Education Commons^™

A Logistic Regression Study Of How Pre-Enrollment Factors Predict Graduation At A Christian Historically Black University, Tara Laron Young

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this logistic regression study is to review the pre-admission factors through the lenses of multiple retention constructs and graduation rates at a Christian, Historically Black College or University (HBCU). A binary logistic regression is used to analyze the odds of graduation based on a set of pre-admission factors of first-time freshmen, as predictor variables. In particular, the predictor variables of interest are eligibility of academic support based on academic scholarships, gender, international status, and type of high school attended. The outcome variable of interest is graduation. This study is important because it contributes to the scholarship in …

“Siento Que Siempre Tengo Que Regresar Al Inglés”: Embracing A Translanguaging Stance In A Hispanic-Serving Institution, Sandra I. Musanti, Alyssa G. Cavazos

Bilingual and Literacy Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

This chapter centers on our reflections and pedagogical moves as two bilingual educators at a Hispanic-Serving Institution on the borderland region of South Texas, a predominantly bilingual and bicultural community. Specifically, the chapter documents how we embrace a translanguaging pedagogical stance. Translanguaging practices are identity markers and represent the complex ways bilinguals use their linguistic repertoire to communicate across contexts and to negotiate social identities (García & Li Wei, 2014; Martinez-Roldán, 2015). Drawing on García, Johnson, and Seltzer’s (2017) conceptualization of a translanguaging “corriente,” we describe our translanguaging stance and moves as we, respectively, design and teach two undergraduate courses: …

Johnson Practices, Teaches The Art Of Journalism, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

“While studying abroad in Tanzania, I was fascinated by wildlife, but I realized that I don't really have the temperament to be a scientist. So I decided to come back to the U.S. and become a journalist.” That’s how Emily Johnson settled on what her profession would be.

Johnson is a native of Providence, Rhode Island. She received her bachelor’s degree in English and animal behavior from Bucknell University in Pennsylvania and a master’s in arts and international reporting from the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism. Today she is an assistant professor in the Department of …

“Higher” School: Nineteenth-Century High Schools And The Secondary-College Divide, Amy J. Lueck

English

This article traces the emergence of nineteenth-century U.S. high schools in the landscape of higher education, attending to the gendered, raced, and classed distinctions at play in this development. Exploring differences in the conceptualization and status of high schools in Louisville, Kentucky, for white male, white female, and mixed-gender African American students, this article reminds us of how these institutional types have been situated, socially inflected, and structured in relation to broader political and power structures that transcend explicit pedagogical considerations. As a result, I argue for the recognition of high schools as historically significant sites in the history of …

Let’S Never Forget: Extinction Is Forever, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

For many, the conservation of nature is seen as an essential component of human wellbeing. Its value is oftentimes referred to in relation to the four “Es”: economic, environmental, esthetic and ethical values.

From an economic viewpoint, we know that the entire pharmaceutical industry is built upon known natural substances we find in plants and animals, as are the varieties of many domesticated animals we use for food. On the environmental front, we know how essential it is for human health to have an abundant availability of clean water and air.

Esthetically speaking, natural areas represent one of the major …

Generating The Pipeline: Addressing Bias In Recruiting And Hiring, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

In past articles of this column we have reported data that show that women in general find more barriers than their male counterparts in getting into academic careers. Further, female college professors earn on average 10 percent less in salaries than their male colleagues.

If you are a woman in academia and aspire to an administrative job in order to substantially improve your earnings and make them more in par with the males around you, you should think twice.

Losing Protection From Predatory Colleges, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

Two weeks ago, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos made an announcement that can have serious implications for students registering for classes at for-profit institutions of higher education in particular, and colleges and universities in general.

In a written statement posted on the Department of Education’s website, DeVoss announced plans to eliminate the so-called gainful employment rule created during the Obama administration in 2011. That rule was aimed at holding for-profit and career college programs accountable for graduating students with poor job prospects and overwhelming debt. The rule penalized programs if their graduates had student loan payments that exceeded a specific percentage …

Adviser Nomination Spurs Questions, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

After a 19-month delay, the Trump Administration has nominated someone to be the director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, or as is more colloquially known, the science adviser to the president.

