LaGuardia Community College Research Articles

Hurricane Katrina survivor now helps NYC students deal with emergencies

Dr. Rhonda Mouton, Director of LaGuardia College Access for Retention and Economic Success (CARES) at LaGuardia Community College (part of the City University of New York), knows what it feels like to have housing uncertainty. In 2005, she and her family fled New Orleans just prior to Hurricane Katrina. She lost her home and her daycare business and had to begin anew not just for her and her daughter but for her extended family.

Hurricane Katrina survivor now helps NYC students deal with emergencies

Dr. Rhonda Mouton, Director of LaGuardia College Access for Retention and Economic Success (CARES) at LaGuardia Community College (part of the City University of New York), knows what it feels like to have housing uncertainty. In 2005, she and her family fled New Orleans just prior to Hurricane Katrina. She lost her home and her daycare business and had to begin anew not just for her and her daughter but for her extended family.

Making Equity Count: An Initiative for Equitable General Education Assessment

LaGuardia Community College in Queens, New York is known for its leadership in assessment practices aimed at improving teaching and learning. Its practices to improve student outcomes include remedial math and composition pathways reforms and establishing signature general education core competencies and communication abilities. Combined together, such practices have helped double the graduation rate over a decade. Until recently, however, assessment data had not been disaggregated for different student demographics. In this article, we describe how we transformed our traditional means of analyzing outcomes data toward one that utilized an equity-driven index for two cohorts of students across major racial and ethnic populations. We examined the data for representational equity and equitable performance. In a key finding, we discovered our ongoing assessment practices do not reflect our student population on both counts, especially as a designated Hispanic Serving Institution. Further, we found other under- and over-representation of racial populations in our general education assessment samples. We conclude by suggesting further areas of inquiry with equity-based assessment and note ongoing challenges to systematizing this approach.

Implementation Model for Motivational Interviewing Training in a Community College Human Services Program

Motivational interviewing (MI) is an evidence-supported style of communication used across many fields of human services, including addiction treatment, social work, healthcare, education, and criminal justice. MI can be utilized by a variety of human service professionals and requires no special licensure or educational degree. In 2016, our Human Services program at LaGuardia Community College, CUNY began to implement MI training as a core part of our curriculum to provide students with this micro-credential to increase their career readiness. This paper outlines our ongoing approach for implementing MI in a community college human services program, including the training model we used for preparing faculty and staff to implement this approach, as well as some reflections from graduates.

“For free and useless studies”: Critical reflections on the end of work and study

Revisiting Gorz’s Destroy the University (1970) offers an opportunity to analyze the community college as situated between the factory (vocational) and the prison (formal education’s “other”) in the United States. College administrators increasingly require economic rationality to justify the continued existence of liberal arts, humanities, and social science programs at community colleges or risk being eliminated as “useless.” Most community college students are first generation, full-time students, workers, and often parenting students. They face severe time constraints, which are under-theorized and under-politicized to their own detriment. The COVID-19 pandemic compelled most people, including students, to transform previously private spaces to public spaces to accommodate work, school, and care-giving responsibilities. As a result, spatial and temporal distinctions between these different modes of being collapsed, allowing economic rationality to inform the most intimate settings of home; a Gorzian nightmare. In this article, I bring Gorz’s “Destroy the University” into conversation with his Critique of Economic Reason to examine how economic rationality functions within the community college with special attention to the acceleration of study in relation to Complete College America’s “15 to Finish” program at LaGuardia Community College, CUNY.

Putting languages at the centre: developing the Language Across the Curriculum (LAC) faculty seminar at LaGuardia Community College, Queens, New York

ABSTRACT Our article presents the development, conceptual toolkit, and preliminary observations of an interdisciplinary Language Across the Curriculum (LAC) professional development seminar at our urban community college in Queens, New York. Although innovative in promoting inclusion and diversity, the college reflects a common monolingual ‘Standard American English-only’ ideology in U.S. higher education. Linguistic difference is celebrated yet often viewed as an instructional and professional obstacle. LAC argues that such an approach compromises our institutional commitment to diversity and fails to use these cultural and epistemological assets as resources in learning. In contrast, LAC puts languages at the centre of a multidisciplinary inquiry and outlines a paradigm shift from a ‘language-blind,’ deficit model to a ‘language-aware,’ asset-based, translanguaging pedagogy. Targeting both classroom and college-wide change, the seminar guides participants in reflective and critical discussion of language ideologies and theories of acquisition before developing and applying new teaching strategies. We connect evidence-based translanguaging approaches with critical insights from anti-racist pedagogy, encouraging faculty and students to develop a nuanced appreciation of linguistic identities and to use and build on their full linguistic repertoires. The article provides an overview of the seminar’s interdisciplinary framework, conceptual foundation, and preliminary impacts on faculty, students and campus culture.

