Search

There are many rewards associated with teaching in public schools, but there are also several challenges such as understaffing, limited resources, overcrowded classrooms, and underpaid employees. All of these issues combined often lead to burnout and mental health concerns among public school teachers, particularly those in urban settings. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, literature regarding teachers' psychological distress has increased in a general sense; however, there remains limited exploration of a potential increase in job-related mental health concerns of urban teachers after the onset of COVID. Therefore, in this study we compare the 2018 (pre-COVID) and 2020 (early-COVID) results of the North Carolina Teacher Working Conditions Survey in order to answer whether there has been a change in the psychological distress of urban school teachers in North Carolina since the onset of COVID. Based on the findings, we offer recommendations to key stakeholders in an effort to better support the health and outcomes of K-12 urban school teachers as they continue adapting to the ever-expanding and ever-evolving implications of COVID.

Teachers experience a great deal of psychological distress. However, there is a gap in the literature concerning the difference between the distress of teachers working in urban schools versus those in non-urban schools. Thus, the present study utilizes data from the 2018 North Carolina Teacher Working Conditions Survey to conduct a statistical analysis of the agreeability differences between urban and non-urban teachers' responses to constructs with implications for their psychological well-being. The results reveal some differences between urban teachers and non-urban teachers. Suggestions are offered to key stakeholders to better support the psychological well-being of teachers.

In this article, we explore a program designed to engage high school and college students with learning disabilities (LD) in conversations about their hopes, expectations, and fears for the future. We explore the mindset of students by focusing on their self-identified passions for life and sense of strengths and limitations. We found that males and females differed in goals related to "Academics," "Work Ethic," "Degree Specific Statements," and "Money and Finances." For example, females emphasized "Academic Goals" more frequently than males and focused on topics such as GPA and work ethic in school. However, males made more "Degree Specific Statements" than females, more often emphasizing the desire to be financially stable or have a career with a large income. These differences suggest that college transition staff may want to focus on goals identified by male and female students with LD as a way to be more responsive to student self-identified goals.

The Black Men's Health Forum, a 6-week online health education intervention for African American men and accountability partners of African American men, was conducted to increase awareness of health issues that disproportionately affect African American men. In this article, we describe the intervention and report on the immediate benefits of the intervention, including changes in health knowledge and perception of research participation. Participants completed a pre-evaluation prior to participating in the forum and a post-evaluation after each session to capture data on sociodemographic information, medical history, health knowledge, and health behaviors. A total of 60 participants (30 African American men and 30 accountability partners) completed the forum. African American men had a mean age of 61.1 years while accountability partners had a mean age of 57.6 years. Overall health knowledge increased by 6.9 points for African American men and 2.8 points for accountability partners. Before the forum began, nine African American men reported ever participating in a research study. The proportion of African American men who reported that they would definitely participate in research in the next 12 months after participating in the forum increased by 40%. Through culturally tailored programming, the Black Men's Health Forum increased access to health information as well as African American male medical professionals and health researchers for African American men in the community. Exposure to health information resulted in significant increases in health knowledge and willingness to participate in health research among African American men. [This article was written with the Triad Pastors Network.]

As the number of displaced people increases, providing refugee-background students with critically engaging classrooms is essential. Supporting diverse learners, while focusing on issues of social justice and equity, critical literacy facilitates a perspective where texts are analyzed for underlying messages of power and sociopolitical issues. Using Lewison et al.'s critical literacy framework, we present ways in which refugee-background students' educational experiences were enhanced. Through the stories of these students, we provide ideas for practical application of Lewison et al.'s concepts of disrupting the commonplace, interrogating multiple viewpoints, focusing on sociopolitical issues, and taking action and promoting social justice.

The Faculty Conversation Series at North Carolina State University, offered by the Office for Faculty Excellence, is a virtual option to connect faculty across campus to discuss topics immediately relevant to the unique teaching needs that we are currently experiencing, ranging from technical aspects of teaching online to mental health needs of faculty and students. The purpose is to engage faculty in discovery and discussions that will be helpful to their teaching practice. To this end, we provide the attendees with reading materials, invite a subject matter expert, and facilitate a confidential conversation among interested faculty members in a secure online learning environment. In this article, we discuss the outcomes of the first year of this program, both qualitatively and quantitatively, including a content analysis of written faculty comments collected during the sessions, as well as best practices to organize similar meetings and to facilitate this kind of inclusive faculty engagement.

