DISADVANTAGED STUDENTS' PERCEPTIONS OF THE USEFULNESS OF STUDENT SERVICESAT THE COMMUNITY JUNIOR COLLEGE

The purpose of this study was to determine certain perceptions
held by disadvantaged students about the usefulness of selected student
services at eight MOTEC-JC related Community junior colleges in America.
In order to accomplish this purpose, a survey questionnaire was sent to
eight community junior colleges participating in the MOTEC-JC Program
(Moving On To Enrollment and Completion of Junior College), a Federally
funded institute operated at Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton,
Florida. Some of the MOTEC-JC participants were teachers and administrators
employed at the following community junior colleges which partieipated
in this study: Central Florida Community College, Ocala, Florida;
Sanford D. Bishop State Junior College, Mobile, Alabama; Daytona Beach
Community College, Daytona Beach, Florida; Cumberland County College,
Vineland, New Jersey; Hillsborough Community College, Tampa, Florida;
Broward Community College, Fort Lauderdale, Florida; and Jefferson State
Junior College, Birmingham, Alabama. A participant from each of these
eight community junior colleges identified disadvantaged students enrolled in their respective institutions and administered the survey instrument
to these students.
One hundred and forty-two questionnaires responded to by disadvantaged
students were returned and utilized in percentage, ratio, and
statistical analyses. Percentages were obtained to determine disadvantaged
students' utilization of selected student services at their respective
community junior colleges. Ratios were computed to isolate important
relationships among the answers given by disadvantaged students to the
questions comprising each of the ten sections of the questionnaire. Moreover,
findings were analyzed and tested by x^2
to identify significant
differences in the responses made by disadvantaged students when classified
as Freshmen and Sophomores. A comparison of the responses of these
two groups was made to determine if being freshmen or sophomores at the
community junior colleges made a significant difference in whether these
students utilized the selected student services.
Disadvantaged students were utilizing selected student services
at their community junior colleges. Furthermore, being freshmen or
sophomores made no significant difference as to whether these students
utilized the selected services. Nevertheless, there were those disadvantaged
students who never used the selected student services at their
community junior colleges. Consequently, future research is needed to
obtain information from disadvantaged students not utilizing selected
student services at their community junior colleges.