Education Commons^™

Honors As Incubator For Creating And Sustaining Faculty Professional Growth, Marlee Marsh, John Zubizarreta

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Successful honors programs inspire and sustain a vibrant and committed faculty. This essay presents an established honors program which demonstrates, through varied faculty commitments over time, honors as a valuable asset in identifying, recruiting, supporting, and rewarding a strong, creative, loyal faculty that benefits the entire institution. Authors suggest multiple ways for establishing and nurturing the kinds of relationships that enhance both honors and its dedicated faculty. Leveraging honors for professional growth and pedagogical development, these include the design of interdisciplinary courses and special seminars, mentoring of student projects, engaging in study-travel ventures, winning distinguished awards, serving on important committees, …

Leadership Journeys: Reflections On Experiences And Challenges From Women In Academic Leadership, Sarah L. Smiley, Andrea G. Zakrajsek, Kathryn L. Fletcher

Journal of Women in Educational Leadership

Although the number of women holding administrative positions in higher education has risen over the past two decades, the gender gap in academic leadership in higher education institutions persists. Barriers exist to prevent women from entering these positions, including those related to workplace culture and personal considerations. This qualitative exploratory study interviewed 38 women leaders in positions ranging from Assistant Dean to President at universities in a mid-west athletic conference. It asked the following research questions: How did they enter academic leadership? What were their experiences in leadership positions? What advice would they offer to other women considering leadership positions …

Performance Of Saudi Universities In Global Rankings And Appropriate Strategies For Its Improvement, Ahmed Al Kuwaiti Phd, Kevin Downing Phd, Arun Vijay Subbarayalu Phd

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Saudi universities are utilizing various university ranking systems to publicize their academic and research performance to the students and their parents. This study aimed to describe the ranking position of top ten Saudi universities across Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) and Times Higher Education (THE) world university rankings based on the ranking results established in 2019. Based on results, the leading position observed among such universities were King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM) in QS and King Abdulaziz University (KAU) in THE. This study is not only provided an analysis of rankings of top ten Saudi universities; but also highlighted …

Rural Students’ Sense Of Belonging At A Large Public University, Benjamin P. Heinisch

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This qualitative case study explored how undergraduate students from rural areas experience higher education environments and develop a sense of belonging at a large Midwestern public university. This study defined rural considering students’ hometown population size and density as well as each individual participant’s constructed reality of a rural identity (Crockett, Shanahan, & Jackson-Newsom, 2000). The following questions guided this study: (1) How does students’ identification with their rural background influence how they experience their college environment? (2) What do rural students see as key environmental factors affecting their sense of belonging? (3) Is the institution providing supportive environments for …

Critical College Experiences Of The Middle Third Of The High School Graduating Class, Nathan Kaoru Keikiokamakua Hanamaikai

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Seven recent graduates from a large, open access university in the Western United States who also graduated from high school in the middle third of their graduating class were interviewed to examine what they considered critical decisions during college and what effect those decisions had on their progress towards graduation. More than 45 critical incidents were identified by the participants. All incidents involved interaction with another person to some degree. All but 11 of the incidents were with people outside of institutional employees. Of the 11 incidents, the majority involved faculty members in either positive or negative situations. Upon further …

Leadership Perspectives Of Chief Student Affairs Officers, Jeff Beavers

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Leadership in student affairs continues to be a challenging enterprise for universities. Colleges are expected to help students succeed while providing for abundant needs through graduation. Chief student affairs officers have increasing demands of students and faculty amid decreased funds. This exploratory study took an in-depth look at the leadership perspectives of 19 chief student affairs officers at 4-year, public universities across the Midwest. The researcher sought responses on common leadership perspectives, challenges faced, and opportunities encountered. The three emerging themes were elements that inform leadership, knowledge and skills, and mindful leadership outlook. These emergent themes formed the basis for …

Understanding The Transition Experience Of Community College Transfer Students To A 4-Year University: Incorporating Schlossberg’S Transition Theory Into Higher Education, Tony A. Lazarowicz

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

With over 60% of college graduates attending multiple institutions (United States Department of Education, 2006), many starting at community colleges, the importance of understanding community college transfer students’ stories is critical to retention and graduation agendas at colleges and universities nationwide. Schlossberg’s Transition Theory has recently been introduced into higher education literature as a conceptual framework for working with various student populations such as student veterans (Wheeler, 2012; Rumann, 2010); student athletes (Henderson, 2013); and students on academic probation (Tovar & Simon, 2006) among others. Minimal work has incorporated Schlossberg’s Transition Theory into studies of community college transfer students; thus …

Rural Nebraska Elementary Students' Aspirations To Attend Institutions Of Higher Education, Brock T. Rezny

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Numerous studies exist on college and career readiness in the middle and high school grades, but these studies often exclude the elementary grades. Even less research has been done regarding this topic in rural education. With more research indicating a need for college readiness beginning in elementary school, this study adds to the literature by seeing if rural elementary students in Nebraska have aspirations for continued education and who influences those aspirations. The sample population of this quantitative study were fourth graders in five rural schools in an athletic conference in Nebraska. The survey was created with collaboration from two …

