The California Community Colleges (CCC) system is composed of 108 colleges organized into 72 districts that serve more than 1.4 million students statewide. Under the direction of the CCC board of governors, the Chancellor’s Office provides statewide guidance and leadership to the community colleges. In addition, the voters in each district elect a board of trustees charged with developing local policies that govern the day-to-day operations at the district’s colleges, including overseeing the compensation of teaching faculty and other employees. For the fall 1999 semester, the districts reported to the Chancellor’s Office a total population of 41,754 teaching faculty, of which 28,180 (67 percent) were classified as part-time and 13,574 (33 Social capital corresponds to the production function of social connections. “By engaging in closed work systems, individual actors can tap into information channels and engender a sense of trust and reciprocity with others in the social network” (Coleman 75). Developing relationships and connections to others within a social system enables individuals to generate social capital for themselves. The study by J.S Coleman utilizes the idea of social capital to help understand how community college students may be disadvantaged by increased exposure to part-time faculty members (93).The disadvantaged backgrounds from which many community college students originate, as well as a tendency for these students to be less academically prepared than their peers in four-year institutions, may place community college students at a deficit when considering their levels of both cultural and social capital. To counteract this potential deficit, community college students may need additional nurturing and guidance from mentors and faculty members. Although social capital involves trust and a mutual exchange of information and knowledge the focus is on how social capital facilitates networks of information and knowledge. This concept considers how students can generate social capital through their connections with institutional agents. Community With increased incentives, part-time faculty members may make a more concerted effort to be more available to students and work harder to engage students in the classroom. By becoming more engaged with students, part-time faculty members have an opportunity to contribute to the development of community college students’ social capital. As demonstrated by Cotten and Wilson, connecting with faculty members inside and out-side the classroom positively affects students in a number of ways (21). The negative correlation between exposure to part-time faculty members and associate’s degree completion may indeed be related to the students’ sense that they receive little support and guidance from part-time faculty members, who may lack the time and perhaps the necessary knowledge needed to assist their students in navigating the academic terrain at their respective institutions. Students arriving at the community colleges often need greater nurturing from the faculty, yet with high levels of exposure to part-time faculty members, they may not find the academic support necessary to work toward the completion of an associate’s degree
While first-generation college students are over half of all students in postsecondary education, exclusionary practices block their admittance into elite institutions. The outliers who receive admittance to the Ivory Tower may think they have made it—that their American Dream and long-held belief in the meritocratic ethos has finally paid off. Instead, they are confronted with educational stratification and social reproduction that was stacked against them long before they received the piece of parchment granting them access. The onerous task of navigating through unfamiliar academic and social situations often results in leaving. Can first-generation college students learn how to activate, manage, and accumulate social and cultural capital to navigate elite universities?
In a society where a collegiate degree is almost necessary to make a successful living, the idea that a student cares less about the education and more about the “college experience” can seem baffling. In My Freshman Year: What a Professor Learned by Becoming a Student, Rebekah Nathan, the author’s pseudonym, tackles the idea that academics are less impactful on a student then the culture of college life. Nathan, a 50-year-old cultural anthropologist and university professor, went undercover as a college freshman for a research project. From her research, she hoped to better understand the undergraduate experience by fully immersing herself in college life. To do this, she anonymously applied to “AnyU,” a fake acronym for a real university,
According to Everett (2015) students who have college-educated parents are at an advantage when it comes to enrolling in and finishing college (p.53). She also mentioned that this presumption was established on a concept that was acknowledged as social capital. Social capital, as defined by the author, is “the value of a relationship that provides support and assistance in a given social situation” (Everett, 2015, p. 53).
As I went through the research process for this paper I conducted many interviews with former classmates who are now either attending a four-year university or a local community college. The original intent was to find out their reasons for attending the institution they chose to attend. As I accumulated information I began to see a glaring trend in the relationship between the social group the individual was a member of and the college they ended up attending. This then drove me to further examine the influencing factors in these students’ social lives, in a hope of identifying the degree to which they are influenced by each other. Thus, the first part of the paper explores the community colleges of the surrounding area and the programs that they have to offer to students. Meanwhile, the second part of the paper is more of a sociological investigation into peer groups and the factors that lead kids into choosing their institution of higher education. I chose to focus on the institution that is the community college due to the fact that a large number of my former classmates are enrolled in community colleges.
