Education Commons^™

Lifting As We Climb: Experiences Of Black Diversity Officers At Three Predominantly White Institutions In Kentucky, Erica Nićcole Johnson

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Recently, colleges and universities across the country have created executive level positions responsible for institutional diversity. The origins of this work within higher education lay in the civil rights movements and its consequences for desegregation of higher education. Early diversity officer positions usually resided within student affairs. However, as the responsibilities of these offices have changed, the reporting lines have also changed such that diversity officers are now commonly situated within academic affairs. This exploratory study examines these administrative positions responsible for diversity at southern white institutions. The research takes an in-depth look at how these positions have shifted over …

Higher Education And The 2007 Recession: Examining The Relationship Between State Agency Structure, Fiscal Support, And The State Fiscal Stabilization Fund, Christopher J. Crumrine

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

The United States public post-secondary education system varies in its reliance on state support. Some states have a historic predisposition to a private post-secondary education sector, while others have a tradition of strong public institutions. In all cases, public post-secondary relies on state revenue for their general operating and capital budgets. Effective operation in the current fiscal environment requires a clear understanding of different factors affecting a state’s funding level and the challenges presented in periods of slow economic growth.

Over the past six years, higher education, on average, saw positive growth in state support. However, impressive increases in support …

Assessment Of The Neighborhood, Housing, Family, And Personal Characteristics That Affect Whether Students Drop Out Of High School, Montara Renée November

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

This paper seeks to present research that will allow education officials to identify and target individuals who are likely to drop out of high school. By simultaneously using neighborhood, housing, family, and personal factors to identify at-risk students, education officials can link students to the social programs they need to meet their individual needs. Parent’s educational level had statistically significant effect on whether students dropped out of high school. The lower the education level the more likely a student will drop out of school. Parents who are high school dropouts are more likely to earn less and their children are …

Instrumental Music And Act Scores, Jerry Price

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Allocation of dwindling resources force public administrators to make choices and instrumental music program budgets can be cut or even eliminated by state agencies or school districts. Whether or not this is good policy will be examined by the collection and analysis of school level data. Public school instrumental music programs are expensive to operate and maintain, involve specialized, highly-qualified instructors and require an inventory of instruments to ensure that students with low incomes will be able to participate. Families in high income situations may be able to afford private instrumental music lessons for their students and may be indifferent …

The Makeup And Utilization Of University Student Unions: A Comparative Analysis, Ashley N. Wineki

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

The University of Kentucky’s Top 20 Business Plan established a list of goals the university must meet in order to become a top 20 research institution by the year 2020. The University of Kentucky Student Center houses student programming and facilities that impact student involvement and retention, both of which are mandated to increase in order to reach the Top 20 goal.

I conducted this research in order to determine how the University of Kentucky Student Center is utilized by the campus and how, if at all, it could improve to better serve the student body and campus. Survey data …