Innovations Library

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Becoming a Pathways College: Lessons Learned at Front Range Community College
Catherine C. Pellish and Jana Schwartz October 2017
Volume: 30 Issue: 10
Count all 451
The heart of the community college mission is educational access. We have opened our doors to millions of students, offering them entry into higher education and supporting them in achieving their goals. However, for too many of our students the community college experience takes too long, costs too much, and does not result in a completed degree.
Tags: Leadership and Organization, Organizational Culture, Student Success, Innovations
Exploring Factors That Influence Assessment of Student Learning
Jennifer Hegenauer September 2017
Volume: 30 Issue: 9
Count all 291
In response to the increasing emphasis on assessment and continuous improvement by accrediting agencies, institutions must find a way beyond any uncertainties about assessment and create strategies to gather, analyze, and interpret data on student learning (Coates, 2015; Farahsa & Tabrizi Jafar, 2015; Munoz, Jaime, McGriff, & Molina, 2012). As college leaders work to encourage strong assessment programs, it is important to understand what external and internal factors may influence a successful launch.
Tags: Leadership and Organization, Innovations
Community College CFOs in 3-D: Money, Mission, and People
Ken Parker II August 2017
Volume: 30 Issue: 8
Count all 250
The author contacted community college chief financial officers (CFOs) in an effort to tap into the experience of others and expand his own capabilities in budget management. One outcome of the subsequent conversations was exactly what the author sought: solid advice about budget management. A second outcome—and arguably more important—was a consistent theme of care for the welfare of students and employees and for the mission and vision of the college.
Tags: Leadership Development, Leadership Development, Innovations
Complaining and Blaming: High-Conflict Behavior Patterns in the Community College
Jill Channing July 2017
Volume: 30 Issue: 7
Count all 356
Community colleges are not unlike most workplaces. We have what Terry O’Banion (2014) has referred to as “curmudgeons” who are described as “contrarians” or “thinking otherwise.” As a liberal arts dean, I recognize that my faculty members are trained to question and to analyze critically; this is simply a natural and instinctive tendency for them. Thus, in this discussion, I am not referring to people who disagree respectfully or who question the status quo as people who display high-conflict behavior patterns.
Tags: Leadership Development, Leadership Development, Innovations
Using Design Thinking to Solve Problems at Community Colleges
Brenda S. Sipe June 2017
Volume: 30 Issue: 6
Count all 362
Design thinking has become a popular strategy for innovation in the social sector and education since Tim Brown, in Change by Design (2009), claimed design thinking is more powerful than other strategies in creating opportunities from complex problems involving people and services. Others have echoed his thoughts and expanded the value proposition of design thinking for education and nonprofits, published in places like Harvard Business Review, Civitas Learning Space, and Fast Company & Inc.
Tags: Teaching and Learning, Assessment and Evaluation, Organizational Culture, Innovations
What We Need to Know About Phi Theta Kappa
George R. Boggs and Daniel J. Phelan May 2017
Volume: 30 Issue: 5
Count all 433
Community college educators deserve to be proud of the open door that we provide for students. We have accepted the assignment of serving the most diverse student body in American higher education, including those most at risk of not being successful, and we do it with fewer resources than any other segment of higher education. Our work is important to our students and their families as well as the communities we serve, and it is critical to the well-being of our country. We have a proud history, but we know what we are doing is not enough.
Tags: Learning Resources, Student Completion, Student Success, Innovations
Developing Leaders Throughout the Ranks
Stephanie R. Bulger April 2017
Volume: 30 Issue: 4
Count all 878
It was supposed to be about developing the leaders of tomorrow. That was the intent when the San Diego Community College District laid the groundwork for a series of Leadership Academies serving faculty, staff, and administrators at California’s second-largest community college district in 2009. The academies, however, have been building more than leaders.