In an era of accountability, it is vital that schools can define their success in ways that transcend a single high-stakes testing day at the end of the school year. While student growth and proficiency are important educational measures, also focusing on health and wellness, stewardship of resources, and sustainability education, offers a unique and collaborative opportunity for learning communities to engage partners, reflect on goals and practices, and empower students, staff, and community members as change agents in the work. Sustainability education informs the preparation of educators and the collaboration of educators, community members, policymakers, and university personnel. This article offers insights and examples presented by a school-university partnership seeking to vitalize the three green pillars defined by the U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools award designation amid a pandemic setting.

Social media platforms like Twitter offer benefits for promoting and sharing scientific research. Each user becomes an instant news source for their work, and are able to report lab updates, news, and discoveries in near real time, increasing the visibility and citations of one's research and allowing for direct and public engagement with the scientific community. Additionally, such outreach has the possibility of strengthening collaboration and engagement within one's academic department. However, amidst the noise of a billion profiles, how can you be heard and measure your impact? The North Carolina State University Department of Chemistry has adopted an amplification method that relies on promoting departmental news through collaboration between faculty (@NCStateChem) and student organization (@NCStateChemGSA) run accounts, which are then amplified through research lab or personal community member profiles. Because of this strategy, our Twitter account has a following that extends beyond our own students and faculty. In fact, nearly three quarters of our Twitter follower base consists of accounts not affiliated with NC State. Here we share insights into one of our social media strategies for Twitter (#ChemPack) and provide an overview of our in-house amplification network monitoring impressions and engagement rate as a metric to assess our impact.

Researchers have invested a great deal in creating reliable, "gold-standard" creativity assessments that can be administered in controlled laboratory settings, though these efforts have come at the cost of not using ecologically and face-valid tasks. To help fill this critical gap, we developed and implemented a novel, face-valid paradigm that required participants to paint abstract pieces of art, which were later rated for creative quality. We first sought to evaluate whether there was good convergence among creativity ratings provided by independent raters. Next, we examined whether its measure of creativity correlated with (a) existing creativity measures and (b) individual traits (e.g. openness, fluid intelligence) that are typically correlated with indices of creativity. Our findings indicate that our abstract-painting paradigm is feasible to implement (independent ratings of the creativity of the paintings converged well), and that its measure of creativity significantly correlated with some of the gold-standard indices of creativity (thereby providing convergent validity). These findings suggest that having participants engage in abstract painting provides a valid index of creativity, thereby opening new opportunities for future research to index a more-face-valid measure of creativity.

In 2013, the North Carolina state Task Force on Global Education put forth a goal of preparing students to be globally prepared for the twenty-first century. This study explored, through interviews with officials from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) as well as NCDPI's website, the influence of that global initiative on dual language (DL) programs and the Seal of Biliteracy (SoBL) in the state through the lens of culturally and linguistically diverse learners' (CLD) involvement. For other states seeking ways in which to increase DL programming and the number of students earning the SoBL while simultaneously ensuring the inclusion of CLD learners, this article illuminates ways in which NC is working.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in-person undergraduate chemistry laboratories at North Carolina State University were not available to students during the 2020-2021 academic year and were replaced with online laboratories. With the return to in-person laboratories in the fall semester of 2021, there was widespread concern among the faculty that chemistry majors might struggle with the application of concepts and techniques that they learned online in the in-person lab environment. An event to bring students back to campus for a day was designed by the faculty in charge of teaching organic and analytical chemistry laboratories with extensive input from students. Participants were asked to choose the lab techniques that they wanted to review, were given agency to choose the day and time of the gathering, and were encouraged to suggest a name for the event. In this paper we describe the outcomes regarding student choices, participation, and self-assessed efficacy before and after testing in person the lab techniques that had been learned online.

Virtual reality (VR) lab experiences for organic chemistry were developed at NC State University as an accessibility tool for students who are unable to attend in-person laboratories due to disabilities, attendance challenges such as pregnancy or military deployment, or safety concerns. The resulting first-person VR experiences are immersive and realistic, with a virtual teaching assistant guiding the user along the steps required to complete the experiment, including feedback as needed. During the COVID pandemic, these laboratories replaced traditional face-to-face laboratories at NC State and several other universities. During the summer of 2020, we used the Meaningful Learning in the Laboratory Instrument (MLLI) to measure both the cognitive and affective dimensions of students' expectations of the virtual lab before the course and their experiences with virtual reality after completing the course. Students who completed virtual reality laboratories reported more positive affective experiences than they anticipated, including little frustration or confusion in the laboratory.