Congress established the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) in 1976. President Gerald Ford, a Republican, signed the act creating the agency into law. That took place after President Nixon disbanded the then-called “President Advisory Committee” in 1973.

The mandate for the agency is to provide the president and others within the Executive Office of the President with advice on the scientific, engineering, …

Rankings Can Be Bad For Colleges’ Health, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

In previous columns I have reported how a number of external factors, such as funding, demographics, politics and the like have been hurting higher education. In many other cases – overblown athletic programs, misguided marketing, and plain bad leadership – the injuries have been self-inflicted. To these cases we can now add the race for the rankings.

I have argued in this column in the past that rankings like the ones by U.S. News & World Reportand its copycats make little sense. To begin with, many of the things they claim to measure, such as athletics, facilities, and “reputation,” …

The Black Legend Of Higher Education, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

The concept of “fake news” is not new by any stretch of the imagination. Over centuries people have invented stories of all types and dimensions. From dragons to the “fake” moon landing, from the Masons behind every political conspiracy to the Jews trying to control the world, there have been complex stories that try to indict entire peoples or nations with all kinds of atrocities. One of the most famous is the “black legend” (or leyenda negra), according to which Spain has been the culprit for everything bad that happened in the western hemisphere for centuries.

As Alfredo Alvar …

Uncertain Futures For Private Colleges, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

Although we hear a lot about problems at public colleges and universities – budget cuts, enrollment issues, political interference – private colleges also have their share of concerns.

Of the more than 4,600 institutions of higher education in this country, a little more than 3,000 (almost two-thirds of the total) are private. Although there are a few exceptions, they tend to be small, at around 2,000 students or fewer.Yet they represent a significant number of the overall number colleges and universities. Obviously not all are created equal. Some of them have large endowments and can a word to be very …

Trade Wars Are Bad For Higher Ed, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

In the last few weeks we have heard a lot about trade wars (taking place or looming) between the U.S. and virtually every economically important nation in the world. This is surprising in today’s world where the tendency has been over the past few decades to eliminate trade barriers.

Mainstream economists have pointed out for years the benefits of free trade: international economic growth, improved financial performance of investments, lowered business risks, more competition that lowers prices while increasing choices for the consumers, and diversification of revenues. Although there are some risks associated with free trade, such as the environmental …

Justice Kennedy’S Exit And Higher Ed, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

The recent announcement of the July 1 retirement of Associate Justice to the U.S. Supreme Court Anthony M. Kennedy has already created a political storm about many issues ranging from reproductive rights to LGBTQ issues. What effects can we expect on higher education from his departure and the potential appointment of a new justice by President Trump? Plenty. Let’s begin by examining those decisions in which Kennedy participated that directly affected colleges and universities.

Project-Based Curriculum As A Guide For The Re-Sequencing Of Discipline-Specific Statistics Courses, Veronica Fruiht

Psychology | Faculty Presentations

In discipline-specific statistics courses the pedagogical challenges of providing conceptual statistics training are compounded as students lack the background in mathematics necessary for understanding probability and fail to see the applicability of statistics to their field. To address these challenges, a statistics course targeted for health and behavioral science students was redeveloped utilizing a project-based curriculum. Per the American Statistical Association’s call for increased integration of technology, real data, and conceptually-focused active learning in introductory statistics, students interacted with real data to learn concepts necessary to answer discipline related questions. Because topics in the course were re-sequenced to be more …

Project Summary: Mapping International Refugee Access To Higher Education, Melody Viczko Dr, Marie-Agnès Détourbe Dr, Shannon Mckechnie

Education Publications

There are approximately 25 million refugees around the world, and over half of this 25 million are under the age of 25. While many refugees hold strong aspirations to attend higher education, about 3% of refugees have access due to political, social and economic challenges. The challenge is how to understand, support, and develop successful greater access to higher education for refugees.

