Community colleges have been in existence for over 100 years in the United States. They began by offering the first two years of undergraduate education for students in local communities. Over the decades they evolved into comprehensive institutions of higher education with a multi-faceted mission. Today, in an era of accountability and mistrust of governmental institutions, they are under siege. There are external and internal forces that are causing their troubles. Perhaps, the unthinkable could happen and they might cease to exist if bold steps aren’t taken to save them. There appears to be little time to waste.

After over two decades of publishing the Journal of Applied Research in the Community College (JARCC), New Forumpress will no long publish the JARCC. This is the final issue to be published by New Forums Press, but not the last issue of the journal.The Journal of Applied Research in the Community College will be published through a collaborative effort between the Ed.D. program in Community College Leadership and the Community College Leaders Alumni Chapter of San Diego State University (SDSU). The next issue of the journal will be published in March of 2015, with semi-annual publication thereafter. Research on issues vital to community college education receives short shrift in the higher education literature. The number of journals devoted entirely to community college research is scarce. This observation is especially true for research, with an applied orientation that is aimed at practitioners in the community college field.The JARCC has filled a void in the community college literature for many years (since 1993) and will continue to do so under new leadership. The journal has provided an important outlet for community college researchers located in universities, community college practitioners (especially those professionals employed in institutional research), recent graduates of doctoral programs in community college leadership, and others to share their research findings with the field. There are numerous examples of community college professionals who have read some research in JARCC and have made changes to their operations based on insights derived from applied research. In addition, community college researchers have benefited from understanding the types of research being published and have adjusted their research agendas based on new insights.New Forums Press has made and will continue to make contributions to community colleges along with other education-oriented organizations. It has developed a plan for providing more immediate information through blog posts, eNewsletters, and social media for the areas of faculty and staff development, scholarly writing and research, applied creative thinking, and healthful life strategies. Housing the journal in a major university (with a commitment to serving community colleges) will allow a continuation of the focus of JARCC and keep alive the tradition that has been established for this important publication.Recognition also must be provided to the National Community College Council for Research and Planning (NCCCRP), an affiliate of the American Association of Community Colleges. NCCCRP sponsored the JARCC for most of the years it has been published. Their support was critical to the journal's success. In honor of this history, SDSU will continue JARCC's focus on serving the institutional research and planning community. …

Lower division transfer preparation for the university has been the primary mission of community colleges since their inception creating an important pathway to baccalaureate degree attainment for many students who may not otherwise have the opportunity for higher education. Once considered fairly straightforward, the transfer pathway has become overly complex and difficult for students to navigate. The underlying issues with community college transfer are multifaceted and profound, and often the focus of much attention by public policy makers. This study explored the extent to which the complexity with transfer is rooted in flawed state and local policy coupled with insufficient capacity to meet the growing demand for postsecondary education at many public universities in California. Interviews with key players in higher education in the state, a focus group of community college professionals involved with transfer, observations of meetings where transfer was discussed and a review of state and local documents concerned with transfer comprised the methodology of this study. Results suggest that legislative interference in the transfer pathway, university elitism and selectivity, uneven placement of state resources, the confines of the state master plan for higher education and inadequate capacity at the state universities all contribute to damaging the transfer pathway. This embedded case study examined the transfer pathway in one large region in southern California in the first decade of the 21st century.The study investigated the implications of flawed public policy and insufficient capacity at some public universities on the development of local policy, and the unintended consequences for transfer students who are denied admission to transfer.Further, the study described how these policy decisions are hindering access and equity in the public postsecondary education system in the region under investigation. Amidst fluctuating economic conditions, the public higher education system in California has struggled to meet increasing enrollment demand. With the ongoing deterioration in state appropriations for higher education in California, the need for increased baccalaureate degree attainment to meet the future economic demands of the state is more critical than ever.

Lower division preparation for the university has been an important mission of community colleges since their inception, creating an essential pathway to baccalaureate degree attainment for many students who may not have access to higher education. The transfer pathway is complex and often difficult for students to navigate. This study examined the decisions students make after being denied transfer admission to a public university and the extent to which the difficulty with transfer is rooted in insufficient capacity to meet the growing demand for postsecondary education at many public universities in California.

