Digital Commons Network^™

Fiu Libraries Salary Task Force Report On Staff Salaries To Library Assembly, Kelley Rowan, Annia Gonzalez, Adriana Harris, Christopher M. Jimenez, Patricia Pereira-Pujol, Jamie Rogers, Jennifer Scholl

Works of the FIU Libraries

The Florida International University (FIU) Libraries Salary Task Force was commissioned to address salary disparities among library staff. By conducting a comprehensive analysis, the task force identifed salary inequities and recommends areas where fair compensation could be addressed. Guided by principles of transparency, sustainability, and competitiveness, the task force suggests employing a more equitable salary framework. Their goal is to enhance job satisfaction and morale while attracting talented professionals. This report outlines their findings and recommendations.

Foster Inclusivity And Equity:Strategiesfor Retaining Racialized Workers In Ontario’S Healthcare Sector, Kiannah Kerr-Mccarthy, Natasha Bonnick

Capstone Research Posters

This research endeavors to explore the factors influencing the retention of racialized workers within Ontario's long-term care sector, recognizing the imperative of fostering an inclusive and supportive workplace environment. Employing a mixed-methods approach, survey data was collected to unravel the unique challenges faced by racialized workers and discern the determinants influencing their decision to remain in the sector or seek employment elsewhere. The study delves into various facets such as workplace culture, organizational policies, and interpersonal dynamics, elucidating their pivotal role in retention. Furthermore, the research evaluates the potential impact of mentorship programs, diversity training initiatives, and career development opportunities …

Navigating The Post-Pandemic Educator Crisis: Evaluating Effective Educational Leadership Styles For Improved Retention And Job Satisfaction (Capstone Project)., Charlotte R. Holt

M.S. in Leadership

This mixed-methods study sought to identify the best practices for educational leaders to promote job satisfaction and retention in the post-pandemic educational landscape. The study utilized both qualitative and quantitative methodologies using data from a unique survey and an

in-depth literature review on effective leadership skills. The analysis of survey data, combined with insights from the literature review, offered a comprehensive understanding of the relationship between teacher retention and educational leadership. The study concluded that there is a correlation between effective leadership skills and job satisfaction and found that Democratic-Transformational and Autocratic-Transformational leadership styles are preferred of the six styles …

How College Graduates Decide To Remain In A Rural Community Post-Graduation, Benjamin Lamb

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents from University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Rural Brain Drain is a critical issue facing hundreds of non-metropolitan communities across the country. Existing research that addresses the outmigration of college graduates from rural areas primarily focuses on the reasons the graduates leave, and not on what influences the decision making of those who stay. This study adds to existing retention research by; establishing an initial understanding of the influential experiences rural college students have that contribute to their decision to stay in the rural community post-graduation, and providing an emergent theory for practice to help coalitions better assess and strategize efforts to create improved pathways to rural …

The Influence Of The Principalship In Retaining Novice Teachers, Casey Whittle

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

The purpose of the qualitative descriptive study was to understand novice teachers’ perspectives of principal behaviors that keep them employed in a North Texas school district. A purposive sample of 12 novice secondary teachers and six secondary principals participated in semistructured interviews. The individual interviews were recorded and transcribed. In vivo coding and structural coding were used to analyze the data. The findings of the study confirmed that participants in the study believed certain behaviors of secondary principals influenced novice teacher retention. Novice teacher participants expressed a need to trust their principal and fit into the principal’s vision and …

Examining Black Faculty Retention In Predominantly White Institutions, Jacqueline Wykeshia Jonea Brazile

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study explored the experiences of Black faculty at predominantly White institutions (PWIs) in southeastern Florida. The aim was to uncover the unique challenges influencing the retention of Black faculty in these settings and to identify supportive mechanisms enhancing their tenure and job satisfaction. Data collection involved semistructured interviews with Black faculty at Florida PWIs, employing snowball sampling for participant recruitment. Thematic analysis interpreted the data. The study contributes to the literature by suggesting strategies for PWIs to improve Black faculty retention and to promote inclusive and supportive environments. The literature review reveals the underrepresentation and disparities of Black …