Making ‘The Ask’ To Internal Stakeholders: The Influence Of Organizational Identification On University Faculty And Staff Giving, Lora Haley Ashley

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this study was to explore faculty/staff identification with their employing university and how that, in turn, may influence their decision to financially support the institution, or not. This study employed a case study approach and a mixed methods research design utilizing both qualitative and quantitative data. An online survey using Cheney’s (1982) Organizational Identification Questionnaire measured faculty/staff members’ identification with the organization and with their specific departments. The survey also collected data on faculty/staff past charitable giving. Following the survey, qualitative focus groups and interviews were conducted with faculty/staff members to explore what factors contributed to their …

Higher Education And Immigration, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

In the latest scandal-du-jour of the Trump administration, the policy of separating children from their parents at the border with Mexico has brought widespread condemnation not only across the political spectrum but also across society. Religious, business, and civic leaders have also raised their voices and the Trump Administration backed down from this policy, although it is not clear what it is going to happen to the children who have already been separated from their families and dispersed across the country. But how has higher education responded to this crisis? In many interesting ways.

In unusual responses, leaders of both …

A Philosophical Inquiry Into The Role Of Universities In American Democratic Society, Justin W. Taylor

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The infusion of market-logic has undermined American universities as democratic institutions. This issue was examined through an analysis of what role universities play in democratic governance. As a philosophical inquiry, the data were seminal texts from political science, education, and philosophy, such as those by Alexis de Tocqueville, John Dewey, and Henry Giroux. The most salient theme unveiled by this study was how central universities are to functional democracy, both as key fixtures and critics. However, universities have adopted market-logic ideologies, which inhibit universities’ abilities to function as democratic institutions. The study concludes by calling for a reinvigoration of the …

The Problem Of Sexual Harassment, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

In the last few months, the media have been inundated with news about sexual harassment of women. The cases with the most notoriety have been those of celebrities or associated with the entertaining industry, but they have not been the only ones. This attention to the issue has generated what is called the “Me Too Movement” (or “MeToo”). With sexual harassment and assault occurring in every segment of society, it is important to ask how this issue is seen on college campuses, which have been accused of too much “political correctness” in the past.

A new study published last week …

Not All College Faculty Are Equal, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

Despite the fact that college faculty seem to lead very public lives because they show up in front of audiences on a regular basis, the fact of the matter is that most people – even faculty themselves –don’t know how much time they spend doing the different aspects of their jobs. A new study helps us better understand faculty by grouping them according to the way they spend their time.

A team of researchers from the Center for Postsecondary Research at Indiana University at Bloomington just published a report based on the analyses of responses to the center’s survey of …

Employee Perceptions Of Succession Planning Within Higher Education: A Qualitative Case Study, Matthew Swanson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Higher education institutions provide programs and services in support of personal, professional, and community development. The positive impact of higher education is threatened by the imminent departures of experienced employees responsible for implementing institutional programs and services. Research suggests succession planning assists organizations in responding to the potential departures of experienced employees while successfully serving stakeholders, yet a majority of higher education institutions do not possess adequate succession planning programs. Employee perceptions are essential to developing and evaluating programs, however, there is currently a lack of available insight into employee perceptions pertaining to succession planning within the field of higher …

Authoritarians Don’T Like Higher Ed, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

History is always a good source to help us understand today’s problems and tomorrow’s challenges. In the last few years we have been witnessing mounting attacks on higher education. Detractors contest its value, accuse it of brainwashing people, and call it a waste of taxpayers’ money. And all this is taking place in an environment in which facts are distorted, people seem less educated about reality, and ideological leanings are more important than critical thinking. In other words, a world that seems to be moving more and more towards mediocrity and authoritarian-ism. Are there historical precedents to what we are …

For-Profit Colleges Impact Democracy, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

The for-profit sector of higher education in this country has accumulated a long list of denunciations in its relatively short history. Those admonitions range from low quality education, much higher cost (including when com- pared with private, non-profit schools), generating a long-time debt burden for their users, deceptive advertising, and stigma when trying to get a job while saying that you graduated from one of those schools.

