The Center for Community College Student Engagement invites emerging and established researchers to become members of our Research Affiliate program.
The two primary goals of this program are to advance research on community college student experiences by increasing access to the largest data set of its kind and to enhance the visibility of affiliates’ research on community colleges and community college students.
Download the full program details.
Sample copies of the CCSSE survey and the standard additional item sets can be found on the CCSSE website.
The following map shows the locations of the mainland colleges included in the 2019 CCSSE 3-year cohort. Hawaii colleges, although not shown are also included in the 2019 cohort. This map represents almost all colleges that have participated since 2010.
For further information, please contact Mike Bohlig (bohlig@cccse.org).
CCCSE Research Affiliates
George Bizer, Ph.D. | Union College
Professor
George Bizer is professor of psychology at Union College in Schenectady, NY. He earned his PhD at Ohio State University and has been at Union since 2005. As a social psychologist, Bizer's interests include attitudes, attitude strength, and individual differences.
Citations:
McCarty, T. A., Bizer, G. Y., & Bohlig, E. M., (under review). Learning Mindset and the Academic Achievement of Student Service Members/Veterans.
Jennifer M. Blaney, Ph.D. | Northern Arizona University
Assistant Professor
Jennifer M. Blaney (She/Her) is an Assistant Professor of Higher Education at Northern Arizona University, where she studies gender equity and college student development in STEM fields. Before joining the faculty at Northern Arizona University, she worked as the Senior Data Manager on the BRAID Research Project, a national study of equity in undergraduate computing. Dr. Blaney's current projects focus on community college pathways as a mechanism for broadening women's participation in computing and other STEM fields, and her work has been supported by the Spencer Foundation and the National Science Foundation. She will be using CCSSE data to explore trends among transfer-aspiring students pursuing computer science over time.
Mark D’Amico, Ph.D. | The University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Professor and Department Chair, Department of Educational Leadership
Mark D’Amico is a professor of higher education at The University of North Carolina at Charlotte. His research focuses on community college student success and the community college role in workforce development. Prior to his faculty role, Mark worked for nearly 15 years in administrative positions including executive assistant to the president of the South Carolina Technical College System. He is the Past-President of the Council for the Study of Community Colleges and former Associate Editor of Community College Review.
Citations:
Dika, S. L., Wang, Y., D’Amico, M. M., and Bohlig, E. M. (2023). The role of identities and engagement in the intent to transfer among North Carolina community college students. North Carolina Community College Journal of Teaching Innovation, 2(1), 37–49.
Dika, S. L., Wang, Y., D’Amico, M. M., Serrata, C., & Bohlig, E. M. (2023). A critical examination of perceptions of supportive institutional environment among transfer-seeking community college students. Community College Journal of Research and Practice. 10.1080/10668926.2023.2215202
Carlton Fong, Ph.D. | Texas State University
Assistant Professor
Dr. Carlton J. Fong is an assistant professor in the Graduate Program in Developmental Education and the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at Texas State University. As a scholar-activist at the intersection of educational psychology and higher education, Dr. Fong uses a sociocultural lens to study motivational and affective factors influencing postsecondary student engagement, achievement, and persistence. Specifically, he examines the psychosocial development of community college students.
Citations:
Fong, C. J., García, A. J., & Kundu, D. (2022) A socio-ecological outcome investigation of the student engagement, achievement, and satisfaction of Latino men in community college developmental mathematics. Community College Journal of Research and Practice. 10.1080/10668926.2022.2132433
Fong, C. J., Owens, S. L., Segovia, J., Hoff, M. A., & Alejandro, A. J. (2021, November 29). Indigenous Cultural Development and Academic Achievement of Tribal Community College Students: Mediating Roles of Sense of Belonging and Support for Student Success. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education. Advance online publication. 10.1037/dhe0000370
Fong, C. J., Alejandro, A. J., Krou, M., Segovia, J., & Johnston-Ashton, K. (2019). Ya’at’eeh: Race-reimaged belongingness factors, academic outcomes, and goal pursuits among Indigenous community college students. Contemporary Educational Psychology.
