Each month, the League publishes Leadership Abstracts, Learning Abstracts, and Innovation Showcase. The most recent issues are available on the League website.

Leadership Abstracts. Student Assistance: Providing Access for Nontraditional Students in Financial Need by Andrew L. Meyer. With the increasing cost of living and the decreasing value of employee earnings, and particularly in the current economic climate, community colleges must seek ways to relieve the tuition burden for as many students as possible. The November issue of Leadership Abstracts looks at ways community colleges can expand financial aid to include nontraditional students.

Learning Abstracts. Integration and Persistence Among Community College Students by Melinda Mechur Karp, Katherine L. Hughes, and Lauren O’Gara. This Community College Research Center study considers the factors that cause students to cease or persist in their educational pursuits. Using Tinto’s integration framework, the authors discuss the importance of academic and social networking as well as college assimilation and allegiance on the performance of community college students. Learn more in the November issue of Learning Abstracts.

Innovation Showcase. Seasoned JCCC Group Promotes Collegiality Through Barbecue by Peggy Graham. All it took was a few JCCC staffers blowing smoke to create the Gastronomic Appreciation Society (GAS), a group of hard-core barbecue lovers on a mission to find the best ’cue in and around Kansas City. Read about the relationship between barbecue and building community, in the November issue of Innovation Showcase.