Education Commons^™

Breaking The Silence: A Phenomenological Exploration Of Secondary Traumatic Stress In U.S. College Student Affairs Professionals, Robert Jason Lynch

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

Breaking the Silence: A Phenomenological Exploration of Secondary Traumatic Stress in U.S. College Student Affairs Professionals is a qualitative-intensive mixed methods study using phenomenology and art-based research techniques to uncover the essence of secondary traumatic stress in U.S. college student affairs professionals. Researchers in the fields of psychology, counseling, social work and other helping professions suggest that repeated exposure to individuals experiencing trauma, or hearing repeated details of an individual’s trauma, have negative outcomes on professional helpers. Coined secondary traumatic stress, this phenomenon may be defined as “the stress resulting from helping or wanting to help a traumatized or suffering …

The Development And Validation Of The Secondary Trauma In Resident Assistants Scale, R. Jason Lynch

Educational Foundations & Leadership Faculty Publications

SECONDARY TRAUMATIC STRESS has been described as "the stress resulting from helping or wanting to help a traumatized or suffering person" (Figley, 1999, p. 10). College resident assistants often serve as first-responders to students who have experienced traumatic life events such as severe mental illness, substance abuse, sexual violence, and hate crimes. To date, the literature has not thoroughly addressed the impact of providing this level of support on collegiate resident assistants. This study aimed to explore one possible outcome identified in individuals in other helping professions: secondary traumatic stress. The researcher set out to develop and validate an instrument …

Impact Of Generation Membership On Job Satisfaction Of Financial Aid Administrators, Joseph Martin Dobrota

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

The United States workforce is experiencing a shift in age composition due to the aging and retirement of the baby boomer generation. The work of this study will examine the impact generational membership has on the job satisfaction of financial aid staff at American colleges and universities. Through use of the Job Descriptive Index an examination of job satisfaction of staff members of the Rocky Mountain Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (RMASFAA) and Southern Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (SASFAA) is conducted. Using the concept of generation theory popularized by research team Strauss and Howe (1991), the study …

An Exploration Of The Identity And Career Development Of African American Women In Higher Education Leadership: Does Hair Style Make A Difference?, Yasmine Osir Farley

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

African American women, a group that endures the intersectionality of being both a woman and an African American, have many obstacles in their path as they advance in their career. Despite the strides that have been made in America to improve things for women and people of color, the interwoven societal standards of beauty do not include African American women. This standard of beauty affects women in that no matter how intelligent they are, looks play an important part in their professional life. For African American women, hair is a large part of who they are and how others perceive …

The Perception Of The Value Added From Accruing Student Debt To Earn A Degree Or Graduate Certificate From A Public Institution Of Higher Education: A Descriptive Study, William L. Nuckols

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

Student loan debt has had a tremendous impact on higher education over the past 45 years. Over that timeframe, federal student loan dollars have increased by more than 800%. This dissertation examines the perception of value that has been added to the lives of graduates by using student loans to finance their degree or graduate certificate. Literature on the subject has focused primarily on the rising costs associated with earning a college education, and the continuous increase in the average amount of student loan debt that graduates carry into their careers. A researcher-generated survey was administered to 6 years of …

The Development Of Self-Efficacy For Trade And Industrial Career And Technical Education Teachers, Corey Mccray

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to review the development of self-efficacy for trade and industrial (T&I) teachers. Specifically, this study investigated how T&I teachers develop self-efficacy in classroom management, pedagogical practices, and content knowledge. Finally, the study reviewed key performance measures that indicate T&I teacher development of efficacious practices. Each performance measure was considered as it related to the aforementioned focus areas.

This qualitative study was informed by phenomenology. Twelve T&I teachers were interviewed in an effort to capture the essence of their experience as T&I teachers. The study was conducted at two career technical schools in Southeastern Virginia. …

The Relationship Of Three Financial Aid Appeal Interventions With Academic Progress And Student Persistence, Jeannetta Lynn Hollins

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

Poor academic performance can result in financial aid suspension and can decrease the opportunity or likelihood of students continuing their college education. The objective of this preliminary quantitative study was to investigate an under-researched area of financial aid, and Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) appeal interventions, to determine whether any of the three approaches studied influenced student academic outcomes. This study was confined to one large, multi-campus community college institution. The study was conducted ex post facto, using binary logistic regression to analyze data collected over a period of four consecutive semesters.

