Partnering for a Promise: Institutional Logics and a Community College District’s Response to a Promise Program Partnership

Abstract

ABSTRACT The college promise – or free college – movement is rapidly expanding throughout the United States; however, there is much to learn about community colleges’ organizational responses to promise programs and corresponding partnerships with nonprofit organizations that are involved in some programs. Using institutional logics to frame this qualitative case study, I explored one community college district’s relationship with a nonprofit promise program partner, and revealed the ways in which this community college district preserved and blended their dominant logics with that of their nonprofit partner. The findings from this study shed light on community college professionals’ perceptions of promise programs, their organization’s response, and the college’s relationship with their nonprofit partner. Findings revealed that individual community college actors used dominant community college logic to make meaning of their partnership and maintain their commitment to the community college mission despite blending logics through incorporation of practices associated with dominant nonprofit logics. These findings have implications for the roles of community colleges and nonprofit partners in the implementation of college promise programs, as well as considerations for community college leaders.