Guest editorial: The peer-led library

In an autoethnographic-inspired approach to their Library Student Ambassador Program, Pham and Muralles explore in their case study "Reimagining Peer Support and Engagement,” the growth and development of their program at California State University, East Bay and share recommendations and reflections from their ambassadors. Scripa and Spencer discuss the challenges and successes the team at the Pellissippi State Community College Libraries have had in launching their Pellissippi Ambassadors for Library Success program in "Introducing peer-to-peer reference services in a community college library.” Peer learning as a high impact practice As I and the authors within this issue agree, peer-led programs demonstrate key connecting points to high impact teaching and learning practices, allow opportunities for student employees to engage in career and professional formation activity, enhance a library's ability to engage with and provide outreach to underserved or underrepresented communities and break down traditional power structures, or barriers, that can be created by our traditional service models. In their article, "Shifting to a High Impact Practice-centered Student worker staffed Research Desk: a Hispanic Serving Institution Perspective,” Elizabeth DeZouche and Denise Santos discuss how their changes to the traditional desk model not only provided student consultants with a meaningful role but also helped them bridge the gap to their campus's mostly Hispanic, first-generation population.

Community Colleges and COVID-19: An Exploration of Challenges and Inequities

COVID-19 drastically changed many aspects of life in the U.S. and most certainly changed standard operating procedures in higher education. Moving all classes completely online created numerous challenges not only for students, but also for faculty. For students, these challenges included issues related to physical and mental health, job loss, and caregiving, as well as access to internet and even access to a home computer. Faculty also faced challenges. For example, many colleges and universities rely on adjunct faculty who are compensated on a course-by-course basis. Although most institutions provided faculty development sessions to make a smooth transition to online teaching, adjunct faculty were not necessarily invited to participate and, when they were, they were not compensated for time spent in these sessions or the additional work incurred to transition and teach in the online environment. This essay explores how community college students and faculty in the basic course responded to the COVID-19 crisis. Specifically, we discuss issues of employment, family responsibilities, and the digital divide as they reveal systemic inequities in the college setting, as well as in society.

Developing Vaccine Literacy for Urban Health Science Students, the Future Health Workforce

The 2019 coronavirus disease pandemic underlined a shift in attitudes against vaccines and a rise in hesitancy among some members of the population, despite the overwhelming evidence that vaccinations are one of the most successful and safe health interventions. Research has shown that vaccine hesitancy is complex and can result from an intersectionality of multiple factors. Research has also shown that to tackle vaccine hesitancy in the community, health care workers play a pivotal role, as they are trusted sources who can provide reliable information and can address vaccination concerns for the public. Unfortunately, health care workers are also susceptible to vaccine hesitancy. Thus, to curb these negative attitudes and doubts against vaccinations, we propose to improve vaccine competency among health science students, who are the future health workforce. Here, we propose a comprehensive pedagogical approach that aims to improve the vaccine literacy in this student population in two urban community colleges. The approach includes the use of high-impact pedagogical interventions to achieve three main objectives: (i) to teach students the nature and process of science to have them become "competent outsiders";(ii) to enhance students' knowledge of the complex science behind emerging infectious diseases and vaccine action, adopting a learner-centered and concept-focused instructional design, and (iii) to address the social, cultural, and historical aspects of vaccine development and the historical and present inequities that characterize this health intervention.

Shifting from Economic Poverty to Prosperity: The Challenge for Indigenous Communitie: Revue Canadienne de Recherche sur les OSBL et l'Économie Sociale (ANSERJ)

Only three self-funded second- stage women's shelters in First Nation communities were found in Canada. [...]maps show that no community foundations are available on reserves in Manitoba. Under the circumstances, the inequitable playing field that Canada has set up for First Nation communities, through the Indian Act and Canada Revenue Agency rules among others, is hidden from sight. [...]the role of the social economy in the settler state is never questioned or changed. [...]the social inequities rampant in Indigenous communities are never exposed or dealt with. First Nations include few or no community foundations, community colleges, notfor- profit training centers, and food banks. [...]rather than First Nations people controlling their own land and territories, the Crown holds land and resources in trust under the Indian Act.

