. Using interviews and questionnaires with program leadership and survey data from past participants, this study examines key program features, the benefits and challenges of program implementation, and the impact on program alumni. Findings indicate that these programs share common goals and strategies that lead to participants’ increased interest in and preparation for careers at community colleges.
ABSTRACT The landscape of postsecondary education is undergoing significant transformation, driven by technological advancement, evolving workforce demands, demographic shifts, and changing student expectations. Community colleges, as engines of workforce development and accessible education, are uniquely positioned at the intersection of these trends. However, the sector faces growing challenges in faculty recruitment due to a shrinking pool of traditional candidates, increased reliance on part‐time and adjunct instructors, and the need for specialized expertise. This chapter traces the historical evolution of enrollment and faculty roles in U.S. higher education, with an emphasis on community colleges’ adaptability to economic and demographic shifts. Special attention is given to the impact of generational changes, labor market competition, and the diversification of both the student body and faculty workforce. The article highlights Ohio's Regional Collaborative as a case study, demonstrating how targeted recruitment of military personnel, veterans, federal civilian employees, and other nontraditional candidates can address faculty shortages. Outcomes and lessons learned from Ohio's statewide initiative offer a model for aligning institutional needs with regional workforce assets and fostering innovation in faculty recruitment and professional development.
ABSTRACT How do related, but independent community colleges operationalize and implement an equity‐oriented initiative? In 2021, Massachusetts established the SUCCESS initiative to provide nonfinancial student supports in all 15 of the state's public community colleges. This paper draws on 35 interviews with program staff across the colleges to ask how they used their institutional data and designed new data collections to (1) select a focal population for their SUCCESS program and (2) apply their criteria to identify a specific cohort. While we find variation in what the colleges viewed as their most urgent equity gaps, we find that in all colleges, data availability informed how practitioners could identify their focal students. Our findings illustrate how diverse community colleges within one state respond differently to the same equity‐oriented initiative; they operationalize equity in different ways that are related to their institutional priorities and data availability.
ABSTRACT Basic needs insecurity of college students has been prevalent across the country. As a way to address this issue, there has been a recent discussion of helping students apply for and benefit from public subsidies such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Since 2024, the Kynector initiative, hiring a full‐time professional who can help students connect to government subsidies, has been implemented at all sixteen Kentucky Community and Technical College Systems. This chapter introduces the new initiative in Kentucky and provides early lessons from the initiative.
ABSTRACT Dual enrollment (DE) has expanded rapidly, yet students’ access to support services remains uneven. This study examined 55 community college websites in Texas to evaluate how clearly and comprehensively they presented DE information and communicated student support services. Using a three‐domain rubric encompassing website navigation (accessibility), presentation of DE information (usefulness), and availability of student support services, the analysis found that DE pages were generally accessible but offered limited multilingual options and inconsistent financial transparency. While most sites listed eligibility, procedures, and contacts, nearly one in five omitted cost information. Communication of student support services was the weakest area; advising was common, but orientation, wellness, and co‐curricular opportunities were far less visible or were ambiguously described. Misalignments appeared between the ease of locating DE pages and the usefulness of their content. Findings suggest that clearer, multilingual, and student‐support services‐integrated web communication can serve as an equity lever for DE participants.
ABSTRACT Equity‐mindedness has become a widely adopted framework for advancing racial equity in higher education, yet little research has examined the extent to which faculty internalize equity‐minded principles as enduring professional commitments. To address this gap, this study conceptualized faculty commitment to equity‐mindedness as a distinct dimension of equity‐minded practice and developed the Faculty Commitment to Equity‐Mindedness Survey (FCEMS) to measure the construct. A complementary Equity‐Minded Implementation Contexts Survey (EMICS) was also developed to assess faculty‐reported equity efforts and perceptions of institutional and departmental support for equity‐minded work. Survey data were collected from 64 faculty members at a California community college designated as a Hispanic‐Serving Institution (HSI), who had participated in equity‐focused professional development. Exploratory factor analysis supported a two‐factor structure for the FCEMS, consisting of FCEM Values and FCEM Responsibility. The FCEMS demonstrated strong internal consistency reliability, while correlations with EMICS subscales, Equity Efforts and Perceived Support, provided initial evidence of convergent and discriminant validity. Together, the FCEMS and EMICS offer a complementary framework for examining faculty commitment, equity‐minded practice, and institutional supports associated with equity‐minded institutional change. These findings provide initial evidence that faculty commitment to equity‐mindedness is a distinct and theoretically meaningful construct and introduce complementary tools to support institutional learning, professional development, and future research on equity‐minded institutional change.
