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 The Community College: A Challenge for Change
A Publication By Alan Seidman

Seidman, A. (1995, May/June). Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 19 (3), 247-254.

Past generations have used education as a means to advance in society. Studies indicate that over a lifetime, high school graduates earn more money than non-high school graduates and that holders of associate degrees earn more money than those with high school diplomas (Andersen et al., 1989). As an open admissions institution, the community college provides people with access to postsecondary education regardless of past academic background.

Eaton (1992) has pointed out some barriers to higher education. She states, "Absence of money, racial and gender bias, lack of preparedness, and absence of motivation can all constitute access barriers." (p. 153) The community college can overcome these access barriers. Besides transfer programs, community colleges also offer technical, job ready programs. In addition, through continuing education and non-credit programs, community colleges provide individuals the opportunity to learn new skills or to upgrade old ones. Many community colleges offer courses at off-campus sites scattered throughout local communities. They bring education directly to the people.

The importance and promise of the community college has grown over the years. More than 50% of all full-time, first-time students begin their education at the community college (El-Khawas et al., 1988).

The community college has also become the educational "melting pot" for our society owing to its accessibility through the "open admissions" policy. This policy can enable those individuals who otherwise would not have access to higher education because of their academic background to attend community colleges. Incidentally, this is a very large segment of the population. More than 28% of the United States population does not have a high school diploma (Almanac, 1992).

New immigrants, first generation college students, and adults returning to college after an absence from education for a number of years attend the community college as a "safe haven" in which to begin their education. Because community colleges are generally centrally located, students can live at home while attending school.

Community college students are ethnically, culturally and economically diverse. In the fall 1990, 22.5% of minority students were enrolled in public 2-year colleges versus 17.3% enrolled at public 4-year colleges, and 26.6% were enrolled at private 2-year colleges versus 15.4% enrolled at private 4-year colleges (Almanac, 1992). The increase in the ethnic, cultural and economic diversity of students has come rapidly to community colleges. The influx of recent immigrants has added to this total. Many international students are also attending community colleges on student visas along with many undocumented aliens.

Immigrants view the community college as the ideal starting place in a new country for learning English, redeveloping or updating skills brought from their home countries, or for developing technical skills which will enable them to acquire jobs in the United States. These immigrants view the community college as "the place" to enter into an often confusing cultural system and hostile society.

A recent article in a local newspaper talks about the role of colleges to retrain workers. Callaci (1993) stated, "Aware that most of the lost jobs and high salaries will never return, schools of higher education are working with government and private industry to retrain these new students for alternate occupations that promote steady growth in the future" (p. 57).

Community college and the services provided to students with differing academic, social and economic backgrounds can have a positive impact and lasting effect on the nation's future. It has been twenty years since Tinto (1975) published his model of attrition and retention. This model identified student academic and social integration into the formal and informal structures of the institution affecting a student's decision to persist or drop out. The more students become integrated into the academic and social systems of the institution, the more likely they will persist at the institution (Tinto, 1975, 1987). Over the past twenty years there have been numerous studies that have affirmed Tinto's premise (Pascarella, 1986; Pascarella, et al. 1986; Terenzini and Wright, 1987; Halpin, 1990).

Most studies, though, have examined specific programs. Orientation programs help students adapt to their new environments. They are efforts by the institution to help entering students make the transition from a previous environment to a new one. Orientation programs help students with their academic and personal adjustment. They also help families understand what their sons and daughters will experience in college and help institutions learn about their students (Peters, 1988; Green, 1987; Terenzini & Wright, 1987). Boyer (1987) has underscored the need for orientation programs. He stated,
There is no simple response to the challenge of orienting new students to the campus. Some are less secure and need to feel part of a group; others prefer to make it on their own. Still, we are convinced that colleges should be as committed and creative in helping students adjust to college life as they are in getting them to the campus in the first place. (p. 46)
Student development programs are designed to provide students with personal and academic counseling and career and life planning. Student development programs help students cope with and develop skills necessary to deal with academic and social developmental problems (Terrenzini & Wright, 1987; Boyer, 1987).

Faculty interaction with students outside of the classroom (Tinto, 1982; Bean and Metzner, 1985; Peters, 1988) can have positive effects on student behavior. Tinto (1982) stated,
Simply put, the more time faculty give to their students, and students to each other,the more likely are students to complete their education. Both academically and socially, such informal contacts appear to be essential components in the process of social and intellectual development of individual...institutions should encourage those contacts whenever and wherever possible. (p. 697)
The literature has also pointed to the importance and value of early and continued intervention to help students clarify college choice, and once the choice has been made, to guide them through an often unfamiliar and confusing system. According to Schurenberg (1989), ". . .college admissions directors would honestly and openly identify the kinds of students who would flourish on their campuses; parents would seek not the most prestigious school but the one that best serves their child's needs" (p. 142).

