Community college culture and student engagement: a mixed methods study seeking relationships among employee dimensions of culture and student engagement benchmarks

A common practice in community colleges is to conduct nationally recognized,
benchmarked surveys to guide improvements in college culture and student engagement. How
community colleges use these results varies from simple documentation to a detailed,
collaborative college-wide analysis, culminating in collegewide improvement plans. This study
provides insight for community college leaders on how college culture and student engagement
correlate to improve student learning.
This mixed-methods, explanatory sequential study identified relationships among the
Great Colleges-Higher Education Insight Survey (Great Colleges-HEIS) employee dimensions
and the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) benchmarks in Phase 1.
Great Colleges-HEIS is an employee survey to measure college climate/culture, and the CCSSE
is a student survey measuring student engagement. Phase 2 consisted of nine college leader
interviews, three leaders from each of three community colleges showing the greatest
improvements in survey scores (from the foundational surveys to the subsequent surveys four or
more years later) between 2008 through 2017. The leaders shared their perceptions of why their
college’s survey scores improved. The Phase 1 Pearson r correlations of employee dimensions
(scores from Great Colleges-HEIS surveys) with student engagement benchmarks (scores from
CCSSE surveys) were integrated with college events, initiatives, and changes gathered from the
Phase 2 interviews. These outcomes may guide community college leaders in transforming
culture to increase student engagement for improved student learning.
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Phase 1 of the study found 31 significant relationships of employee dimensions of culture
with student engagement benchmarks among 75 possible pairs. The nine college leader
interviews of Phase 2 generated three broad recurring themes: Authentic Relational Leadership,
Distinctively Strong Student Focus, and Collegewide Initiatives and Events. The leaders
interviewed came from three of the 14 participating community colleges showing the greatest
improvements in survey scores. Integrating the correlations with the themes provides strategies
to transform a community college’s culture to increase student engagement based on a college’s
Great College-HEIS and CCSSE survey results. Recommendations for further research are
included.