Digital Commons Network^™

Exploring Possibility Under Constraint: A Human Rights Approach To Higher Education In Connecticut’S Prisons And Jails, Emma Hersom

Senior Theses and Projects

This thesis investigates the landscape of higher education in prison (HEP) programs in Connecticut, aiming to evaluate their efficacy in ensuring a genuine right to education for incarcerated individuals. Through a comprehensive exploration grounded in human rights principles and informed by abolitionist perspectives, the research scrutinizes the availability, accessibility, acceptability, and adaptability of these programs. Drawing on insights from incarcerated students, program leaders, and existing scholarship, it delves into the intersection of education and incarceration, challenging prevailing neoliberal narratives. Furthermore, the thesis proposes actionable strategies for everyday abolition, emphasizing the need to dismantle carceral cultures and foster transformative approaches to …

Financial Monitoring And Oversight Of Public Higher Education Institutions By States A Descriptive Case Study Analysis, Ryan Kaffenberger

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Higher education in America is at an inflection point with numerous challenges threatening the traditional business model relied on by institutions across the country. These forces include, but are not limited to: 1) A decrease in the number of high school graduates due to historical declines in birth rates (Grawe, 2018; Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education, 2020) 2) Sustained disinvestment by many states in their higher education institutions which has effectively shifted the cost of education to students and families (Kunkle & Laderman, 2023) 3) Increasing skepticism among Americans of the value of higher education, particularly given its rising …

From Epistemic Bubbles To Generative Possibilities: Knowledge Leadership And Knowledge Mobilization For Child And Youth Care Practicum Education, Carys Cragg

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

Child and Youth Care (CYC) Practicum Education (CYCPE) operates in more than 40 public postsecondary institutions (PSI) across Canada. CYC educators instruct and assess, while supervisors mentor thousands of students at child, youth, and family-serving organizations. As an emerging profession, CYC does not yet experience well-established governance, widespread postsecondary research infrastructure, nor public recognition, leaving CYCPE with threats to its credibility and existence. Despite individual CYC educators’ and programs’ extensive professional knowledge, we lack CYC-specific CYCPE organizational knowledge. This problem of practice (PoP) limits CYC educators’ ability to inform, improve, and innovate upon CYCPE’s design and delivery. This organizational improvement …

The Role Of Partisan Politics On Support For Public Institutions Of Higher Education, Jason G. Ramage

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Over several decades, a greater share of the expense of earning a college degree has shifted to students and their families as appropriations to public institutions of higher education have declined as a percentage of the overall cost to educate a student. Tuition has greatly outpaced inflation during this period, while inflation-adjusted household income has remained relatively flat. Despite all the benefits that accrue to both the college graduate and society as a whole, for the less affluent, a college education is becoming increasingly difficult to attain. Many decide the financial barriers are simply too great and elect not to …

Critical (Re)Approach To Higher Education Admission Policy: The Impact Of Open Enrollment Policy Implementation, Shirdonna Yvonne Lawrence

Theses and Dissertations

Federal and state policies affecting higher education, like the Morrill Land Grant Act of 1832, Brown vs. Board of Education, and Higher Education Act of 1965 have posited change regarding the proliferation of diversity and expansion of access (Thelin, 2011).

I analyzed BOT policies for enrollment and conducted a socio-diagnostic CDA on the implementation of admission policy to understand the impact of the policies’ implementation. I focused on 1) exploring how open enrollment (OE) policies were constructed, 2) how institutions adopt and interpret these policies, and 3) how individuals at the institution enact these policies, by conducting a discourse-historical analysis …

Comparing Unmc’S Md-Phd Applications Pre- (2018/2019) And Mid- (2020/2021) Covid-19 Pandemic, Jennifer L. Brady

Public Administration Theses, Dissertations, and Student Creative Activity

This project seeks to examine how the application pool for the UNMC MD-PhD Scholars Program compares in pre-pandemic and mid-pandemic admission cycles. This is an important contribution to the field of public administration as it informs administrators working in higher education how the global pandemic impacts higher education admission processes and outcomes. Secondly, this research will explore if and how the pandemic has observable impacts on the quality (GPA, MCAT, prior research experiences) and quantity of applications submitted by applicants of the UNMC MD-PhD Scholars Program. These trends contribute to the larger body of research on how the pandemic (among …

The Enactment Of Quality Assurance Policies In Ecuadorian Higher Education: A Case Study In The Public Universities In The Province Of Manabí, Diego R. Sornoza Parrales

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study investigates how the administrators in the research and quality assurance offices in the regional universities in Ecuador enact the national research quality assurance policy. The massification and diversification of higher education and the internationalization, as well as globalization of higher education institutions create an increasingly competitive environment. Given this competition, resources are scarce, resulting in more frequent and more aggressive budgetary constraints. Government and national funding agencies are including the notion of “quality” in their policies to measure the performance and efficiency of universities and determine budget allocation, demanding universities to “prove their value” to remain operational. In …

