Education Commons^™

“I Alone Can’T Stop The Spread”: Mid-Level Conduct Professionals Sensemaking Through Covid-19, Benjamin S. Selznick, Cover Heishman

Georgia Journal of College Student Affairs

The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore how mid-level student conduct professionals (SCPs) made meaning of their professional and mid-level leadership experiences during their institutions’ immediate responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. This study draws on sensemaking as a theoretical lens and literature related to mid-level professionals and student conduct practice to ground its inquiry. Interview data was collected and analyzed from four senior-level student conduct professionals within a single State within the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) accreditation region. Findings center on three key themes voiced by the participants: the importance of maintaining …

An Examination Of Faculty And Staff Collaboration And Relationships In Higher Education, Jennifer Syno, Juliann S. Mcbrayer, Daniel W. Calhoun, Cordelia Zinskie, Katherine Fallon

Georgia Journal of College Student Affairs

Collaboration between academic and student affairs professionals is an important means of increasing student success; however, historical divides between these units have made implementation of these efforts challenging. This quantitative study sought to evaluate the perceptions of faculty and student affairs staff towards collaborative efforts and toward one another within a single campus of a comprehensive regional university within the southeast. Findings show that while both faculty and staff value collaborations and believe they positively impact student success, these units do not experience equitable voice and responsibility within collaborative efforts when conducted. Additionally, differences were found in enjoyment of collaborative …

Educating Undergraduate Student Leaders: A Study Of Learning In A Leadership Program Of A National Fraternity, Meghan Grace, Pietro Antonio Sasso, Kim E. Bullington, Dawn Wiese

Georgia Journal of College Student Affairs

Leadership development experiences have long been touted as necessary and positive for promoting the practice of effective leadership. Yet, little has been presented about the effectiveness of leadership development programs sponsored, designed, and implemented by membership-based organizations, like fraternities and sororities. This study examines the efficacy of a national fraternity sponsored leadership development program for chapter presidents in facilitating a meaningful developmental experience and encouraging long-term learning gains. Data collected at three intervals throughout the year in which program attendees were in office were analyzed using ANOVA and t-tests to identify the specific areas in which students reported learning …

“You’Re Kind Of Considered Like A Leper”: A Narrative Inquiry Into How The Significant Academic Struggle Of Academic Probation Impacts Women Undergraduate Science Students’ Sense Of Belonging At An Institution, Matthew J. Smith, Rebekah I. Estevez, Georgianna L. Martin

Georgia Journal of College Student Affairs

While there has been significant research on both how academic struggles impact college students, as well as factors that impact the sense of belonging for college students, there has been little research examining how a significant academic struggle impacts a students’ perception of sense of belonging at that institution. This qualitative study explores how an academic struggle impacts students’ sense of belonging at that institution, as well as other findings from this study.

Undergraduate Students’ Perception Of Leadership Development Programs And Leadership Self-Efficacy, Benjamin Phillips, Juliann Sergi Mcbrayer, Brandon Hunt, Antonio P. Gutierrez De Blume, Katherine Fallon

Georgia Journal of College Student Affairs

Colleges and universities across the United States face continual pressure to meet enrollment and retention goals, as budgets in this performance-based environment continue to become more important. On-campus student involvement, such as in undergraduate leadership development programs, has been shown to have a positive influence on both student retention and success. A survey was utilized to examine leadership self-efficacy and engagement of undergraduate students that participated in campus-based leadership development programs and explore some motivators (contributing factors) and barriers (detracting factors) to involvement in those programs. One emergent theme within contributing factors to participation was alignment with personal goals (74.7%), …

