Date Approved
5-27-2025
Embargo Period
5-27-2027
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ed.D. Educational Leadership
Department
Educational Leadership
College
College of Education
Advisor
Monica Reid Kerrigan, Ed.D
Committee Member 1
Ane Turner Johnson, Ph.D.
Committee Member 2
Steven Rose, Ed.D.
Keywords
community colleges;educational leadership;open educational resources;textbook affordability;textbook affordability planning
Disciplines
Education | Educational Leadership
Abstract
This dissertation reports on a qualitative case study of community colleges’ planning processes to meet the requirement of a state law to develop textbook affordability plans. Since no single solution works for all institutions, the research addresses a variety of affordable adoptions reported by 12 open access, Associate’s degree granting institutions in New Jersey. Study findings describe how these colleges characterize textbook affordability and share the planning process and considerations involved in formulating their plans. These textbook affordability plans are found to be a student-centered decision that focuses on highest-enrolled general education courses. Using a hybrid approach of free, low cost, and commercial course materials, collaborative planning teams crafted affordability approaches that met the demands of their faculty and students by considering content characteristics including access, affordability, quality, and ancillaries. Institutional funding for faculty and technology are also considered. This dissertation includes an academic article and practitioner article that will be used to disseminate the research and offer administrators planning considerations with their implications.
Recommended Citation
Ochoa, Marilyn N., "EXPLORING NEW JERSEY COUNTY COLLEGE TEXTBOOK AFFORDABILITY PLANNING" (2025). Theses and Dissertations. 3357.
https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/3357
