While teaching occupies the primary role of faculty members in community colleges, the question remains: To what extent are community college faculty members engaged in research and scholarship? This issue focuses on: * the types of research and scholarship performed by community college faculty, * the forces that foster or impede the engagement of community college faculty members in research and scholarship, * specific examples of community college faculty scholarship that demonstrate the value of this work to the institution and to larger society, and * policies and practices at the institutional, local, and state level that support engagement in research and scholarship. This is the 171st volume of this Jossey-Bass quarterly report series. Essential to the professional libraries of presidents, vice presidents, deans, and other leaders in today's open-door institutions, New Directions for Community Colleges provides expert guidance in meeting the challenges of their distinctive and expanding educational mission.