s a Dean of Student Affairs for one of the regional campuses of probably the newest community college in the country - Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana and also as the current President of the National Council on Student Development, reflecting on the role of research comes easily. I believe we already know a lot about our students but applying that knowledge to practice can be challenging. To truly serve our current and prospective students, we need to do three things: (a) utilize research to optimize the effectiveness of our programs and services; (b) deliver programs and services that support student engagement and the attainment of their educational goals; and (c) develop a culture of student success among faculty and staff. Exemplary practices already exist among our nation's community colleges that we can emulate.

Many community colleges already do a superior job of using data to enhance current programs and create new ones. As a system of higher education, we are fairly comfortable with the data we have collected over the years about the wants, needs, and satisfaction of our students. Many colleges have consistently collected information from surveys such as the ACT Student Satisfaction Survey and the Community College Survey of Student Engagement. Many of us use student focus groups to target processes and programs for further review. Daily contact with students provides invaluable anecdotal data. Our Institutional Research Offices collect and analyze demographic and enrollment trend data and uses it to inform decision-making. For example, Manatee Community College (FL) has an excellent, comprehensive assessment program. Their plan is easily replicable, involves everyone, and connects their strategic plan with decision-making at every level of their institution.

Applying the use of research to practice can be very challenging. Those dedicated to the community college mission are typically eager to help others in this transition. Each month I have the honor of meeting with my fellow 13 regional deans for the Ivy Tech system whose recently adopted comprehensive mission is a departure from the old Ivy Tech State College system and necessitated a challenging learning curve. With our new mission statement and strategic plan, expanded commitment to transfer programs and students, and increased community expectations, without research and a wonderful group of helpful colleagues across this country, we would be at a loss sometimes on how to proceed. Other community colleges have been serving these students and this mission for many years, and with data from various community college research initiatives to serve as a guide, we have begun to ask ourselves questions such as: "What must we do to increase access to the college?" "How do our new students want their services provided?" "What will they need from us to be successful in meeting their educational goals?" and "How will we prepare them for their next step and for life-long learning?" While we are confident we can arrive at the answers that best serve our local system within the collective expertise of the Ivy Tech community, we are equally appreciative to colleagues across the country who have shared their experiences and data when they approached the same questions.

With my involvement with the National Council on Student Development (NCSD) and as a member of the Board of the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS), I have brought to my Ivy Tech colleagues, a national network of student development practitioners already committed to a comprehensive community college mission. We have looked to colleges such as Valencia Community College (FL) and Sinclair Community College (OH) to provide us results proven programming to assist us in meeting our new challenges. Valencia's LifeMap is an example of creating a new approach to helping students succeed which, in turn, changed the entire culture of their college. At Sinclair, they made tough decisions and revamped the enrollment process targeted at their most at-risk populations of students. Both of these colleges use research to validate and further refine their successes, and that research aids us in our decision-making.

I am proud of the work that NCSD continues in determining and recognizing exemplary practices. It is this type of activity that helps develop a culture of student success on our campuses. The NCSD process is based on the premise that it is not enough to recognize a new and exciting program without requiring research that validates if the program actually enhances student success. Without it, an award is less meaningful. For the Terry O'Banion Shared Journey Award process, proposals go through two juried phases for selection. During the first phase, each proposal is judged based on criteria such as "Program is outstanding and addresses significant student need" and "Program shows a demonstrable impact on student outcomes, based on verifiable data." The second phase occurs during our annual conference where a team judges each proposal once again, and the winner is given the Shared Journey Award. We have a somewhat similar process involving mandatory, verifiable results backed by research to judge the Dissertation of the Year Award. So why do we pay attention to both local and national research about community college students? We do this first, to look for methods that ensure all students have easy access to our colleges and second, to provide the most effective programs possible to enable them to leave our institutions with the skills and experiences they need to reach their life's goals and remain lifelong learners. Ongoing research will be needed as students, communities, the workforce, and those of us in education have evolving challenges to address. Our work remains a continuous challenge, one we approach with enthusiasm, dedicated to our students' success.

Dr. Deborah Garrett is Dean of Student Affairs at Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana, Southwest. She is also serving as the 2005-06 President of the National Council on Student Development, an affiliate council of the American Association of Community College. Deborah can be reached at degarret@ivytech.edu.