The Center for Higher Education Enterprise announces the results of the 2015 Most Promising Places to Work in Community Colleges. It was an honor to conduct this study as part of a partnership with Diverse: Issues in Higher Education and NISOD, a membership organization committed to promoting and celebrating excellence in teaching, learning, and leadership at community and technical colleges.

For the first time ever, CHEE partnered with NISOD to implement this study by contacting member institutions. Highlights of the 16 most promising institutions for 2015 will be released in the May 21st edition of Diverse magazine.

CHEE, under the leadership of Dr. Terrell L. Strayhorn, professor and director was selected to conduct this study.

With the study’s focus on workplace diversity, staffing practices, and work environment, CHEE researchers used a web-based survey approach to elicit information such as family friendliness, salary and benefits, and professional development opportunities, to name a few. A multipart, weighted algorithm is used to classify the responding institutions in the final phase on analysis.

"I am extremely excited about this year’s honorees," said Dr. Edward J. Leach, NISOD's Executive Director. "These community and technical colleges are very deserving of this recognition because of their outstanding work to enhance equality, diversity, and inclusion across their campuses."

Ralph Newell, vice president of business development and technology for Diverse, remarked, “We were excited to see the geographic diversity of the schools recognized.  We were even more pleased that these community colleges are not the more recognizable systems nationally, it speaks to the fact you don’t have to have a big name to succeed and do great work.” 

And as principal investigator, Terrell Strayhorn shared, “CHEE is excited about releasing the results from the 2015 Most Promising Places to Work in Community Colleges study and we share this enthusiasm with our partners at NISOD and Diverse. This study yields insight into diversity practice at the nation’s community colleges and offers a useful tool for employers, career services staff, and job-seekers across the country. We hope it serves as a tool for the broader community college enterprise too.” 

The list of the 2015 Most Promising Places to Work in Community Colleges (in alphabetical order) is:

• Albany Technical College (Albany, GA)
• Big Sandy Community and Technical College (Prestonsburg, KY)
• Central Piedmont Community College (Charlotte, NC)
• Genesee Community College (Batavia, NY)
• Illinois Central College (East Peoria, IL)
• Kilgore College (Kilgore, TX)
• Lorain County Community College (Elyria, OH)
• Luzerne County Community College (Nanticoke, PA)
• Mountain View College (Dallas, TX)
• New Mexico Junior College (Hobbs, NM)
• Piedmont Technical College (Greenwood, SC)
• Seward County Community College and Area Technical School (Liberal, KS)
• South Florida State College (Avon Park, FL)
• Southwest Virginia Community College (Richlands, VA)
• Tallahassee Community College (Tallahassee, FL)
• Zane State College (Zanesville, OH)