CCJRP Publishes Landmark Collection of Extraordinary Life and Writings of Community College Provocateur Terry O’Banion.
Community College Journal of Research and Practice
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The Community College Journal of Research and Practice is pleased to announce the July, 2026 publication of a 209-page special three-issue collection featuring more than six decades of published and unpublished works of the late Terry O’Banion who is recognized as one of the most influential thought leaders in community college history. Change Magazine named him one of eleven “Idea Champions”—leaders who set the agenda for higher education. He was the only community college leader on the list.
The 19 article series, Community College Provocateur: Terry O’Banion’s Legacy of Research, Inquiry, and Practice, brings together selected works from O’Banion’s extensive body of scholarship on timely topics of academic advising, workforce education, general education, humanistic education, institutional quality and leadership, the learning college movement, governance reform, innovation cultures, a completion agenda, reimagining the future of community colleges, rogue trustees, and student success challenges.
The collection is introduced by issue editors Adrienne Provost, Deborah L. Floyd, Cynthia Wilson, and Kelli Listermann, whose framing article provides historical and theoretical context for O’Banion’s scholarship while examining the continuing relevance of his ideas to contemporary challenges facing community colleges.
Series co-editor Adrienne Provost, who is also curator of The Terry O’Banion Papers, described the publication as,
“a scholarly record of the evolution of O’Banion’s thought over six decades, tracing the development of ideas that continue to shape student success and institutional reform efforts.”
The editors close the collection with an article analysing O’Banion’s words and phrases while offering a call for action to use his words and teachings as an invitation to teach, write, lead, protect the community college mission and focus on students while challenging the status quo and more. The works in this collection remain central concerns for community colleges today, making this collection is both a historical examination and a guide for future practice.
The collection also features an unpublished autobiographical essay, “Looking for Peace and Purpose.” In the essay, O’Banion reflects on the experiences, values, and relationships that shaped his personal and professional journey and his self-described role as a provocateur in higher education. Born in rural Florida in 1937, O’Banion rose from childhood poverty to become one of the most influential voices in community college education. During a career spanning more than 60 years, he held leadership positions at Central Florida Community College, Santa Fe Community College, and the Dallas County Community College District; served as president and CEO of the League for Innovation in the Community College for 23 years; and held faculty or distinguished faculty positions at the University of Illinois, the University of Texas, the University of North Texas, Antioch University, Walden University, National American University, Kansas State University, and several other universities.
O’Banion authored more than 300 articles, books, monographs, reports, and book chapters and consulted with more than 1,000 community colleges in the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, and the United Arab Emirates.
He received numerous accolades for his work, including being identified by Change Magazine in 1998 as one of eleven Idea Champions who set the agenda for higher education, and having six awards established in his name, most recently the Terry O’Banion Provocateur Award created by the League for Innovation. His other awards included the American Association of Community Colleges Hall of Fame and the Council for the Study of Community College’s Senior Scholar Award.
The special collection is being published one year after Terry O’Banion’s passing, in support of the timeliness of many of his ideas. Deborah Floyd, editor-in-chief of CCJRP and a co-editor of this series, reflected that,
“Terry O’Banion never stopped asking community colleges to become better versions of themselves. This collection demonstrates not only the breadth of his scholarship but also how many of today’s most pressing issues were anticipated in his work decades ago.”
To access the special issue, click the following link: https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/ucjc20/50/7-9
About the Community College Journal of Research and Practice
In its 50th year of continuous publishing, the Community College Journal of Research and Practice (CCJRP) is a peer-review journal that promotes and disseminates an increased awareness of community college research and practice. The CCJRP is published 12 times per year by Taylor and Francis Publishing, a Division of Routledge Publishing in the United Kingdom. Florida Atlantic University’s Higher Education Leadership Program has served as the CCJRP editorial home for 15 years.
Media contacts
Deborah L. Floyd, Editor in Chief &
Kelli Listermann, Editorial Associate
Community College Journal of Research and Practice
[email protected]
Adrienne Provost, Assistant Dean for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
The University of Florida
[email protected], 352.392.0780
Cynthia Wilson, Vice President for Learning and Chief Impact Officer
League for Innovation in the Community College
[email protected], 480.705.8200 x 238