Organizational environments' effects on affective and cognitive student outcomes as perceived by students in the Puente program

The purpose of this study was to explore organizational behavior variables and Puente program organizational variables on the success of students participating in the Puente program. The Puente program has proven to be successful in increasing the number of Hispanic graduates and transfers from a community college to a 4-year institution. Obtaining student perceptions of the organizational behavior of the Puente program and the community college as a whole were unique perspectives that provided some understanding of organizational behaviors specifically on 1) intent to persist, 2) self-efficacy, 3) GPA, 4) English grade, 5), contact with faculty, 6) contact with peers, and 7) extracurricular involvement.;The research questions posed in this research included: 1.) Do students in the Puente program perceive organizational behaviors within the community college at large and organizational behaviors within the Puente program using Berger's (2000) definition of organizational behavior dimensions (bureaucratic, collegial, political, symbolic, systemic) as predicting their intent to persist? 2.) Do students in the Puente program perceive organizational behaviors within the community college at large and organizational behaviors within the Puente program using Berger's (2000) definition of organizational behavior dimensions (bureaucratic, collegial, political, symbolic, systemic) as predicting their self-efficacy? 3.) Do students in the Puente program perceive organizational behaviors within the community college at large and organizational behaviors within the Puente program using Berger's (2000) definition of organizational behavior dimensions (bureaucratic, collegial, political, symbolic, systemic) as predicting their first semester GPA and English grade? 4.) Do students in the Puente program perceive organizational behaviors within the community college at large and organizational behaviors within the Puente program using Berger's (2000) definition of organizational behavior dimensions (bureaucratic, collegial, political, symbolic, systemic) as predicting their contact with faculty, peers and in their extracurricular involvement?;This research examined the perceptions of students in the Puente program at three community colleges that were members of the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium. Surveys, interviews, observations, and the mining of data were methodologies used to triangulate information to identify and categorize the educational environment of the Puente program and the educational environment of each community college as a whole.;The findings indicated that the Puente program was a cohesive environment. The research also showed that a cohesive environment which included collaboration and open communication was analogous to a learner-centered paradigm. Students felt they were validated in the Puente program and that the cohesive environment contributed to their academic success.;The organizational behaviors within the Puente program and within the community college at large predicted English grade. The organizational behaviors were also able to predict contact with peers for both the community college as a whole and the Puente program.