Undocumented Students And Mental Health, Flor Reyes

Student Capstone Projects

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals also known as DACA was first implemented in 2012 after many failed attempts to legalize the millions of undocumented people in this country. DACA was an executive order of former President Obama. This program provides temporary relief from deportation and a work permit that allows those under this program to legally work in the United States. DACA has allow many undocumented people who arrived to this country at a young age in the hopes of leading a somewhat normal life. Some of those who are protected by this program have gone to college, built their …

A Document Analysis Of Political Rhetoric In 2021-22 South Dakota Higher Education, Carson M. Sehr

Honors Thesis

This study is a document analysis in an attempt to understand political rhetoric from four main players from the end of the 2021 South Dakota Legislative Session to the end of the 2022 Legislative Session. These four players are 1) Governor Noem, 2) the Board of Regents, 3) the South Dakota Legislature, and 4) the Argus Leader. One-hundred eight documents from these sources were analyzed, and deemed “rhetorically political” by presence of the phrases “fairness in women’s sports,” “critical race theory,” or “opportunity center,” or deemed “rhetorically apolitical” by the absence of these phrases. The rates of rhetorically political documents, …

Policymaker Discourse In Colorado Public Higher Education Appropriations, Nathan Willers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

State funding for higher education is one of the most pressing issues facing both institutions and policymakers in 2022. Colorado has seen significant declines in the amount of state funding per student over the past two decades, resulting in increases in student burdens for tuition. Policy discourse analysis through a poststructural and neoliberal lens provided insight towards the legislative process and the discursive themes utilized by Colorado policymakers during the 2021-22 legislative budgeting cycle. Twelve artifacts were analyzed, including a mix of policy briefs, hearings, and budget and appropriations reports, for discursive data related to the state’s appropriations for public …

Fighting For Education In A Globalized World: The Intersection Between Education Policy And Student Activism In Colombia And France, Caroline Magdalene Albacete

Senior Theses

Access to quality education—the fourth UN Sustainable Development Goal—is one of the challenges that many countries around the globe have confronted. The types of policies governments choose to implement to address the issue, however, have begun to shift as globalization has intensified. Students, in turn, have responded to various changes in policy by creating movements that push for or against these policies. This thesis thus aims to describe the causal relationship between those policy shifts and student reactions by comparing educational policies in France and Colombia and student protest movements in both countries. The main factors analyzed include: 1.) accessibility …

Bridging The Gap Between Foster Youth And Higher Education: Perspectives Of Social Workers, Marielena Lozano

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This research examined the perceptions of child welfare social workers in their role of supporting foster youth. Specifically, this study will focus on factors contributing to support for foster youth to obtain post-secondary education or vocational training.

This study utilized a qualitative research design. Data were collected from individual, semi-structured interviews with six volunteer participants in Southern and Northern California using a snowball sampling method. Throughout the interviews, the researcher asked current or former child welfare social workers to describe their perceptions and experiences in supporting foster youth in obtaining higher education.

The study found several themes related to the …

Does Affordability Guarantee Accessibility? Analyzing The Effect Of Subsidized Tuition On Diversity In University Demographics, Matthew Cole

Economics Undergraduate Honors Theses

During the 2020 presidential election, Democratic Party candidate Joe Biden announced his initiative to make higher education free for any individual whose parents earn less than $125,000. This proposal was inspired by progressive representatives, such as Bernie Sanders, who have made a larger issue of American higher education costs (Berger). Although this initiative garnered little focus during the election – Biden has not addressed it since being elected and the proposal was even removed from his campaign website – his endorsement shows just how much the notion of “free” college has grown amongst Americans in recent years. This growing sentiment …

Institutional Context Drives Mobility: A Comprehensive Analysis Of How Academic And Economic Factors Relate To International Student Enrollment At United States Higher Education Institutions, Natalie Irby Cruz

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

International student enrollment (ISE) has become a hallmark of world-class higher education institutions (HEIs), particularly as global student mobility has grown exponentially worldwide in the last several decades. Although the United States (U.S.) has welcomed the largest numbers of international students since the 1950s, ISE shrunk by 10% in the previous three years from an all-time high of 903,127 students in 2016/2017 (IIE, 2019). A synthesis of research studies about international student mobility and enrollment highlights the significant role that academic and economic rationales play for international students who choose the United States. This quantitative, ex post facto study focused …

Transforming Campus Climate For Diversity: Accreditation Liaison Officer Perceptions And Beliefs Regarding The Impact Of Regional Accreditation On Institutional Change, David H. Sundby

LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations

Despite attention given to the increasing diversity in higher education, greater barriers to college access and degree attainment exist for many minoritized groups in comparison to dominant groups. Research illustrates that campus climate for diversity, a systemic concept, plays a critical role in the success of minoritized groups. Additionally, institutional accreditation is a critical process, and it may be a catalyst for systemic change. However, there is little research on the relationship between the regional accreditation process and institutional change, with even less research on the impact of accreditation on campus climate for diversity.