The Unrealized Promise Of College-In-Prison: Financial Hurdles To Reenrollment And Completion In The Era Of Pell Reinstatement, Julia Bowling, Pavithra Nagarajan, Kristen Parsons, Neal A. Palmer

Journal of Student Financial Aid

College-in-prison programs are positioned to expand substantially under the reinstatement of Pell Grant eligibility for people in prison. While this change will enable more students who have been systemically excluded from higher education to attend college, degree completion is rare during incarceration and post-release. Student perspectives can shed light on both the value of college-in-prison and the financial barriers to realizing its value. This study analyzes data from 12 focus groups with 105 total college-in-prison student participants, 114 student survey responses, and 45 stakeholder interviews. The data were collected between 2018-2022 during a process evaluation of the College-in-Prison Reentry Initiative, …

The Impact Of Artificial Intelligence In Online Education For Recruitment, Retention, And Sustainability Of Religious Organizations, Gordon Vaill Barrows

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This dissertation explored the applicability of AI chatbot technology in the context of a church environment where it was used to promote an accessible and engaging online learning platform for education and ministry training. The primary objective was to develop an AI-powered chatbot to increase recruitment, improve retention, as well as support organizational sustainability as it relates to church membership. The research includes a comprehensive literature review on AI chatbot technology and its relevance to online education within the context of a religious organization. The literature review establishes the fundamentals for a theoretical framework, exploring the association between educational technology, …

Strategies To Reduce Turnover And Increase Retention Among Therapists And Case Managers In Community Mental Health, Genice Mae Harvey

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The issue of employee turnover has been widely recognized. High turnover and poor retention of clinicians, specifically therapists and case managers, in the community mental health arena of behavioral health impact not only an organization, but also the consumers it serves. The subject of this qualitative case study was a state contracted provider of the community mental health authority. Semistructured interviews were held with five behavioral health leaders of this organization in addition to a review of organizational records. The Baldridge Performance Program was the conceptual framework that grounded this study. A thematic qualitative analysis of the interviews in addition …

Breaking Point: An Examination Of The Factors And Motivators That Determine Whether A Teacher Will Stay In The Classroom Or Choose To Leave The Profession, Katherine Treloar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Teachers are quitting the profession in droves, leaving classrooms empty or overcrowded. As a result, students are receiving a sub-par education from unexperienced or underqualified teachers (Watling et al, 2010). Retaining teachers for more than five years is no small feat. Teachers face unrealistic expectations, chronic high stress, and mental and physical health problems that lead to widespread burnout. However, some teachers are able to overcome these obstacles and stay in the profession for long periods of time (Buric & Penzic, 2019). This study identifies the internal motivations and external factors that influence teacher job satisfaction and describes how those …

A Model Of Retention And Remediation For Online Counselor Education, Colleen M. Grunhaus, Matthew Lyons

Teaching and Supervision in Counseling

Online counseling programs experience unique retention and gatekeeping challenges. Increased isolation and personal adversities are common factors associated with attrition for online students; and broad-access admission policies of online counseling programs often lead to increased gatekeeping concerns postadmission. Counseling programs develop policies and procedures related to retention, remediation, and dismissal, but extant models of remediation do not also address student retention or the unique challenges of online counselor education. We present a model, The Retention and Remediation Model for Online Counselor Education, that demonstrates a comprehensive policy for retention, remediation, and dismissal in online counseling programs through a three-prong approach …

The Effect Of Formal Mentorship Programs On Nurse Faculty Retention: An Integrative Review, Lisa Livingston

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The nursing shortage has been a hot topic for decades, and literature supports a need to address this issue. Although faculty are critical to educating the nurses of the future, the shortage has impacted nurse faculty numbers as well. Nursing shortages are predicted to increase over the next decade. Evidenced-based interventions are critical to help sustain the nursing workforce. This integrative review highlights the importance of formal mentorship programs for new nurse faculty as a retention strategy for use by administrators of schools of nursing.

