Community College Review

The study investigated the impact of establishing a community college upon a county's relative economic development. Census data from 1940 through 1990 were used in graphical analysis of short-time series, ratio comparisons, and ordinary least square regression analysis. The results indicated that establishing a community college potentially contributed 8% to 11% of a county's economic development. This estimated "catalyst" influence was accounted for by neither payroll, population growth, nor economic advantages that existed prior to establishment of the community colleges.

This study addressed faculty recruitment for community colleges, an issue of immediate importance because many faculty hired during the enrollment boom of the 1960's are retiring. The design for this research was a factorial experiment involving a three-way analysis of variance. The participants (N = 136) were randomly selected male (n = 68) and female (n = 68) business professionals completing the MBA degree. The participants role-played the part of applicants for business department faculty positions by rating jobs described in simulated recruitment advertisements. The ANOVA results indicated that both male and female business professionals preferred part-time rather than full-time teaching positions. Implications for recruitment practice and future research are discussed.

The central purpose of this study was to examine the connection between informal student-faculty interaction, the perceived quality of effort asserted in science courses, and perceived educational gains in science and mathematics-based courses for community college students within the context of Pace's (1979) concept of social and academic involvement. Pace's "quality of effort" concept of social and academic involvement assumes that the effects of college on students' differential patterns of growth and development can be assessed through the efforts students expend in utilizing the resources provided by higher education institutions. A path analytic model is proposed for the present study operationalizing constructs developed from previous research on the positive influences of informal student-faculty interaction on students' academic achievement in science and mathematics. This examination tested the hypothesized model's applicability in the study of the disparity between men and women persisting in science- and mathematics-based majors.

To maintain a strong presence with higher education, the community college should consider itself a discourse community, a concept that borrows from "speech community." Understanding this concept is helpful in conceptualizing the nature of the community college in general, in increasing perceptions of community college communicative competence, and in moving its professionals into positions of legitimate power within the larger higher education discourse community.

This review of literature examines the impact of globablization on the community college missions and the expected competencies that students should acquire from a community college education. In the late 1990s, many community colleges began incorporating an awareness of globalization into strategic planning and curriculum planning initiatives. The author presents a list of accepted competencies for the "globally competent learner," and suggests additional competencies, which include a focus on the importance of intersection of language and culture, an understanding of the interconnectedness of the economy and the environment, and the development of a critical approach to media and communications. Finally, the author explores the link between multiculturalism and globalization as concepts that have been considered for integration into the community college curriculum and mission during the past decade.