Catherine Hartman, Ph.D. | National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition, University of South Carolina
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Catherine Hartman is a postdoctoral research associate at the National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition. Her research focuses on community college student persistence and engagement, student transfer from community colleges to four-year schools, and linguistically minoritized students’ experiences in higher education.
Citations:
Hartman, C., Callahan, R., & Yu, H. (Forthcoming). Optimizing their intent to transfer: Community college English learners’ engagement. Research in Higher Education.
Deryl Hatch-Tocaimaza, Ph.D. | University of Nebraska – Lincoln
Associate Professor
Dr. Hatch-Tocaimaza's research and teaching focuses on community college environments—institutional structures, programming and racialized and embodied encounters—to uncover how they intersect with student experiences to foster equity and liberation in higher education, especially in regard to marginalized global majority students. Dr. Hatch-Tocaimaza was recognized for his research, teaching, and service as a recipient of the Barbara Townsend Early Career Scholar Award by the Council for the Study of Community Colleges (CSCC). He serves on the board of the Community College Journal of Research and Practice, Community College Review, and the Review of Higher Education. He is associate editor of the Journal of Diversity in Higher Education and executive co-editor of Project MALES Practice Briefs, and has co-edited special issues of New Directions in Community Colleges and the Journal of Applied Research in Community Colleges. Dr. Hatch-Tocaimaza received his Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin.
Citations:
Hatch, D. K., & Bohlig, E. M. (2016). An empirical typology of the latent programmatic structure of community college student success programs. Research in Higher Education, 57(1), 72-98. doi:10.1007/s11162-015-9379-6.
Hatch, D.K., & Bohlig, E. M. (2015). The Scope and Design of Structured Group Learning Experiences at Community Colleges. Community College Journal of Research and Practice. (Online publication available at http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10668926.2014.911128).
Audrey J. "A.J." Jaeger, Ph.D. | North Carolina State University
W. Dallas Herring Distinguished Professor & Executive Director, Belk Center for Community College Leadership & Research
Dr. Audrey J. Jaeger, W. Dallas Herring Distinguished Professor & Executive Director of the Belk Center for Community College Leadership, NC State University. Her research examines relationships and experiences among faculty and students that illuminate issues of transition, access, climate, agency, and community engagement. Dr. Jaeger is an associate editor for Research in Higher Education and on the editorial boards of the Journal of Higher Education and Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement. Dr. Jaeger has received numerous teaching and mentoring awards including the 2016 Association for the Study of Higher Education Mentoring Award and 2015 Council of Southern Graduate Schools Outstanding Mentor Award. Her scholarship and academic contributions have also been recognized by the 2013 Women in Higher Education Achievement Award, 2015 National Association of Student Personnel Administrators Robert H. Shaffer Award for Academic Excellence as a Graduate Faculty Member, 2017 induction into the Academy of Community Engaged Scholarship, and 2018 Champion of Science, Mathematics, and Technology Education, N.C. Science, Mathematics, and Technology Education Center. Dr. Jaeger received her Ph.D. from New York University.
Research interests:
Dr. Jaeger's research examines relationships and experiences among faculty and students that illuminate issues of transition, access, climate, agency, language and community engagement, as well as the ways in which various aspects of the higher education environment affect faculty and students.
JoHyun Kim, Ph.D. | Texas A&M University - Commerce
Associate Professor
Dr. JoHyun Kim is an associate professor in Higher Education and Learning Technologies department at Texas A&M University-Commerce. She also has years of experiences as an administrator in institutional research. Since she joined TAMUC in fall 2012, she has developed and taught courses in higher education and community college leadership. Her primary research interest focuses on high school-to-college transition, developmental education, dual credit, and students’ retention and graduation in higher education and community college settings. She is interested in examining how underserved youth and adult students (minority, low income, first-generation students, international students, and non-traditional students) can access to and succeed in community college settings. She has expertise in quantitative research and large data-handling.
