Document Type
Doctor of Education Capstone
Original Publication Date
2026
Date of Submission
May 2026
Abstract
Community colleges serve as the most accessible gateway to higher education for millions of Americans, yet persistent dropout rates continue to undermine both student opportunity and institutional mission, particularly for first-generation students, students of color, adult learners, working students, and those experiencing financial precarity. This dissertation in practice examined high dropout rates at Delaware County Community College (DCCC), a multi-campus institution serving diverse communities across Delaware and Chester Counties in Pennsylvania. Guided by improvement science and grounded in critical pragmatism, Team RISE partnered with DCCC's Student Affairs division to investigate the systemic roots of student attrition and retention to develop actionable, equity-centered recommendations for institutional improvement. Problem analysis identified academic advising as the most significant and systemically entrenched leverage point for student retention. The study employed a mixed-methods, single-site case study design to address three research questions examining the advising experiences of currently enrolled students, the dropout decisions of former students, and advisors' perceptions of their capacity to holistically support DCCC's student population. Findings converged on a central conclusion: DCCC's advising challenges are rooted in institutional design failure rather than individual commitment failure. Drawing on the study's findings, improvement science, Heifetz and Linsky’s (2002) adaptive leadership framework, and Kegan and Lahey's (2009) immunity to change theory, Team RISE developed an integrated set of recommendations organized across three domains: leadership and change management, policy and practice, and future research. The team's professional practice deliverable, an Advising Reform Roadmap, translates these findings into an actionable resource for immediate institutional use.
Rights
© The Authors
Included in
Academic Advising Commons, Community College Leadership Commons, Educational Leadership Commons, Higher Education Commons