How Physicians’ Perceptions Of Satisfaction And Morale Affect Retention, Ernest George Britton

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Physician turnover affects care delivery and contributes to costs, emphasizing the need for retention to minimize unnecessary costs of hiring, training, and lost productivity among healthcare organizations. Healthcare leaders tend to be concerned about the negative affects that physician turnover has on patient care, profitability, and organizational viability. The U.S. healthcare system may benefit from reduced expenditures associated with retention. Grounded in Ellenbecker’s job retention model, the purpose of this qualitative multiple-case study was to explore strategies healthcare organizational leaders use to retain employed primary care and internal medicine physicians. The participants comprised six physician leaders from three healthcare organizations …

Latine Dual Language Bilingual Education Teachers' Work Experiences, Nelly Noemi Patiño Cabrera

Dissertations and Theses

Given the increasing concern about the scarcity of Dual Language Bilingual Education (DLBE) teachers, it is crucial to understand the trends in teacher retention and attrition from the perspective of DLBE teachers themselves. DLBE teachers departing from their jobs imposes a significant burden on schools and students and affects the implementation of DLBE programs. To delve into this issue, this critical qualitative study focused on the work experiences of Latine K-5 Spanish/English DLBE teachers. Specifically, this study involved six participants divided into two groups of DLBE teachers in the teaching trajectory: three Latine K-5 Spanish/English DLBE teachers currently teaching in …

Ouachita Announces Another Increase For Spring '24 Enrollment, Felley Lawson, Office Of Communications & Marketing

Press Releases

Ouachita Baptist University has reported its highest spring enrollment in more than 40 years with a total Spring 2024 headcount of 1,722.

The university has sustained momentum in student recruitment and retention, maintaining steady growth with a total enrollment surge of 20% since 2016 in contrast to reports of declining enrollment in colleges and universities nationwide.

Student Success Through First-Year Experience Programs: A Transcendental Phenomenological Study, Jeffrey Scott Downs

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe the persistence and retention after the First Year Experience (FYE) program for second-year college students at Northern Nevada College. The theory guiding this study is Astin’s student involvement theory which links student success in college to the level of involvement students have at their academic institution. This study explores how first-time full-time students being part of the FYE program have been encouraged to be involved at their institution on several levels. In this transcendental phenomenological study, data were collected using interviews, a focus group, and journaling prompts. After the data were …

Regulatory Issues In Electronic Health Records For Adolescent Hiv Research: Strategies And Lessons Learned, Sara Ali Shaw Green, Sung-Jae Lee, Samantha Chahin, Meardith Pooler-Burgess, Monique Green-Jones, Sitaji Gurung, Angulique Y. Outlaw, Sylvie Naar

Publications and Research

Background: Electronic health records (EHRs) are a cost-effective approach to provide the necessary foundations for clinical trial research. The ability to use EHRs in real-world clinical settings allows for pragmatic approaches to intervention studies with the emerging adult HIV population within these settings; however, the regulatory components related to the use of EHR data in multisite clinical trials poses unique challenges that researchers may find themselves unprepared to address, which may result in delays in study implementation and adversely impact study timelines, and risk noncompliance with established guidance.