From campus to the world: Global learning in the context of an urban community college

AbstractThis article discusses and models an all‐day, low‐stakes, high‐impact, interdisciplinary, Global Learning program at LaGuardia Community College which successfully promoted global citizenship.

Pedagogical intersections: ePortfolio practice and essential learning outcomes for 21st century success

AbstractePortfolio practice and assessment of essential learning outcomes (ELOs) are well established at LaGuardia Community College (LAGCC). The way in which these practices intersect is via the assessment of authentic student artifacts generated from assignments aligned with ELOs. Student artifacts are deposited into the Core ePortfolio for college‐wide assessment. Benchmark reading data is used to inform ePortfolio practice and pedagogy at the college‐wide and programmatic levels. General Education Core Competencies and Communication Abilities are established across the College and are an integral part of curricular frameworks in all majors. The Core Competencies—Inquiry and Problem Solving, Integrative Learning, and Global Learning—are expressed through the Oral, Written, and Digital Communication Abilities. ePortfolio practice lends itself to the examination of Integrative Learning and Digital Communication. Recognizing ePortfolio as a high‐impact practice, LAGCC developed the Core ePortfolio as a platform for student active engagement in self‐directed learning and reflection about themselves as learners over their entire curricular and co‐curricular experience. Faculty gain a deepened understanding of the student experience and the process of integrative learning.

For the Benefit of All: Faculty-Led Undergraduate Research in the Humanities at LaGuardia Community College, CUNY

This case study highlights the benefits of one example of humanities student-faculty collaboration at LaGuardia Community College, CUNY, in which a critical editing project was enhanced by student contributions, while the students gained skills that encouraged retention and nurtured future success.

Maintaining an Active Research Agenda While Teaching Full Time at a Community College: Institutional Support for Course Release is Key

Maintaining an active research agenda while teaching full-time at a community college can be daunting, but with institutional support for scholarly research by way of course release it is possible. This personal reflection offers up evidence of institutional support from a variety of sources within the public university system of New York City, the City University of New York (CUNY), including that from LaGuardia Community College itself, senior colleges, NEH Grants, and contractually mandated course release by the faculty and staff union, PSC-CUNY. This reflection does not offer a comprehensive account of the working conditions of community colleges across the United States in general. I close my reflection with a brief description of how teaching at LaGuardia Community College has transformed by teaching and research from disciplinary to interdisciplinary. I also thank APSA’s Committee on the Status of Community Colleges in the Profession for including and highlighting community college political science professors' contributions as an important part of the national organization.

Cooking Beliefs and Culinary Program Interest of College Students with Overweight and Obesity from Different Environments (P21-012-19)

ObjectivesCollege students with overweight/obesity previously reported a lack of confidence in meal planning/production, which may contribute to current weight status and subsequent weight gain. The objectives of this study were to: 1) determine cooking beliefs of students with overweight/obesity from different environments and 2) assess interest in a culinary-focused, weight loss program. MethodsStudents with overweight or obesity (BMI > 25), ages 18–24, enrolled in New York University (NYU) or LaGuardia Community College (LCC) were recruited. Participants completed a Qualtrics survey that included: 1) Cooking Attitudes Subscale, 2) Cooking Behaviors Subscale, 3) Cooking Self-Efficacy Scale (SEC), 4) Self-Efficacy for Using Basic Cooking Techniques Scale (SECT) and 5) a culinary program preference questionnaire. Height and weight were objectively measured. Descriptive, Chi square, Kruskal-Wallis, and post hoc Dunn test statistics were conducted. ResultsStudents (N = 91; 19.6 ± 1.6 years; BMI 31.7 ± 5.6) were 64% female and 24% non-Hispanic. Institution type was associated with ethnicity (P = 0.03), with a higher percentage of non-Hispanic students from NYU. NYU students had a significantly lower BMI (P = 0.01) and were younger (P = 0.005). There was a significant difference in the Cooking Behaviors Subscale between institutions, with NYU students having overall lower scores (P = 0.0001). For LCC, there was a significant difference in BMI between the lowest and third quartiles of SECT scores (P = 0.04); students with a higher BMI had lower scores. At NYU, there was a significant difference in BMI between the lowest and second (P = 0.004) and third (P = 0.01) quartiles of the Cooking Behaviors Subscale; the lowest quartile had a higher mean BMI. Regardless of institution, the majority of students were interested in participating in a culinary-focused weight loss program for 6–8 weeks. However, NYU students reported a greater interest in weekly group meetings (P = 0.0001). ConclusionsThere is heterogeneity in cooking beliefs by college environment and BMI. However, interest in a culinary-focused, weight loss program is high for both 2- and 4-year tertiary institution students with overweight/obesity. Focus groups will be used for the development of population specific interventions. Funding SourcesNYU College of Arts and Science Dean’s Undergraduate Research Fund Grant (Spring 2018).