To address this gap in literature, …

The Perception Of International Students Toward Programs And Support Services Offered By Higher Education Institutions In The Mid-Atlantic Region Of The United States, Charity Alinda

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

Historically, the United States has been one of the most popular destinations for international students. However, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the mobility of international students. As the effects of the pandemic recede, an increasing number of international students will seek to travel from their home countries to acquire an international education. The United States remains one of the premier destinations for international students. With travel restrictions easing, more American universities have increased efforts to recruit and enroll international students. One of the fundamental responsibilities for colleges and universities toward admitted international students is to keep the promises of providing international …

First-Year Retention At Virginia Commonwealth University: Understanding Student Departure And The Potential Impact Of Academic Advising, Ben Plache

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines first-year enrollment at Virginia Commonwealth University to determine what factors are associated with an increased likelihood of a student not being retained, and for which of these factors there is evidence that academic advising is an effective intervention. A survey of common retention models identified six factors associated with retention likelihood: student background prior to enrollment (“pre-enrollment factors”), financial support, institutional support, institutional performance, institutional engagement, and student intention. Prior research has shown that academic advising is an effective intervention for two of these factors: institutional performance and institutional support.

The significance of these factors was tested …

Higher Education Responses To Crisis: A Case Study Of Clark University And The Pandemic Of 2020, Lisa Gillingham

School of Professional Studies

The COVID-19 pandemic has delivered an existential challenge to universities and other academic institutions at a time when they are already grappling with other weighty issues that may alter the fabric of higher education. COVID-19 has forced these institutions to consider and employ new ways of conducting its work with a sense urgency that is unprecedented in the recent history of the academy. The rate of learning around these models is rapid, and Higher Education is ripe for change.

Clark University has addressed the pandemic with a plan to protect and pivot using strategies that support the continuation of its …

Mission Adrift: The Impact Of Managerialism On Graduate Social Work Education, Carolyn Hanesworth

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Neoliberal policies have led to the installation of managerialism, or the application of business practices and principles in institutions of higher education. Although much is known about the impact of managerialism on faculty in the overall academy, very little is known about its impact in specific disciplines, particularly in the United States. Using semi-structured interviews, this dissertation investigates how social work faculty experience and negotiate managerialism in the traditional pillars of teaching, service, and scholarship.

This study found that managerialism leads universities to place new and increased demands for productivity, efficiency, and accountability on social work faculty. Respondents report major …

Asians Applying For Postsecondary Success: Students, Schools, And Socioeconomic Status, Avery M.D. Davis

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Higher education recruitment rates are rapidly declining as schools are stymied by dynamic demographic shifts and a competitive ecosystem. Despite the constant realities of this challenge for tertiary institutions, the complexities of the interplay for demographics, student motivation, parental influences, and school environments during the postsecondary education application process is often overlooked. This thesis analyses how these four domains impact Asian American students within the Education Longitudinal Study (ELS) in terms of the number of postsecondary schools to which they apply? This study examines a sample (N = 662) of the ELS by employing multivariate regression analysis on the number …

Examining Barriers Impacting Women’S Promotion Into C-Suite Positions In Higher Education, Lynette Johnson Nelson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The United States Department of Labor indicated that women represent 46.8% and men represent 53.2% of the United States’ 16 years and older civilian labor force. An estimated 52% of adult women compared to 48% of men participating in the civilian labor force held a bachelor’s degree or higher, and women represented 47% of the management and professional sector’s positions. Women occupy 25% of C-suite positions in the Standard & Poor 500 companies. In higher education, 30% of college presidents are women. Women continue to face several barriers as they try to move into senior executive leadership positions. The specific …

Study Abroad And Liminality: Examining U.S. American Collegiate Undergraduate Student Engagement In Risky Behaviors Betwixt And Between Borders, Jill L. Creighton

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

One of the most niche sub-arenas of public administration, higher education administration, involves preparing future leaders and scholars for global perspectives. This original research examined whether collegiate, traditionally-aged, undergraduate student risky behavioral choices rose during the study abroad experience as compared to when in the home collegiate environment. After investigating the literature an opportunity to connect the phenomena of domestic risky behavior, collegiate study abroad, and tourism materialized. The anthropological concept of liminality served as the theoretical perspective that anchored the construction of this research. This study was conducted using a post-positivist epistemology, a non-experimental design, and an original survey …

Higher Education And Police Officers: The Effects On Citizen Complaints, Evan D. Brown

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This study was conducted to examine the effects that different levels of education may have on the number of citizen complaints filed against police officers. There are many literature articles pertaining to the education of police officers but few studies have been conducted to measure the specific effects of higher education in law enforcement. The analysis in this paper will show relationships between higher education of police officers and if it has a relationship with the number of officer complaints.

