Student Issues / Attending College

While all mentoring programs help improve student performance and graduation rates, some community colleges are finding that minority mentorship programs are even more beneficial. Colleges across the country are celebrating the outstanding results achieved through the collaborative efforts of on-campus minority mentoring programs. As the Education Resources Services Center articulates, “Mentoring is a process that can increase the retention of minority students, with larger numbers graduated and hired for faculty positions.”

To discover the benefits of minority mentoring opportunities, consider what some of the top-performing organizations have been able to achieve with their local community college support.

In their paper, Institutionalizing Mentoring in Community Colleges, Dr. Robin Phelps-Ward and Dr. Amanda O. Latz make the point that "Opportunities for institutionalized mentoring in community colleges have the potential to manifest in the promotion and tenure process, faculty development seminars, student recruitment and admissions procedures, and throughout curriculum development. However, colleges must make a concerted effort to weave and explicitly communicate mentoring as a value through mission and vision statements, strategic goals and outcomes, and even course objectives."

This video reports on the minority mentoring initiative at Montgomery County Community College.

Examining the College Student Spectrum

According to the Community College Review-Journal, diversity among community college student populations is constantly shifting. In fact, recent US Census Bureau reports show that 42.3 percent of African Americans enrolled in college programs

The "freshman 15" and "sophomore 10" are a phenomenon that seems to plague community college students on every campus. Gaining weight often arrives hand-in-hand with the start of the school year, especially during the first years of college.

To combat issues related to obesity, excess weight, and poor lifestyle habits, community colleges across the country are providing students with weight loss support. Through these programs, perhaps the freshman 15 may become a phenomenon of the yesteryears!

Free Community College Weight Loss Programs

To help students enjoy weight loss success, community colleges have implemented unique and diverse programs to cater to individual dieting needs. For example, as Chron News reveals, Alvin Community College (ACC), located in Texas, now provides students with an innovative online weight loss class. Titled "Lose Weight and Keep it Off," the ACC course has been designed in cooperation with the world's largest resource and provider of online classes for adult students, ed2go. Through the expert guidance of Donna Acosta, ACC's registered dietician and nutrition instructor, all participants will learn about weight loss strategies, including:

• Sensible eating
• Simple habits of weight loss
• How to maintain weight loss results and keep the pounds off

Clark State Community College (CSCC), with campuses in Springfield and Beavercreek, Ohio, has created an event to stimulate even more weight loss motivation. To help students pursue the path to better health, CSCC leaders encourage students to participate in weight loss contests sponsored and conducted by the college's

Are you willing to go the distance? Marathon enthusiasts can find fantastic races on their very own community college campuses. Through marathon clubs or teams, community college students not only race against their colleagues but against their professors too!

With the scandals of Enron, Tyco, and WorldCom in the past, today's corporate world demands a mixture of business acumen and ethics. To combat corruption, many employers are looking to hire candidates with business ethics qualifications. If you are looking for ways to enhance your resume and candidacy, consider enrolling in an ethics business class at your community college.

What are Ethics Business Courses?

Courses in business ethics are relatively new options, but they are certainly growing in relevance. As the Business Network explains, "Business ethics consists of a set of moral principles and values that govern the organization's behavior with respect to what is right and what is wrong."

Specifically, business ethics courses outline any company's moral philosophies and obligations. Business ethics classes often explore topics such as:

• Evaluation of prohibited actions in the workplace
• Legal frameworks on which an organization may be governed
• Evaluation of the most common pillars of ethics. For example, evaluation of ethical philosophies such as deontologism, relativism, egoism, and utilitarianism (although these pillars of focus may vary for each course)
• Examination of ethical violations in various business organizations (often based on hypothetical cases, historical occurrences, etc.)

This video explains business ethics.

Benefits of an Ethics Business Course

While many community colleges offer business ethics courses, North Seattle Community College (NSCC), located in Washington, has been pioneering its curriculum with practical, hands-on applications of business ethics.

NSCC

Are you taking unnecessary classes at your community college? You may be able to skip certain prerequisite courses by simply taking placement tests and earning passing AP test scores. If you can qualify for just 20 hours of course credit through your testing, you stand to save an average of $3,000 in tuition costs. In addition, by testing out of these courses, you not only save money but can graduate or transfer early and enter into the job market more expeditiously.

This video suggests the easier AP classes to take in order to receive college credit.

How to Test out of College Classes

The purpose of placement tests is to determine whether or not a student has mastered the particular subject matter. While testing options will vary at each community college, all students should be able to take placement tests that will earn them course credits. For example, at Warren Community College in Michigan, students can "Accelerate their graduation from college by taking exams including Advanced Placement exams, the College Level Examination Placement tests, or the Warren County Community College Institutional Credit by Exam tests." Through these exams, students can earn 30 to 45 hours of course credit - without having to actually sit in class!

Students attending Warren Community College can take the College Level Examination Placement (CLEP) or can earn credits through alternative exams:

• CLEP -