Universities and colleges -- Florida -- Administration

Many changes are occurring in community colleges offering baccalaureate degrees across the nation, especially in the state of Florida where 24 of 28 colleges in the Florida College System are offering baccalaureate degrees. The impact of these institutions shifting their missions from associate to baccalaureate degree offerings is unknown on a key area of the college - Student Affairs. The purpose of this study was to describe and document the perceived changes in and lessons learned about Student Affairs programs at two large, multi-campus colleges in the Florida College System offering Bachelor of Applied Science (BAS) and Bachelor of Science (BS) programs. The primary sources of data collected for this study were from 27 interviews with college administrators and staff and from 22 documents. District and campus-based administrators were selected based on their influence over, or knowledge of, Student Affairs programming at all degree levels and/or specifically at the baccalaureate degree level. Professional and support staff members were selected based on their direct involvement with the delivery or support of Student Affairs programs for baccalaureate students. The five major findings, based on a cross-case analysis, were (a) a focus on operations, (b) struggling with philosophical directions, (c) changes occurring in personnel and operational processes, (d) no change in several areas, and (e) lessons learned in cultural shift. This study concluded that the 2+2 admissions model is confusing to students, and it does not always allow for seamless financial aid coverage, which may be creating "leakages" in the community college baccalaureate (CCB) student success pipeline. Additional staff and resources are needed in the areas of admissions, recruitment, and advising. Several new and/or revised operational processes took place in the areas of admissions, recruitment, registration and records, and financial aid. Although student development theories still are seen as an important foundation of Student Affairs work, each college was struggling with their philosophical directions as a CCB institution. Finally, a majority of participants expressed a resistance to the change of becoming a CCB institution, not understanding if they still were a community college or if they were moving closer to becoming a 4-year university.

The primary purpose of the study was to explore the potential impact of voluntary remediation on success in ENC1101 and MAT1033 (gateway courses) and on minority or low-income students in Florida. The study was prompted in 2013 when the Florida Senate exempted most students entering the Florida College System from placement testing or developmental education regardless of their skill level. A quantitative design compared the gateway course success of 10,703 exempt students in 2014 and 2015 to the success of 8,644 students who would have been exempt had the law been in effect when they completed their gateway courses in 2012 and 2013. Data were collected from three FCS institutions. Using Astin and Astin's 1992 Input-Environment-Outcome model (Astin & Astin, 1992), independent variables included demographics, such as race and Pell grant eligibility, and prior academic performance, as well as enrollment status and remedial course decisions and perf ormance. The study found the policy to have a statistically significant (α = .05) negative effect on student success in the gateway courses. The voluntary remediation policy that was in part enacted to improve college completion rates threatens to have the opposite effect. The results show that fewer proportions of students were successful (grade of C or higher) in both courses once remediation became voluntary (12.8% decrease for English; 19.3% decrease in math). The study revealed a need for further research to investigate the degree of this impact on minority and low-income students. The results also suggested a need for more research to learn which students are likely to benefit, or not, by taking a remedial course. Of the students in the study who voluntarily took a placement test and scored below credit level, 11.3% chose remediation before taking ENC1101 and 24.5% chose remediation before taking MAT1033. Of those students, most who earned an A or B in the remedial course were successful in the credit courses; most who did not earn at least a B in the remedial course were unsuccessful at the credit level. Results were significant (α = .05), and effect sizes were moderate (.344 for English; .430 for math).