Evaluating The Efficacy Of Programs For Veteran Students, Jonathan Paul Lopez

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Veteran students are increasingly prominent in U.S. colleges and universities. The transition from military to civilian life is already challenging, and the transition to the academic realm can be even more so, especially when most veteran students are also first-generation college students, transfer students from community colleges to 4-year universities, or both. The specific problem is that the transition from military to student life requires significant adjustment on the part of both veterans and schools, and it was not known how these students’ school leaders could best help these veteran students adjust. The purpose for conducting this quantitative, historical, non-experimental …

A Pilot Study: Identifying The Characteristics Of Postsecondary Offices Of Disability Services Associated With High Graduation Rates, Tiffany B. White

Dissertations

Students with disabilities are entering postsecondary education at higher rates than ever before, but they are graduating at lower rates than their peers without disabilities. The Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act have made it possible for students with disabilities to avail themselves of services in higher education to maximize their potential. To implement laws and provide equal access to students with disclosed disabilities (SWDD), many higher education institutions use central offices to serve students with disabilities. The survey in this study collects information from disability office directors regarding services provided and office characteristics.

The …

Survey Of U.S. Undergraduate Self-Reported Opioid Diversion And Heroin Use, Motives, Sources, And Collective Efficacy As Mediating Factors, Mark Francis Plaushin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Epic morbidity and mortality, and intractability make prescription opioid diversion a wicked problem. Meanwhile, college undergraduates are vulnerable to opioid misuse and its consequences. The purpose of this quantitative study was to assess U.S. undergraduate students' opioid misuse and the relationship between mediating factors. The study's theoretical framework rested on Wakeland's et al. opioid system model and Shaw and McKay's social disorganization theory. This study bridged the gap, measuring collective efficacy and testing its relationship to undergraduate decisions to regulate misuse. Thus, research questions focused on gauging the problem's scope and assessing relationships between factors that drive or potentially regulate …

Analyzing Public Relations As A Strategic Management Function At Sec Universities, Whitney Harder

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

A changing higher education landscape – rising costs, competition and skepticism – coupled with a changing media and communications landscape – a 24/7 news cycle with fewer local journalists, new technology and the expectation of instant and constant communication – have pushed universities to try to become more effective and efficient in telling their institutional stories to multiple stakeholder groups. Institutional leaders are concerned about how higher education and their institutions present public value and communicate their impact on both the students they graduate and their communities. But how are they using public relations and communications to deliver solutions for …

Perceived Barriers Of Homeschooled Students Moving Into Higher Education: Case Stories And Qualitative Perspectives, Lizbeth Kliewer

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Homeschooling is a viable educational option for many families. Challenges often arise when students are ready to transition into higher education. Barriers to smooth transitions exist, both for the homeschooled student as well as for college admissions teams. The purpose of this qualitative study was to recognize these barriers in order to increase the potential for working toward solutions for those involved. This study used a combination of case story and qualitative research methodology to gather perspectives through interviews from three homeschooling families in southern Minnesota and three higher education professionals working in the field of admissions. Some of the …

Tuition Revenue Distribution Models In Higher Education: An Exploration Of Alternative Tuition Funding Methods At The University Of Kentucky, Megan A. Bowles

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

State appropriations for higher education have been volatile during the past decade. While some states have seen improvements in state appropriations since the last recession, other states have seen continued declines. For public colleges and universities facing these consistent decreases in appropriations they have had to develop alternative methods for revenue generation. One of the most common changes to a university’s revenue model is by increasing their tuition and fee rates. Public colleges and universities can increase their own tuition and fees, within the boundaries of state oversight boards like the Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE). This is a big …

Evaluation Of Hospitality Curricula, Industry Skillset Expectations And Student Preparedness, Jennifer Aarons

Theses and Dissertations

Colleges and universities have been burdened with the task of preparing students for a successful career in the hospitality industry. As the industry expectations of hospitality and tourism management degree graduates’ change, postsecondary education institutions need to respond to the employment demands of the industry. Also, the global expansion of the hospitality and tourism industry requires that institutions evaluate their degree programs to ensure that graduates possess the essential skillsets to thrive in a global economy.

The purpose of this research is to determine if postsecondary institutions are adequately preparing hospitality and tourism management graduates with the necessary skillsets needed …