Sense Of Belonging On A Consolidated Campus: A Mixed Methods Exploration Of Student Perceptions, Amy D. Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study explored the extent to which a subset of students who matriculated post-consolidation at the Armstrong Campus of Georgia Southern University felt they belong at their institution. Using an explanatory sequential mixed methods design, this study used a survey to examine general feelings of belonging and the influencing factors for belonging while presenting individual narratives collected from semi-structured interviews for eight students’ experiences. The data collected in this study revealed that significant differences exist in critical factors of sense of belonging based on race, gender, and LGBTQ+ identity. Additionally, data showed the importance of academic, social, and campus-community belonging …

Strengthening The Academic Progress Of Students Within Multi-Tiered Systems Of Support, Leslie Dial

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Leadership in education is thinking, communicating, and modeling to maximize student growth and achievement. This quantitative research study explored how leadership can strengthen the academic progress of students within Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS). When implementation of MTSS is guided by adaptive school leadership, educators will be prepared, communication will occur, interventions will be established, and data will be evaluated. Adaptive leaders who build efficacy will ensure fidelity and continuous improvement of student achievement.

Survey research was conducted to analyze the operational level of MTSS regarding the domains of Leadership, Building Capacity for Instruction, Communication and Collaboration, Data-Based Problem-Solving, Tiered …

Relationship Between School Climate And Student Achievement In Middle Schools, Brad Boykin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Administrators are charged with making decisions and implementing strategies to improve a school’s climate and student achievement. Because school climate and student achievement are interrelated, it would benefit administrators to understand which areas of school climate have the greatest impact on student achievement. The State of Georgia measures school climate and achievement with its school accountability measure, College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI). This study employed a quantitative research design using archival data from CCRPI over two years to examine the relationship between school climate and student achievement. The researcher used Pearson’s r correlation and multiple regression analysis to …

The Elementary Assistant Principal: Exploring Mentorship As A Development Pathway For The Principal Job Role, Adib Shakir, Chinasa Elue, Sheryl J. Croft, Nicholas Clegorne

Georgia Educational Researcher

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenographical article was to explore the different ways that elementary assistant principals experienced mentoring from their elementary principals as a way to provide the requisite leadership development that would lead them to become a principal. This research study was conducted using in-depth semi-structured interviews as the primary data source. Ancillary data sources such as demographic surveys, reviewing district leadership secondary source documents, and researcher journal notes aided in the data triangulation and analysis. This study was guided by one main research question: What are the different ways elementary assistant principals experience mentoring from their elementary …

Examining Second-Year Retention: Student Perceptions Of Campus Resources For Sophomores, Theresa Rose Duggar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study examined the perceptions sophomore students at one public, southeastern doctoral research university had regarding campus resources and the potential impact on their decision to remain enrolled. Using a transcendental phenomenological approach, the researcher conducted individual semi-structured interviews to identify resources four students perceived to have played a role in their retention choices. In addition to the data collected from the student experiences, a review of social media and the student newspaper was conducted. An analysis revealed two themes that impacted students’ decisions: faculty and staff relationships and academic and co-curricular involvement. Findings align with the current literature, …

The Relationship Of Academic Integration To College Persistence For Female Military-Affiliated Students, Terezia A. Dean

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

While the field of female military-affiliated student-specific research is growing, understanding the compounding challenges of these dynamic students through their different identities is necessary to support them in their academic endeavors. This quantitative study examined the relationship between academic integration and college persistence for female military-affiliated students at a four-year research institution. This study intended to understand the relationship between pre-entry attributes of female military-affiliated students and the likelihood of stop out and dropout. Having data from a diverse population of ages, branches, and ethnicities paints a picture detailing the many pre-entry attributes than can decrease the likelihood of persistence. …

Jewish Fraternities And Sororities As Spaces Of Resistance Against Antisemitism, Pietro Antonio Sasso, Kimberly Davis

Georgia Journal of College Student Affairs

There has been a continued increase in antisemitic activities at colleges and universities over the last decade. Media reports and research about perceptions of Jewish college students add face validity that student organizations are often targets of Anti-Jewish rhetoric. In particular, Jewish fraternities and sororities have been targeted by antisemitism as sites of violence but have also been spaces of resistance. Through a literature review of Jewish fraternities and sororities, the authors present their organizational saga to demonstrate a pattern of exclusion and antisemitism and summarize current initiatives by Jewish fraternities and sororities as spaces of resistance in combating antisemitism.