Tags: Leadership Development, Leadership Development, Innovations
Fulfilling the Mission: A Case Study of Four Community College Presidents
Suzanne Ames March 2017
Volume: 30 Issue: 3
Count all 341
In Washington State, applied baccalaureate degrees (BAS) at community and technical colleges are commonplace. Out of 34 colleges, 27 colleges offer at least one. There are 81 degrees either fully operational or in some stage of approval process (J. Hammer, personal communication, January 26, 2017). One-third of the United States offers BAS degrees at community colleges, but Washington was one of the first, gaining state approval for four pilot programs in 2005 (Kaikkonen, 2013; Floyd, Skolnik, & Walker, 2005).
Tags: Leadership Development, Leadership Development, Organizational Culture, Innovations
Community Colleges in the Age of Innovation
John Kao February 2017
Volume: 30 Issue: 2
Count all 794
The future of education is up for grabs. It is changing on virtually every dimension that matters—the design of schools, the role of faculty, and, above all, the learning experience. These changes are inevitable because a tsunami of new technologies is driving profound shifts in education fundamentals—the relationship between teachers and the taught, the location and timing of educational activities, and the very definition of what it means to learn (Kelly, 2016).
Tags: Innovations
What Is the Guided Pathways Model?
Nick Strobel and Sonya Christian January 2017
Volume: 30 Issue: 1
Count all 749
In their 2015 book, Redesigning America’s Community Colleges, Bailey, Jaggars, and Jenkins introduced the idea of guided pathways in such a clear way that colleges across the nation are willingly taking the time and energy to rethink how they operate from a systemic level. This examination is not just a tinkering around the edges or tweaking a program here and there, but a major redesign of our systems that starts with the end goal of student completion and continues by creating the systems to achieve that end goal.
Tags: Learning and Organization, College Readiness, Completion, Student Retention, Innovations
Impact Evaluation: Rethinking Programming With the Help of Data
Brendan Perry December 2016
Volume: 29 Issue: 12
Count all 243
Every year, community college leaders around the country develop new and innovative programs to help their students overcome the challenges of entering, persisting in, and completing college. While program ideas are abundant, evidence about what works is thin. The Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities* (LEO) aims to address this disparity between program ideas and program evidence by conducting high-quality research with the most innovative thinkers and practitioners in the community college network.
Tags: Leadership and Organization, Assessment and Evaluation, Innovations
A New View of Organizational Development: Culture as a Catalyst for Transformation
Debbra Esparza, Alicia Friday, Melissa Hinshaw, Ericka Landry, Anne Money, and Jackie Thomas November 2016
Volume: 29 Issue: 11
Count all 420
Over the past three years, the Lone Star College (LSC) Organizational Development department moved from a professional development focus to a broader focus on organizational development (OD). At LSC, OD is viewed as the driver of culture across the entire organization and professional development/training is utilized as a vehicle to support its efforts.
Tags: Organizational Culture, Innovations
Pre-Nursing Chemistry Course Scheduling and Student Performance: Implications for Administrators and Students
Neville Y. Forlemu, Leonard E. Anagho, and David P. Pursell October 2016
Volume: 29 Issue: 10
Count all 275
Pre-nursing students typically take two semesters of General, Organic, and Biological (GOB) chemistry as part of their science curriculum. According to Boddey and de Berg (2015), many students in two-year and four-year college programs report that the General portion of GOB, typically their first college science course, is often one of their most challenging courses. Jones (1976) suggests that a student-centered approach to chemistry involving analysis is a relevant skill for chemistry nursing students.
Tags: Learning and Organization, Programs and Practices, Innovations
Leaders Focused on Student Completion and Success
Jennifer Wimbish and Anna Mays September 2016
Volume: 29 Issue: 9
Count all 533
Community colleges in the 21st century are challenged with leadership not only for the purpose of ensuring affordability and access to higher education, but also to improve student completion and graduation results.
Tags: Innovations
Developing New Learning Models in Higher Education
Veronica Diaz August 2016
Volume: 29 Issue: 8
Count all 640
Much has been written about the transformation taking place in higher education and the need for models to support an educational experience that, in contrast to traditional models, is more accessible—because of newer delivery modes (e.g., online and blended programs) and different admission policies—while also being more affordable. Another desirable characteristic of new models is their ability to support student learning through diverse, robust support structures that may include coaches, tutors, and advisors along with the effective use of technology.
Tags: Leadership and Organization, Organizational Culture, Innovations

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