Books by Carrie B. Kisker
In Creating Entrepreneurial Community Colleges, Carrie B. Kisker illustrates how institutions can utilize design thinking to identify and evaluate entrepreneurial opportunities and experiment with the internal changes necessary to optimize outcomes for stakeholders. Kisker outlines a process whereby college leaders can empower faculty and staff to think creatively about how to reduce their institution’s dependence on state allocations in ways that are not only consistent with the college’s mission and values, but also provide the greatest likelihood for institutional and student success.
By telling the stories of several influential community college leaders’ experiences with entrepreneurship—using design thinking as a framework for understanding their successes and failures—Kisker provides a roadmap for colleges to move beyond their historical pattern of incremental responses to external pressures and instead begin to innovate in creative, mission-oriented ways.
Praise for Creating Entrepreneurial Community Colleges
"In this engaging book, Carrie Kisker wows us with the stories, data, and practices of a rural community college in Iowa and urban ones in Phoenix, Orlando, and Fort Worth that are using design thinking to create opportunity for students and prosperity for communities."
―Rebecca A. Corbin, president and CEO, National Association of Community College Entrepreneurship
"Kisker highlights the work of community college innovators who involved wide-ranging stakeholders—including faculty, college administrators, and employers—in collaborative ventures that respond to community needs while at the same time generating badly needed revenues. The result is a compelling analysis of how community college leaders might sustain institutional commitment to community betterment even as government appropriations decline."
―James C. Palmer, professor emeritus of higher education, Illinois State University
"Carrie Kisker’s work with four of our exemplar community colleges could not be better timed as we look toward a post-COVID era for community colleges. It will help largely risk-averse cultures purposefully forge new, more entrepreneurial futures for our Digital Age of constant, rapid change that is transforming our college landscape before our very eyes."
―Kevin Drumm, founding board chairman, National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship, and president, SUNY Broome Community College
For more than thirty years, The American Community College has been the go-to reference for faculty, administrators, trustees, state-level officials, and researchers concerned with the role of community colleges in the American educational system, the services they provide, and their effects on students and surrounding communities.
Now in its sixth edition, The American Community College includes a new chapter on student outcomes and accountability; a case for re-conceptualizing general education around critical thinking, civic engagement, and sustainable development; and an appendix examining the ascendant for-profit sector. In addition, the authors include a response to contemporary criticisms of the institution. Each chapter of the book includes guiding questions for reflection and discussion.
Praise for The American Community College
"Since 1982, The American Community College has been the authoritative book on community colleges. Anyone who wants to understand these complex and dynamic institutions―how they are evolving, the contributions they make, the challenges they face, the students they serve, and the faculty and leaders who deliver the services and the curricula―will find The American Community College both essential reading and an important reference book."
―George R. Boggs, former president and CEO, American Association of Community Colleges
"I have been a community college president for over forty-one years and a graduate professor for three decades. This book has been an inspiration to generations of students, faculty members, and administrators. It has become the classic of the field because it has great 'take-home' value to us all."
―Joseph N. Hankin, president, Westchester Community College
When the first edition of The Shaping of American Higher Education was published, it was lauded for its historical perspective and in-depth coverage of current events that provided an authoritative, comprehensive account of the history of higher education in the United States.
As in the first edition, this book tracks trends and important issues in eight key areas: student access, faculty professionalization, curricular expansion, institutional growth, governance, finance, research, and outcomes. Thoroughly revised and updated, the volume is filled with critical new data; recent information from specialized sources on faculty, student admissions, and management practices; and an entirely new section that explores privatization, corporatization, and accountability from the mid-1990s to the present. This second edition also includes end-of-chapter questions for guidance, reflection, and study.
Praise for The Shaping of American Higher Education
"Cohen and Kisker do the nation's colleges and universities a much needed service by authoring this volume. The highly regarded histories of American higher education have become badly dated. They ignore the last quarter century when American higher education was transformed. This volume provides comprehensive information on that era."
— Art Levine, president, Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation
"The second edition of The Shaping of American Higher Education is a treasure trove of information and insight. Cohen and Kisker provide us with astute and straightforward analysis and commentary on our past, present, and likely future. This book is invaluable to those seeking to go to the heart of the issues and challenges confronting higher education."
— Judith S. Eaton, president, Council for Higher Education Accreditation
Edited Volumes and Chapters
by Carrie B. Kisker
All Books, Chapters, and Edited Volumes by Carrie B. Kisker
Kisker, C. B. (2021). Creating entrepreneurial community colleges. A design thinking approach. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.
Kisker, C. B., & Kater, S. T. (forthcoming in 2021). Contemporary challenges and opportunities in U.S. community college governance. In M. A. Peters and R. Heraud, (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Educational Innovation. New York: Springer.