Remembering New Vocationalism: Reinforcing the Future of Workforce and Professional Development in the Community College

The concept of new vocationalism reached its height in the 1990s and 2000s as views evolved regarding how community colleges should provide relevant vocational education for students. The concept of new vocationalism is here brought into the present moment by mapping theoretical lineages and emphasizing the current and future practical implications at the nexus of the community college sector and a post-COVID-19 economy. Reforms centered around the principles of new vocationalism have led to more inclusive opportunities for learners from varied diverse and marginalized backgrounds, though the influence within career development and community colleges often goes unrecognized. Implications for educational leaders are discussed, including refocusing outcomes on the needs of diverse learners and bridging the gap between students' academic and vocational educations. Specific considerations are also provided to further solidify new vocationalism principles in workforce and professional development programs within community college and career development contexts. Consideration first needs to be given to building programming that develops students' professional identity with a willingness (from both student and educator) to push back against exclusionary ideas of professional, professionalism, and industry practices that are not focused on employee inclusion. Further, equity and access should remain foundational to all programs if these structures are to remain relevant. Specific recommendations are given for incorporating the equity-mindedness approach when developing workforce and professional development programs and curriculum, with increased consideration being given regarding the reality of how well workforce and professional development programs are currently preparing students for life-long career success, growth, and adaptability.

Working Across the Aisle: Connecting Enrollment Management to Financial Aid to Re-Enroll College Students with Satisfactory Academic Progress Concerns

Students who leave higher education before earning a credential ("stop outs") often do so for failing to maintain satisfactory academic progress, or SAP. This article details why enrollment managers must work with their financial aid counterparts to smooth students' re-entry to higher education, focusing on SAP alleviation strategies.

The Effects of Motivation, Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy, and Self-Regulation on Learning Engagement of Junior College Students

This study examined three influential factors of junior college students' learning engagement: (a) intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, (b) career decision-making self-efficacy (CDMSE), and (c) self-regulation. Participants included 206 students enrolled in the secretarial administration program in a junior college in South Korea. The primary research findings are as follows. First, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation positively influenced CDMSE. Intrinsic motivation influenced learning engagement through CDMSE and self-regulation;extrinsic motivation did not. Second, CDMSE influenced self-regulation and indirectly influenced learning engagement through self-regulation. Third, self-regulation had the largest effect on learning engagement. The findings highlight the need to examine and enhance students' self-regulation skills and help improve the learning engagement of junior college students. This study confirmed the significance of motivation, CDMSE, and self-regulation for junior college students' learning engagement.

Does Higher Education Provide the Necessary Skills and Competencies to Succeed in the Job Market and Life?

There is a crisis in higher education. One troublesome issue is the sharp drop in higher education enrollments as well as the decline in the number of colleges in the United States. There is evidence that some college degrees are not worth the time and the money, and students would have earned more had they joined the workforce immediately after graduating high school. The authors discuss some of the problems and posit that some higher education institutions in the United States have done a poor job of teaching crucial skills, including critical thinking, ethical thinking, collaboration skills, and character development. The most vital competency of all might be inculcating in students a passion for lifelong learning, which is necessary to develop the ability to adapt swiftly to changing business conditions. Without these skills, it should be no surprise that there has been a disconnect between higher education and employability.

Editorial Introduction: Special Issue: Time, Urgency, and Collaboration in the Corporate University

Elite universities saw huge gains on their endowments while community colleges are struggling to survive4 and lipservice to "diversity" does not translate into job security.5 We began this work with the conviction that transnational, intersectional collaborative strategies are urgently needed in response to the global rise of neo-nationalism within a persistent system of neoliberal racial capitalism: violence, poverty and displacement are escalating while wealth disparities continue to increase. Productivity translates into numbers and speed, resources are distributed based on seemingly neutral algorithms, while teaching and scholarship are assessed in terms of numerically measurable outcomes. [...]while right wing movements frame academia as a hub of subversive, radical thinking and activism, innovation and collaboration in the service of transformation often face institutional obstacles. The emphasis in the essays in this volume is not just on identifying injustice and violence but on creating paths for alternatives to emerge, to, with cover artist Althea Murphy-Price, position anew, create new spaces and paces, new materials, notions of beauty, and forms of resistance, to build communities and collaborations that will "imagine otherwise" (Sharpe 2006, 115)7 and make different collaborations and worlds possible. On Our Cover Art Althea Murphy-Price received her B.A. in Fine Art from Spelman College before completing her Master of Arts in Printmaking and Painting at Purdue University and her Master of Fine Arts at Tyler School of Art, Temple University.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on it management in Pennsylvania's community colleges