Who will lead the nation's community colleges through the period of reconstruction that will follow this current era of economic exigency? Community colleges are facing numerous retirements of presidents, vice presidents, and other leaders. These colleges are facing a critical void in leadership during a time of unprecedented budget constraints and community college mission expansion (Anderson, 1997). Who are the future leaders, and how will they develop the requisite skills and gain the leadership experiences needed to lead the dynamic community colleges?There are three current professional leadership development options to train future community college leaders: (a) traditional university-based educational and professional development programs (Ed.D., Ph.D.); (b) short-term conferences, workshops, academies, and institutes; and (c) internal succession planning grow your (GYO) programs (Cloud, 2010; Ebbers, Conover, & Samuels, 2010; Hassan, Dellow, & Jackson, 2010; McNair, Duree, & Ebbers, 2011; Piland & Wolf, 2003; Reille & Kezar, 2010; Shults, 2001). University-based options are traditional higher education Ph.D. programs that include limited coursework in community college history and philosophy, and a handful of doctoral programs, usually Ed.D. programs, that focus primarily on community college leadership. Another leadership development option includes short-term professional development opportunities through attendance at conferences, institutes, fellowship programs, and academies. These short-term institutes are sponsored by national, regional, state, and local organizations and associations.Community colleges are beginning to address the growing need for campus leaders through campus-based succession planning GYO programs (Jeandron, 2006; Reille & Kezar, 2010). A GYO program is a leadership development program offered by a college or district to current employees as a way of preparing them for leadership positions within the institution. Grow your own programs provide professional development for existing employees and create a career development pathway for those employees who aspire to lead within an organization.Background to the StudyThe Career and Lifestyles Survey conducted by Weisman & Vaughan in 2007 indicated that 84% of the community college presidents across the nation plan to retire by 2016. At the time of the study (2006), 24% of the respondents planned to retire in 1 to 3 years, 32% in 4 to 6 years, and 28% within 7 to 10 years. The average age of sitting presidents was 58. Results of the study conducted by Reille and Kezar (2010) indicated that community colleges also faced retirements of at least 25% of the chief academic officers during the period of 2007-2012. In a national survey of Chief Academic Officers (CAO) conducted by the American Council of Education in 2007, only 19% of the 1,715 CAOs who responded were age 50 and below, close to 47% were between the ages of 51 and 60, and 33% were 61 or older (Eckel, Cook, & King, 2009). Only 30% of the respondents indicated an interest in a presidency at some point in their career. The mean age of all CAOs in 2007 was 58.8 years.The Local SettingThis case study was conducted using a GYO program initiated in 2009 by a multi-campus community college district in southern California. The community college district, Sea Side Community College District, (SSCCD) serves approximately 100,000 students each semester through three colleges and six noncredit program campuses. There were approximately 4,400 employees working within SSCCD in the 2009-2010 academic year. A total of 50% of the employees were faculty, 36% were classified and hourly employees, and the remaining 14% were managers, supervisors, and college police.The District leadership includes a chancellor, five vice chancellors, the presidents of the three colleges and the noncredit program. Each of the colleges has three vice presidents (instruction, student services, and administration), and the noncredit program has two vice presidents (instruction/student services, and administration). …

Recent efforts to improve developmental education have included references to learning communities as examples of effective practices in basic skills education. The study ''Basic skills as a foundation for student success in California community colleges'' (2007) cited research from Tinto that suggested that learning communities and collaborative learning activities were effective in improving academic performance and persistence of developmental students. The improvement is because ''students encounter learning as a shared experience rather than isolated experience,'' and that learning communities ''emphasizing collaborative learning have a positive impact on student attitudes toward learning'' (Tinto, 1997b, cited in ''Basic skills as a foundation for student success in California community colleges,'' 2007, p. 58). The problem under investigation in this study was whether learning communities were effective in improving student success in community college developmental English courses, and whether there were differences in learning community outcomes among gender and racial/ethnic groups. Student success was defined, for the purpose of this study, as successful course completion. This study of the impact of a learning community on success in developmental English in an urban community college demonstrated that learning communities are effective in assisting students to succeed in higher level developmental English courses. This level of success was not demonstrated in the lowest level developmental English courses, however.Since their inception, community colleges have been at the forefront in educating and training many of the nation's most underserved citizens. For large numbers of Americans, therefore, they have provided a stepping-stone to a better life. However, the persistent achievement gaps involving those traditionally underserved by higher education-particularly students of color and those from low-income families-clearly demonstrate that too many students are being left behind. As some have said, the open door too often becomes a revolving door. Community colleges are increasingly recognizing the need to revise or, in some cases, to wholly redesign students' educational experiences so that more students will have a success story to tell [italics added].

