| A growing number of community colleges are offering bachelor degrees in addition to associate degrees and certificates. Field research was conducted at three such community college baccalaureate (CCB) institutions: Utah Valley State College, UT; Dalton State College, GA; and St. Petersburg College, FL. Five day site visits and extensive interviews with college administrators, faculty, and staff were conducted at each institution. This research maps the drives and processes that the community colleges exhibited while developing bachelor degrees. The question driving this research is: can community colleges grant four-year degrees and retain their institutional identity, or over time will they abandon the values historically associated with community colleges such as open access to remedial, transfer, vocational, and community education. Results indicate that the CCB is a function of both economic and political forces. Furthermore, there is evidence that isomorphic tendencies arise in institutions offering the bachelor degrees, supporting a shift away from the traditional community college mission toward that more typically associated with a four-year college. Emerging from this research is a set of measures that community college leaders can use to assess the necessity for CCB institutions in their area. |