This paper examines the critical decision-making that occurred within community college IT leadership within the commonwealth of Pennsylvania during the first year of the COVID pandemic. The research utilized semi-structured interviews with IT leadership within 10 of the 13 qualifying community colleges. The study, through qualitative thematical analysis and while looking through the lens of the Iron Triangle project management approach, set out to learn from the decisions and leadership styles that were developed in the first year of the pandemic to help prepare for future emergency situations. Through the research, the study found that IT leadership was successful during the pandemic when utilizing an adaptive leadership approach, and leadership maintained the primary focus on student success. By keeping students' needs as the primary priority, Pennsylvania community college IT leadership was able to successfully adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic and provide much-needed technology and support to their institutions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Creating through challenge: The lived experience of community college arts students, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

This phenomenological study examined how students at a large, urban community college experienced being an artist, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. It also investigated the ways these students made meaning of their arts experiences. The research design was based upon the model outlined in Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (J.A. Smith et al., 2009). Data were drawn from interviews with a purposively selected sample of five students who had public performance or exhibiting experience in visual art, dance, music, or theater.The participants experienced emotions of happiness and joy in their arts practices, as well as a strong sense of satisfaction in their creative work. All of the students described elements of the psychological state of flow as a part of their artmaking. The participants' arts experiences during the pandemic were varied, and were influenced by the unique circumstances of their lives. They made various practical adaptations to continue their creative practices. The pandemic provided a reflective space, in which the participants considered their personal and artistic priorities. They reported a keen sense of loss over their isolation from others during the pandemic. However, fundamental aspects of their arts experiences remained unchanged during this time. The participants found meaning in their art as a form of expression, in its capacity to connect them with others, and in their love for their creative work. These findings yield implications for strengthening connections between two- and four-year arts programs, utilizing the arts' capacity for building community, and considering new approaches to collegiate arts education. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Community college mathematics faculty members: Racialized self-perceptions of day-to-day realities within the classroom environment

This dissertation study was guided by two research questions: 1) What shapes community college mathematics faculty members' set of racialized ideologies, beliefs, and attitudes that inform their behaviors and teaching practices in the virtual classroom?;and 2) How do the racial and virtual classroom dynamics shape the ways mathematics faculty members adapt and deliver their course content during the COVID-19 global healthcare crisis? The combination of critical race theory in education, critical whiteness studies in education, and mathematical conceptual and theoretical frameworks informed the research design processes of this study. A total of 10 community college mathematics faculty members participated in the study: three from the California Community College System and seven from the Texas Community College System. The data collection methods included a pre-interview demographic questionnaire, a semi-structured virtual interview, an electronic document analysis, and a real-time virtual classroom observation. The findings from this study revealed three key findings. First, adult role models such as K-12 school professionals (e.g., teachers, coaches, and principals) and fathers were the primary influences who shaped faculty members' racialized sociocultural worldviews and current teaching strategies. Second, faculty members' lived experiences and self-willingness to learn about race and racism led them to develop their racialized self-awareness due to the absence of preparation from their academic and professional requirements. Lastly, when teaching in the classroom, students were the primary influences who shaped the racial and virtual classroom power dynamics rather than the faculty members. As a result, this study provides alternative theoretical, policy design, and practical recommendations to professionally coach community college mathematics faculty members on how to habitually practice teaching course curriculum centered on racial equilibrium, diversity, and inclusion, particularly in entry level mathematics course sequences. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Leading community colleges through a pandemic: The lived experience of one administration during the Covid-19 pandemic

