Remarks from the editor

Community College Enterprise, The, Spring 2008 by Reibling, Louis A

THE EDUCATORS who choose to publish provide access to their insights, research results, effective practices, and future possibilities. Those of us who read their work may discover new ways of doing what we do, as well as reassurance that most of what we educators implement fits into a larger context, though not one that we ponder on any regular basis. Sharing with colleagues, rather than measuring or comparing what we do, at best supplies support and a sense of balance. If the following topics are on the minds of authors, it should be no surprise they are on our own minds. A colleague's insights often reveal details we may have overlooked in our own ruminations.

In the Editor's Choice article, Michael Miranda follows an article he published a year ago describing the outcomes of the Find Your Voice Program. In the present article he provides guidelines for training faculty to use the innovative strategy for helping psychosocially under-prepared college students achieve both social and academic integration necessary for success in community college learning. Jonathan Carroll and Lea Campbell offer a carefully designed and implemented method for guaranteeing a community college course schedule that effectively meets the needs of students, faculty, and administrators.

A new feature, At Issue, will over time include a variety of useful information and viewpoints that do not fit the protocol of a scholarly research article. Wayne Pricer, the feature editor, presents an annotated bibliography which explores the issues of classroom management and physical safety. A second installment on the topic will appear in the next issue. Feel free to contact us at cce@schoolcraft.edu with suggestions for future topics.

Pamela Eddy reports a phenomenological study which investigates the experiences of six female community college presidents. She identifies several themes that help explain the disproportionately low number of women serving as college presidents. In a national study of part-time enrollment, Michael Copeland, Tara Tiejen-Smith, and Lee "Rusty" Waller examine factors that influence urban and rural community colleges in different ways.

In a Short Take essay, David James wrestles with the challenge of evaluating student creative writing in the age of accountability and offers the example of a pre-test/post-test technique he has tried. Danxia Chen interprets the frequency of recent dissertation research on international education at community colleges. She suggests implications for what she finds that can inform international education initiatives.

In the Book Review, Catherine Forte points out the strengths as well as the limitations of an updated discussion in Core indicators of Effectiveness for Community Colleges by Richard Alfred, Christopher Shults, and Jeffrey Seybert. Eric Klinker in the Technology Review offers guidance for educators venturing into the use of streaming media for their courses.

Louis A. Reibung, Ph.D.

Editor

Wishing you an edifying summer,

Louis A. Reibling, Ph.D.