Kisker, C. B., Weintraub, D. S., & Newell, M. A. (forthcoming in 2021). Do turbulent times affect community college students' civic outcomes? Results from the Higher Education Civic Outcomes Survey, 2015-2018. In B. Murphy (Ed.), Democracy's colleges: Civic and political education in America's community colleges. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.
Kisker, C. B., Theis, J. J., & Olivas, A. O. (2019). Enacting democracy in 'democracy's colleges.' In N. V. Longo & T. J. Shaffer, (Eds.), Creating space for democracy: A primer on dialogue and deliberation in higher education (pp. 275-284). Sterling, VA: Stylus.
Kater, S. T., & Kisker, C. B. (2018). Redefining shared responsibility: Shared governance in the twenty-first century community college. In J. S. Levin and S. T. Kater, (Eds.), Understanding community colleges (2nd ed., pp. 227-246). New York: Routledge.
Cohen, A. M., & Kisker, C. B. (2018) Functions, organization, and contemporary challenges of the American community college. In R. L. Raby & E. J. Valeau, (Eds.), Handbook of comparative studies on community colleges and global counterparts (pp. 361-380). New York: Springer.
Ronan, B. L., & Kisker, C. B. (Eds.). (2016). Civic learning and democratic engagement. New directions for community colleges, no. 173. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Kisker, C. B., & Ronan, B. L. (2016). Introduction. In B. L. Ronan & C. B. Kisker, (Eds.), Civic learning and democratic engagement. New directions for community colleges, no. 173 (pp. 7-11). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Kisker, C. B. (2016). An inventory of civic programs and practices. In B. L. Ronan & C. B. Kisker, (Eds.), Civic learning and democratic engagement. New directions for community colleges, no. 173 (pp. 13-21). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Kisker, C. B., Newell, M.A., & Weintraub, D. S. (2016). The civic outcomes of community college. In B. L. Ronan & C. B. Kisker, (Eds.), Civic learning and democratic engagement. New directions for community colleges, no. 173 (pp. 103-110). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Cohen, A. M., Brawer, F. B., & Kisker, C. B. (2014). The American community college (6th ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Kisker, C. B., & Gragg, J. (2014). Arizona. In J. N. Friedel, S. Katsinas, E. Miller, & J. Killacky, (Eds.), Fifty state systems of community colleges. Fourth edition: Mission, governance, funding, and accountability (pp. 11-18). Johnson City, TN: The Overmountain Press.
Kisker, C, B., & Wagoner, R. L. (Eds.). (2013). Implementing transfer associate degrees: Perspectives from the states. New directions for community colleges, no. 160. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Wagoner, R. L., & Kisker, C. B. (2013). Editors' Notes. In C. B. Kisker & R. L. Wagoner, (Eds.), Implementing transfer associate degrees: Perspectives from the states. New directions for community colleges, no. 160 (pp. 1-4). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Kisker, C. B., & Wagoner, R. L. (2013). Elements of effective transfer associate degrees. In C. B. Kisker & R. L. Wagoner, (Eds.), Implementing transfer associate degrees: Perspectives from the states. New directions for community colleges, no. 160 (pp. 5-12). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Wagoner, R. L., & Kisker, C. B. (2013). Putting the pieces together and asking the hard questions: Transfer associate degrees in perspective. In C. B. Kisker & R. L. Wagoner, (Eds.), Implementing transfer associate degrees: Perspectives from the states. New directions for community colleges, no. 160 (pp. 91-104). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Kisker, C. B., & Kater, S. T. (2012). Deconstructing governance and expectations for the community college. In J. S. Levin & Susan T. Kater, (Eds.), Understanding community colleges (pp. 153-170). New York: Routledge.
Cohen, A. M., & Kisker, C. B. (2010). The shaping of American higher education: Emergence and growth of the contemporary system. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Kisker, C. B. (2008). Integrating high school and the community college: Previous efforts and current possibilities. In B. S. Stern & M. L. Kysilka, (Eds.), Contemporary readings in curriculum (pp. 91-99). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Kisker, C. B., & Hauser, P. (2007). Partnering to move students into college and community-oriented careers: The administration of justice department at East Los Angeles College. In M. Amey (Ed.), Collaborations across educational sectors. New directions for community colleges, no. 139 (pp. 29-39). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Kisker, C. B. (2006). Integrating high school and community college. A historical policy analysis. Doctoral dissertation, University of California, Los Angeles. UMI No. 3247442
Kisker, C. B. (2005). Key resources for student affairs professionals in learning-centered community colleges. In S. R. Helfgot & M. M. Culp, (Eds.), Community college student affairs: What really matters. New directions for community colleges, no. 131 (pp. 89-98). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.