Implementing institution-wide, systemic change is typically a long and often challenging task for college leaders to undertake. Because each institution is different, the combination of internal and external factors that drive institutional change can vary greatly from college to college, and from moment to moment. Achieving the Dream (ATD), which…

This study examined California Community Colleges' administrator decisions about online proctoring software during the COVID-19 global pandemic between March 2020 and June 2022. Understanding how decisions were made, by whom, what information was considered, and how information was evaluated can support more informed decision making regarding…

Objective/Research Question: Community college graduation rates are typically quite low, and developmental mathematics enrollment and coursetaking patterns may constrain academic outcomes. To identify ways in which community college graduation rates may be improved, decision trees were utilized to examine the STEM coursetaking patterns of N =…

This article presents a national snapshot of GI Bill student enrollment through examination of a repository of data on veterans' education benefits usage, institutional practices to support veterans, and consumer advocacy information (e.g., complaints and caution flags). Through examination of records from 2217 two-year institutions enrolling…

This guide describes how community college presidents can embed strategic enrollment management (SEM) into mission fulfillment. It emphasizes the importance of setting a vision, ensuring adequate resources, and fostering collaboration. By leveraging data-driven strategies and continuous improvement, colleges can enhance student recruitment,…

Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore how public community college presidents draw upon data, their core values, and lived experiences to make decisions about how they can best respond to the holistic needs of their students. Method: Utilizing secondary elite focus group data with 15 community college presidents in Texas, we employed…

Over the last ten years, in Washington community and technical colleges (CTC) there has been a great leap forward in access and use of data for setting and measuring goals, monitoring progress, and identifying equity gaps. Despite much progress, faculty members in career and technical education (CTE) programs still often have difficulty accessing…

This chapter explores how the Wisconsin Technical College System Student Success Center and the Success Center for Ohio Community Colleges provided support that encouraged data-informed decision-making among 2-year college stakeholders. A case study for each Center is presented to illustrate data-related strategies and lessons learned. The…

Community colleges are continually being faced with pressures to use data to inform decisions. These pressures arise from a triage of factors, including accountability, accreditation, and student success initiatives. Yet, as these demands continue, research has shown that community colleges struggle to institutionalize data-informed decision…

Degree completion rates have recently dominated national debates regarding the value of higher education (Gagliardi et al., 2018). Inherent in this debate is the issue of how to utilize institutional data to evaluate student performance (Hubbard et al., 2020). This process, known as data-driven decision-making (DDDM), has been studied at four-year…

The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the use of data for assessing library collection utilization, to explore what tools are available to help guide purchasing decisions, and to create a blueprint for applying percentage-based allocation formulas to community college library collection budgets. Because there is little literature on…

Objective: Community colleges across the country are making dramatic shifts away from traditional reliance on placement testing for developmental education and toward using high school measures to assess college-readiness. Yet the views of faculty dealing with these changes, including their perspectives on the quality and usefulness of high school…

This Intersegmental Data Partnerships Resource Guide, and the accompanying PACE policy brief (see ED591080), are products of a year-long qualitative research project exploring promising practices in data sharing and data use among intersegmental partnerships throughout California. This Resource Guide provides institutions engaged in intersegmental…

This paper discusses the key findings from a qualitative case study examining the implementation of an activity-based cost management model (ABC model) at a large community college. In a climate of fiscal uncertainty, the college adopted this model with the goal of improving budgetary decision-making. The paper examines faculty and administrators'…

The need for STEM transfer students from low-income backgrounds to complete bachelor's degrees is a pressing issue. A substantial portion of those students start their educational journey at 2-year colleges. The lack of transfer and completion of these STEM students is deeply rooted in systemic and structural barriers, which leads to many students…