Education Commons^™

Where Will I Sleep Tonight? A Qualitative Case Study Of Homeless And Displaced College Students, Andria Lynn Coleman

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this study is to identify the needs of undergraduate students who are homeless or displaced, as well as examine the policies, procedures, and systems of Mountain University, a public four-year university, that may support or hinder students’ retention and progression. This study will be driven by the following research question: How do students who are homeless or displaced, but earned a scholarship, grant, or both navigate the policies, procedures, and systems of Mountain University during their first two years? Using Resiliency Theory and Hope Theory as the theoretical frameworks, this qualitative multiple case study seeks to identify …

A Qualitative Exploration Of Parent Involvement Programs In Higher Education, Heather Rappaport

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Universities involve parents of college students in the undergraduate experience, but there is limited research on the specific pathways for parent engagement. This study examined how universities involve parents of undergraduate students at large public universities with graduation rates higher than the national average. Through the lenses of emerging adulthood and Bioecological theories, this study explored the perspectives of parent program directors. Findings of this qualitative case study include a unique tie between parent programs and collegiate athletics, communication pathways within FERPA guidelines, as well as expanded opportunities for involvement like affinity groups and career services.

Impact Of Mentoring On Epistemic Cognition Of Higher Education Administrators: A Modified Explanatory Mixed Methods Study, Robert Levrant

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In today’s complex workplace, organizations have implemented mentoring programs to serve the needs of employees by providing career development and personal support. Mentoring relationships provide a variety of vocational, psychosocial and role modeling functions to protégés. Previous educational psychology research has examined the role of mentoring as it relates to self-regulation, self-efficacy, career promotions, motivation and other constructs. Epistemic cognition relates to the understanding of the nature of knowledge and knowing. Epistemic cognition relates to the development, in which one’s understanding of knowledge evolves from a belief that knowledge is finite, must be passed down by expert authorities toward an …

We Gon' Be Alright: A Narrative Inquiry With Black Male Doctoral Students, Lashaun D. Limbrick

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This dissertation study aspired to examine the stories of what internal and external supports lead Black men to pursue, and persist through, doctoral degree programs at predominately white institutions (PWIs). Arguably, advancing one’s education towards a doctoral degree, involves several years of rigorous coursework, a comprehensive examination, degree benchmarks, and a formal dissertation study, which could provide guaranteed economic and social stability. There is a disproportionately that exists among the number of Black men being awarded doctoral degrees yearly as compared to white men. This study will examine Black males’ stories of support along the doctoral trajectory.

The study utilizes …

Exploration Of The Intersection Of Social Identities Of Female Leaders In Postsecondary Education: A Phenomenological Approach, Sara Shaw

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experiences of female leaders currently in leadership roles in postsecondary education. This hermeneutic phenomenological study was conducted to explore intersecting identities and how the identities affected female leaders’ leadership experiences and decision-making processes. Through the theoretical framework of intersectionality, I explored the relationships among females, leadership, career decision-making, and other categorical social identities. Data gathered from semi-structured one-on-one interviews and demographic surveys with 11 female postsecondary leaders sought to understand how gender and selected social identities affect career decision-making of women in postsecondary leadership positions. The researcher identified seven themes: …

Health Care-Associated Infection Prevention Outcomes: Evaluating The Link Between Infection Prevention Practices In Healthcare Facilities And Their Health Care-Associated Infection Rates, Chidinma Veronica Njoku

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Healthcare-associated infections (HAI) are a pressing problem affecting vulnerable individuals who come to the hospital to receive care for one condition only to find that they have contracted another during their stay. Studies point to the importance of training and educating staff in order to implement and comply with recommended infection control and prevention control and prevention practices as lack of training and knowledge about infection control and prevention has been perceived to bring about a limited ability for direct care staff to adhere to recommended processes and activities. Although there are prior studies on the effects of assessments, infection …

Measuring Implementation Success Of Pay Structures And The Role Of Human Resources In Higher Education, Derek Spencer Smith

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this study was to determine if a new salary structure initiative for university staff employees would reduce variance in pay. The initiative was purposed to identify and describe the appropriate components of a pay plan that could be established by an HR unit in higher education. The treatment was tested with a quasi-experimental design using a before/after approach with classified personnel at a Midwestern university. The treatment was the implementation of the new pay plan. The final tool created was named the Pay Structure

Initiative (PSI). The analysis showed that variance in pay was reduced after the …