In their defense, these institutions say that they provide opportunities for people who do not havethe minimum qualifications to enter most public institutions or because of their work schedule they can only go …

Iran Deal Will Impact Higher Ed, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

On May 8, President Donald Trump announced that the United States was pulling out of the 2015 deal with Iran and other countries to limit the Iranian nuclear program. This deal was designed to slow anddelay Iran’s efforts to build anuclear weapon by lifting economic sanctions on that country in exchange for a number of actions aimed at shutting downits uranium enrichment e ortsand related programs.

The decision by the Trump Administration seems to have been prompted more by demagoguery and hatred towards anything President Barack Obama did, than by reason. In fact, America’s European allies tried everything in their …

College Readiness, Student Expectations And Sucess: The Role Of Non-Cognitive Skills, Malachi Nichols, Julie R. Trivitt, Gema Zamarro

Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications

Attending college is a significant human capital investment but only about 56% of those who start college will have a completed degree 6 years later. This makes identifying which skills are associated with college success an important policy concern. We surveyed over 1,100 entering college freshmen, majoring in business and engineering at a public university in the US, and combined this information with administrative data to create a comprehensive data set that, in addition to the usual academic performance data, cognitive ability measures, and demographics, also included measures of non-cognitive skills, personality traits, and student expectations about college success. With …

A Catch-22 For Illinois Higher Ed, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

The 1951 novel “Catch-22” byJoseph Heller describes its own title as a situation from which you cannot escape because of contradictory rules, such as “How am I supposed to gain experience to get a job if I’m constantly turned down for not having any experience?” The troubles for public higher edu- cation in Illinois, which have attracted much national atten- tion, seem to be a clear example of a Catch-22 situation. And it seems that the last few weeks have been nothing but full of bad news for Illinois higher ed.

First, we have the case report- ed by “The …

Swosu One Hundred And Fourteenth Annual Spring Convocation, Southwestern Oklahoma State University

Graduation Programs

This is the program for the SWOSU One Hundred and Fourteenth Annual Spring Convocation Exercises, held at the Pioneer Cellular Events Center on Saturday, May 5, 2018, at 10:00 am., 12:00 pm, and 2:00 pm. Opening Remarks were presented by President Randy L. Beutler.

Alaska Native Scholars: A Mixed Methods Investigation Of Factors Influencing Phd Attainment, Alberta J. Jones

Woodring Scholarship on Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion

This study entitled, "Alaska Native Scholars: A Mixed Methods Investigation of Factors Influencing PhD Attainment," investigates the contributing factors influencing the attainment of PhD degrees by Alaska Natives. Originating from a cross-section of rural and urban Alaska communities and tribal ethnicities, this group of scholars attended graduate schools throughout the country. Today many of these PhDs work in universities, conduct research, and advocate for Indigenous people in various leadership roles, both in and outside of Alaska. This study's assumption is these PhD graduates have gained valuable lessons along their path to success and an examination of these factors is relevant …

Women's Gender Identities And Ncaa Policy, Lauren E. Kelba

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

Since the implementation of Title IX in 1972 and resulting inclusion of women within NCAA intercollegiate athletic programs, participation numbers have increased dramatically at the post-secondary level (Miller, Heinrich, & Baker, 2000). With participation numbers increasing, the NCAA has developed a number of policies and regulations, including published policies and recommendations for practice in regards to gender equity and inclusion. These publications include Equity and Title IX in Intercollegiate Athletics, Gender Equity Planning Best Practices, and the NCAA Inclusion of Transgender Student-Athletes. With these policies, the NCAA has made efforts to improve the experiences of those who have marginalized gender …

The Impact Of Mentoring On Life Science Undergraduate Mentors, Kari Nelson

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Universities are increasingly encouraging their undergraduates to become mentors to others, yet relatively little research has been done to empirically understand the impact of this work on the mentors themselves. Therefore, the overall goals of this work were: (1) To evaluate the types of studies that have been conducted on the impacts of serving as an undergraduate mentor; (2) To examine the methodological rigor of recent studies and make recommendations for improvement; and (3) To asses if serving as an undergraduate mentor impacted the critical thinking of the mentors, using a valid and reliable instrument, the California Critical Thinking Skills …