The interventions were designed to provide an academically struggling …

Student Conduct Administrator Knowledge Of The Statistical Reporting Obligations Of The Jeanne Clery Disclosure Of Campus Security Policy And Campus Crime Statistics Act, Michael Matthew Debowes

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (the "Clery Act") is a consumer right-to-know law originally passed by Congress in 1900. The law requires colleges and universities receiving federal student aid to publish annually their security-related policies and crime statistics. The law provides for a civil fine up to $35,000 for each act of noncompliance, which can include failure to disclose a single crime statistic.

Student conduct administrators play an important role in classifying crimes, yet the literature is lacking on this population's understanding of the Clery Act. Therefore the purpose of this study …

Leadership Preparation: A Phenomenological Study Of A District–University Partnership, Raymond Lamont Haynes

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

The aim of this study was to ascertain principals' preparedness as implemented by a Peninsula City Schools-Madison University partnership under the design constructs of planning, collaboration, internship, and mentorship. The study was framed upon research asserting that district—university partnerships are cultivating instructional leaders who can promote achievement. In this design, districts and universities partner to implement theory-based instruction and authentic practical training to expose aspiring leaders to the specific issues and challenges within the schools they will eventually lead. Using a phenomenological case study design, the researcher extracted the perceptions of Peninsula City Schools-Madison University Division Leadership Team members who …

Importance Of Developing Community In Distance Education Courses, Robert L. Moore

STEMPS Faculty Publications

The separation of student and instructor is the core characteristic of distance education (Simonson et al., 2012, p. 28), contributing to one of the biggest challenges to distance education—attrition (Dueber & Misanchuk, 2001, p. 2). By the very nature of distance education, students are different locations from one another and their instructor. The instructor’s challenge is figuring out how to make students feel connected and able to succeed in this new learning environment. The development of a sense of community is an effective and efficient way to help ensure the success of the distance education program and can directly address …

Preparing School Leaders To Advocate For Social Justice: A Case Analysis Of Social Justice Tenets In A Leadership Preparation Program, Jessica Costa

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

School leadership preparation for social justice is a pressing concern in an era of achievement gaps and a rapidly increasing population of largely marginalized students: English learners. This case study explored how one university leadership preparation program infused social justice tenets into the training. Following a qualitative methodology, data collection focused on documents, interviews, and class observations. In recent years, critical race theory (CRT) has garnered much attention in education scholarship as a way to examine racialized practices and social injustices that persist in U.S. schooling. This study used CRT as a basis for the theoretical framework and interpretive lens …

The Relationship Between Living Arrangement, Academic Performance, And Engagement Among First-Year College Students, Denise Shata Balfour

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

One way students become engaged in their undergraduate experience is through place of residence. Factors associated with high academic performance suggest high levels of engagement in campus life. This study investigated the relationship between living arrangement and the academic performance of first-year, full-time undergraduate students. The researcher also considered age, gender, race/ethnicity, and key characteristics of student engagement as moderating factors in the relationship between living arrangement and the academic performance.

Students enrolled at a four-year, public research university located in Southeastern Virginia were utilized for this study. The final participant group consisted of 870 first-year, full-time students who participated …

Preparing Future Faculty Annual Report, 2012-2013, Career Pathways Program, Old Dominion University

Career Pathways

The 2012/2013 academic year saw continued development of the ODU Preparing Future Faculty (PFF) program, with increases in average PFF event attendance and in the number of students who completed the PFF certificate. The four regular events drew an average attendance of 46, compared to an average of 27 last year. An additional 15 PFF certificates were awarded this year, compared to an average of just over six in the previous three years. This brings the total to 44. An important factor in this increase was an agreement with the Registrar’s Office to place a notification of completion of the …

Community College Presidents' Perspectives Of Dichotomous Events: The Consequences Of The Great Recession & Coincidental Increased Enrollment, Corey W. Carlson