The article focuses on making and makerspaces in the elementary classroom. The authors argue that making in the elementary classroom offers a creative opportunity to capitalize on students' natural sense of wondering and curiosity. They provide a brief background on making and makerspaces and share rich classroom examples of making. Finally, the authors share additional resources and suggestions to get started with making.

The sexual behaviour of US youth places them at risk of negative outcomes such as sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancy. The US Centres for Disease Control recommend a positive and respectful approach to sexuality and relationships to improve these outcomes. Yet, sexuality education across the country, especially in the US South, remains insufficient. Peer sexuality education programmes are a method to improve knowledge and influence risky sexual behaviours. However, support for such programmes is often limited in higher education. Partnerships across different types of higher education institutions may enhance feasibility through resource sharing. This study analysed data from focus group discussions with faculty/staff and students (6 groups, n = 18 faculty/staff, n = 21 students) at three different higher education institutions in North Carolina. Participants provided perspectives on institution-specific facilitators and barriers to discussing sexual health on campus. Perceived facilitators and barriers were similar between the predominantly white institution and the historically Black college/university, while the community college presented unique logistical issues that should be considered when developing peer sexuality education programmes.

Black male teachers tend to enact culturally relevant pedagogical practices that support the academic achievement, cultural competence, and critical consciousness of Black male students. Using critical race theory, culturally relevant pedagogy, and life history methodology, we explore the life history and work of a Black male middle school teacher to examine ways in which his historical, societal, institutional, and communal and personal experiences have shaped him to become a culturally relevant teacher and advocate for Black male students. In doing so, we provide implications and recommendations for preservice teacher education programs to retain and better support Black male middle school teachers.

In this study, language arts teachers in one middle school participated in ongoing professional development. As part of this professional development, participants engaged in face-to-face professional development sessions, observations/classroom walk-throughs and reflections. Researchers examined the participants' pre- and post- professional development survey responses to determine the professional development's overall impact. Findings show the participants' perceptions of literacy and the impact of a sustained professional development program on their practice. Overall, the participants indicated they were more confident in their teaching of literacy skills and strategies as a result of their participation in the professional development; continued professional development is welcome and needed.

Recently adopted state standards for middle grades and high school mathematics content have an increased emphasis on statistical topics. With this change, teacher education programs may need to adapt how they prepare preservice secondary mathematics teachers (PSMTs) to teach statistics and require measures related to statistics teaching to assess the impact of programmatic changes and track teacher growth. Using responses from a sample of 290 PSMTs from 20 institutions across the United States, this study presents validity and reliability evidence for the high school version of the Self-Efficacy to Teach Statistics (SETS-HS), which could be used to assess statistics teaching efficacy. Confirmatory factor analysis results via Rasch modeling support the use of three subscales, which exhibit adequate reliabilities and correspond to the three levels in the "Pre-K-12 Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education" endorsed by the American Statistical Association. Item and rating scale analyses indicate that the 46 items and the six-category scale employed in the SETS-HS perform as intended.

Researchers examined the potential of Presidents' Councils on Diversity (PCDs) to position advancing diversity and inclusion agendas at 11 higher education institutions. Researchers investigated strategies and the degree that PCDs set up agendas through the mobilization (i.e., creating vision and setting priorities), implementation (i.e., creating systems to support change), and institutionalization (i.e., embedding initiatives in the culture and practices of the institution) phases as outlined by Kezar's Phased Leadership Strategies for Institutionalizing Diversity Agendas.

This article reports the challenges of race and social class in an action research project to facilitate educational change through community collaboration with African American parents, community organizations, and public schools. This project was undertaken in Charlotte, North Carolina to enhance the participation of African American parents in their children's math and science course selection and placement in middle and high school. Focusing on the communities of three high schools and their feeder middle schools, this article reports important lessons and outlines strategic implications for future work in the intersection among African American communities, public schools and education, and universities. (Contains 14 endnotes.)