Young K. Kim , Ph.D. | Azusa Pacific University
Professor
Young K. Kim, Ph.D., is a Professor of Higher Education at Azusa Pacific University. Dr. Kim employs a wide range of advanced quantitative research methodologies to tackle critical questions relevant to equity and diversity in higher education. Her research focuses on inequity in college student experiences and outcomes, college impact for minoritized college students, educational benefits of structural and behavioral diversity, and inequity in STEM higher education. Many of Dr. Kim’s scholarly work have been published in top-tier journals in the field of higher education such as Research in Higher Education, The Review of Higher Education, and Journal of College Student Development. Kim serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Higher Education and Journal of Diversity in Higher Education.
Frankie Santos Laanan, Ph.D. | The University of Utah
Professor and Associate Dean for Faculty and Student Affairs
Frankie Santos Laanan is a professor of education, culture and society, and educational leadership at The University of Utah and Associate Dean for Faculty and Student Affairs. His research focuses on the role and function of America’s community colleges and their impact on individuals and society. His publications address topics including: access and equity for women and minoritized students; educational and career aspirations, adjustment and transition to college, and post-college earnings; and higher education policy related to college access, transfer and articulation, career and technical education, STEM pathways for women and minority groups, and accountability. He is the past President of the Council for the Study of Community Colleges and recipient of the Barbara K. Townsend Early Career Scholar Award. Dr. Laanan received his Ph.D. in higher education and organizational change from UCLA.
Citations:
Hirst, S., Laanan, F. S., & Bohlig, M. Latino/a/x community college student engagement: A quantitative study. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Council for the Study of Community Colleges. Virtual Conference. April 16, 2021.
Laanan, F. S., Bohlig, E. M., & Gorman, B. Moving beyond community college survey of student engagement benchmarks: Reconceptualizing first-generation community college students’ goal to transfer. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association. Toronto, Canada. April 8, 2019.
Carol Lundberg, Ph.D. | California State University, Fullerton
Professor
Carol Lundberg is professor in the Educational Leadership department at California State University. Her research focuses primarily on how classroom engagement and faculty-student interaction are associated with college outcomes for groups that are underrepresented and poorly served in American higher education. Using quantitative designs, she regularly disaggregates findings by race and ethnicity to test findings for particular groups. Existing datasets such as NSSE, CCSSE, and IPEDS are her most common data sources. Another line of her research focuses on how institutions communicate their commitment to diversity and equity, including how those commitments predict student outcomes. She serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of College Student Development and Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice.
Citations:
Lancaster, J. R., & Lundberg, C. A. (2019). The influence of classroom engagement on community college student learning: A quantitative analysis of effective faculty practices. Community College Review, 47(2), 136-158.
Lundberg, C.A., Kim, Y.K., Andrade, L. & Bahner, D.T. (2018). High expectations, strong support: Faculty behaviors predicting Latina/o community college student learning. Journal of College Student Development, 59(1), 55-70.
Therese McCarty, Ph.D. | Union College
John Prior Lewis ’41 Professor of Economics
Therese McCarty is John Prior Lewis '41 Professor of Economics at Union College in Schenectady, NY. Her research fields are public sector economics, state and local public finance, and the economics of education. Prompted by a decade spent in academic administration, her research in progress focuses on how institutions can support undergraduates' academic achievement. In particular, she is currently interested in how to increase the benefits of public investment in the GI Bill by providing effective academic support services to veterans.
Citations:
McCarty, T. A., Bizer, G. Y., & Bohlig, E. M., (under review). Learning Mindset and the Academic Achievement of Student Service Members/Veterans.
Phillip Morris. Ph.D. | University of Colorado at Colorado Springs
Assistant Professor
Dr. Phillip Morris is an Assistant Professor with a primary research focus on veteran and military student success and access to higher education. Dr. Morris earned his doctorate in Higher Education from the University of Florida and teaches courses on research methods, measurement, and assessment. Dr. Morris has published in journals such as Community College Review, Community College Journal of Research & Practice, & the Journal of American College Health.
Citations:
Morris, P. A., Deickman, J., McIntyre, K., Roberts, V., & Bohlig, E. M. (2023) Engagement and withdrawal for community college student veterans. Community College Journal of Research and Practice. 10.1080/10668926.2023.2189180
Morris, P., Deickman, J., McIntyre, K., & Roberts, V. (2022). Campus Engagement for Student Veterans at Community Colleges. 2022 Council for the Study of Community Colleges Annual Conference, Tempe, Arizona.