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

The community college, like all of higher education, has been significantly impacted by the Great Recession and coincidental increased enrollment. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the decision making processes of community college presidents as related to resource allocation and the impact of these decisions on the comprehensive community college mission. Declining state funding and increased enrollments have greatly impacted how community college leaders make decisions with leaders incorporating shared governance and informed decision-making. Community college leaders have also been proactively seeking out alternative revenue streams in order to help offset decreased state funding. Findings of this …

An Analysis Of Evaluation Plans In A Federally Funded Leadership Preparation Program: Implications For The Improvement Of Practice, Karen Sanzo

Educational Foundations & Leadership Faculty Publications

This study is a content analysis of selected federally funded leadership preparation program evaluation proposals for the 2008, 2009, and 2010 School Leadership Program grants. The United States Department of Education (USDE) began awarding funding in 2002 to develop and implement preparation programs for aspiring and current assistant principals and principals. These innovative leadership preparation programs are expected to influence school leaders in a way that enables them to positively impact student achievement and the schools they serve. In order to determine effectiveness, each grant proposal puts forth a comprehensive program evaluation designed to measure the grant's adherence to the …

A Cultural Approach To Understanding Professional Experiences Of Foreign-Born Faculty In U.S. Educational Leadership Preparation Programs, Iryna M. Khrabrova

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate professional experiences of foreign-born faculty members serving in U.S. educational leadership preparation programs utilizing a cultural approach to discern their lived experiences related to professional life. Cultural values reflected in professional life experiences were explored. The information gathered through phenomenological approach was used to analyze the influence of national background on the professional experiences of foreign-born faculty in educational leadership preparation programs.

Faculty Compensation For Developing And Delivering Online Courses, Jeffrey Allen Burleson

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

The intent of this dissertation was to determine the most common compensation practices higher education institutions provided faculty for developing and delivering online courses. Many higher education institutions provided compensation as motivational tools to elicit faculty participation in new online learning initiatives; however, limited research was available on equitable compensation for these services. The population consisted of 263 small, medium, and large baccalaureate and masters level private and state-funded not-for-profit United States higher education institutions. This population was selected using the maximum number of institutions identified by the Carnegie Classification system that met these criteria.

Data for this study were …

Unpacking Faculty Engagement: The Types Of Activities Faculty Members Report As Publicly Engaged Scholarship During Promotion And Tenure, Chris R. Glass, Diane M. Doberneck, John H. Schweitzer

Educational Foundations & Leadership Faculty Publications

While a growing body of scholarship has focused on the personal, professional, and organizational factors that influence faculty members’ involvement in publicly engaged scholarship, the nature and scope of faculty publicly engaged scholarship itself has remained largely unexplored. What types of activities are faculty members involved in as publicly engaged scholarship? How does their involvement vary by demographic, type of faculty appointment, or college grouping? To explore these questions, researchers conducted a quantitative content analysis of 173 promotion and tenure documents from a research-intensive, land-grant, Carnegie Classified Community Engagement university and found statistically significant differences for the variables age, number …

Redefining Faculty Workloads In A Physical Therapy Department: A Case Study, Douglas C. Keskula, Shelley Mishoe, Elizabeth T. Wark

Community & Environmental Health Faculty Publications

The purpose of this case study is to describe the creation and implementation of a sustainable workload model in the physical therapy department, as well as the outcomes resulting from that structure. Between 2002 and 2009, both scholarly productivity and faculty practice activity increased as a result of the redistribution of faculty efforts created by the new workload structure. This case demonstrates how the department has been able to successfully expand research and faculty practice while maintaining a high quality educational experience. The workload guidelines have enabled the collective core faculty to be productive in teaching, research/scholarship and service.;

Certification Of Financial Aid Administrators, Stacey A. Peterson

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

The certification of financial aid administrators has been debated for over 37 years. A job satisfaction survey conducted by the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA, 2008a) revealed that college and university administrators' perceptions of the efficiency, effectiveness, and quality of the services provided by the financial aid office have a direct effect on the job satisfaction of financial aid practitioners. The study also hinted at a possible link between these perceptions and the resources allocated to the financial aid office. Open-ended comments collected as a part of the survey suggested that while members of the financial aid …

Examining The Impact Of Leadership Style And School Climate On Student Achievement, Tina Robinson