The Impact Of Urbanicity On Student Engagement At Small, Residential, Liberal Arts Colleges, Todd Clark

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This study analyzed the impact of urbanicity on student engagement at small, residential, liberal arts colleges. Data from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) were analyzed from 29 schools (14 rural and 15 urban) using five scalets developed by Pike (2006) and six demographic variables from the NSSE survey. This analysis determined how urbanicity impacts student engagement and which group of students is particularly affected from among the demographics studied. The effects of urbanicity were measured in three ways: aggregate student data, school level data, and within-school data. These analyses showed that urbanicity does significantly impact student engagement, though …

Unfulfilled Expectations: Impact Of Formal Panhellenic Sorority Recruitment On Unmatched Potential New Members, Gregory J. Golden

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Across hundreds of college campuses in North America, sorority organizations have rapidly expanded membership since their establishment in the late 18^th century. In this time period, many collegiate undergraduate women have come to realize the perceived benefits of sorority membership and the positive impact affiliation can have for a college experience. However, for every woman who is afforded this experience, there are numerous others whose initial transition into college is defined by exclusion from these privileged organizations.

The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of the Panhellenic sorority recruitment process on former potential new members (PNMs) …

Validation: Latino Voices In Higher Education, Krista Navarrette

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This qualitative study explored Latino men’s experiences in higher education and their capacity to succeed at a Predominately White Institution (PWI) in the Midwest region of the United States. The study focused on six participants as they navigate through college and how they viewed their validation as Latino males in college. The literature review discusses the current state of Latino/a’s in higher education and how they are lacking in the education race in regards to white students. The researcher used Validation Theory to investigate Latino males - deemed the “invisible population”—in order to find new implications for persistence, pursuit, and …

Exploring The Socially Responsible Leadership Capacity Of College Student Leaders Who Mentor, Seth R. Barnes

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this study was to examine how participation as a mentor in a leadership-based mentoring program influences socially responsible leadership capacity. Previous studies have shown mentoring to influence gains in socially responsible leadership capacity of college students; however, these studies only examined college student who were being mentored. This study addresses this gap by examining college students who serve as mentors. Using the Social Change Model of Leadership as a guiding theoretical framework, the socially responsible leadership capacity of college students who serve as mentors in a leadership-based mentoring program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Data …

Institutional Governance Of New Program Development At Public Research Universities, Nathan Brad Miller

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Central university administration is often involved with guiding new programs through university and state approvals. A number of factors affect these processes. No studies discuss the role of central administrators in program approvals, however. This study addresses the gap through interviews with 13 individuals responsible for new program approvals in the provost’s office of 12 Research University/Very High public institutions. Five primary themes emerged in the interviews. The themes were used to frame discussion on the purpose, barriers, and self-described roles of the participants. Partial findings from this research were reported in Miller (2013).

Adviser: Marilyn L. Grady

The Role Of Leadership Experience In Self-Authorship Development: A Qualitative Case Study, Anna Pressler

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Marcia Baxter Magolda’s research showed development of self-authorship typically occurred around 30 years of age. However, some programming and experiential learning presented opportunities to accelerate self-authorship development in college. Baxter Magolda emphasized the importance of self-authorship in the formative years of college and post-graduation with significant life decisions of academic major, career choice, and relationships. Therefore, the purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the role leadership experience played in development of self-authorship in college. Previous research touted multicultural programming, developmental advising, challenging classroom environments, and living-learning community models as ways to promote self-authorship development, but little research …

Understanding The Influence Of Strengths On The College Experience: A Qualitative Case Study Of Undergraduate Business Students, Jennifer A. Mostek

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this qualitative, interview-based study was to identify the way that students and advisors utilized knowledge about students’ strengths in college. Strengths were defined by StrengthsQuest, a product of The Gallup Organization. Five college students and three academic advisors from the business college at a large, public research university, representing various cultural backgrounds, family statuses and ages participated in the study. Student and advisor participants explored the influence of strengths on self awareness, confidence, relationships, academic matters, as well as future plans. Advisor participants also discussed the need for additional courses or integration of strengths-based education in existing …

A Correlational Study On Parental Attachment And Spiritual Development Of College Students, Mary-Ellen Madigan

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

During college, students search for meaning in their lives and question their beliefs, behavior, and mortality (Garber, 1996). One way that students search for meaning is through their spiritual lives. Spirituality is “the personal quest for understanding of ultimate questions about life, about meaning, and about relationship to the sacred or transcendent” (Koenig, McCullough & Larson, 2001, p. 18). Parental attachment theory explains that students who have developed a secure attachment with their parents see their parents as a secure base from which to explore their environment (Kenny & Donaldson, 1991, p. 480). This environment may be internal or external. …