The purpose of this research study was to generate a grounded theory based on the lived experience of community college leaders at Lake Washington Institute of Technology in Kirkland, Washington, when they were faced with the challenges of COVID-19. The study examined the lived experience of community college leaders addressing a significant, extended crisis. This study focused on the administration's response to critical incidents throughout a specified time period. Through the interviews of eight executive cabinet members, along with emails, documents, internal and external pieces of communication, this study told the story of the lived experiences of this team and how this information guided me to five explanations or findings of this study. Those explanations are: 1.LWTech President purposely prepared a team2.LWTech President intentionally built a leadership team from individuals with attributes that indicated they could work within a team 3.LWTech president developed trust with each individual on the cabinet4. The LWTech President and the cabinet developed trust with each other5.Operating as a team, the LWTech cabinet effectively navigated the pandemic and managed the crisisThese five main explanations of the processes used by the LWTech executive cabinet demonstrate how the team successfully navigated an extended crisis on their campus. This success was revealed through this research by different examples. One example of this was the completion of all classes and labs to ensure students could complete their programs and degrees without delay. The team also used the crisis to change institutional practices and policies for long-term improvement, including new technology for faculty, students, and staff campus-wide. The executive team was able to make these decisions and navigate this crisis successfully because of the foundation already established and trust built among the team. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Enrollment management strategies as a result of COVID-19 at rural community colleges

Higher education institutions world-wide were impacted by the unprecedented novel coronavirus (COVID-19) beginning in early 2020. COVID-19 caused a disruption in services to students and resulted in pivots of teaching, learning, and student support. Community colleges differ from four-year counterparts through varying student demographics, funding sources, mission and foci, and student intentions. Community college enrollment is affected by economic, employment, and social trends. Enrollment management practices changes as campus operations for student support changed to remote support. COVID-19 forced administrators at colleges to make quick decisions. This study examined the perceptions of academic administrators at rural community colleges regarding how COVID-19 impacted enrollment management practices. This study aimed to determine the perceptions of changes occurring to enrollment management practices and the subsequent financial challenges resulting from COVID-19 within rural Virginia community colleges. Each rural community college in Virginia is included within the Rural Virginia Horseshoe, totaling 14 colleges. This study was a sequential explanatory study that was conducted in two phases. Phase One was a quantitative inquiry using a non-experimental survey to gather mid to senior-level administrators' perceptions of how COVID-19 was impacting enrollment management practices at their college. A total of 45 respondents completed the survey. The distribution included 102 mid to senior-level administrators. For the qualitative inquiry, the multiple case study research tradition was utilized. A total of 10 interviews were conducted with mid to senior-level administrators. Five themes emerged from the findings: (a) COVID-19 led to crisis management and operations in phases, (b) managing student onboarding during COVID-19, (c) COVID-19 created unique challenges for community college students, (d) COVID-19 affected decision-making procedures, and (e) COVID-19 resulted in work/life balance issues and COVID fatigue. Major implications in the current study suggest that colleges should be ready to pivot to remote instruction or back from it, review the onboarding processes and supports to ensure that they are adequately serving students, and advocate to reduce the digital divide. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

A comparative exploration into first time in college student academic performance in face-to-face versus remote learning environments

In spring 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic forced educational systems to transition into an emergency remote learning modality. This quantitative study compared retention and productive grade rates of two 16-week academic semesters and compared face-to-face (fall 2019) and remote (fall 2020) emergency remote instruction. The study sample was drawn from the core courses of History, English, and Speech at San Antonio College. Those courses were selected in part due to the high proportion of first time in college students who were considered a vulnerable population regarding performance and persistence. Additional variables (i.e., gender, veteran status, first-generation status, and socio-economic status) were examined to determine whether they were predictors of either productive grade rate or retention. The findings suggested no difference between productive grade rates but higher retention in the face-to-face semester. The findings also indicated that gender (female) was predictive in both modalities, but no other variables were. At a minimum, those results suggested the importance of local assessment of predictors of student success in general, and when making decisions related to remote learning in particular. Finally, results of this study suggested that despite concerns regarding the scholastic impact on students and faculty forced into emergency remote instruction, that did not adversely affect student outcomes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