ABSTRACT This article examines how Hamiter led equity‐minded change at Jupiter Valley College (JVC), a rural Hispanic‐Serving Institution (HSI), serving predominantly first‐generation college students from low‐income backgrounds who reside in a rural community in California. In doing so, this study highlights how Hamiter leveraged HSI funding as a mechanism to confront structural barriers hindering Latine students at JVC. Using a life history portal approach and equity‐mindedness as the guiding framework and analytic lens, we trace how Hamiter's role in securing and implementing an HSI grant positioned her to gather, protect, and mobilize student voice. This study advances understandings of equity‐minded policy implementation by underscoring how an HSI designation and Title V funding can support organizational change when equity‐minded practitioners use student experiences, institutional relationships, and campus structures to confront racialized barriers in rural community colleges.
ABSTRACT This article provides a roadmap for four‐year institutions and community colleges to form a regional collaborative, develop and run a community college teaching fellows program, and critically evaluate a program to make year‐over‐year improvements. The case‐study presented focuses on the Central Massachusetts ASPIRE Regional Collaborative (C‐MA RC), bringing together two 4‐year institutions, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) and Worcester State University (WSU), with a community college, Quinsigamond Community College (QCC), and offers lessons learned and practical guidance from their experience with their teaching fellows program.
ABSTRACT Community college student support has historically been a “walk‐in” service. Students identify their needs, connect with a college service, potentially get the assistance they asked for, and leave, often with no follow‐up. This approach is transactional and not proactive, not addressing all the needs students may have or capturing students who might not self‐identify. Waubonsee Community College (WCC) leveraged Title V Grant funding to pilot a success coaching program to provide targeted, in‐time support for students. The gains in student success and retention made in this coaching pilot informed a redesign of advising services to a case management model. This paper explores success coaching and advising structures, the process of an advising redesign to a case management model, and how different positions were leveraged for holistic student support. Data presented include comparisons of student enrollment patterns, gains in continuing and readmitted student enrollment, and the impact on focused populations.
ABSTRACT Student affairs professionals are essential to community college student success, yet their demographic composition remains largely static in student affairs administration, failing to reflect an increasingly diverse student body, specifically the rapidly growing Latinx population. While women constitute most of this workforce, Latinx women specifically encounter significant barriers to equitable advancement and representation within leadership. Compounding these inequities is the accidental nature of the profession, where many practitioners lack formal academic preparation and the positional power to change institutional structures. Consequently, professional development pathways, ranging from national competency frameworks to applied doctoral programs, have emerged as vital paths for growth. This article provides a literature‐informed discussion on the preparation of student affairs professionals and why representation matters when it comes to employee and student success. We highlight how a lack of culturally responsive mentorship and the absence of inclusive pedagogical training among doctoral faculty can hinder effective modeling of equity principles. We also discuss how representation gaps at community colleges contribute to professional misalignment and cultural taxation. By addressing these systemic gaps, we offer strategic recommendations that move beyond symbolic commitments and foster truly inclusive environments where both minoritized practitioners and their students can thrive.
ABSTRACT Community colleges continue to confront persistent racial inequities in student outcomes despite longstanding commitments to access and inclusion. While equity‐mindedness positions faculty as critical agents of institutional change, less is known about how instructional tools support the development of equity‐minded (EM) practice and organizational learning. This qualitative study examines the influence of an EM digital syllabus at Crown City Community College (pseudonym), a California community college that embedded EM design principles into its learning management system. Guided by Bensimon and Dowd's application of Cultural–Historical Activity Theory (CHAT), the study explores how six faculty members experienced and utilized the EM digital syllabus in their teaching. Findings suggest that the EM digital syllabus functions as a mediating artifact that supports faculty reflection, instructional redesign, and equity‐minded pedagogical practice. Participants described shifts in course design, communication, grading, and student support that moved beyond individual acts of care toward greater attention to structural equity and institutional accountability. Findings also reveal how tensions between academic freedom, collaboration, and equity expectations can serve as productive sites of organizational learning. This study extends the scholarship of equity‐mindedness by demonstrating how digital instructional infrastructure can support faculty learning, organizational learning, and institutional transformation.
ABSTRACT The Aspire Regional Collaborative (RC) initiative fosters community college and university partnerships that strengthen pathways to STEM faculty positions in community colleges. In this study, we draw from the designing educational innovation for sustained adoption (DEISA) framework to document the progress of the RC initiative. We examine movement across regional collaboratives from “original” to “desired” states across multiple facets, using a mixed‐methods multiple‐case study approach and data from our embedded evaluation team. Our national coalition of RCs also serves as a community of practice working across multiple crucial intersections—organizational change, cross‐institutional partnerships, the professional development of graduate students, and efforts to build a diverse and inclusive STEM faculty. Model adaptation in a region occurs based on the positionalities of RC co‐leads and specific place‐based affordances and constraints. We intend for this manuscript to support stakeholders committed to building a diverse and inclusive STEM faculty, enabling them to adapt the RC model flexibly to their context.
