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With the announcement in 1964 by the New York State Regents that all 2-year colleges within the state system would be comprehensive, Nassau Community College expanded its offerings to include business career programs. Because of this commitment, the college decided to examine student attrition in the business program. A general review of the literature suggests that remedying certain problem areas in community colleges might reduce their high attrition rates. With these possibilities in view, Nassau Community College proceeded to identify the reasons for dropouts from various business programs. Data were collected from school records and a questionnaire (included in an appendix) and interviews were conducted with the heads of business departments at eight other community colleges. Combining these data, the authors present findings, conclusions, and recommendations for such questions as admission criteria for business students as compared with other freshmen, performance of students with or without business courses in high school, reasons for going to college, schools to which business students transferred, and job placement after attending Nassau. Tables are used to explain the findings. Other tables are included in the appendices. (RC)

A study, conducted under a grant from Title I of the Library Services and Construction Act, was undertaken to determine: (1) the present level of library service in county and county-wide departments, agencies, and organizations in Nassau County, (2) what additional services are needed, and (3) how these services can best be achieved. Data were gathered by questionnaires and interviews with county governmental and county-wide nongovernmental groups. General needs identified in the study include: a list of community organizations; improvements in film services and a workshop on audio-visual service; more publicity on available library services, programs, and interlibrary loan services; and improved distribution of booklists and library publicity to county groups. Special concerns of the Nassau Library System Service Center involve: service to the disadvantaged, service to the chronically ill and homebound, and talking book service. Other major survey findings were: (1) that many groups are concerned with improving their proficiency in providing library materials to their staffs and clienteles, and they need help with professional collections, supplementary loans, and staff workshops and (2) that one of the greatest gaps in library service in Nassau County is service in the county institutions. Appendixes include the survey questionnaires and a list of the groups which responded. (JB)

AN INVESTIGATION OF ONE COLLEGE COMMUNITY WAS UNDERTAKEN, FOCUSING ON THE STUDENTS' VIEWS OF THE COLLEGE ENVIRONMENT, PERSONALITY NEEDS, AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT, AND ATTEMPTING TO LOCATE SOME ANTECEDENT AND CONCURRENT CORRELATES OF THESE FACTORS. THE TEST INSTRUMENTS USED WERE THE "ACTIVITIES INDEX" (AI) BY STERN AND THE "COLLEGE CHARACTERISTICS INDEX" (CCI) BY PACE AND STERN. THE AI WAS USED TO MEASURE PERSONALITY NEEDS, SCORED ON FACTORS OF INTELLECTUAL ORIENTATION, DEPENDENT NEEDS, EMOTIONAL EXPRESSION, AND EDUCABILITY. THE CCI WAS USED TO MEASURE STUDENT VIEWS OF THE COLLEGE ENVIRONMENT, SCORED ON FACTORS OF INTELLECTUAL CLIMATE AND NONINTELLECTUAL CLIMATE. DATA ANALYSIS WAS COMPLETED IN THREE STAGES--(1) RESPONDENTS WERE COMPARED WITH NONRESPONDENTS ON ALL POSSIBLE CATEGORICAL AND QUANTITATIVE VARIABLES TO ASSESS ALL POSSIBLE SOURCES OF SAMPLING BIAS, (2) THE RELATIONSHIPS AMONG QUANTITATIVE VARIABLES WERE ASSESSED BY MEANS OF THE "PEARSON PRODUCT-MOMENT CORRELATION," AND (3) SIMPLE, RANDOMIZED ANALYSES WERE PERFORMED ON THE RELATIONSHIPS AMONG ALL STUDY VARIABLES. RESULTS INDICATED THAT RESPONDENTS WERE MORE LIKELY TO BE FEMALES, FRESHMEN, AND SORORITY MEMBERS, WHILE NONRESPONDENTS WERE MORE LIKELY TO BE BUSINESS MAJORS AND FRATERNITY MEMBERS. MALES HAD HIGHER INTELLECTUAL ORIENTATION NEEDS THAN FEMALES, AND SCIENCE MAJORS HELD THE HIGHEST INTELLECTUAL ORIENTATION NEEDS. FEMALES HAD HIGHER DEPENDENCY NEEDS AND HIGHER EMOTIONAL EXPRESSION NEEDS THAN MALES. ADDITIONAL RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS WERE REPORTED. (HB)