Join us as Dr. Tonjua Williams,  President of St. Petersburg College, leads the conversation as we focus in on our Institute's three core topic areas. 

This session will provide insight into how Miami Dade College (MDC) intentionally and strategically bridges the equity gap of their student body via holistic student support services. Using Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs (1943) and Crenshaw's Intersectionality of Identity (1989) as foundational frameworks, MDC will share how they listened, validated, and acknowledged their students' needs and transformed them into actionable strategies and practices to support their retention, persistence, and success.

Using a case analysis of a community college in New Jersey, we review how early college programs provide academic pathways to student success and attainment. Results show how students in this community college's early college program are (1) representative of the high schools in the county, (2) passing courses at a higher rate than their matriculated peers, and (3) accurately placing themselves in math. We discuss the multiple academic pathways provided to early college students.

Over the past two years, the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly altered how colleges serve and meaningfully connect with students. This session will share how Dallas College redesigned and revamped their Student Success and Support model with a specific focus on the expansion of virtual admissions, success coaching/advising, financial aid, and counseling supports that serve thousands of students from 8 am-midnight, Monday-Friday. Participants will learn about the conceptual framework that helped to inform redesigned student success practices, as well as the practical steps are taken to enhance the capacity to engage, encourage and equip students for success. Participants will examine how virtual services and remote instruction are the growing choices of several community college students who tend to be adult learners and working students. Participants will have the opportunity to reflect upon their virtual student success experience and consider ways to champion enhanced virtual support for their respective institutions.

The Mt. San Antonio College (Mt. SAC) Equity Center recently hired two social workers to work specifically with our undocumented (DREAM) and foster youth (REACH/Guardian Scholars) populations to provide a holistic approach to our programming. Our social workers function in a non-clinical capacity to enhance the continuum of care provided by the DREAM and REACH/Guardian Scholars programs. Attendees will learn about the evolving social work case management model, first-year outcomes, and key aspects of the delivery of program services.

Through interactive identification of challenges and benefits of planning and communicating institutional goals, participants will process and reflect on a new understanding of how to lead strategic planning among teams. Current issues impacting students will be examined and aligned with institutional priorities and resources using templates and concise steps for leaders focusing on solution-generating concepts.

It is essential that community colleges create opportunities to increase retention and persistence as enrollment rates decrease. However, the concept of well-being is rarely discussed when evaluating attrition. A study that examined well-being among community college students and the relationship between well-being and college continuation among academically at-risk students will be explored. Strategies to help educators promote student success and initiate a holistic concept of well-being within their campus communities will be provided.

Eastern Florida State College (EFCS) has created a transition program for students on the autism spectrum (ASD) that utilizes data from a University of Florida study highlighting the narratives of successful community college students (those that have transferred from community college to a top-ranked public university), and their perceptions of the internal and external factors that led to their success. The data will be detailed, as well as the elements of this five-week strengths-based program for incoming first-year students.

Throughout higher education, there is increasing concern about students who experience food and housing insecurity. Given the pandemic disproportionately impacted students that community colleges are likely to serve, it is critically important for community colleges to actively help students meet their basic needs. The 2021 Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) and Survey of Entering Students (SENSE) national surveys take a deeper look at these challenges by exploring housing and food insecurity among community college students.

Join us for the opportunity to gather as Student Affairs community college professionals to hear updates from some of the Community College Division and Latinx/a/o Task Force leadership.  We will spend some time discussing current challenges and open the floor to share ways to stay informed on critical topics.  Additionally, we will dedicate time to building relationships with colleagues while providing feedback on how the NASPA Community College Division can continue supporting our community college professionals.

Quiet Quitting is causing ripples in workplace satisfaction, retaining talent, and recognizing burnout within our community college environments. The presenters will showcase a new Productivity Spectrum as a conceptual framework for interpreting worker (dis)engagement levels. Within the community college sector of higher education, attendees will better understand what motivates the culture of quiet quitting, the benefits and impact within the campus and work culture, and evaluate where you fit within the productivity spectrum.

A long-standing narrative has been created about Black male persistence in higher education. Qualified, diverse Black Males applicants do exist. They simply have chosen not to attend or participate in less-than-desirable educational conditions or institutions. Those who come to your campus won't stay long without advocacy in the educational environment. In this presentation, you will hear directly from previously and currently enrolled Black male students from community colleges who have currently enrolled or seeking enrollment at a university.

As the sector within higher education that promotes access to the postsecondary education pipeline, community colleges enroll at higher rate students from minoritized identities. This includes students from the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, and Asexual (LGBTQIA+) community. Grounded in sense of belonging and using the mirror effect model, I use a queer phenomenological methodology to uncover how LGBTQIA+ images (i.e. rainbow flags, role models) foster sense of belonging for LGBTQIA+ community college students. Findings from interviews with 10 co-constructors across the state of California are provided.

As 2-year institutions throughout the country face the projected demographic decline of high school graduates, understanding the adult learner is imperative. Focusing recruitment, admissions and retention efforts on these students can buoy enrollment; however, institutions must first understand their unique needs and expectations. Join this session to gain access to direct feedback from a recent enrollment survey that will provide a detailed blueprint for recruiting and supporting the adult learner and have direct impact on institutional enrollment trends.

For the first portion of this discussion, we look forward to providing data from the Community College Research Center and Dr. Elisabeth Barnett, including case studies relevant to topics impacting student preparation for economic and social success. This will be followed by attendees’ discussion of action steps and practical use on their campuses led by Dr. Timothy Alvarez.