The notion that good information can lead to student satisfaction with an institution, and to students attaining their academic and personal goals, is also supported by Boyer (1987). In his report on a study of the undergraduate experience in the United States for The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Boyer stated:

Almost half the prospective college students we surveyed (47 percent) said that "trying to select a college is confusing because there is no sound basis for making a decision." Without adequate information, many students choose college almostblindly. Then, once enrolled, they often are not satisfied with their decision and far too many, for the wrong reasons, transfer or drop out. (p. 14)

Yet few studies have examined integrated programs which track students from recruitment through graduation or when they leave the institution prior to graduation. An earlier piece by Seidman (1991) examined an integrated admissions and counseling process at a suburban community college and found that over time, students seemed to feel more positive about the institution and were retained at a significantly higher rate. The initiative was, however, one semester in duration, and a systematic long-term integrated program through multiple semesters, may provide a more powerful treatment.

Because the concept of academic and social integration has generally been accepted by the educational community as effective in helping student persistence, what can colleges do to help students accomplish their academic and personal goals and in the process impact favorably the future of the country?

In a recent article in the Community College Journal entitled "Needed: A methodology to assess community college effectiveness," Seidman (1993) presented a model to assess community college student outcomes. The idea is to move away from the traditionally accepted notion that students attend college to receive degrees towards the ideas that they attend for academic and personal reasons. Coupled with specific demographic information, much can be learned about our students and how community colleges can meet their needs.

As part of the demographic information, the model suggested collecting information regarding family structure and background. This would include such information as whether the students are from single parent families headed by mothers or fathers and other pertinent information. Incidentally, most children of divorce reside with their mothers. It is also clear that students from single parent families achieve at different levels than those from nuclear families (Hewlett, 1991).

Tors (1992) cites numerous studies over the years that clearly indicate that children in father-absent households score lower on standardized tests (ACT's, SAT's) than children whose fathers were present in the home. This, she said, is due to the lack of financial resources available to women to adequately provide for their children. In fact ". . .female-headed households make up a disproportionate and increasing share of persons in poverty" (p. 7).

Tors (1992) further stated, "A lack of educational attainment can result in diminished critical reasoning ability in ascertaining cause and effect relationships, analyzing any media information and objectively assessing various choices at the personal, community and national levels" (p. 9).

Can community colleges tailor their support services from the time of student interest in the institution through leaving, for whatever reason, to help the student become a productive member of society? They can, but it will take a commitment by federal, state and local governments to provide the leadership, funding and support. The money spent on future human capital will benefit society in the long term. It is a good and wise investment. The commitment must be made to help our citizens become full and functioning members of society regardless of their current academic and economic status.

First and foremost, as much as possible needs to be learned about students from the beginning of their academic careers so programs can be designed to meet their needs. Data need to be obtained and analyzed regarding students' academic, social, economic, and family background and students' academic and personal goals.

The need is to ascertain the characteristics of successful students. Identifying these characteristics can assist in the development of programs to help students who are academically underprepared and whose family background has put them at an economic and social disadvantage.

What intervention strategies can be used or developed to help students meet their academic and personal goals? Most colleges have many components of programs that have proven to be successful (i.e. orientation programs, academic and career counseling etc.). What else can be done, and when should intervention begin?

Should intervention strategies be initiated immediately when students show interest in college or after they get into academic and/or personal difficulty? Are current academic and student service systems comprehensive or powerful enough to affect change? Should community colleges continue to assist students at the same level throughout their college careers? Is there a need on-campus for chapters of national organizations that deal with alcohol and drug addiction, family problems, and so forth? Do community colleges interact effectively with local governmental agencies to help students and their families?

Can a college develop an integrated approach to academic and student services which maximize the potential of students to meet their academic and personal goals? Can it remove impediments that impede student growth and development to help students overcome often overwhelming odds and hurdles placed in their path? Community colleges can and should. But are they willing to commit the resources needed to implement the research agenda necessary and to provide necessary services?

College application forms should be developed to collect pertinent student academic, social, economic, family and demographic data. High schools provide academic information. This information should be merged into a database as soon as possible, and individual and group data should be developed about the student.

Obtaining early information on a student can enable us to channel him/her into support systems and programs before enrollment and to continue the intervention through his/her college career. Even if students leave the institution prior to graduation, they might have been hooked into a community agency that came onto the campus and therefore continue with the group off campus. Can these services be made available to former students even if they leave?

Twenty years have passed since the Tinto (1975) model was introduced. Over the years the model has been held up to much scrutiny. If the educational community has accepted its tenets, integrated programs should be designed that will help students achieve their academic and personal goals.

The community college is the ideal place to help students with varying academic, ethnic and economic backgrounds enhance their chances to receive and benefit from higher education. Community colleges serve the specific needs of their sponsorship areas. They are responsive to changing needs of area business and industry. They have critical linkages between college and local services as many community colleges are sponsored by the local government.

