Overview
In 2008, The University of Texas' College of Education established the Center for Community College Student Engagement—formerly known as the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE)—as the umbrella organization for survey research, focus group work, and related services for community and technical colleges interested in improving educational quality through strengthened student engagement and student success. The Center operates as a research and service initiative of the Community College Leadership Program (CCLP).
Since 2001, major grants from The Kresge Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Lumina Foundation for Education, Houston Endowment Inc., MetLife Foundation, and The Pew Charitable Trusts have supported the work.
In August 2008, the Center moved to an off-campus building near The University of Texas to accommodate growing operational needs related to the large numbers of colleges participating in the work. CCSSE remains the Center's flagship survey as the Center continues quantitative and qualitative work with community colleges across the United States, British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec, the Northern Marianas, and the Marshall Islands.
The organization has grown to include a staff of professionals with a wide variety of skills, plus doctoral interns, doctoral research assistants, and undergraduate student workers serving more than 800 different community colleges. Since 2002, the Center has surveyed more than 1,590,000 community college students cumulatively representing a total credit enrollment of more than 5.4 million students. Member colleges represent more than 69 percent of U.S. community colleges (1,100+ accredited, public associate-degree-granting institutions).
Today, the Center is known nationally for a variety of activities and accomplishments, including the following:
- The Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE), the original student survey
- The Community College Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (CCFSSE), a companion survey to the original student survey
- The Survey of Entering Student Engagement (SENSE), a stand-alone survey pilot-tested in fall 2007, field tested in fall 2008, and opened for national administration in fall 2009
- Qualitative research including student interviews and focus groups through the Center's Initiative on Student Success
- Research-based national benchmarks of effective educational practice for community colleges and an award-winning website that provides publicly reported results and interactive data search/ benchmarking capabilities
- Ongoing research and analyses by Center professionals and CCLP doctoral students of student and institutional behaviors, perceptions, and practices affecting community college student engagement and success—work that has resulted in numerous Center publications and journal articles, extensive media coverage, and a growing number of dissertations
- Printed and electronic annual National Reports, plus periodic newsletters and bulletins distributed across the country to community colleges, higher education researchers and organizations, and the media
- A growing online collection of tools and resources for member colleges' use in strengthening their understanding and use of data for institutional improvement, reaffirmation of accreditation, and accountability
- Regional, state, and college-level student success institutes and professional development workshops
- Frequent presentations at national, regional, and state higher education and research conferences
Questions about the Center or products and services? Contact us.