Community College Research Initiatives

October 22, 2019

Upcoming conferences to hear from CCRI!

Competency-Based Education Network’s (C-BEN) CBExchange 2019 Conference, Palm Springs, CA, October 24, 2019. Learning and Leading Forward: Research-based Lessons to Enhance CBE 2.0 for Working Adults at Salt Lake Community College, Eric Heiser, Dean, Salt Lake Community College, Debra Bragg, President, Bragg & Associates, Inc.

This session presents evaluation results from a Department of Labor Trade Adjustment Act Community College and Career Training grant at Salt Lake Community College (SLCC). Drawing on the experiences of the SLCC leadership and the evaluation team, this session provides lessons learned on the conversion of over 20 programs to CBE. Implications for scaling CBE throughout SLCC are discussed, including highlighting how the CBEN Quality Framework is being as a blueprint for scaling CBE college-wide.


2019 Annual Applied Baccalaureate Conference at noon on Monday, November 4, Green River College. CCRI Director, Debra Bragg, will give a keynote titled Opening the Door to Baccalaureates: Results of a New National Study on Access, Equity, and Outcomes of Community College Baccalaureates.


ASHE – The 44th annual Association for the Study of Higher Education Conference, Portland, November 13-16, 2019. We’d love to see you at our sessions! View the program for presentation details.

Congratulations to Kandi Bauman, CCRI Graduate Research Assistant and UW PhD student!  Kandi was selected to attend the Graduate Student Policy Seminar at ASHE 2019. The seminar provides graduate students with opportunities to interact with researchers, policy-shapers, and policymakers who are knowledgeable about critical public policy issues related to higher education. The seminar also offers participants an opportunity to engage other advanced graduate students with similar interests and ambitions from universities across the nation.

Advancing Evidenced-Based Policy: Meta-Analysis Findings from TAACCCT. Fri, November 15, 3:45 to 5:00pm, Hilton Portland Downtown, Floor: Ballroom, Grand Ballroom Parlor A. Grant Blume, CCRI Affiliate Faculty; Elizabeth Apple Meza, CCRI Research Scientist; Ivy Love, New America Policy Analyst and Debra Bragg, CCRI Director will present a paper on the United States Department of Labor’s (DOL) TAACCCT program, which represented an unprecedented federal investment in community colleges. This study reports results of a meta-analysis on the extent to which federal grants increased the likelihood of positive educational and employment outcomes at the nation’s community colleges.

A Spectrum of Partnerships: Intentional Collaborations to Improve Transfer Outcomes. Saturday, November 16, 1:30–2:45 pm, Hilton Portland Downtown, 3rd Forum: Exploring University Partnerships & CollaborationsTheresa Ling Yeh, CCRI Research Scientist, and Lia Wetzstein, CCRI Associate Director will be discussing how community college and four-year university partnerships that focus on improving transfer outcomes are critical to advancing equity, as many underserved populations pursue baccalaureate degrees through community colleges. This paper examines qualitative data from a mixed-methods study and proposes a typological continuum of ways in which transfer partnerships can be enacted.

Career Pathway Programs: Building Connections Between College, Employment, and Careers. Sat, November 16, 10:15 to 11:30 am, Hilton Portland Downtown, Floor: Plaza, Broadway I. As the number of career pathway programs in community colleges has grown, research has examined the effects of pathway models on higher education program development and student outcomes. Debra Bragg, CCRI Director presents this paper as part of a panel summarizing the findings of recent research on career pathways, including two case studies of career pathways programs.


2019 Northwest Commission for Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) Annual Conference at noon on Wednesday, November 20, Hyatt Regency, Seattle, WA.  Debra Bragg, CCRI Director, to give a keynote focusing on The Equity Imperative for Higher Education.