Fulfilling the Democratic Mission of the Community College Through Student Civic Engagement

2021 ◽  
pp. 21-39
Author(s):  
Jennifer Englert-Copeland
Keyword(s):  
Community College ◽  
Community Colleges ◽  
Civic Engagement ◽  
Change Agents ◽  
College Education ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
High Impact ◽  
Community College Education ◽  
College Setting ◽  
Access Policies

Community colleges are inherently democratizing institutions. Through their open access policies, immersion in their local communities, and mission of preparing students for transfer or the workforce, they are positioned to produce graduates who have the skills to become change agents in their communities. Incorporating civic engagement within the community college setting often presents steep challenges as a result of funding models, a national narrow-focus on completion and credential production, and the barriers their own students face. Yet despite these challenges, community colleges across the country are increasingly focusing on methods of encouraging the civic engagement of their students and are participating in high-impact practices. Research confirms that students who are engaged civically do better academically. By assessing their civic programming, community colleges can shine light on the value of civic engagement as a fundamental outcome of a community college education. Only then will these institutions fully realize their mission as America's democracy colleges.

Experience as Textbook

2015 ◽  
pp. 176-196
Author(s):  
Katie L. Treadwell ◽  
Brian R. Mitra
Keyword(s):  
Community College ◽  
Community Colleges ◽  
Leadership Development ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Experiential Learning ◽  
College Education ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Learning From Experience ◽  
Community College Education ◽  
Urban Community Colleges

This chapter explores how experiential learning opportunities, specifically service-learning, foster career exploration, development of transferable skills, and readiness for employment and/or higher education among community college students. By drawing upon experiences leading service-learning opportunities, career development, faculty partnerships, and leadership development at urban community colleges, the authors present an approach to community college education rooted in experiential learning. The chapter proposes the use of Usher, Bryant, and Johnston's model of learning from experience to develop students' vocational practices and help “learners become more empowered to respond to their changing vocational environments” (Merriam, Caffarella, & Baumgartner, 2007, p. 68). These impacts are illustrated through the programs and student voices of a community college recognized for its service-learning opportunities. Colleges and corporations share responsibility to prepare citizens (Holton, 1998). Community colleges must take the lead in developing these partnerships and designing learning environments that benefit students and community, in turn creating a next-generation workforce.

Community College Education Abroad Health and Safety Concerns

2019 ◽  
pp. 53-71
Author(s):  
Gregory F. Malveaux ◽  
Gary M. Rhodes ◽  
Rosalind L. Raby
Keyword(s):  
Community College ◽  
Community Colleges ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
College Education ◽  
Good Deal ◽  
Education Abroad ◽  
Community College Education ◽  
Legal Standards ◽  
Policies And Procedures

There has been a good deal already written about health and safety with education abroad at four-year colleges and universities. Although the authors found significant publications with a university focus, they found no published literature that specifically addresses community college overseas health, safety, and legal issues. The purpose of this chapter is to review what the literature already says about health and safety challenges and apply it to community colleges. In so doing, they bring forth US court cases and real-life examples at community college education abroad programs in order to ground recommendations and strategies for responding to today's challenges. In the same way that community colleges implement “on campus” policies and procedures to both limit and respond to student health and safety crises, community colleges should also implement policies and procedures to limit “study abroad” risks to students and be prepared to act if issues arise overseas. This chapter provides essential strategies to improve health and safety and legal standards for community college education abroad programs.

Structures, Practices, and Policies to Support Community-Engaged Scholarship at the Community College

2020 ◽  
pp. 172-186
Author(s):  
Mary Ann Bodine Al-Sharif ◽  
Hugo García
Keyword(s):  
Community College ◽  
Community Colleges ◽  
Undergraduate Research ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Postsecondary Institutions ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
Engaged Scholarship ◽  
Community Engaged Scholarship ◽  
Large Corpus

This chapter illuminates the ways in which community colleges can develop and enhance their community-engaged scholarship (CES) to ensure they meet the needs of the local communities they are a part of. Indeed, community-engaged scholarship (CES) has been seen as a vehicle to support local communities by creating partnerships with postsecondary institutions to ensure research is conducted in a way that is mutually beneficial. The authors first explore the large corpus of literature regarding undergraduate research and then present a select number of community colleges that have been successful in incorporating undergraduate research projects. They then present how CES has been defined and how it has been implemented within a higher education context. They then proceed to introduce a CES conceptual model and explain how community colleges can utilize the model to support the institutionalization of CES programs. They conclude with recommendations for future research.

A National Analysis of Noncredit Community College Education: Enrollment, Funding, Accountability, and Contextual Issues

2016 ◽  
Vol 41 (4-5) ◽  
pp. 288-302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark M. D’Amico ◽  
Grant B. Morgan ◽  
Stephen G. Katsinas ◽  
J. Lucas Adair ◽  
Michael T. Miller
Keyword(s):  
Community College ◽  
College Education ◽  
Community College Education ◽  
Education Enrollment ◽  
National Analysis

scholarly journals The Economic Returns of a Community College Education

1997 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 73-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge R. Sanchez ◽  
Frankie Santos Laanan
Keyword(s):  
Community College ◽  
College Education ◽  
Economic Returns ◽  
Community College Education

Noncredit Education Enrollment and Outcomes: Exploring the "Black Box" of Noncredit Community College Education

2020 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 17-38
Author(s):  
Mark M. D'Amico ◽  
Grant B. Morgan ◽  
Zoë Mercedes Thornton ◽  
Vladimir Bassis
Keyword(s):  
Community College ◽  
College Education ◽  
Black Box ◽  
Occupational Training ◽  
Community College Education ◽  
Carnegie Classifications ◽  
Career Clusters ◽  
Education Enrollment ◽  
Contact Hours ◽  
Noncredit Education

Representing approximately two in five community college students, noncredit education is an important but understudied segment of the higher education population. In an effort to help open the "black box" of noncredit education in community colleges, the present study uses an established noncredit course typology (occupational training, sponsored occupational training, personal interest, and precollege remediation) to better understand the predictors of noncredit enrollment and outcomes in Iowa. Using a sample of more than 181,000 records, we employed a series of regression analyses to discuss variables associated with enrollment in the noncredit course types, the number of completions, and the number of contact hours. Nuanced findings and implications were associated with race/ethnicity, gender, institutional mission as captured through Carnegie Classifications, and career fields based on the 16 career clusters.

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