Though many Information Assurance (IA) educators agree that hands-on exercises and case studies improve student learning, hands-on exercises and case studies are not widely adopted due to the time needed to develop them and integrate them into curricula. Under the support of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Scholarship for Service program, we organized two faculty development workshops to disseminate effective hands-on exercises and case studies developed through multiple previous and ongoing grants. To develop faculty expertise in IA, the workshop covered a wide range of IA topics. This paper describes the hands-on exercises and case studies we disseminated through the workshops and reports our experiences of holding the faculty summer workshops. The evaluation results show that workshop participants demonstrated high levels of satisfaction with knowledge and skills gained in both the 2012 and 2013 workshops. Workshop participants also reported use of hands-on lab and case study materials in our follow-up survey and interviews. The workshops provided a valuable opportunity for IA educators to communicate and form collaborations in teaching and research in IA.

This study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of student-generated videos as a supplement to teaching assistant (TA) instruction in an undergraduate organic chemistry laboratory. Three videos covering different aspects of lab instruction (experimental technique, use of instrumentation, and calculations) were produced using student-generated scripts. A laboratory classroom was outfitted with video cameras and sound recording equipment that allowed the research team to monitor all TA-student and student-student interactions. Six course sections led by three randomly assigned TAs were selected. Two sections from each TA were observed (control and treatment), each at the same time of day, 1 week apart. Students in the control group had their TA conduct the lab briefing and supervise the lab, but were given no access to the instructional videos. The treatment group had videos available to supplement the TA's lab briefing but was otherwise identical to the control group. Both groups were given a questionnaire that contained two comprehension questions per category to be completed during the lab before performing the experiment. Statistical analysis of the responses to this pre-experimental questionnaire showed that students who watched the videos had a better understanding of the methods than the students in sections that only received the TA lab briefing. Effect size calculations using Cohen's d indicate that the Instrumentation video had a large positive effect on the number of correct responses in the treatment groups, while small effects were found for the Technique and Calculation videos. Content analysis of the lab transcripts supports these findings. In addition to these effects, treatment groups invariably completed the lab in less time than the control groups. Results from a follow-up survey e-mailed to students the week after their lab session show that most students found the videos to be valuable when completing the lab, with the Technique video being generally ranked as most helpful.

Multimedia instruction has been shown to serve as an effective learning aid for chemistry students. In this study, the viability of student-generated video instruction for organic chemistry laboratory techniques and procedure was examined and its effectiveness compared to instruction provided by a teaching assistant (TA) was evaluated. After providing selected lab sections with either video or TA lab instruction, student participants were given an assessment to evaluate the effectiveness of each presentation. Videos were found to prepare students for lab more effectively, with an average of 17% more students answering questions correctly after watching the video than after receiving TA instruction. Additionally, according to direct observations, students were 37% less likely to require TA assistance during the lab when presented with video instruction. By providing students with short and concise student-generated video instructions, students in the observed courses were able to be more independent throughout the lab and perform better than students who had received TA instruction alone.

Because the family and consumer sciences body of knowledge (FCS-BOK) is the framework for the profession, students' familiarity with the FCS-BOK has implications for the profession. Using pre- (N = 78) and posttest (N = 43) data from students enrolled in an "Introduction to Family and Consumer Sciences" (FCS 160) undergraduate student success course, the researchers examined whether intentionally planning the course so it focused on the BOK led students to improve their familiarity with the FCS-BOK. Virtually all participants were female African American students, and they were either freshmen or sophomores. Significant mean differences (i.e., mean increases) were found between pre- and posttests in students' familiarity on 10 of the 11 FCS-BOK definitional statements; that is, students expressed increased familiarity with virtually all dimensions of the BOK after taking the course, which was intentionally designed to increase their familiarity. Recommendations for future studies are provided.

University faculty who are teaching courses in family and consumer sciences (FCS) have sought to integrate the body of knowledge (BOK) in their curricula. This article reports on a study assessing the familiarity of Historically Black College and University (HBCU) students with the FCS-BOK by their major (specialized area) and classification (e.g., freshman, senior). Faculty surveyed 191 undergraduate students enrolled in FCS core courses in which the FCS-BOK is taught. The major finding was that students' familiarity with the cross-cutting themes of FCS varied significantly depending on their specialized area of study. Also, seniors showed more familiarity with the BOK than freshmen and sophomores. Suggestions are tendered for faculty so they can increase students' familiarity with the FCS-BOK.

