Kevin J. Dougherty is Associate Professor of Higher Education and Senior Research Associate at the Community College Research Center, Teachers College, Columbia University. He received his doctorate in sociology from Harvard University in 1983 and his undergraduate degree in political science from Washington University (St. Louis) in 1972. He is a former Chair of the Sociology of Education Section of the American Sociological Association. He has published widely on the community college and other topics in higher education.  At CCRC, Dougherty is conducting research for the Lumina Foundation on state policies affecting access to, and success in, community colleges for minority and low-income students.  An audit of those state policies for the first five Achieving the Dream states is now available on the CCRC and Achieving the Dream websites.  In 2004, Dougherty completed a project, funded by the Sloan Foundation, on the impact of state accountability systems including performance funding on community colleges.  In 1999-2000, he conducted a project, also funded by the Sloan Foundation, examining the role of community colleges in workforce preparation and economic development. His reports on these projects and other publications are available on the CCRC website.  Dougherty's book, The Contradictory College: The Conflicting Origins, Impacts and Futures of the Community College (SUNY Press, 1994), was awarded the American Sociological Association’s Willard Waller Award for best book in the sociology of education for the years 1994 to 1996.