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate whether or not leadership style and school climate are significant predictors of student achievement. The target population consisted of elementary and high school teachers from Virginia public schools who had taught under the leadership of their respective current principals for at least 4 years. Nine school divisions were randomly selected from each of the following regions—rural, suburban, and urban—within the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Data were collected using two surveys. Bass's (1985) Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (Form 5X) was used to assess principals' leadership style—transactional, transformational, or laissez-faire—as perceived by teachers. The Organizational …

Adjunct Faculty Organizational Sense Of Belonging And Affective Organizational Commitment, Constance L. Merriman

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

In recent years all public higher education institutions have increased their reliance on adjunct faculty. Adjuncts provide expertise in key areas, are available at times that meet the needs of the changing student demographic, and cover an increasing number of introductory courses. It has been suggested that adjunct faculty may be more weakly linked to their students, colleagues, and institution. This may, in turn, be detrimental to the organizational health of the institution. Prior research has indicated that adjunct faculty have different motivations and expectations from teaching that impact the connections they form in the higher education workplace. This study …

The Administration Of Community College Blogs: Considering Control And Adaptability In Loosely Coupled Systems, Troy A. Swanson

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study using a multiple case study method is (1) to further the understanding of how community college administrators and blog authors strike a balance between organizational control and adaptability when implementing and using blog technologies and (2) to create a model that will help administrators better strike this balance within a loosely coupled system of college units and individuals. The rise of Web 2.0 technologies, which allows for direct publication to the Internet, presents two conundrums for community colleges: the conundrum of control and the conundrum of adaptability. As the oldest implementation of Web 2.0 technologies, …

Perceptions Of Second-Level Managers' Performance In Student Affairs, Jennifer Kingsley

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

This study explored first- (subordinates) and second-level (managers) student affairs professionals' perceptions of managers' skills and abilities (N = 193). Participants in this study were members of the National Association for Student Personnel Administrators, National Association for Campus Activities, Association of College an University Housing Officer-International, and the Association on Higher Education and Disability in Virginia. Two instruments were used for the study: (1) Demographics, collecting demographic information and qualitative data, (2) Survey of Management Practices, which assesses managers' skills and abilities.

The respondents were predominantly Caucasian (82%), female (62%), between 26–40 years old (72%), and held a master's degree …

Retracing Gender Bias And The Validity Of Believed Differences Between Male And Female Coaches Of Women's Basketball, Melissa Baile

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

Leaders in higher education and athletics are concerned with the decline in the number of female coaches. The lack of role models for young women athletes and the inability for young women to be hired into, and remain in, coaching is problematic to the development of women in society.

The results of Acosta's 1985 study indicated that athletic directors held two stereotypical beliefs regarding the decline in the number of female coaches: a lack of qualification and time constraints due to family responsibilities. The purpose of the current research is to address two questions: (1) are male athletic administrators correct …

Predicting Academic Success Of Entering Freshmen At An Urban University Through The Assessment Of Oral And Written Language Competency, Karen D. Cobbs

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

In Moores and Klas' (1989) definitive study on college student retention, postsecondary administrators ranked the maintenance of student enrollment second in importance on a list of twenty critical issues facing higher education. Of particular relevance to college administrators has been the retention and graduation of African-American college students (D. B. Hawkins, 1994; Western Reserve, 1991).

Researchers, in considering the overall problem of student attrition, particularly, among African-Americans, have explored such questions as these: Which students are dropping out (Sherman, Giles and Green, 1994; Robinson, 1992)? Why do they discontinue their studies (Austin, 1982; Bohr et al., 1995; Kraft, 1992; Tinto, …

Retirement And Re-Entry Decision-Making: A Faculty Perspective, Seth Zimmer

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Universities are faced with an aging workforce and threatened with deficits in number and quality of replacements for retirees. New policies and programs affecting retirement and workforce re-entry are taking shape. This points to the need for research on the factors used by faculty members in the retirement decision-making process.

Faculty are somewhat unique in that their university roles and responsibilities often allow them to be professionally active simultaneously in other settings. The usual concept of retirement becomes somewhat blurred where faculty members are concerned.

The decision of when to retire and whether or not to re-enter the workforce must …