Focus group interviews were conducted with educators and stakeholders for American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) students, including teachers, elementary and high school principals, tribal community leaders, and parents, to determine a global definition of culture and ways of infusing culture into curriculum to better educate AI/AN students. Focus group participants were selected from the surrounding areas of Portland, Oregon; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Yakama, Washington; Anchorage, Alaska; and Pembroke, North Carolina. A total of 53 participants were interviewed across the seven locations. Using a cross-case analysis approach, the emergent themes are as follows: (1) traditional definition of culture; (2) contemporary (i.e., AI/AN youth) definition of culture (as perceived by the study participants); (3) infusing culture into pedagogy; and (4) teacher responsibility and state standards.

Four graduate students were tasked with creating a real-world solution to a problem faced by the instructional technology masters program in which they were participating. While taking an online course in multimedia instructional product development, part of East Carolina University's Masters of Science in Instructional Technology degree program, a team of students faced the challenges of being physically separated, lacking some software and hardware tools, and the relatively brief development period of a semester's time, to produce supplemental instructional content for students new to the masters program. Working from locations scattered throughout North Carolina, the production team found the time and resources, and relied on the strengths of individual team members, to produce an online orientation for students new to the instructional technology masters program.

Implementation of universal design for learning (UDL) in undergraduate special education programs offers a valuable foundation for training preservice teachers to educate K-12 students in rural schools. In this article, we provide an overview of UDL and the integration of multiple means of representation, engagement, and expression in assessment, classroom management, and instructional planning courses. We share examples of faculty modeling, guided instruction, and preservice teacher application of UDL components with case studies and K-12 students in practicum experiences. We discuss challenges, implications, and next steps for integrating UDL in rural university and K-12 classrooms to meet the needs of diverse learners.

Solid modeling is widely used as a teaching tool in summer activities with high school students. The addition of motion analysis allows concepts from statics and dynamics to be introduced to students in both qualitative and quantitative ways. Two sets of solid modeling projects--carnival rides and Rube Goldberg machines--are shown to allow the students creative freedom while challenging them to understand the physics of the simulated motion. Possible benefits of including similar motion simulations into engineering classes as exercises or in-class demonstrations are discussed. (Contains 18 figures.)

Without question, sustainability efforts and initiatives are on the rise on college campuses. In a 2007 American College Personnel Association (ACPA) presentation, Debra Rowe reported that across the country there were 250 sustainability coordinators/offices/committees, 300 LEED (green) buildings, 275 campus sustainability assessments that had been conducted, and 271 campuses that had signed up for the Campus Climate Challenge demonstrating increased student activism. This article outlines a film series focused on sustainability issues that can be copied or modified for use by other institutions. The authors describe the University of North Carolina Wilmington's Sustainability Film Series and the impact it has had on both the university and local communities. (Contains 15 notes.)

The North Carolina Governor's School offers a six-week residential summer program for four hundred academically talented rising juniors. This article measures the school's impact on these students in four fundamental areas: cognitive maturity, moral reasoning, personal learning style, and projections for the future. The results showed that Governor's School students advanced further on each of these critical tests than did equivalent nonattending students. (Contains 1 table.)

As state funding for community colleges continues not to keep pace with programming needs, more community colleges are taking the initiative to seek funding from private sources. Four-year colleges and universities have long used alumni programs as major outside sources of funding. Since a high percentage of today's students embark on their higher education experience at the community college, it is natural for more two-year institutions to begin alumni programs. Based on in-depth interviews with directors of successful community college alumni programs, this article suggests "best practices" for community colleges that are considering the development of an alumni program. It offers practical and relevant ideas for practitioners and institutional leaders, including changes being planned in existing programs to ensure continued success. (Contains 1 table.)

This study provides community college leaders with insights regarding how administrators and faculty members perceive faculty portfolios as an evaluation tool in two-year colleges. Utilizing a qualitative design, this study focused on perceptions of administrators and faculty members regarding the use of portfolios as the primary instrument for faculty evaluation. Overall, faculty and administrators found portfolios useful when the process encouraged and allowed for faculty self-reflection and honest feedback from administrators.

Cocurricular events are capable of providing rich learning opportunities for students. However, as the film and speaker sequence described in this article demonstrates, all too often they fail to reach their potential. In order to teach lessons and enhance skills related to civic responsibility, these events must be designed with a purposeful strategy of student learning as the primary, not a secondary (or absent) consideration. This article draws on examples of several cocurricular events held at a large public university and suggests a more purposeful approach to the use of cocurricular programming in developing students' knowledge, skills, and attitudes to help them become responsible citizens.