Eating Behaviors and the Food Environment of Students with Overweight/Obesity from Different Higher Education Settings (OR08-06-19)

ObjectivesEmerging adults attending 2- and 4-year tertiary institutions are at high risk for weight gain/excess weight. Developing effective, tailored interventions requires an understanding of behavioral/environmental differences between student populations. The objective of this study was to describe eating behaviors/the food environment of students with overweight/obesity enrolled in 2- and 4-year tertiary institutions. MethodsStudents ages 18–24, with a BMI ≥25, enrolled in LaGuardia Community College (N = 41) or New York University (N = 51) were recruited. Height and weight were objectively measured. Participants completed a Qualtrics survey, which included: 1) Produce Consumption Self-Efficacy (SEPC) subscale, 2) Fruit and Vegetable Consumption subscale, and 3) questions regarding usual meal location/meal preparer. Descriptive, Mann-Whitney U and chi-square analyses were conducted. ResultsNinety-two students (64.8% female, age = 19.6 ± 1.7, BMI 31.4 ± 5.8) from 2- and 4-year tertiary institutions completed the survey. Two year students were significantly older (P = .0001), had a higher BMI (P = .01), and scored higher on: self-reported consumption of at least 5 servings of fruit per day (P = .01), self-efficacy for eating fruits and vegetables as a snack, even if everybody else were eating other snacks (P = .02), and eating 9 half cups of fruits and vegetables each day (P = .0002). A greater percentage of 4-year students reported eating most of their meals “in an on-campus dining hall” (53 vs. 28%; P = .04); while more 2-year students reported “my place of residence” (41 vs. 35%) or “on-the-go, which I previously prepared at home” (21 vs. 4%). Usual meal preparer differed between student populations (P < .001); 4-year students were more likely to identify “the college/university I attend” (69 vs. 13%) while a greater percentage of 2-year students indicated “my parental figures” (38 vs. 4%) or “myself” (33 vs. 19%). ConclusionsCommunity college students tended to have a higher BMI, despite reporting higher fruit/vegetable consumption self-efficacy and being more likely to eat meals, prepared by themselves or their parental figures, at home or on-the go. Differences in eating behaviors, beliefs and meal conditions should be taken into account when designing weight loss interventions for these understudied, high-risk populations. Funding SourcesNYU College of Arts and Science Dean’s Undergraduate Research Fund Grant (Spring 2018).

"Write Us into Existence": An Interview with Sokunthary Svay

Sokunthary Svay is a Cambodian American writer and activist who grew up in the Bronx, New York. Her poetry, essays, and reviews appear in such publications as WSQ, Mekong Review, and Hyphen. Published in 2017, Apsara in New York is her first poetry collection. Svay is a founding member and board president of the Cambodian American Literary Arts Association (CALAA) and has been awarded an American Opera Projects Composers & the Voice Fellowship for 2017–2019 and the 2018 Emerging Poets Fellowship at Poets House. She is emerging as an important critic of and groundbreaking voice within Asian American cultural production. Rejecting the genre of survival memoirs, Svay creates a variety of personae across gender and generation. Her choice of language—Khmer, formal English, and urban vernacular—captures the individuality and complexity of each of these perspectives. As a performer, Svay draws on music and theater to move her poems beyond the page. Anita Baksh, Associate Professor of English at LaGuardia Community College at the City University of New York, conducted this interview with Svay in spring 2018.

