Improving Community College Student Success through Investment of a Community Capitals Framework: A Multi-case Study

The purpose of this dissertation is to understand how community colleges invest in a wide range of resources to achieve student success and how that investment can be better understood through the roles of the constructs found in the Community Capitals Framework. To address these questions, the top two Ohio community colleges demonstrating the greatest positive percent growth in overall student success from 2012 to 2015 were analyzed through case studies. From these inductive inquiries, success initiatives and college interventions to overcome barriers to student success were grouped into strands. The strands reflected a collection of similar themes helpful for understanding student achievement. The strands were then synthesized and viewed through the lenses of the Community Capitals Framework. This analysis revealed that the framework serves as an effective model which may provide a perspective for maximizing the execution of a student success agenda, developing a healthy academic environment, creating sustainable economic structures, and fostering a culture of social inclusion through supportive academic and student services. The findings offer insight into a tool which community college leaders may choose to employ as they focus on implementation of initiatives, interventions, and actions to improve student success