Community colleges need to move away from the notion that to survive as institutions they must recruit and enroll as many students as possible regardless of institutional and student "fit." Schurenberg (1989) pointed out that students would flourish if they choose colleges that best met their needs. Mc Pherson and Winston (1992) say,
Perhaps the kind of information that would be most useful is that which would help students gauge the "fit" between their needs and capacities and what different schools have to offer. Such information would encourage families to make educational choices less on the grounds of overall institutional prestige and more on the basis of how well a school serves a given student. (p. 108)
Peters (1988) said that matching students' needs with the institution's will lead to greater student satisfaction and success. Boyer (1987) suggested that college students evidence greater satisfaction if they are given good information about the institution. Bean and Metzner (1985) and Crockett (1984), among others, said that when systematic and consistent counseling programs are provided, increased student satisfaction, retention and academic performance result.

Community colleges must, then, develop integrated and consistent programs to best serve students from the time of inquiry to the institution through departure. Pascarella et al. (1986) pointed out the importance of integrated programs to assist students in their research on community college students. They said,
The relative importance of academic and social integration in predicting persistence suggests that what happens to a student after he or she enrolls at an institution may be as important to ultimate persistence in postsecondary education as the influence of precollege variables...Thus, it may be possible to enhance student persistence in postsecondary education through purposeful institutional policies and practices designed to enhance student social and academic integration. (p. 66)
Community colleges need to get to know our students by gathering pertinent data they can use to develop programs to help our students succeed. They owe it to the students and the future success of the United States to develop programs that will help them succeed in college and in life.

References

Almanac. (1992, August). The Chronicle of Higher Education, 39(1), 6-8.

Andersen, C. J., Carter, D. J., & Malizio, A. G. (1989). 1989-90 Fact book on higher education. New York: Macmillan.

Bean, J. P., & Metzner, B. S. (1985, Winter). A conceptual model of nontraditional undergraduate student attrition. Review of Educational Research, 55, (4), 485-540.

Boyer, E. L. (1987). College: The undergraduate experience in America. New York: Harper & Row.

Callaci, D. O. (1993, August 8). Programs designed for unemployed. Newsday, pp. 57, 64.

Crockett, D. S. (1984). Advising skills, techniques, and resources. Iowa City, Iowa: The ACT National Center for the Advancement of Educational Practice.

Eaton, J. S. (1992). The evolution of access policy: 1965- 1990. In American Higher Education: Purpose, Problems and Public Perceptions (pp. 65-114). Queenstown, MD: The Aspen Institute.

El-Khawas, E., Carter, D., & Ottinger, C. (1988). Community college fact book. New York: Macmillan.

Green, E. (1987). At many colleges, orientation has become a serious introduction to campus life. Chronicle of Higher Education, 34(6), 41-43.

Halpin, R. L. (1990, Spring). An application of the Tinto model to the analysis of freshman persistence in a community college. Community College Review, 17(4), 22-32.

Hewlett, S. (1991). When the bough breaks. New York: Basic Books.

Mc Pherson, M. S. & Winston, G. C. (1992) The economics of cost, price and quality in U.S. higher education. In American Higher Education: Purpose, Problems and Public Perceptions (pp. 65-114). Queenstown, MD: Aspen Institute.

Pascarella, E. T. (1986, March). A program for research and policy development on student persistence at the institutional level. Journal of College Student Personnel, 27(2), 100-107.

Pascarella, E. T., Smart, J. C., & Ethington, C. A., (1986). Long-term persistence of two-year college students. Research in Higher Education, 24(1), 47-71.

Peters, T. J. (1988, September). Individual attention: The key to keeping students in school. ACU-I Bulletin, 56(2), 4-8.

Schurenberg, E. (1989, May). The agony of college admissions. Money, pp. 142-150.

Seidman, A. (1991, Summer). The evaluation of a pre/post admissions/counseling process at a suburban community college: Impact on student satisfaction with the faculty and the institution, retention, and academic performance. College and University, LXVI(4), 223-232.

Seidman, A. (1993, April/May). Wanted: A research methodology to assess community college effectiveness. Community College Journal, 63(5), 36-40.

Terenzini, P. T., & Wright, T. M. (1987). Influences on students' academic growth during four years of college. Research in Higher Education, 26(2), 161-179.

Tinto, V. (1975). Dropouts from higher education: A theoretical synthesis of the recent literature. A Review of Educational Research, 45, 89-125.

Tinto, V. (1982). Limits of theory and practice in student attrition. Journal of Higher Education, 53(6), 687-700.

Tinto, V. (1987). Leaving college: Rethinking the causes and cures of student attrition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Tors, B. (1992). A preliminary investigation of factors affecting educational attainment of children of divorce. Unpublished manuscript.

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