The Community College Journal of Research and Practice (CCJRP) celebrated its 40th anniversary the preceding year and remained unremitting, in 2017, to provide high-quality scholarship of significance to the study of various areas of specialization concentrating on community college focused research. The CCJRP serves as the only peer-reviewed journal with a global community college focus and reach that publishes 12 issues within a single volume year. The aim and scope of the CCJRP is the development of increased consideration of community college issues by supplying an exchange of scholarly ideas, as well as theoretical and empirical contributions. I am delighted to report on the past year’s erudition on community colleges and its import for scholars, researchers, practitioners, and students of community colleges both in the United States and internationally.
In 2017, the journal’s 12 published issues encompassed 50 full-length articles, 27 Exchange articles, 11 book reviews, nine recently published dissertation forums, one foreword, and five editorials. An in-depth review of the publications published in the CCJRP revealed 177 discrete authors contributed one or several articles on topics trending from campus crime rates, college dropout, college readiness, curriculum development, developmental education, educational racism, funding and accountability, instructional delivery, mental health facilities and student resources, organizational governance, STEM transfer students, student gambling, student persistence and retention, teaching and learning, vertical transfer, veterans’ college experiences, to several more.
The significance and impact of the CCJRP’s robust attention to knowledge creation and development surrounding community colleges are echoed through the number of full-text articles downloaded from the Taylor & Francis website. The full-text article downloads increased almost 83% between 2006 and 2016, and from an annual outlook the downloads increased 13% from 2014 to 2015, and 11% from 2015 to 2016.
In 2017, the CCJRP published two special issues. The year’s first special issue was the Council for the Study of Community College (CSCC) research special issue’s 10th edition. Scholarly manuscripts contributed to this special double issue were submitted by CSCC members who presented at the 2016 annual CSCC conference at Fort Worth, Texas. These articles edited by Rivka A. Felsher, Delores E. McNair, and Gianna Ramdin showcased eight full-length articles and three Exchange articles on a vast array of topics which included pathways to community college for Latino/as, women aspiring to enter STEM majors, summer bridge program, reverse transfer, faculty involvement, and governance structures. CSCC members receive the special double issue online and in print, and also receive full online access to all 41 volumes of the CCJRP through the CSCC website, as a valued benefit of their CSCC membership. I would like to recognize CSCC’s Past President, Frankie Santos Laanan, President, David Hardy, and Executive Director, Beverly L. Bower, who have aided in energizing and fortifying the association between CSCC and the CCJRP. We look heartily onward to building on this relationship with CSCC’s President-Elect Linda Hagedorn during her term, the CSCC Board of Directors, and all CSCC members.
The year’s second special issue was Online Technical Education in the Community College. It was edited by Regina L. Garza Mitchell and Brian S. Horvitz, and included 12 Exchange articles. The chief importance of this special issue was to showcase the intensification of National Science Foundation’s Advanced Technological Education-funded projects use of hybrid and online technology to deliver educational content to emerging workforce program courses, such as cybersecurity and photonics.
Looking forward, three special issues are intended for publication in 2018. The first being the annual Council for the Study of Community Colleges (CSCC) 2017 Research special issue will be coedited by Gianna Ramdin, Delores E. McNair, and Cristobal Salinas. The second special issue coedited by C. Casey Ozaki and Paulette Dalpes is entitled, Current Initiatives and Trends in Higher Education: The Role of Student Affairs in Advancing Community College Student Success. It will highlight student services and best practices in student affairs response to community college student success initiatives and trends. The third planned special issue entitled, Essential Principles toward Success: Best Practice of Bellwether Programs will be coedited by Dale Campbell and Xiaodan Hu. This will be the second collection of articles sharing on inventive and leading-edge Bellwether programs in community colleges featured in the CCJRP. Established in 1995, the Bellwether Awards are an integral part of the Community College Futures Assembly and is supported by the Institute of Higher Education at the University of Florida.
For the other nine issues, our readers can expect to find both full-length and shorter Exchange articles focusing on a myriad of scholarly topics in 2018. These topics include adjunct faculty experiences, community college websites, developmental education, drug-free campus, faculty promotion process, financial literacy among Latino males, math education, performance funding models, students with disabilities, study abroad, veterans’ transitions, workforce education curriculum, and many more. In addition, ground-breaking, practitioner-based articles from the United States and abroad are anticipated for volume 42.
