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Guest Editors’ Introduction

Postsecondary education in the United States has lagged behind other countries’ graduation and educational outcomes (Lumina Foundation, 2015b; OECD, 2014; Pell Institute for the Study of Economic, 2011) and struggled to make substantial improvements to its college graduation rates for years (Lewin, 2010; Lumina, 2015a). This has maintained the attention of researchers, administrators, and policymakers alike in their shared concern that the United States is losing its competitive edge educationally in a global competition and is failing to educate the workforce with twenty-first-century knowledge and skills. Increasingly, jobs offering sustainable living wages will require some postsecondary credential. As a result, critical initiatives and trends to create change and greater student learning and success have launched, especially within community colleges. Examples of these efforts include Guided Pathways, the Completion Agenda, America’s College Promise, assessment of student outcomes, predictive analytics, implementation of new technologies, and performance-based funding. These trends and initiatives are shaping the ways students are served, assessment is redesigned, resources are allocated, and, at times, how higher education institutions are organized to address these needed changes. Critical elements for student success include educational experiences outside the classroom (Kuh, Kinzie, Schuh, & Whitt, 2005; Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005), such as co-curricular activities involving student activities and government, athletics, and service learning. Every touch point of a student’s experience provides opportunities to influence success or create barriers to completion. From the point of outreach and recruitment, application, financial aid, enrollment, and registration, every connection must be meaningful, sustainable, and guide the student with the end in mind. In addition, other academic and support services including advising, career services, counseling, tutoring, and supplemental instruction are designed to support the student to completion. Co-curricular experiences and services influence students’ sense of belonging, ease in navigating the institution, and ability and motivation to persist when challenges arise (Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005). Given the high population of underserved students at community colleges and high departure rates (American Association of Community Colleges [AACC], 2016; Cohen, Brawer, & Kisker, 2013), the importance of these experiences and services is especially critical. Student affairs leaders and student services personnel are generally considered the design, implementation, and managing experts regarding these critical experiences. Therefore, the role of these professionals in supporting and advancing student success is foundational. As significant aspects of the institution, it is reasonable that Student Affairs is also expected to respond to calls for student success and related initiatives and trends. Yet, while there has been plenty of research and discussion about national, state, and institutional initiatives and trends, very little of this literature examines how they are implemented and how they influence student affairs and student services practice, programs, and work. Recent books focused on student affairs and working with students in community colleges (Kelsay & Zamani-Gallaher, 2014; Tull, Kuk, & Dalpes, 2015) are more holistic and comprehensive in their approach. Less literature is available specific to how community college student affairs and student services are responding to particular student success-driven trends and initiatives. Jamrogowicz (2013) explored the relevance of the American Graduation Initiative for community colleges, and Phillips and Horowitz (2013) edited a