For the past few decades, receiving a college education has been a stressed importance in today’s society. However it is often misunderstood that attending a 4-year school is the best and only way to go. Following this belief, many students attend these schools with out being academically, financially, or mentally prepared. Unfortunately students like this have failed to over look the more realistic options available to them, such as community college. Junior college is a resource available to anyone regardless of his or her previous academic performance. The variety of courses and the inexpensive tuition gives students flexibility to explore the many options presented to them. Though Universities hold more prestige, community colleges provide endless opportunities for students who aren’t fully prepared for a 4-year education
In “Choosing Success in College and Life”, Carol Kanar exposes students to the foundational skills that they will need to develop in order to be successful in the college setting. Effective interpersonal skills and understanding that people are the biggest resource can be two of the biggest factors in how a student assimilates to campus life. Students can be intimidated by all of the offices and professional titles that surround them when entering this new surrounding. It is important that students understand that their desire to succeed is met by college professionals’ mutual desire to see the same. The blueprint for this success should first begin with the students’ inner belief in themselves. Second, the student should familiarize themselves with all that the college has to offer by way of various supportive offices, support groups, and clubs. Finally, the students should begin to set scholastic, life, and financial goals for themselves.
Mok, Harry. “More students use community college to launch their UC education,” university of California. Web. 11 October. 2010.
Entry to community college allows just that. Addison explains, “just follow any one of the 1,655 road signs, and pop your head inside—yes, independent film, a first independent thought, a first independent study” (212). Many potential college prospects are turned away because this self-discovery found in community college cannot be found in private college; however, Addison insists that community college is the golden ticket to regain these would-be scholars. To begin, acceptance is necessary for admittance to many colleges—not community college. In the words of Addison, “down at X.Y.C.C. it is still possible to enter the college experience as a rookie” (213). Any student desiring education, preparation, and self-discovery does not need to look any further than community college, which, for some students, is the only shot at the college experience. On top of this, community colleges provide opportunities like no college—public or private—could. Community colleges provide introductory courses that could not be found in regular institutions; this allows students to explore and get their feet under them. To find and pursue an interest proves more difficult at a college because intense classes are provided from the beginning, whether students have declared a major or have yet to decide. In sum, Addison claims that an atmosphere designed
Nowadays, many people seek higher education for a better advantage in finding a job and getting a better life. Even though many people think going to a four year university directly from high school is a good idea; they are wrong. Starting out at a two year college is more affordable. Also, it helps people explore careers and prepare people to do better in four years universities later down the road.
Mobelini, D. C. (2013). Community Colleges: Partnerships in Higher Education. Community College Journal Of Research & Practice, 37(8), 629-635. doi:10.1080/10668921003723151
2. Thesis: The public universities in California were some time back the envy of the world. Following the state of California founding “master plan” for its higher education, which was made law in the year 1960, it provided for approximately 12.5% of high school graduates in the California state have a guaranteed entry to the well acknowledged University of California system. On the other hand, the community colleges accepted everyone else, adults inclusive. This “master plan” extended higher education in the state and also led to the growth of other highly proclaimed institutions such as UCLA and Berkeley. The question is, has this system been maintained? And what is the future of California’s higher education?
It is difficult to imagine a college bound senior making the big decision on where to attend college without the help of college rankings and family influence. Making such an important decision requires heavy research for the college bound student, and it is no surprise that college rankings are one of the first places students look for advice on their future school. Many high school seniors are concerned with the rankings, the “image”, or school pride associated with colleges. As seniors question which school is the best and strive to meet the admissions standards that seem to continually increase, it is important to question whether or not the quality of education is better at colleges with higher rankings and admissions standards. The process behind the rankings should be more exposed and by doing so, it may persuade college bound students to consider other factors that would impact their college experience. This may convince college bound students that rankings and admissions standards are not as important as they are held to be, and it would be beneficial to the students to realize that a quality education can occur at any college and not just the prestigious ones.
Unfortunately, our community college is confronted with a problematic issue of retention. Kramer (2007) emphasizes that colleges and universities experience a significant loss of revenue due to retention. As a result, some institutions suffer a loss of support from public sectors and private benefactors. But our college is more concern about our student 's welfare. With that said, to combat the community college problems
Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Thomson. Berger, J. B., & Milem, J. F. (1999). The role of student involvement and perceptions of integration in a casual model of student persistence. Research in Higher Education, 40, 641-664. Light, J. R. (2001).
While previous research relates students’ positive interactions with faculty to positive academic outcomes, Jungert and Rosander (2010) found a gap in literature which addresses the link between self-efficacy and students’ opportunities to influence their study environment. Researchers sought to explore the connection between students’ perceived self-efficacy and their actions in influencing their study environment. The authors hypothesized that “students’ degree of academics self-efficacy is related to their perceptions of the workload and their opportunities to influence their study environment, their thoughts of drooping out and their academic performance” (p. 649). Researchers also theorized a positive relationship between students with higher levels of self-efficacy and those individuals’ influence on course content. Participants included 213 students in Master’s programs in Applied Physics and Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering. Academic self-efficacy was measured using a seven-point Likert scale which rated confidence levels. A questionnaire was developed to measure students’ influence in course structure. Statistical processes used to gather results included two-way ANOVA d...