The Library Leading: Knowledge Management Supporting Community College Institutional Strategy

abstractThis case study demonstrates how librarians at LaGuardia Community College led a college-wide knowledge management project to implement Ask LaGuardia, an online knowledge base where users can find answers to common questions on navigating this large urban college. Students had been experiencing difficulty receiving clear, correct, and consistent answers to their questions while staff had been challenged by information silos. LaGuardia’s president chose the Library for a leadership role in this initiative supporting a broader strategy of better alignment between Academic and Student Affairs. The Library’s positive reputation and knowledge organization expertise made it a natural fit. Four years in, available data and observations indicate that Ask LaGuardia is meeting its goal of easing students’ difficulties around finding college information while earning campus-wide support in the process. LaGuardia librarians demonstrated one way in which libraries can lead a knowledge management effort, thus, increasing their value to their parent institutions.

Address specialized needs of previously incarcerated students

DALLAS — Research shows a link between educational attainment and recidivism for previously incarcerated individuals. We know that education works and is cost‐effective, said Joni Schwartz, Ed.D., a professor at LaGuardia Community College of the City University of New York. “It costs much less to put someone through college than to keep him in prison,” she added.

Quantitative Literacy: Now More Than Ever

This editorial highlights the eloquent words of Drs. Bernard Madison and Lynn Arthur Steen who, in the inaugural issue of Numeracy, note that quantitative literacy (QL) provides “tools for survival” in a highly competitive world. I discuss how QL is desperately needed at a precarious time for our nation’s democracy and how at LaGuardia Community College, and community colleges across the nation, important and creative work is being undertaken to build students’ math skills. The pivotal role of faculty is discussed and a call is made for colleges to support faculty as they undertake the challenging work of building QL skills for students who confront myriad obstacles in completing their degree. I conclude with a call for recognition of math faculty and the National Numeracy Network for undertaking the difficult work of delivering to students these essential “tools for survival.”

Address specialized needs of previously incarcerated students

DALLAS — Research shows a link between educational attainment and recidivism for previously incarcerated individuals. We know that education works and is cost‐effective, said Joni Schwartz, Ed.D., a professor at LaGuardia Community College of the City University of New York. “It costs much less to put someone through college than to keep him in prison,” she added.

The Wet Nurse in Daumier’s Third-Class Carriage

Previous articleNext article No AccessThe Wet Nurse in Daumier’s Third-Class CarriageProfessor Emeritus: George D. SussmanProfessor Emeritus: George D. SussmanFiorella H. LaGuardia Community College, The City University of New York Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Metropolitan Museum Journal Volume 532018 Sponsored by the Metropolitan Museum of Art Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/701741 Views: 341Total views on this site © 2018 by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New YorkPDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Nourishing STEM Student Success via a TEAM-Based Advisement Model

LaGuardia Community College is an international leader recognized for developing and successfully implementing initiatives and educating underserved diverse students. LaGuardia’s STEM students are holistically advised by a team of dedicated faculty and staff members from different departments and divisions. As an innovative approach to advisement, students are first connected to an advising team member in their discipline-based first-year seminar and consequently guided by other cross-institutional advisement team members to ensure their continued success. In this article, we share our policies, processes, and promising practices in advising STEM student at an urban public institution. We present arguments that address and support five pillars for student success: 1) the student matters, 2) supportive culture matters, 3) effective communication matters, 4) data matters, and, 5) clear pathways and effective advisement matters. Finally, we present empirical evidence that show positive results in terms of students’ retention. Specifically, there was an improvement in the actual Fall 2015 to 2016 return rate of STEM students, from 62.9% to 64.6%. Our scaled practice demonstrates the value of collaborative team-based advisement efforts as supported through professional development can improve community college STEM student persistence when the above five pillars are fully espoused by the institution.

Weeding without Walking: A Mediated Approach to List-Based Deselection

ABSTRACTWeeding an academic library is a complicated practice that tends to arouse debate. Despite these contentions, weeding is necessary to deal with the changing needs for space in many libraries. This article describes a holistic weeding project at LaGuardia Community College Library. It reviews several approaches the project team considered and draws on research, practice, and discussion to evaluate them. It concludes that weeding requires a balance between objective rules and professional judgment. The resulting workflow uses an interactive spreadsheet to automate some of the research work involved in deciding the fate of a book, allowing librarians to practice subjective weeding without walking through the stacks.