There's a lot to love about community colleges, and one of those components is the employees who themselves are in, healthy romantic relationships. The two-body problem, as it is commonly referred to, entails how spouses or significant others must account for finding similarly specialized role in the same geographic area, or if possible, the same institution.

On today's episode, we welcome on one dual-career couple to discuss their situation that blends life, career, and love. Dr. Corina González-Stout serves as an associate professor of history at Northwest Vista College in San Antonio, Texas. Her husband is Dr. Brian Stout, a professor of biology, also at Northwest Vista College. 

Be sure to rate, review, and subscribe to Spotlight on Community Colleges wherever you listen to podcasts!

Today on Spotlight on Community Colleges we focus on issues related to campus climate in community colleges. In other words, how might faculty, staff, administrators, and other constituents perceive institutional policies, practices, and routines that influence satisfaction, efficacy, and success. 

Deconstructing this complicated and nuanced topic is a panel of guests who have a deep understanding of campus climate. Dr. Audrey (AJ) Jaeger serves as the W. Dallas Herring Distinguished Professor of Community College Education and Executive Director of the Belk Center for Community College Leadership and Research at NC State University. The Belk Center administers  the PACE Climate Survey for Community Colleges. Dr. Daniel West is the Associate Director of Research and Evaluation at the Belk Center. Focusing primarily on employee engagement and professional development, Daniel is responsible for administering and helping colleges interpret the PACE Climate Survey for Community Colleges. Finally, Dr. Jason Hurst serve as president of Cleveland Community College in Shelby, North Carolina.

Be sure to rate, review, and subscribe to Spotlight on Community Colleges wherever you listen to podcasts!

On this episode of Spotlight on Community Colleges we take a peek into the world of community college fundraising! Guests Dr. Everrett Smith (Associate Professor, University of Cincinnati) and Charles Silver (Development Director, Scottsdale Community College) join in the conversation to share the research on community college fundraising and the unique considerations that practitioners face, respectively. Along the way they offer thoughts on how community colleges engage in meaningful collaborations, programs, and efforts that bolster giving.

If you are seeking to make a donation during this giving season and are wondering where your contributions can make a big impact, consider creating a charitable gift to your local community college. 

Be sure to rate, review, and subscribe to Spotlight on Community Colleges wherever you listen to podcasts!

This episode of Spotlight on Community Colleges centers some of the most understudied yet vital members of the higher education community: community college trustees. These are the incredible folks who volunteer their time to act as fiscal stewards of their institutions, guide institutional mission and strategy, monitor operations, hire the CEOs, and ensure that their colleges and students can flourish.

Sharing insights on this episode include three guests with a wide range of perspectives on community college governing boards and the people who serve on them: Ms. Geralyn Presti (former attorney and current Chair of the Board of Trustees at Cuyahoga Community College); Dr. Susan Kater (Assistant Professor of Higher Education Leadership at Idaho State University and a Director of the Center for the Study of Community Colleges [CSCC]); and Mr. David Conner (Associate Vice President for Strategic Communications at the Association of Community College Trustees [ACCT]).

Be sure to rate, review, and subscribe to Spotlight on Community Colleges wherever you listen to podcasts!

You can check out the ACCT-CSCC report via this link.

The community college financial aid landscape is fraught with challenges related to income verification and making satisfactory academic progress, but also opportunities associated with supporting students' payments and financial literacy training. This episode of Spotlight on Community Colleges deconstructs the current realities of community college financial aid.

Today's guests discuss the various dimensions of financial aid. They include: Dr. Devon Graves (Assistant Professor of Community College Leadership at North Carolina State University); Dr. Matthew Mayhew (Professor of Educational Administration at The Ohio State University); and Dr. Courtney De Roche (Postdoctoral Scholar at The Ohio State University). 

Be sure to rate, review, and subscribe to Spotlight on Community Colleges wherever you listen to podcasts!

Drawing in tens of thousands of international students each year, community colleges welcome these learners to higher education. Similarly, transborder students attend community colleges, each day crossing the border to attain their education. Yet the turbulent political and immigration landscape is creating challenges for community colleges and, in tandem, international and transborder students. On today's episode of Spotlight on Community Colleges, we disentangle these issues with three fantastic guests: Dr. Fanta Aw (CEO of NAFSA: Association of International Educators), Dr. Vanessa Falcón Orta (Assistant Professor in the School of Education at San Diego State University, and a founding director of the Trans Border Scholars Thriving Institute), and Dr. Joel Pilco (Director of Binational and International Programs at Southwestern College). 

Be sure to rate, review, and subscribe to Spotlight on Community Colleges wherever you listen to podcasts!

Be sure to rate, review, and subscribe to Spotlight on Community Colleges wherever you listen to podcasts!

On this episode of SPOTLIGHT ON COMMUNITY COLLEGES we feature a conversation on building and maintaining equitable teaching practices in community college science, technology, engineering, and math, or STEM education. We are joined by two community college educators: Dr. Melonie Sexton (psychology professor) and Ms. Josephine Pino (biology professor).

Today's discussion is framed around a consensus report that was released by the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) in January, 2025, titled Transforming Undergraduate STEM Education,Supporting Equitable and Effective Teaching. The Charge of NASEM's report was to draw on the resources of a committee of experts to document the evidence-based consensus about how equitable and effective teaching can transform undergraduate STEM education.

Check out the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) Transforming Undergraduate STEM Education report here.

SPOTLIGHT ON COMMUNITY COLLEGES will resume with new episodes for Season 2 this fall. 

Be sure to rate, review, and subscribe to Spotlight on Community Colleges wherever you listen to podcasts!

Be sure to rate, review, and subscribe to Spotlight on Community Colleges wherever you listen to podcasts!

Be sure to rate, review, and subscribe to Spotlight on Community Colleges wherever you listen to podcasts!