Objective: As part of the larger Adolescent Trials Network (ATN) for HIV/AIDS …

Transforming Law Enforcement To Attract Candidates From The Millennial Generation, Jason Muelken

Master of Arts in Criminal Justice Leadership

There is a widespread shortage of law enforcement candidates throughout the nation, resulting in agencies needing to increase their efforts to maintain staffing. The largest group in the workforce, the millennial generation, holds unique set of traits that make recruiting, retention, and leadership challenging for law enforcement administration. With the decrease in law enforcement applicant pools, recruitment and retention success is paramount to maintaining a successful organization in the future. An action plan is needed to practically, and ethically apply the change of approach to a workplace. This paper discusses how these changes may impact peers, the community, and additional …

Improving Police Officer Recruiting, Retention, And Job Satisfaction, Mitch Christensen

Master of Arts in Criminal Justice Leadership

This Capstone paper covered the topics of police officer recruiting, retention, and job satisfaction. It detailed current issues surrounding these topics, and promoted actionable and evidence-based changes to improve those issues. Topics were analyzed through administrative, ethical, and legal and legislative lens views. These proposed measures served as confirmation that current concerning trends can be mitigated, if not reversed, with thoughtful and thorough actions by police administrators and frontline employees alike.

“I’M Staying And You’Re Gonna Love Me”: Finding Authentic Freedom & Fostering Belonging As Black Female Early Faculty, Roszina D. Scott, Tinotenda Mupambo

The Journal of Advancing Education Practice

The purpose of this reflection is to expand the knowledge on the retention of early Black female faculty by exploring their challenges and triumphs in dismantling Whiteness and developing an authentic sense of belonging in the academy. In higher education, Black women experience marginalization at the intersection of anti-black racism and sexism. Faculty of color experience racial microaggressions, excessive workloads and service expectations, and their expertise is seldom recognized. Despite these challenges, marginalized faculty authentically persist and find a sense of belonging within the ivory tower by building mentorship relationships, departmental DEI efforts, opportunities for innovation, and cultivating Black sisterhood. …

Early Identification Of Students At Academic Risk Based On Learning Management System Log Data, Roger Sheng So

Theses and Dissertations

Understanding student engagement with the institution from the first day of classes to the end of the semester would help inform the institution of the potential risk that a student will drop out of a class or of the school. Learning Management Systems (LMS) record student interactions with the system and might be able to be used to identify students who are at academic risk. The scope of this study is to retrospectively analyze first-year student activity for the Spring 2022 semester for early warning signs worthy of intervention. A student risk assessment will be determined by reviewing student LMS …

Fostering Relationships Between New Graduate Nurses And Leadership To Increase Retention, Michelle Cotton

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Objective: To implement weekly one-on-one touch bases between nursing leaders, such as managers and directors, with newly hired, new graduate nurses, up to 1 year after graduation to improve retention of those employees. The intent is to improve retention from a baseline of 23% in 2022.

Results: 35.8% of the newly hired nurses plan to remain in their current role for the next 2-3 years.

Conclusions: Almost 55% said that they strongly agreed with the touch base contributing to development/growth. This was the lowest scoring question and the most concerning related to retention. An overwhelming majority felt …

New Crew Nights: The Impact Of A Nurse Leader Led Mentorship Series On Perceived Competency In The Novice Nurse, Taylor C. Bergman

DNP Projects

Abstract

Background and Purpose: Nursing leaders across the United States are seeking to recruit and retain new graduate nurses as a national nursing shortage widens at an alarming pace. Healthcare systems are tasked to strengthen the skill set of novice nurses as they seek to meet the care needs of acutely ill patients and rebuild a skilled workforce for future years. This study evaluated the impact of a four-part mentorship series for novice nurses on perceived strengths in competency, communication, wellbeing, and teamwork.

Methods: In this quality improvement project with pre-intervention/post-intervention assessment, a sample (n=14) of medical surgical nurses with …

Brightpoint Community College: Effective Enrollment Anti-Melt Strategies, Michael J. Forder, Ismael J. Betancourt Velez, Adrian Petway, Juan Espinoza

Doctor of Education Capstones

Community colleges strive to provide affordable and accessible educational opportunities to all. Tuition revenue plays a significant role in college operating budgets and is critical for supporting academic functions. Student dropout threatens the fiscal security of community colleges while running counter to the mission of educating communities. This exploratory case study set out to understand the student melt issue due to non-payment at Brightpoint Community College taking place between enrollment and the start of classes. The research team aimed to understand how students engage with the current payment process, what are the underlying factors leading to missed payments, and what …