Having Or Serving: Perceptions Of Hsis, Rebecca Gates

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Despite substantial growth within the Latinx population and its access to higher education, there are still significant gaps with regard to degree attainment. In 2015, 36% of U.S. adults aged 25 and older had at least a bachelor’s degree. However, only 15% of those adults were Latinx, the lowest percentage amongst any racial/ethnic minority (NCES, 2016). While 67% of non-Hispanic White students entering four-year colleges complete their degree in six years, only 47% of Latinxs do so (Carey, 2009). These gaps represent an attainment disparity within higher education based upon population demographics. The purpose of this study was to address …

Discovering The Self That Teaches: Multimedia Reflective Journaling And The Education Stories Of Beginning Preservice Teachers, Meredith Paula Allard

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Who is the self that teaches (Palmer, 1998)? One way of uncovering a teacher’s self may be to allow beginning preservice teachers the opportunity to share their education stories, which may then allow them to explore their initial self-concepts of their roles as future teachers. This study used narrative inquiry and the arts-based activities of a multimedia reflective journal and a memoir reflective assignment as tools to help beginning preservice teachers discover and learn from their education stories. The frameworks of arts-based education research, transformative learning, and transformative teaching provided a unique lens through which to explore the education stories …

Understanding College Preparedness Of First-Semester College Students, Kimberly Marie Florence

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The college preparedness of first-year, first-semester, undergraduate students was researched and analyzed in this study. The research entailed a purposeful selection of 10 first-year, first-semester, undergraduate student participants that transitioned into a four-year public university, University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), from a Nevada public high school. Participants who graduated from a Nevada public high school were chosen because Nevada exhibits low-performing K-12 public education trends. Using qualitative methods (i.e., a phenomenological approach), students were interviewed using semi-structured and open-ended interview questions. The interviews were used to ascertain student participants’ perceptions of their academic lived experiences transitioning from high school …

Succession Planning For Nursing Leaders In A College Of Nursing, Cheryl Ann Tucker

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Institute of Medicine (2011) challenged nursing to ensure the nursing workforce includes a sufficient number of academic nurse leaders, nurse educators, and doctorally prepared nurses for the future healthcare needs of the people of the United States. National data reveals a fragile supply of academic nurse educators and leaders. This tenuous resource is shaped by multifaceted factors including: (1) an aging nursing workforce; (2) impending faculty retirements; (3) lack of qualified faculty; and (4) wage disparity between the academic and clinical settings. As these factors collide, it is imperative that academic nursing plan for the future by retaining, developing, …

Leadership Competencies At Concordia University System Institutions, Samuel Joseph Seefeld

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this study was to examine leadership competencies within the Concordia University System based on McDaniel’s (2002) leadership schema using the quantitative instrument developed by Smith and Wolverton (2010). This study extended the Smith and Wolverton (2010) instrument by exploring whether or not variables such as gender or employment classification (i.e., an individual’s role within the institution) show significant differences in perception of leadership competencies. This study utilized principal component analysis to determine factors based on the individual competencies and multivariate analysis of variance to determine if differences arose between reported scores in gender and employment classification. Data …

The Impact Of Successful Ncaa Division I Athletics Programs On The Social Capital Of Urban Communities, Paul Woody

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study examined how urban communities might grow social capital from the passion and support offered by a college athletics program. Given the increasing emphasis on fiscal responsibility from local governments and public universities, recognizing how college athletics programs influence local community social capital, such as anchor attachments formed by alumni and fans, is an important perspective. Historically, the exhausted conversation has focused on economics, such as the economic impact of athletic venues and franchises. (Coates, 2007; Crompton, 2004). Through decades of research, social capital has been measured at various depths and viewed through social, economic, psychological, and even historical …

A Narrative Study Of Latinas' Experiences With The Leadership Pipeline In Higher Education, Ana Cecilia Marrero-Lopez

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this qualitative narrative study was to report the stories of Latina’s experiences with the leadership pipeline in higher education, and determine what venues within that pipeline facilitate or impede access to executive level administrative positions. The practical significance of this study would include expanding the quantity of academic research on Latinas’ interest and inclusion in obtaining executive leadership positions in higher education, where little has been recorded of their presence or successes (Lopez-Mulnix, Wolverton & Zaki, 2011). In addition, though many studies have been conducted on racial and ethnic minority faculty (Eddy, 2009; Moses, 2009; Green & …

Examining Factors Influencing Ncaa Division-I Conference Realignment, Ginikachi O. Nwosu

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The landscape of intercollegiate athletics continues to evolve and become

more dynamic. One of the most visible aspects of these changes is athletic conference realignment. During the period from 2010 to 2014 alone, over 30 institutions across the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) changed or announced imminent plans to change athletic conference affiliation (Mandel, 2012). Conference realignment is described as institutional changes in athletic conference affiliation (Covell & Barr, 2010; Groza, 2010; Sweitzer, 2009). Various literature has identified variables which influence NCAA Division-I institutions’ decisions in regard to conference realignment, yet no comprehensive study has examined …