Morris, P. A., Deickman, J., McIntyre, K., Roberts, V., & Bohlig, E. M. (2022). Engagement and Withdrawal for Community College Student Veterans. Manuscript submitted for publication.
Sindia M. Rivera-Jiménez, Ph.D. (she, her, ella) | University of Florida
Assistant Professor, Department of Engineering Education, Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering
Affiliate Faculty, Chemical Engineering Department
Affiliate Faculty, Institute of Higher Education
Dr. Rivera-Jimeénez's research activities center around exploring the role of engineering communities in driving participatory and transformational change. Her work aims to broaden the participation of minoritized communities by investigating the impact of professional development on shaping organizational cultures. She conducts mixed-method research to enhance practice and policy supporting transfer and graduate students' workforce development at four-year institutions. Dr. Rivera-Jiménez also studies the integration of social responsibility, ethics, social factors, and inclusive environments into the engineering curriculum. She directs the Engineering Communities & Participatory Change (ECoPAC) Research Group, which is dedicated to advancing these research activities. She received the NSF RIEF award to support her new career as an emerging scholar in engineering education research.
Sarah Rodriguez, Ph.D. | Texas A&M University – Commerce
Associate Professor
Sarah L. Rodriguez is an Associate Professor of Higher Education & Learning Technologies at Texas A&M University – Commerce. Dr. Rodriguez's research addresses issues of equity, access, and retention in higher education, with a focus on community colleges, Latina/o/x students, and students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. For her work on community colleges, Dr. Rodriguez received the Barbara Townsend Early Career Scholar Award by the Council for the Study of Community Colleges (CSCC) and gave the distinguished 2019 ASHE-CAHEP Barbara Townsend Lecture. To learn more about her current projects, visit her website.
Victor B. Sáenz, Ph.D. | University of Texas at Austin
Department Chair, Educational Leadership and Policy
W. K. Kellogg Professor in Community College Leadership
Victor B. Sáenz, Ph.D. is the W. K. Kellogg Professor in Community College Leadership and the Chair of the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy at University of Texas at Austin. He holds courtesy appointments with the Center for Mexican American Studies, Mexican American and Latino Studies, and various other research centers across the University. His current work advances research-informed best practices and policy solutions that improve educational outcomes for underserved students in education, with a special emphasis on boys and young men of color. In 2010 Sáenz co-founded an award-winning initiative at UT-Austin called Project MALES, a multi-pronged effort focused on advancing educational outcomes for male students of color (based within the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement). Under Project MALES he launched a nationally recognized Student Mentoring Program that partners with local schools to connect undergraduate peer mentors with middle school and high school male students. He also co-created a network of K-12 and higher education institutions that form a statewide consortium focused on advancing educational outcomes for this critical student population.
Citations:
Sáenz, V.B., Hatch, D., Bukoski, B., Kim, S., Lee, K., & Valdez, P. (2011). Community college student engagement patterns: A typology revealed through exploratory cluster analysis. Community College Review, 39, 3: 235 – 267.
Sáenz, V.B., Hatch, D., Bukoski, B., Kim, S., Lee, K., & Valdez, P. (2010). The heterogeneity of community college students and their use of student services: An exploratory cluster analysis. Paper presented at the 2010 annual conference of the Association for the Study of Higher Education, Indianapolis, IN, November 18th, 2010.
Sáenz, V.B., Lee, K., Kim, S., Valdez, P., Hatch, D., & Bukoski, B. (2010). Understanding Latino male community college student engagement and success: A hierarchical linear model approach. Paper presented at the 2010 annual conference of the Association for the Study of Higher Education, Indianapolis, IN, November 18th, 2010.
