Chapter 11: Community College Student Practitioner

This chapter includes an overview of the CPED-influenced Higher Education program at Texas Tech University and the experiences of leading a community college from a current community college practitioner who is a student in the program. The chapter will provide future readers with an opportunity to vicariously experience the doctoral program through the adventures of a practitioner of higher education as she discovers research and scholarly substantiation for her many years of prior experience.

Texas Tech University (TTU) is categorized as a Research University (very high research activity) by the Carnegie Classification of Higher Education Institutions (Indiana University School of Education, 2016) and has also been identified as an emerging research university within the state of Texas. Its main campus is located in Lubbock, Texas. In fall 2014, TTU enrolled over 35,000 undergraduate and graduate students in 150 undergraduate, 100 master’s, and 50 doctoral degrees (Texas Tech University, 2015). The University is composed of 10 independent colleges, a graduate school, and a school of law.