An Examination Of Implicit Values In Cornerstone Student Affairs Textbooks, Nathan Slife

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The field of student affairs is properly cautious about indoctrination. Indoctrination, after all, clearly contradicts the field's ethical statements and standards. These cautions have led student affairs researchers to investigate explicit values in the field to prevent explicit forms of indoctrination. However, recent investigations of implicit values in the discipline of psychology have revealed a potential new source of indoctrination not currently studied in student affairs. Specifically, psychological researchers have identified a system of implicit values called liberal individualism that has been found to be pervasive throughout the psychological discipline. Given the widely acknowledged link between student affairs and psychology, …

Comparing Division Ia Scholarship And Non-Scholarship Student-Athletes: A Discriminant Analysis Of Academic Performance, Lisa Melanie Rubin

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Many research studies have examined the academic performance and graduation rates of college student-athletes. The limited focus on scholarship student-athletes has overlooked the majority of NCAA student-athletes, those participating in collegiate athletic programs without athletic scholarships. Therefore, this study contributes to a gap in the literature about non-scholarship student-athletes. The following dissertation examined the academic performance, time-to-degree, and demographic and profile characteristics of Division IA scholarship and non-scholarship student-athletes. The theoretical framework for this study was work motivation viewing athletic scholarships as extrinsic rewards. The researcher applied descriptive discriminant analysis utilizing secondary data to compare scholarship and non-scholarship student-athletes across …

The Leadership Orientations And Effectiveness Of College And University Career Services Directors, Jacob A. Livengood

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Career service directors lead the third most common division within student affairs departments, but the leadership of a collegiate career services office has not been represented in higher education research. Obtaining a "good job" has consistently been noted as a main reason to attend college (Pryor, Hurtado, Saenz, Santos & Korn, 2007). The rising costs of higher education have also yielded the question, "What can college do for me?" financially and with future career opportunities (Baum & Payea, 2005; Moretti, 2004; Pryor, Hurtado, Saenz, Santos & Korn, 2007; Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education, 2009). The functions of career services …

Closing Up Shop: Meditations On The Departmental/Programmatic Elimination Experience, Susan Beth Donoff

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Departmental and programmatic eliminations represent a new paradigm in the history of American higher education. Hastened by a national economic recession and competing state funding priorities, public post-secondary institutions have turned to academic attrition as a solution to continuous budgetary shortfalls. As a means of addressing the lived experience of faculty members and department chairs, the following qualitative case study explores perceptions of implementing departmental and/or programmatic eliminations.

Utilizing uncertainty reduction theory as a conceptual framework, interviewed faculty in saved units experienced considerable strategic uncertainty, failing to understand why they had been selected for elimination. Guided by a college-wide strategic …

A Case Study Using Principal-Agent Theory To Explore How A Public, Four Year University Interacts With A System Office, Annie Macias

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The focus of this research was to examine the funding relationship between a single public institution of higher education and its accompanying system office. Such a study is important in order to obtain insight into the relationship between a System Office and an institution, and thus how institutions carry out their fiscal responsibilities, not directly to the state but to the System Office they serve. The study provides insight into how the System Office communicates and transacts with an institution regarding financial allocations. Also important is whether that institution receives effective communication and whether the institution's perceived expectations are as …

Exploring The Relationship Between First Year First Generation College Students And Their Parents, Jerica L. Turek

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The first year of college is one that is crucial for all students entering higher education due to the major transition issues that must be successfully navigated in order to persist to the sophomore year. Parental support has been shown to have a positive effect during this transition by providing positive coping mechanisms and allowing children to develop higher level of autonomy. The level of parental support is at a high level for members of the Millennial Generation, which is characterized by a close parent-child relationship, as well as a high level of parental involvement in the education process. While …

The Impact Of The Structure, Function, And Resources Of The Campus Security Office On Campus Safety, Patricia Anne Bennett

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The topic of this dissertation is college and university safety. This national quantitative study utilized resource dependency theory to examine relationships between the incidence of reported campus crimes and the structure, function, and resources of campus security offices. This study uncovered a difference in reported total crime rates, violent crime rates, and non-violent crime rates for colleges with police officers, internal security, contract security, hybrid departments, and no security office. This study examined the combination of institutional characteristics which best explain the occurrence of total campus crime, violent crime, and non-violent crime on campus. Two forms of data collection were …

Bridging The Chasm: Emerging Model Of Leadership In Intercollegiate Athletics Governance, John C. Chandler Iii