Georgia Journal Of College Student Affairs, Georgia College Personnel Association (Gcpa)

Georgia Journal of College Student Affairs

Complete issue of Georgia Journal of College Student Affairs, v.38, iss. 1

Faculty Senate Minutes, Georgia Southern University, Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Minutes

No abstract provided.

Faculty Senate Minutes, Georgia Southern University, Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Minutes

No abstract provided.

Faculty Senate Minutes, Georgia Southern University, Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Minutes

No abstract provided.

Faculty Senate Minutes, Georgia Southern University, Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Minutes

No abstract provided.

In Search Of Safety: A Case Study Of Lgbt+ College Students’ Perception Of Safe Spaces At A Rural University, Ryan Campen, Jamie L. Workman, James G. Archibald

Georgia Journal of College Student Affairs

The purpose of this study was to better understand how LGBT+ college students find a safe space on college and university campuses when there is not one already provided for them. Strange and Banning’s (2015) four environments served as the theoretical framework. Data were collected through individual interviews with six college students who identify within the LGBT+ community and attend a mid-sized institution in South Georgia which does not have an established safe space. Students indicated locations like the library, front lawn, and individuals such as faculty, staff, and student organizations offered safe spaces. The results can better inform student …

Conceptualizing Student Affairs Graduate Preparation As Activity System(S), Graham F. Hunter

Georgia Journal of College Student Affairs

Graduate preparation programs serve as a primary site for training new student affairs practitioners. However, scholars perennially raise concerns about the effectiveness of such graduate training and the readiness of new student affairs practitioners for the field. Whereas existing graduate preparation scholarship relies almost exclusively on a socialization framework, alternative theoretical frameworks oriented toward student learning can offer new insight into training individuals to do student affairs work. Utilizing existing literature on student affairs graduate preparation and cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT), this article offers a conceptual model of student affairs graduate preparation as sociocultural activity systems. This model maps dimensions …

Peer-Coaching Based Professional Development: A Sample Of A School Of Foreign Languages, Sinem Arslan Dönmez, Ahmet Şahin Assoc. Prof.

Georgia Educational Researcher

The purpose of this study is to investigate the views of lecturers about the effectiveness of the implementation of the peer-coaching practice conducted at the school of foreign languages of a foundation university. The lecturers who took part in the peer coaching practice in the academic year 2019-2020 acted as the participants in this case study. The qualitative data was collected via interviews and document analysis. Content analysis and descriptive analysis methods were used in the process of data analysis. The findings from the analysis showed that peer-coaching practice consisted of lesson observations, pre and post-observation meetings, and reflection stages. …

2022-2023 Faculty Senate, Committees, And University Committees, Georgia Southern University

Faculty Senate Membership Lists

No abstract provided.

Why So Few Women? A Case Study Of Female Superintendents In P-12 Public Education Systems, Alfreda M. Howard

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative case study explored the pathways, barriers, and advancement strategies of female superintendents in Georgia. The problem that the study addressed was examining the gender disparity in the superintendency. The purpose of this study was to explore the leadership journey of female superintendents who served in P-12 public education systems in Georgia for the 2021-2022 school year. The researcher created and pilot-tested a semi-structured interview protocol to collect data for the study. Study participants included five current female superintendents in Georgia.