Andrew Stephan | Stark State College
Dean of Arts and Sciences
Andrew Stephan is dean of Arts and Sciences at Stark State College in North Canton, OH. As an academic leader, Andrew has focused on creating an academic environment that supports all students by utilizing the strengths of faculty and staff within his area as well as across the college. His work as a community college leader include developmental education redesign, corequisite remediation design, pathway redesign, and equity work in STEM as well as math and English. Andrew has led numerous grants in partnership with local K-12 systems, partner colleges across the United States, and in collaboration with local governments. Prior to his role as dean, Andrew was an associate professor and the department chair of mathematics at St. Charles Community College. His roles as a community college leader, a community college student, and his prior service in the United States Navy, have influenced his areas of research in the community college sector which are veteran success, minority veterans, history of veterans in higher education, and the G.I. Bill.
Citations:
Stephan, A. (2022). Using CCSSE to Determine Significant Factors Impacting Current Armed Forces’ and Veterans’ GPA in Community Colleges. (Submitted for Initial Review).
Yi Wang | The University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Graduate Student: Educational Research, Measurement, and Evaluation, Dept. of Educational Leadership
Yi Wang (she, her, hers) is a doctoral student at the Educational Research, Measurement, and evaluation program at UNC Charlotte. Her research interests are community college students’ engagement pattern, including engagement construct validation, and STEM students who transfer from two-year to four-year colleges. By examining large scale quantitative data set, she explores the high impact practices to serve and engage underrepresented student population to promote inclusion, diversity, and equity. Prior to joining the doctoral program, she had ten years of teaching experience in the higher education setting.
Citations:
Dika, S. L., Wang, Y., D’Amico, M. M., and Bohlig, E. M. (2023). The role of identities and engagement in the intent to transfer among North Carolina community college students. North Carolina Community College Journal of Teaching Innovation, 2(1), 37–49.
Dika, S. L., Wang, Y., D’Amico, M. M., Serrata, C., & Bohlig, E. M. (2023). A critical examination of perceptions of supportive institutional environment among transfer-seeking community college students. Community College Journal of Research and Practice. 10.1080/10668926.2023.2215202
Seung Won Yoon, Ph.D. | Texas A&M University – Commerce
Professor
Dr. Yoon is a full professor in the Department of Higher Education & Learning Technologies at Texas A&M University Commerce. He is the program coordinator of EdD in Higher Education. Dr. Yoon graduated from the University of Illinois with his degree in Educational Policy, Organization, and Leadership. He wrote 2 books, published more than 50 peer refereed journal articles, and he is now serving as the associate editor of the Human Resource Development Quarterly journal (SSCI-indexed, sponsored by the Academy of Human Resource and Development, published by Wiley). His research and teaching focus on organizational leadership, learning and knowledge sharing, evaluation, social network analysis, and machine learning.
John Zilvinskis, Ph.D. | Binghamton University
Assistant Professor
Prior to teaching at Binghamton University, Assistant Professor John Zilvinskis served as a research project associate with the Center for Postsecondary Research at Indiana University, where he worked with mostly data from the National Survey of Student Engagement. His research interests include student engagement, students with disabilities, and high-impact practices.
Citations:
Zilvinskis, J., (2022). The Mediating Effects of Student Services on Engagement Among First-Generation and Transfer Students Who Use Disability Services at Community Colleges. Community College Review 50, 71–95. doi:10.1177/00915521211047675
Zilvinskis, J. (2021). The mediating effects of student services on engagement among first-generation and transfer students who use disability services at community colleges. Community College Review. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/00915521211047675
Broido, E. Brown, K., Wells, R., & Zilvinskis, J. (2019, November). Conceptualizing disability. Presented at the 44th Annual Association for the Study of Higher Education Conference, Portland, OR.
Zilvinskis, J. (2020, March). Using CCSSE data to understand students who use disabilities services. Presented at the American College Personnel Association Annual Convention, Nashville, TN. Sponsored session: Coalition for (Dis)Ability.
Boettcher, M., Ardoin, S., Foste, Z., Savarese, K., & Zilvinskis, J. (2020, March). ACPA Foundation Grant Funded Research. Presented at the American College Personnel Association Annual Convention, Nashville, TN.
Zilvinskis, J. (2020). Using large survey data to understand the engagement of students with disabilities. The Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability, 33(3), 255-261.