Although women lead several major universities, including Harvard, the number of women leading the more than 1100 community colleges is not a record in which women--or the community college--can take pride. The current study examines factors affecting the advancement of women to the presidency in the North Carolina Community College System (NCCCS). The study identifies the unique challenges women face as they advance through the NCCCS, and it goes a step further by examining differences in the perceptions of men and women with regard to personal and institutional barriers to career advancement including the community college presidency. (Contains 1 table.)

Purpose: We designed this study to examine the end-of-life (EOL) experience in long-term care (LTC) based on input from key stakeholders. Design and Methods: The study consisted of 10 homogeneous focus groups drawn from a purposive sample of LTC residents (2 groups; total n = 11), family caregivers (2 groups; total n = 19), paraprofessional staff (3 groups; total n = 20), and licensed/registered staff (3 groups; total n = 15) from five nursing homes and eight residential care/assisted living communities in North Carolina. We analyzed data by using grounded theory techniques to elicit manifest and latent themes. Results: Five overarching themes emerged: (a) components of a good death in LTC, (b) normalcy of dying in LTC, (c) the role of relationships in the provision and receipt of care, (d) hospice contributions to care at the EOL in LTC, and (e) stakeholder recommendations for enhancing EOL care in these settings. Underlying these themes was one central category, closeness, based on physical proximity and frequency of contact. Implications: Findings suggest that promoting collaborative relationships among the four stakeholder groups, increasing social worker involvement, and removing barriers to hospice may enhance the EOL experience in LTC.

This paper presents an innovative approach to attracting and retaining faculty members from underrepresented populations at Appalachian State University (ASU). The need for, and benefits of, faculty diversity in academia is presented. The challenges in recruiting and retaining faculty from diverse backgrounds are discussed. The Faculty Fellows Program has been designed at ASU in order to overcome some of these challenges. This program is funded through the Provost's office and is part of other university-wide efforts to increase on-campus diversity. We present a detailed description of the program in terms of recruiting and retention strategies and conclude with some data on the program's progress and impact to date. The authors wish to thank Linda K. Robinson, associate vice chancellor for equity, diversity, and compliance at Appalachian State University for her contribution to the completion of this manuscript. (Contains 4 figures.)

For almost twenty-five years, North Carolina State University has helped to coordinate a state-wide Mathematics and Science Education Network Pre-College Program that serves disadvantaged youth in grades six through twelve. The university-school partnership includes middle school and high school academic enrichment in math, science, and communication through Saturday and summer academies that focus on STEM activities, an annual math/science statewide competition, and an annual awards program. The long-term results of the program are impressive: 99 percent of participating students go on to attend college, students maintain higher grade point averages and SAT scores than their peers, and two-thirds of the participants major in STEM or education in college.

While there are a number of instruments that assess historical factors related to sexual aggression for the purposes of risk assessment, there is a notable absence of measures that assess change in ongoing, sexually aggressive behaviours engaged in by people who reside in psychiatric hospitals. The purpose of this report is to describe the development and implementation of a clinical instrument designed to facilitate the recording of sexually aggressive behaviours in an inpatient psychiatric setting. The scale was used with a sample of 18 male inpatients with severe mental illness who resided in a large state psychiatric hospital. The findings revealed that two individuals (11%) engaged in at least 57 incidents of sexually aggressive behaviour within a four-month time-frame. Medical record reviews revealed that most of these behaviours were not otherwise noted. The clinical implications, potential utility with other populations and limitations of this report are discussed. (Contains 2 tables.)

While community college intercollegiate athletic programs have been expanding in a somewhat sporadic manner, there have been few empirical studies which examine how and why these programs are growing. The current study investigates the questions of "how and why" with the goal of helping community college leaders to make informed decisions about athletic programs. The study was designed to build upon and provide more detailed information on a topic first discussed in The Community College Enterprise in 2006. The current article discusses leaders' perceptions of four aspects of community college intercollegiate athletics: current funding for community college athletics, future funding for athletics, whether local students are attracted to the community college because of athletic programming, and whether statewide guidelines on community college intercollegiate athletics are needed. (Contains 10 tables.)