As we transition into 2018, I extend my earnest appreciation to the CCJRP’s section editors: Book Review Editor, Beverly L. Bower; Exchange Section Editor, Cynthia Wilson; and Learning Resources Editor, Maurice G. Fortin. Maurice G. Fortin, the Executive Director of Library Services at Angelo State University, San Angelo, Texas is retiring from the journal. Maurice has dedicated over 25 years and contributed over 200 installments to the CCJRP’s Learning Resources Section. It has been a tremendous honor having Maurice with the journal; his service and time is indeed greatly valued. Congratulations on your retirement and thank you, Maurice, for your tireless professional service to the CCJRP.
I would also like to express my gratitude to the editorial board and guest reviewers for their commitment and expert contributions whose efforts largely determines the quality of the CCJRP as a journal. At the close of 2017, four of our editorial board members will rotate off the board. I extend many thanks to Kevin Dougherty, Philo Hucheson, Frankie Santos Laanan, and John P. Murray for their expert service and time. I am delighted to announce our newest editorial board members: Sim Barhoum, Dan Morris, and Tod Treat. I extend continuing gratitude to our 46 Editorial Board members who gave generously of their time and expert service throughout 2017 and who will remain in their editorial board role for the duration of the 2018 volume year: Marilyn Amey, Derrick Barbee, Josh M. Beach, Susan Bickerstaff, George Boggs, E. Allen Bottorff, Kimberly Burns, John E. Cech, Brent Cejda, Matthew Connell, Katherine Conway, Mark D’Amico, Paulette Dalpes, Nathan Daun-Barnett, Pamela Eddy, Rivka Felsher, Janice N. Friedel, Regina Garza Mitchell, David Goomas, Linda Hagedorn, Cliff Harbour, Ghazala Hashmi, Deryl Hatch, Susan Holmes, David Horton, Dimitra Jackson-Smith, Christos Korgan, Amanda Latz, Tyjuan Lee, Jinyi Li, Joyce Lui, Pat Maslin-Ostrowski, Lyle McKinney, Delores McNair, Christopher M. Mullin, Khang Duy Nguyen, Terry O’Banion, C. Casey Ozaki, Karen Pain, Kelly Perez-Vergara, Dolores Perin, Joshua Pretlow, Cristobal Salinas, W. Robert Sullins, Kristin Wilson, and Yi “Leaf” Zhang.
Twenty-five guest reviewers graciously agreed to review articles that fell within their specialized areas of expertize. I am truly appreciative to Ronald Baker, Sim Barhoum, Karinda Barrett, Lisa Byard, Yu Chen, Tammy Frankland, Michael Hoggatt, Shouping Hu, Mohammad Ilyas, Stephen Johnson, Mike Kennamer, Dan Morris, Ginger Pedersen, Gianna Ramdin, Barb Rodriguez, Emily Sacks, Jonna Schengel, Robin Spaid, Jeannette Sullivan, Tenisha Tevis, Richard Torraco, Tod Treat, Ashley Tull, Xueli Wang, and Louise Yarnall for their expert service and time this past volume year.
Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to our colleagues at Taylor & Francis Group including editorial staff members: Shrikrishna “Krish” Singh, publisher of the education editorial group; Jennifer Paul, managing editor of education journals; Jacob Allison, editorial assistant; production staff members: Laura Sonnie, production manager; Jason Jones, past production editor; Carl Kevin Rejalde, incoming production editor; and Zachary Ayres, peer review coordinator; and members of the marketing staff for assisting at various stages of the journal’s 2017 production.
If any of our readers are interested in volunteering as a guest reviewer for manuscripts or interested in submitting an article to our shorter length Exchange Section please send me an e-mail at [email protected]. Our Exchange Editor, Cynthia Wilson, may be reached at [email protected]. Interested in submitting a book review or book review essay and require author guidelines and instructions, please e-mail Beverly Bower at [email protected].
In closing, to our contributing authors and readers I am deeply appreciative for your highly valued support in making the foremost journal of community college research, the CCJRP. We anticipate that you will expand your association with the CCJRP through publications, offer to act as a guest reviewer, and contribute in scholarly discussions pertaining to the significance of the journal with colleagues. Thank you for all of the previous year’s efforts and contributions as we forge towards tomorrow’s novel innovations, dedicated collaborations, and accomplishments!