“A Real Man . . .”: Deconstructing Machismo Heteronormative Standards With K–12 Latino Male Educators Through Dialogic Spaces, Mario Echeverria

Dissertations

In a K–12 educational landscape where 75% of educators are white women, recruitment of Latino male educators is crucial for diversification, yet these educators represent just 2% of the teaching workforce in the United States (NCES, 2020). These educators grapple with a layered sense of identity as they navigate expectations of hegemonic masculinity and machismo norms that dictate their roles as disciplinarians and saviors, especially for young boys of color (Brockenbrough, 2018; Lara & Fránquiz, 2015; Martino & Kehler, 2006; Mills et al., 2004; Singh, 2021). Unfortunately, Latino male educators leave the profession at twice the rate of their Latina …

The Effect Of An Employee Recognition Program For Clinical Registered Nurse Retention At Eastern State Hospital, Kristi Richmond

DNP Projects

Abstract

Background: Nurse executives want to build and retain teams capable of delivering high quality care. However, registered nurse (RN) turnover continues to jeopardize this goal. RN satisfaction has been associated with reduced turnover in the nursing field. Adequate staffing levels are linked to better patient outcomes, and employee recognition is a key factor in RN retention.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of utilizing an existing recognition tool for RNs at an inpatient state psychiatric hospital in the southeastern United States to determine level of job satisfaction, level of job loyalty, level of engagement, …

Mentorships For New Graduate Nurses, Taylor Leigh Bailey

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

New graduate registered nurses (NGRNs) represent a crucial segment of the nursing workforce, embodying the future of the profession. Thus, it is imperative that we utilize our resources, knowledge, and experiences to continuously strengthen and grow this generation of nurses. Mentorship is one key method that can be used to support NGRNs. This DNP project aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of mentorship for NGRNs within their first year of nursing practice and was implemented within an existing residency program at a Level I trauma facility. Experienced nurse volunteers received mentor education, and 40 NGRNs were individually paired with these volunteer …

Causes Of Police Officer Career Apprehension Following George Floyd, Michael T. Rossler, Charles Scheer

Faculty Publications - Criminal Justice

Police workforce retention has become a persistent managerial concern. The public response to recent events of police misconduct have fueled the perception that police may be seeking other career paths following the murder of George Floyd in 2020. Despite growing evidence, current research has been unable to ascertain what conditions may prompt officers to voluntarily separate from police work following Floyd’s murder, or whether the impact varies across demographic groups. Drawing upon a survey of over 600 police officers across eight police departments in the United States, the current inquiry examines what percent of officers reported reconsidering their career following …

The Effect Of Supportive Relationships And A Sense Of Community On The Success Of First-Year College Students, Stetson K. Akers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Colleges and universities across the United States actively seek to bring quality students to their institutions and retain them through their course of study while striving to support the successful completion of their degree. The problem is that students face many sources of adversity within their first year of college and leave the institution they have enrolled in before returning for their second year, including financial issues, mental health struggles, and academic success problems. The reasons students leave vary, but it remains important to help students feel connected to the community of their campus while supporting their mental health during …

In Order For My Voice To Be Heard, I Had To Create My Own Space: A Critical Narrative Analysis Of Black College Student Success In Creative Majors, Rachel Horton

Dissertations of Practice

This critical narrative inquiry explored the strengths of Black undergraduate students who study the creative arts. The research centered on the unique wealth that Black students bring to their institutions, as highlighted through the Community Cultural Wealth model. The study found that participants: used aspirational capital to fuel them in attending college and pursuing the arts; used linguistic capital in general, and code switching in particular, to navigate various cultures and spaces, to facilitate hard conversations on topics such as racism, and to ensure that their voices were heard and respected; networked with other artists to create strong work through …