Findings revealed that female leaders are grossly underrepresented in the superintendent role. Graduate degrees and terminal degrees in …

Utilization Of The Scheduling Software Platform, Youcanbookme, Steven Tolman, Stephanie Derfus

Georgia Journal of College Student Affairs

Media/Software Review

Accessibility Of Virtual Instruction In Higher Education: Challenges Caused By The Covid-19 Pandemic, Carlie L. Cooper

Georgia Journal of College Student Affairs

In 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed. It prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities. Institutions of higher education are included under Title III of the ADA, and as such are required to provide the same access to services and education to qualified individuals with disabilities as individuals without. A review of the literature of accessibility of online programs and courses in higher education shows that compliance to the ADA is sporadic due to several challenges. In Spring 2020, all institutions of higher education transitioned to some form of online instruction due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This created …

No Place Like Home: The Coming Out Experiences Of Gay Men In Student Affairs And Higher Education Preparation Programs, Darren E. Pierre, Cameron Beatty, Antonio Duran

Georgia Journal of College Student Affairs

Development occurs over the lifespan, and student affairs educators are not exempt from that life-long process. This article examined the coming out experiences of gay men within student affairs master’s preparation programs. The study was comprised of 11 participants representing seven different higher education/student affairs administration programs. The findings of this study offer the following: first, the study offers insight on the coming out experiences of gay men in graduate preparation programs. Second, the findings showcase the role that student affairs programs, curriculum, and instruction play in the identity exploration process for gay men. Finally, findings from this study offer …

A Different Kind Of Job Search: Post-Graduate Student Affairs Geographically Focused Searches, Michelle L. Boettcher

Georgia Journal of College Student Affairs

As student affairs graduate students finish their academic work and begin their job searches, they must navigate a number of competing priorities including position, title, work responsibilities, functional area, salary, benefits and other aspects of the position. For some graduates, the most important consideration is geographical location – they want to be close to family, partners, or located in specific communities. As a result, they often have to be very flexible on other work considerations. They also sometimes feel isolated in their searches and get messages from peers that they are not doing their searches in the “right” way. This …

Students Who Experienced Foster Care Are On Campus: Are Colleges Ready?, Sarah E. Jones, Matthew D. Varga

Georgia Journal of College Student Affairs

Though most youth in the foster care system aspire to attend college, few have the opportunity to do so. For myriad reasons, including lack of historical representation on college campuses, sub- par Pk-12 education, and postsecondary barriers to admissions, enrollment, and financial aid, most college students who experienced foster care depart college without earning a degree. As the barriers to college for this population of students emerges, postsecondary institutions are pre- paring their campuses for students with unique needs. This qualitative study explores how student affairs professionals in one university system support college students previously in foster care. Professionals and …

Georgia Journal Of College Student Affairs, Georgia College Personnel Association (Gcpa)

Georgia Journal of College Student Affairs

Complete issue of Georgia Journal of College Student Affairs, v.37, iss. 2

Predictors Of Student Academic Success In The Corequisite Model, Damon Andrews, Steven Tolman

Georgia Journal of College Student Affairs

The purpose of this study was to determine predictors of community college student academic success in corequisite English and mathematics courses. Academic success was defined dichotomously on a pass or fail basis. The population included 1,934 students enrolled in at least one corequisite English and/or mathematics course at a community college between the fall semester of 2015 and summer semester of 2018. Binary logistic regression was used to examine the fol- lowing predictors: a student’s sex, race, age at time of enrollment, Pell Grant recipient status, first-generation college student status, high school grade point average (HSGPA), placement test scores, academic …

Experiences With Ex Corde Ecclesiae In Faculty Teaching Practices At Southern Catholic Colleges, Maria R. Sarmiento, Pietro A. Sasso

Georgia Journal of College Student Affairs

As special-mission institutions, Catholic higher education institutions pursue similar goals of American higher education to develop graduates who are civically engaged and ready to address contemporary challenges. However, these institutions are often challenged to integrate their religious mission within the classroom through faculty pedagogy, which buttresses academic freedom and student consumerism issues. This descriptive phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of Catholic university faculty members as they described their pedagogical experiences and Catholic identity perspectives. Findings from this study suggested a connection with Catholic identity, but that their relationship with institutional mission related to teaching was ambiguous. Participants had little …