Professors Debra D. Bragg and Eboni M. Zamani-Gallaher of the College of Education have co-edited a new book that explores the history, challenges, and controversies surrounding two-year colleges.

Published by the Association for the Study of Higher Education and Pearson Learning Solutions, the “ASHE Reader on Community Colleges” is the fourth volume in a series about two-year colleges. The comprehensive collection of essays provides a wide range of perspectives on community colleges, which are often overlooked in discussions of higher education institutions.

In more than 50 wide-ranging articles, scholars explore the historical foundations and evolution of two-year colleges in America’s higher education system, along with the leadership styles of top administrators and issues such as institutional diversity and campus climate.

Zamani-Gallaher, a professor in the Department of Education Policy, Organization and Leadership and a faculty affiliate in the Office of Community College Research and Leadership (OCCRL), discusses postsecondary access and the social missions of colleges that serve special populations in the article “Promoting Access and Equity through Minority-Serving and Women’s Institutions.”

“The body of research on community colleges contained in this volume is vast and rich, blending theory and practice,” said Zamani-Gallaher. “The fourth edition of the ‘ASHE Reader on Community Colleges’ is a valuable resource for community college scholars, practitioners, policymakers, and graduate students who study American higher education, especially two-year institutions of higher learning.”


Read the full Illinois News Bureau article by Sharita Forrest.