Diversifying the faculty in community colleges, especially with faculty of color, continues to be problematic as we move through the first decade of the 21st Century. National statistics show that overwhelmingly the faculty continues to be Caucasian, even at a time when more and more students are coming from diverse ethnic backgrounds. This seemingly intractable problem is particularly acute in California, where the majority of community college students are students of color, but not the faculty. A faculty diversity program that has been in existence for 17 years has made important progress in changing the situation in southern California. This comprehensive program recruits, trains, and places interns in 10 community colleges in cooperation with a regional university. The results of the program demonstrate that substantial numbers of faculty of color are being prepared by the program and that they are getting hired in community colleges as adjunct and full-time faculty. Community colleges can be and should be proactive in identifying, developing, and hiring faculty of color. They shouldn't wait for other societal institutions to do the job for them. By working cooperatively with other local colleges, community based organizations that involve communities of color, and nearby universities, they have the opportunity to make significant inroads into diversifying their faculty. This program can and should be replicated in other parts of the country as a way to nurture the next generation of community college faculty leaders.

This examination of the current status of multicultural education among California community colleges emerged from a perspective that the inclusion of multicultural education has become a major goal of California's leaders within the past five years. The literature revealed minority students tend to have lower retention rates because they become alienated and disconnected from the campus community, and many students enter college classrooms with stereotypes and negative attitudes towards individuals outside of their racial and ethnic groups. Multicultural education is important because it helps address this issue. The study revealed that of the 109 California community colleges, only 50 colleges had a multicultural graduation requirement, which means that less than half of California's community colleges had a multicultural graduation requirement. The type of multicultural requirement in far too many cases did not include higher order thinking skills concerning multicultural education. Additionally, statistical analysis showed no relationship between the diversity of a college with regard to its students and employees and a multicultural graduation requirement. The findings suggest the state may be falling behind in its goal for multicultural education. The results of this study have implications for community colleges in California and across the country. Multicultural education should become a vital part of all community college students' educational experiences. The curriculum needs to reflect the realities of a diverse student body.

This investigation was a case study to measure the retention and persistence effects of a learning community in developmental English at an urban community college. The study used student demographic and course outcome data to quantify the extent to which learning community participation could contribute toward remedying the historically low retention and persistence rates among a diverse student population in community colleges. The learning communities in this study consisted of developmental reading and writing courses linked in pairs at the same level, considered to be either one or two levels below college level English. Findings revealed a relationship between learning communities and improved retention in developmental writing courses for all ethnic groups. In addition, retention and persistence was improved for Latino students. The study also revealed that learning communities were most effective when utilized at the higher developmental English level courses compared to the lower level courses.

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Additional informationNotes on contributorsWilliam E. PilandWilliam E. Piland is Professor Emeritus at San Diego State University.

The traditional means of preparing community college leaders are disjointed and in many cases ill suited to meet the challenges leaders will face through the beginning decades of the twenty-first century. Community colleges must take a proactive role in the development of their future leaders.

This study of 434 students enrolled at seven southern California community colleges investigated student learning experiences in courses with multicultural and diversity content. Student perceptions of (a) what was learned in courses with multicultural and diversity content, (b) feelings about themselves when learning these types of content, (c) the values learned, (d) the amount of learning achieved, (e) feelings about the teacher, and (f) desire for more courses with multicultural and diversity content were identified. Some research has demonstrated that community colleges are doing very little to provide multicultural educational experiences for students. However, to date, there have been no comprehensive studies of community college students' experiences with multicultural and diversity education. Results of this study indicated that community college students desire courses with multicultural and diversity content. Students' learning experiences are enriched when courses contain these types of content. Although women and members of minority groups are most desirous of multicultural and diversity content, White male students need the experiences. The values taught in these courses seem to enhance the understanding of differences. Although learning about gays and lesbians is problematic for some, students do want to learn more about diversity than what frequently is associated with ''culture.'' Along with multicultural content, information concerning gender, sexual orientation, ageism, classism, and disabilities should be infused into college curricula.

Multicultural education in the curriculum has been widely discussed; however, there is little evidence that it has permeated the curriculum. The existing canon is being challenged, nevertheless, and some improvements are taking place, as depicted in this chapter.