Education Commons^™

Environmental Change And Adaptation In Kentucky Emerging Research Institution Sponsored Programs Offices: A Multiple Case Study, Scott Niles

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

The decline in funding allocations to state-supported institutions of higher education (IHEs) in Kentucky has compelled these universities to secure alternate forms of funding to support their capacity to meet public expectations. These other funding streams include increasing enrollment numbers, securing philanthropic support, and acquiring sponsored funding for research projects and programs. While smaller statesupported IHEs face resource and credibility challenges in their pursuit to expand external funding activity, these Emerging Research Institutions (ERIs) continue to strategically bolster their respective research enterprises amid shrinking budgets and increased competition for external funds. Research administration offices are the institutional units responsible for …

How University Department Heads Have Encountered And Overcome Adaptive Challenges In Student Persistence: An Application Of Critical Incident Technique, Kevin L. Flora

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

In the United States, the average attrition rate from freshmen to sophomore year for a 4-year university is 21.7%. After freshmen year, the dropout rate raises to 41% before graduation (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2014). As an administrative appointment, the department head is in a unique position to work with the university and college-level executives to lead faculty in better student persistence efforts. However scholarly inquiry on the relation of student persistence and department heads is lacking. Gmelch (2004) says “academic leaders may be the least studied and most misunderstood management position in the world” (p. 74).

The purpose …