This qualitative study of a community college—university partnership employs network embeddedness theory to examine the processes involved in creating and sustaining partnerships to enhance transfer and baccalaureate attainment. In particular, this article describes the challenges inherent in partnership management and governance, the importance of involving faculty in transfer-partnership programs and activities, and the utility of community college—university transfer partnerships in the future. Findings have clear implications for research and practice.

In recent years, a convergence of several forces-increased legislative involvement in higher education, governmental and philanthropic pressure to increase postsecondary degree and certifi cate production, demands for a highly trained workforce, and fi scal belt-tightening at colleges and universities across America-has resulted in efforts to signifi cantly reform community college-to-university transfer and articulation processes. One increasingly popular method of reform is the implementation of transfer associate degrees: statewide pathways or degree programs that allow students to both earn an associate degree from a community college and transfer seamlessly into a state university with junior status. (Note: These degrees are known by different names in different states, but for the purposes of clarity, we refer to all of them as transfer associate degrees.)The reasons for implementing transfer associate degrees are myriad. From an effi ciency standpoint, states view these transfer pathways as vehicles for aligning lower-division general education and premajor curricula across two-and four-year institutions, thereby reducing course overlap and the need to repeat similar courses after transferring. In addition, there is emerging evidence that transfer associate degrees better prepare community college students for upper-division work, and that students transferring with such degrees are more likely to persist at a university, complete a greater number of credit hours, and pass more courses (Hezel Associates, 2007;Kisker, Wagoner, and Cohen, 2011;Mustafa, Glenn, and Compton, 2010). Furthermore, recent data show that transfer associate degrees in 1

Objective: Ideally, community colleges both democratize opportunity and develop in students the civic skills necessary to meaningfully participate in a democratic society. This national pilot study examines the individual and institutional factors associated with greater civic agency, capacity, behavior, and knowledge among students after at least 1 year of community college attendance. Method: Using survey data obtained from both community college students and administrators via a new civic outcomes survey and institutional questionnaire, this research utilizes both descriptive and multivariate statistics to identify associations between individual and institutional characteristics and behaviors leading to greater civic outcomes. Results: Holding students’ incoming characteristics and pre-college behaviors constant, this study shows that community college students’ academic and extracurricular behaviors, as well as institutions’ intentionality toward civic engagement, are associated with higher levels of civic agency, capacity, behavior, and knowledge. Contributions: Results of this study indicate that by making visible and measurable commitments to civic learning and democratic engagement on campus, and by creating opportunities for students to interact with one another, wrestle with thorny social or political issues, and engage in their communities, colleges can help create informed citizens who are skilled in democratic practices and committed to lifelong engagement. For community colleges, this is especially important, given their large population of students from groups historically marginalized in the nation’s education and political systems and their mission to both democratize opportunity and do the work of democracy.

Community college partnerships with the private sector have grown in significance in the past 15 years due to state budget shortfalls, evolving labor requirements, the need to provide a cutting-edge curriculum, and a desire to respond to local educational needs. This article discusses the essential elements for creating and maintaining mutually beneficial partnerships, and it describes several successful types and models of community college partnerships with local businesses and industry. The article concludes with a discussion of the benefits and challenges associated with community college partnerships with the private sector.

This chapter describes the individual and institutional factors leading to greater civic outcomes among students at four The Democracy Commitment (TDC) colleges in California.