Book Review: Working with students in community colleges: Contemporary strategies for bridging theory, research, and practice by Kelsay, L. S., & Zamani-Gallaher, E. M. (Eds.).

Abstract

Kelsay, L. S & Zamani-Gallaher, E. M. (Eds.). (2014). Working with students in community colleges: Contemporary strategies for bridging theory, research, and practice. Sterling, VA: Stylus. 208 pp. US$95.00 (cloth). ISBN 978-1-57922-915-3. US$29.95 (paper), ISBN 978-1-57922916-0. US$23.99 (eBook), ISBN 978-1-57922-918-4.This volume, edited by Lisa S. Kelsay and Eboni M. Zamani-Gallaher, centers around concrete approaches and strategies to serve the ever-evolving student body enrolled at community colleges. Engaging insights and perspectives from a wide range of experts, including scholars who write about 2-year colleges as well as practitioners and leaders who have served at these institutions, this book offers a thorough discussion of how to work with diverse students as they transition into and through community colleges.The book consists of three parts: Understanding Today's Community College Campuses, Supporting Today's Community College Learners, and Specialized Populations and Communities on Two-Year Campuses. Part One delineates various historical, policy, and learning contexts within which the contemporary community college is situated. The enduring and historically rooted open-door policy, as complementarily described by Kelsay and Oudenhoven in Chapter 1 and Munsch, Velazquez, and Kowpak in Chapter 3, is inevitably coupled with persistent challenges. Most notable is the lack of college readiness, especially among the disproportionately large number of traditionally underserved students enrolled at community colleges. Adding to the rising number of at-risk students is the unfavorable economic climate and policy landscape for community colleges, described by Jamrogowicz in Chapter 2. In Chapter 4, Procter and Uranis argue the importance of technological literacy-another evolving aspect of the contemporary teaming environment-and how inequitable access to technology can be a potential barrier for disadvantaged students. Together, these chapters paint a realistic snapshot of the environment facing today's community colleges. Despite the potential challenges presented by this increasing complexity, the chapters in Part One all highlight the role and responsibility of student affairs professionals in serving students to stay true to the open access mission.Part Two concerns key elements of supporting students, starting with a rich account (Chapter 5 by Munsch and Kelsay) of some new faces in today's community college student body, including undocumented students, international students, and displaced workers. Munsch and Kelsay articulate both the needs and barriers these students face and offer suggestions for helping them transition and succeed. In the collective pursuit of better serving this increasingly diverse student body, McFadden and Mazeika, in Chapter 6, illuminate the value and ways of bridging academic and student affairs to support learners. This section then engages a more specific focus on student orientation. In Chapter 7, Hale describes both the benefit of orientation for student development and the evolving formats and structures of orientation programs at community colleges. Part Two concludes with yet another emergent aspect of today's community college, residence life. In Chapter 8, Barber and Phelan build upon the narrative provided by the findings reported in The Heart of Student Success, published by the Center for Community College Student Engagement (CCCSE, 2010), and further illustrate ways to improve residential programs that foster student learning.Part Three delves further into specific student populations and communities that warrant better understanding among those working with today's community college students. In Chapter 9, Lewis, Zamani-Gallaher, and Bonapace elaborate on the needs and potential barriers facing older adults and discuss exemplary practices that illustrate how to serve these students. Chapter 10 by Fagan and Dunklin addresses the rising veteran student population by illuminating a number of unique and alarming challenges veterans may face, such as mental health problems, substance abuse, and homelessness, along with potential best practices to address these students' needs. …