More Than Just Writing: Using Research to Connect Again

In Mar 2020, when the world shut down because of COVID, many tried to adapt--and some did fine. But when online learning continued into fall 2020 and (for some) into spring 2021, they began to lose something essential that makes classrooms engaging places: their in-person human connections, the bridges they build when they investigate questions and share ideas together. When Aamiina expressed frustration that she was not learning to engage with ideas even as she was receiving examples of how to write well, she woke Campbell from a post- online- learning stupor. A classroom, as bell hooks said, should be where "the practice of freedom" occurs. It took a wonderful book to lead her into creating that opportunity in her classroom again. The problem here was not the traditional research paper, as some scholars have claimed, though it's true that teachers should seek additional approaches to that assignment in response to this digital age and to students' requirements for engagement. The real problem is simply that teachers, must pay attention to the nagging sense that something is not working--and they must be brave enough to try something new that invites every student voice into the room.

An Authentic Peer-Led Team Learning Program for Community Colleges: A Recruitment, Retention, and Completion Instrument for Face-to-Face and Online Modality

The Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL) teaching model has been widely applied in several four-year institutions in STEM areas, including Computer Science. Although only a few two-year colleges have adopted similar teaching models, the number of contact hours and interaction between peer leaders and students are limited, and the implementation of an authentic PLTL model is constrained by students' schedules and location accommodation. The propelled migration from face-to-face to online classes during the COVID-19 pandemic surfaced dissemination and implementation of such model alternative. The PLTL model was implemented for the fundamentals of Computer Science, i.e., CS 1, 2, and 3, where peer leaders learned pedagogical techniques, designed, implemented, and proctored programming activities for the three courses online. In this paper, we report the experience of the PLTL model applied to a computer science program in a community college. Experience includes the peer leaders' growth in disseminating material to their peers and how this model measures course performance, recruitment, retention, and completion. © 2023 ACM.

Telemental health for rural university-assisted community schools

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, children and families in rural communities have been experiencing unprecedented long-term social isolation and insufficient access to mental health services. Prior to the pandemic, access to mental healthcare in rural communities was already inadequate, leading rural populations to be routinely underserved when facing significant social issues and mental health needs. Even though the pandemic has disrupted the traditional delivery of mental healthcare and exacerbated needs, isolated children and families in rural areas can benefit from mental health services through a telemental health approach. This article presents an innovative telemental health practice model that implements solution-focused brief therapy with social work interns in rural university-assisted community schools (UACS). Implications for policies supporting telemental health in rural UACS, social work education, and evaluation are presented. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Food Insecurity on a College Campus: Implications for Academic Success

This study sought to understand the scope of food insecurity at one four-year public institution and whether there were implications on academic outcomes for college students who face it. Data collection consisted of administering a questionnaire to a random sample of 2,700 undergraduate students. In total, 314 students participated. Overall, 47.9% of survey respondents scored in the category of experiencing food insecurity within the past 12 months. Students who experienced food insecurity had lower GPAs, were twice as likely to fail and withdraw from a course and were four times more likely to take an incomplete grade in a course.

Equity through Innovation in Teaching and Learning: A Student-Centered Approach to Systemwide Implementation of Direct Assessment CBE

The California Community Colleges (CCC) system has adopted an equity-imperative approach to systemic reforms. As part of this effort, and to meet the state's workforce demands of the future, the system has focused on better serving the needs of adult learners, those between the ages of 25 and 64 with some college but no degree. The current impact of COVID-19 has exacerbated the inequitable learning experiences of minoritized students and has forced the system to reimagine teaching and learning, with urgency. With a heightened focus on access, persistence, and the success of CCC students, direct assessment competency-based education (CBE) through self-paced learning, high-touch and high-tech student support is a clear next step in the evolution of teaching and learning to meet the needs of adult learners. This paper discusses the impetus for such innovation and the CCC system's effort to add direct assessment CBE to its educational offerings.