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This dissertation examined how the executive leadership model influenced the leadership and governance of intercollegiate athletics. The focus centered on understanding the role of Athletic Directors who concurrently serve as institutional Vice Presidents using the Social Constructivist framework. Qualitative analysis was utilized to achieve the kind of examination necessary to uncover the rich and in-depth perspectives of the participants. At the time of the study, there were 119 institutions housing NCAA Division IA athletic departments. Of the 119 distinct athletic departments, there were 17 athletic departments that employed an athletic director that had been appointed to the post of university …

A Case Study Of Organizational Change: College Restructuring In Response To Mandated Department Eliminations, Brandy Dyan Smith

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Faced with unprecedented budget cuts, Western University had implemented vertical cuts in the Spring of 2010 resulting in the elimination of two departments within their College of Education. Western University was not alone in its struggle. Institutions nationwide were coping with similar financial constraints, with freezes, consolidations, and eliminations becoming commonplace and threatening institutional quality.

The issue of how colleges and the leaders, groups, and individuals within them cope, process, and reorganize following eliminations has quickly gained importance, although there are few empirical studies to guide such changes. The existing literature on restructuring, particularly adaptability and change processes, has focused …

Job Stress, Mentoring, Psychological Empowerment, And Job Satisfaction Among Nursing Faculty, Catherine Emily Ebersole Chung

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The National League for Nursing (NLN) endorses mentoring throughout the nursing faculty career trajectory as the method to recruit nurses into academia and improve retention of nursing faculty within the academy (NLN, 2006). One way mentoring assists faculty is by easing socialization to the culture of the employing institution and decreasing faculty stress (Lewallen, Crane, Letvak, Jones, & Hu, 2003). Mentoring can also be a facilitating factor of an individual's psychological empowerment. Academia is an environment able to foster psychological empowerment, a state in which faculty may be self-directed, highly productive, confident, and find a meaningful connection to their work …

College Choice Influences Among High-Achieving Students: An Exploratory Case Study Of College Freshmen, Derek Takumi Furukawa

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

College choice is an important process on the way to college matriculation. Understanding the motivators and influences of college choice can help an institution establish more effective methods of influencing the choice decision. This influence is even more significant among populations that are low in supply and high in demand, such as high-achieving students. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore high-achieving student perceptions of the areas that may influence their college choice. In-depth focus groups and interviews were conducted with high-achieving students at a single institution in the Southwestern United States to establish perceptions of influences …

Comparing The Student Profile Characteristics Between Traditional Residential And Commuter Students At A Public, Research-Intensive, Urban Commuter University, Dan Gianoutsos

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The residential-versus-commuter student comparison has been contemporaneous in higher education research since Arthur Chickering's classic study in 1974. However, the majority of these empirical comparisons were conducted at residential institutions or used a variety of institutions that were weighted toward residential institutions. Therefore, there is a need for further empirical research comparing traditional residential and commuter students at commuter institutions. This study compared the student profile characteristics, which were categorized as demographic, prematriculation, and matriculation, between traditional residential and commuter students at a public, research-intensive, urban commuter university. Status attainment served as the theoretical framework for this comparative classification study. …

Environmental Engagement Demand Differences Within And Among Holland Academic Environments, Derek K. Lester

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

College and university administrators have increased the use of measurements of student engagement to gauge the levels on their campuses. However, little research measures student engagement levels among different academic environments or different academic majors. Some research has been done that used Holland's theory of person/environment fit, and accompanying Hexagonal model, as a means to compare differences among academic environments. However, the validity of the assumptions that the model is based on has not been examined, nor the validity of the grouping of academic majors into environments.

The data set used for this study is the 2005 National Survey of …

Engaging Non-Alumni Advisory Board Members In Hospitality Education, Judy A. Nagai

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Hospitality education programs within higher education institutions often rely upon members of the hospitality industry to serve as volunteer advisory board members. A common role for volunteers of an academic program advisory board is to serve as a credible link between the formal education and degree earning process to the hospitality industry, provide insight and advice on current issues and trends, assist in developing industry relationships, and share their time and resources to help promote the program (Edwards, 2008; Merrill, 2003). While volunteer advisory boards within higher education are often made up of both alumni and non-alumni, this study focused …

The Impact Of Individual Decision Making On Campus Sustainability Initiatives, Aurali Ella Dade

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs) have increasingly committed to become more sustainable in recent years. Despite this commitment, academic publications in the sustainability field assert that progress has been slower at IHEs than expected and that most IHEs have found sustainability initiatives difficult to implement. Comprehensive sustainability initiatives require cooperation from a broad set of constituents with diverse and sometimes conflicting goals. Creating a sustainable IHE also requires changes in both physical infrastructure and individual behavior. Any number of institutional factors can advance or limit progress towards these objectives.

Previous investigations have assessed individual case studies, compared IHEs in a …