Digital Commons Network^™

Speaking Out Despite White Noise: Examining The Leadership Of African American Female Technical College Presidents And Vice Presidents, Ashley Morris

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this phenomenological, qualitative study was to explore the experiences of African American female leaders in higher education. More specifically, this study examined the experiences of these leaders who assume the role of presidents and vice presidents at Georgia technical colleges. The study contextualized the experiences of these leaders and illustrated how those experiences influence their leadership methods and the establishment of their leadership presence. The results of this study form a context for understanding the leadership methods of African American female leaders.

Graduate Student Perceptions Of Support Services In Online Degree Programs, Lydia Karakolidis Cross

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Increasing enrollments of online students has impacted higher education institutions over the last twenty years. While much of the research related to online learning has focused on instructional design and student persistence variables, the role of student support services is a needed area of research. This study set out to evaluate online graduate students’ perceptions of their satisfaction and importance in three student support service areas: enrollment services, academic services, and student services at one public, four-year institution in southeastern Georgia. Findings from this quantitative study indicated satisfied online graduate students in a majority of the areas, with mean difference …

An Exploration Of The Impostor Phenomenon And Its Impact On Black Women Administrators In Higher Education In The South, Marian Muldrow

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Numerous studies document Black student and faculty underrepresentation in higher education and the obstacles blocking their access to the classroom either as students or as instructors. As Black women students work toward graduate degrees, Black women administrators are needed so these students can see their identity reflected in their academic leaders.

As a result, this study focused on the particular challenges that limit upward mobility to senior-level administrative positions and highlighted some of the obstacles and conflicts that arise when Black women pursue leadership positions at institutions of higher education. The highlighted historical events related to education, as well as …

Knowledge, Attitudes And Practices Of Environmental Justice In Higher Education, Marjorie M. Nussbaum

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Research suggests that issues of environmental justice are not being routinely included in the curriculum of the K-12 classroom and that teachers in those grades do not feel prepared to teach it. Likewise, little has been written about the addition of these topics to higher education coursework, leaving the question of inclusion at this level of education as well. This apparent lacuna may point to at least one reason why K-12 teachers are neither knowledgeable about environmental justice nor prepared to teach it. To discover the current state of inclusion in higher education, a mixed methods study was conducted to …

The Intersection Between Liberal Education And Health Profession Education At Armstrong, Andi Elizabeth Mincer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This mixed methods inquiry explored how liberal and health professions faculty at one University perceived each College and the relationship between faculties in each of their Colleges. Three faculty members from each of these Colleges were interviewed individually and they then participated in a focus group, discussing prompt statements created from the transcripts of the interviews. The transcripts of the interviews and the focus group were then used to construct a web-based survey that was offered to faculty in both Colleges. Seventy percent of faculty completed the survey. Qualitative and quantitative data clustered into five main themes: 1) faculty largely …

The Relationship Between Situational Crime Prevention Theory And Campus Employee Computer Misuse, M. Juliane Santiago

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Computer misuse is a leading problem for all industry sectors, including higher education. However, much of the current research related to computer misuse has been conducted in the business sector, leaving higher education a relatively unstudied group. Many theories have been addressed in computer security literature, but only one theory offers a more holistic solution to combating computer misuse, Situational Crime Prevention Theory. Situational Crime Prevention Theory encompasses four categories of countermeasures: countermeasures that Increase the Perceived Effort of the offender, countermeasures that Increase the Perceived Risk of the offender, countermeasures that Reduce the Anticipated Rewards of the offender, and …

Contributing Factors To The Bachelor's Degree Attainment Of Males In The United States, Theresa Carol Novotny

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The degree attainment of college students is a critical issue that institutions of higher education are considering. Colleges want to improve their retention, progression, and graduation rates for all students. Over the past decades men, based on the literature reviewed, have earned fewer degrees than women. In addition, men are not enrolling in college at the same rates as women. This study uses the NELS Database to analyze the factors that contribute to the degree attainment of men. The research used a logit model to determine the probability for the significant factors.

Social And Academic Factors That Contribute To Resiliency For At-Risk Students In Georgia Universities, Kimberly Paige Mullen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine resiliency factors in at-risk college students to provide insight and strategies for college administrators who have a genuine desire to attract and retain these students. The researcher focused on college students who were minority, low-income and first generation. This study included three seniors who attended three different universities, and were graduating at the end of the semester. The researcher explored social and academic factors, and the findings overwhelming concluded that students who are at-risk have a harder time obtaining a college degree than non-at-risk students. At-risk students face challenges such as lack …

Administration Of Higher Education Extended Campus Locations With A Distance Learning Component: An Analysis Of Best Leadership Practices At Columbia College, Don Stephen Stumpf

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to analyze the leadership practices of extended campus directors in the context of the administration of distance learning programs. The leadership practices of the 30 extended campus directors working for Columbia College of Missouri, at various locations around the country were measured using the Leadership Practices Inventory - Self (LPI - Self). This survey instrument was distributed using a secure email account established for the purposes of this study. The researcher analyzed the quantitative data collected from the study using the one-sample z-test to complete a comparison of the leadership practices of the directors …

Experiences Of Educational Leadership Faculty In The First Year Of The Professoriate: A Phenomenological Study, Patricia Sims Tresey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The researchers purpose of this study was to describe and explore the experiences of educational leadership faculty in the first year of the professoriate. A qualitative, phenomenological methodology was used to illuminate the lived experiences of these new faculty members. Research instrumentation and data collection consisted of three separate instruments used in three phases. First was a focus group interview given to three new educational leadership faculty from a regional university campus located in the Southeastern part of the United States. The second instrument was an individual, in-depth interview with the three new professors. The third and final instrument was …

Resilient Lives: A Critical Narrative Inquiry Into The Triumphs And Struggles Of Five African-American Women With Doctoral Degrees, Paula Booker Baker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This inquiry explored the triumphs and trials of five African American women with doctoral degrees in the field of Education. The project is a storytelling and questioning inquiry that is woven around themes of race, gender, spirituality, and family channels through which academia and the world were explored. Although the study focused on the experiences of five African American women, their stories provided the space to identify events, experiences, people, and circumstances that helped to empower them. Realizing everyone has unique perspectives to contribute, these stories offer support for others faced with obstacles to understand that overt and covert adversities …

Dysacademia In The Ivory Towers: Performativity, Discipline, Control & Chaotically Moving Towards The Shadows Of The 3rd Educational Spaces, Paul René Geisler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This theoretical inquiry is based upon an archaeological and genealogical deconstruction of the character, utility and state of being of the modern university in the United States. In introducing Dysacademia as an apt metaphor for today's dysfunctional academy, the current discursive analysis describes the various affects and effects that neoliberalism, performativity, discipline, and control have had upon the inorganic institutions of higher learning, and upon its primary subject concerns, the organic constituents known as the professoriate and the student body. As a follow up to this Ivory Tower deconstruction, a reconstructive enunciation is shaped using a conglomeration of postmodern, open …