From Student Access to Student Success:Exploring Presidential Views of the Evolving Community College Mission.

Community College;Student Success;Student Access;Organizational Change;Competing Expectations;Mission;Education;Social Sciences;Higher Education

Baldwin, Christopher AaronAlfred, Richard L. ;

University of Michigan

关键词: Community College;    Student Success;    Student Access;    Organizational Change;    Competing Expectations;    Mission;    Education;    Social Sciences;    Higher Education;   

Others  :  https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/98017/cabaldw_1.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

瑞士|英语

来源: The Illinois Digital Environment for Access to Learning and Scholarship

【 摘 要 】

Community colleges are recognized as flexible, efficient institutions. A core trait of these colleges is accessibility. However, a growing emphasis on student outcomes accompanied by increasingly prescriptive accountability is pushing colleges to make choices that may limit access. This study examines community college presidents’ views on student access and success and how their beliefs are shaping the direction of their institutions. The underlying idea motivating this inquiry is that college leaders, due to shifting expectations toward increased completion, are being forced to make decisions that challenge fundamental aspects of the college mission.This qualitative study borrows from neo-institutional theory employing the concepts of competing institutional logics—namely student access and student success—and institutional entrepreneurship to explore shifting organizational expectations. The study involves interviews with nineteen of the twenty-three community college presidents in Ohio. Ohio is one of a handful of states that has garnered significant national attention for reform efforts in the two-year sector in recent years.Findings suggest presidents are deeply committed to aspects of the college mission indicative of the access logic—open door admissions, comprehensive offerings, and affordability. However, they cite several dilemmas to sustained accessibility and increased student success including growing percentages of underprepared students and continued demands for a broad array of quality offerings in an environment of constrained resources. Exploring the implications of the completion agenda the presidents embrace efforts to improve student outcomes, but also contest the classification of student success narrowly defined as credential attainment. Many presidents have taken an aggressive position in navigating the institutional shift from student access to success. Nearly all presidents indicate the need for more emphasis on partnerships with other education sectors. This study makes an important contribution to research in higher education. There is considerable literature that highlights the questionable outcomes of students attending community colleges; yet, these institutions continue to garner significant attention as affordable alternatives to promoting increased educational attainment. Scrutiny of student progression and success will lead to questions about the sustainability of the long-held belief that community colleges should provide open access for students regardless of their backgrounds and academic preparation.