ABSTRACT This study explores how equity‐minded educators at Hispanic Serving community colleges (HSCCs) foster the civic development of Latine students, emphasizing leadership, civic engagement, and agency beyond academic success. Using a multi‐case study design, we analyzed interviews with 29 educators from two HSCCs in Southern California to understand their perceptions and practices. Findings show educators assume personal responsibility for developing racial literacy and critical consciousness as foundations for civic engagement. Strategies include integrating local history into curricula, building community partnerships, and creating paid opportunities for students to engage in social justice work. These efforts reflect a commitment to dismantling inequities and preparing students as agents of change. The study calls for institutionalized approaches to embed equity and civic development into policies, curricula, and professional development.
ABSTRACT This qualitative study examines how Latiné student leaders engaged in equity‐oriented leadership through Avance, a student leadership initiative at a Southern California Hispanic‐Serving Community College (HSCC). Guided by Bensimon's (2007) equity‐mindedness framework, the study explores how participation in Avance shaped students’ equity‐minded perspectives, sense of agency, leadership identity, and engagement in institutional equity efforts. Findings indicate that students developed equity‐mindedness through student‐faculty partnerships, shared governance, and culturally affirming leadership experiences that fostered their capacity to recognize and address inequities within the college. Involvement in Avance also strengthened students' confidence as leaders and affirmed their cultural and linguistic identities as assets in leadership. The findings suggest that student leadership structures can serve as important mechanisms for cultivating equity‐mindedness and servingness by positioning students as partners in equity‐oriented institutional transformation.
ABSTRACT This article synthesizes the major themes explored throughout the special issue, highlighting the transformative power of regional collaborations, place‐based innovation, systemic change through collective tools, and reciprocal partnerships in advancing equitable and sustainable STEM faculty pathways. Specifically, the special issue examines how shifting from institutional competition to collaborative ecosystems, honoring local contexts while building national impact, employing structured tools for systemic transformation, and fostering mutually beneficial partnerships can diversify and sustain STEM faculty at community colleges. Ultimately, the authors explore future possibilities in diversifying STEM faculty and continuing collaborative work between two‐year and four‐year institutions.
This article examines how nature‐based learning (NBL) fosters student engagement, critical observation, mental health, and social belonging at an urban community college. Drawing on over 200 student surveys and qualitative reflections from 14 interdisciplinary, curriculum‐embedded NBL projects, student feedback demonstrates how place‐based pedagogy transforms both learning and relationships. Findings show that integrating nature into class time enhances content retention, reduces stress, and strengthens peer and community connections. This study explores the intersection of mental health and academic outcomes, while centering student voice. By demonstrating how urban campuses can weave nearby green spaces into course design, this work offers a replicable approach for institutions seeking to enhance student well‐being and academic outcomes.
This reflective analysis examines faculty development challenges and opportunities at the University of the District of Columbia (UDC), a public HBCU and the only urban land‐grant institution in the United States. As UDC advances a unified “One UDC” vision, the institution is repositioning itself as a flagship university while integrating instruction across multiple locations, including its embedded community college (UDC‐CC), where nearly half of the student population is enrolled. This institutional structure necessitates a coordinated approach to faculty development that supports equity, instructional consistency, and student success across campuses. Drawing on practice‐informed initiatives, the paper describes how AI‐infused faculty development, including live, performative demonstrations using VerseBot, a custom instructional AI persona built on ChatGPT, addresses faculty concerns related to teaching effectiveness, student engagement, academic integrity, and resource disparities. Embedding AI literacy and ethical guidance within first‐year coursework, alongside structured professional development such as Association of College and University Educators (ACUE) certification, positions AI as a supportive instructional resource rather than a substitute for pedagogy. By situating AI integration within a layered faculty development model that combines policy alignment, culturally responsive practice, and hands‐on experimentation, this paper offers transferable insights for urban‐serving universities and community colleges seeking to leverage emerging technologies while upholding commitments to access, equity, and academic rigor.
Supporting community college faculty with a framework of culturally responsive teaching as a lens through which they can approach their classroom environment is important. Professional development is usually developed and delivered without first learning from faculty about their motivation and current knowledge on the topic. In this article, I describe how a community college first gathered information from faculty before designing and implementing a culturally responsive teaching program. Fourteen community college faculty members at a rural west Texas community college participated in interviews about their teaching experiences and motivations before participating in a six‐week virtual professional development program focusing on culturally responsive teaching. Some had several years of experience working at the college, but most had only been in their positions for less than five years. The study had four major findings. The first was that faculty have a desire to improve their teaching. The interviews showed that faculty who participated in the program did so because they felt a need to change. The second finding was that community college faculty understand the need for change and have a desire to improve, but they may lack the pedagogical training to effectively communicate that desire. Faculty do not always have the frameworks needed to know how to improve their teaching, so concrete support in providing frameworks such as culturally responsive teaching can be useful for faculty members. The third finding was that faculty developers need to understand the faculty they are working with in order to effectively provide faculty development. In this study, the interviews allowed for better understanding of the faculty participating. The final finding was that interviews can help to develop a sense of community between the developer and the faculty member. They establish a sense of trust and encourage the faculty member to share their story. Based on the findings from the interviews and my own reflections, I offer several suggestions to faculty developers who are working with community college faculty.
