Education Commons^™

Higher Education Has Had Better Years, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

We are all familiar with the maladies that have affected higher education over the past few years: budget cuts, enroll- ment declines, bad press, etc. But was there anything that made things particularly worse in 2017? Plenty.

The bad news started with reports of increasing censorship and intimidation exercised upon college newspapers. We saw it happening on the campuses of Mt. Saint Mary’s University in Maryland, Northern Michigan University and Wesleyan University in Connecticut. The University of Kentucky’s campus newspaper was sued by the university, and at Brandeis University in Massachusetts, three staff members on “The Justice,” the student newspaper, …

The New Tax Law’S Impact On Higher Ed, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

“The power to tax is the power to destroy,” said the fourth Chief Justice of the United States, John Marshall. When one looks at the new tax code produced by the U.S. Congress, we can see how this quote rings a bell of authenticity when it comes to higher education.

Since the latest changes in the U.S. tax code were first proposed, it was clear that higher education was going to be one of the targets of Republicans in Congress. The overall objectives of these changes were to get the money needed to pay for huge tax cuts to benefit …

Higher Education As A Development Tool: An Impact Assessment In Dzaleka Malawi, Emily Golike

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study is to determine the efficacy of accredited online diploma programs within refugee camps. When individuals are confined to camps and unable to work and travel in search of economic opportunity, does completing an accredited diploma program improve their quality of life and contribute to their human capital? Can higher education in refugee camps produce sustainable social service projects that benefit residents? There is a demonstrated value in a liberal arts education, but which aspects of this learning schema are most beneficial in the refugee camp context have yet to be explored.

The study conducted in …

The War On Science Grows Deeper, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

In 2005, journalist Chris Mooney pub- lished a book titled “The Republican War on Science,” which documented the persistent tendency among many conservatives to reject any science that runs contrary to their ideological principles, whether it is climate science, evolutionary biology, or health-related findings that challenge industry interests.

Since then, things have gone worse in cases that remind us of the evilest experiences from recent authoritarian regimes.

Assault On Peer Review A New Threat, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

On October 17, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) introduced to the Senate U.S. Committee of Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs a bill titled “BASIC Research Act.” This apparent innocent title covers the real intention of this legislation – an attempt to defund basic research and make it subject to partisan politics. This legislation would change the way grant proposals are evaluated by all federal agencies, from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). These and other federal agencies are the main funders of scholarly work in higher education …

When Institutions Of Higher Ed Fail, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

Some may think that the only sign of a college or university failing is when it closes. And that has certainly happened to some small, private colleges that have gone bankrupt in the last few years. Yet, failure has many faces and comes in many degrees.

We can say that colleges and universities fail when the quality of education they offer is not rigorous, regard- less of what some regulatory agencies might say. Or when they promise to prepare students for jobs that no longer exist. Luring new students based on rankings, amenities, and other forms of non-academic qualities is …

Strategic Restructuring In Higher Education: A Case Study Of A Consolidation Of Two Institutions, Claudia D. Lyerly

Theses and Dissertations

This in-depth single case study examined the implementation process utilized for the consolidation of two public institutions and the participants’ perceptions five years post-consolidation of the extent to which the original expected outcomes of the consolidation have been achieved. The names of the institutions and participants involved in this case study have been replaced with pseudonyms. The case study adopted both qualitative and quantitative research methods, with the qualitative method having more dominance throughout the study. Three primary sources of data were used: semi-structured interviews, document analysis, and field notes. The data collected from all three sources were coded, analyzed …

How The Collective Impact Model Can Help Hispanic Students In East Tennessee Excel In Higher Education, Edwin Soto

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research project focuses on helping Hispanic students in the East Tennessee region excel in higher education with existing resources from various organizations. Hispanic high school students were identified to complete a survey. Findings showed that these students are facing legal, financial and social challenges when thinking about higher education. Even though these students are facing these challenges, they still want to pursue higher education in order to make a positive impact in their communities. The collective impact idea is proposed as part of the solution for this social complex problem. Since it is impossible for an individual to solve …

A Path Analysis Exploration Of Teacher’S Effect, Self-Efficacy, Demographic Factors, And Attitudes Toward Mathematics Among College Students Attending S Minority Serving Institution In Face-To-Face And Hybrid Mathematics Courses, Nelson De La Rosa

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Graduation rates in colleges and universities have not kept up with the increase in enrollment. Lack of mathematics competence is a factor that impairs students from completing higher education studies. This problem is even more pervasive in minority groups. The existing body of research on mathematics education have not favored emerging minority populations in terms of addressing their needs for academic program completion across mode of instruction.

The study analyzed the relationship between type of instruction and the factors underlying students’ attitudes toward mathematics. Further, this study examined the effect of factors underlying the constructs of teacher’s effect and self-efficacy …

Paradise Lost For Higher Education, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

One of the most famous poems in English literature is “Paradise Lost” by the British writer John Milton. Originally published in 1667, it deals with the biblical story of the temptation of Adam and Eve by Satan and their expulsion from the garden of Eden.

On November 5, the German newspaper Südeutsche Zeitung revealed a trove of leaked documents from the Bermuda- based law firm Appelby. Those documents show that a large number of individuals – from Queen Elizabeth II to U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, and companies from Apple to Nike – were using what is commonly called “fiscal …

Twice-Exceptional College Students Identified As Gifted And Diagnosed With Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Comparative Case Study, Connie J. Tagtmeyer

Individual, Family, and Community Education ETDs

This comparative case study investigated the college experiences of twice-exceptional college students identified as gifted and diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (GTASD). Increasing numbers of students with ASD are entering universities (NCES, 2008; Shattuck et al., 2012) making the identification of supports for their academic success imperative. However, little is known about their college experiences and their challenges in transitioning to higher education settings. This study examined the college experience from the perspective of the GTASD college student. Based on ecological systems theory, five cases were designed that included ten participants. Each of the five cases contained one GTASD college …

Examining The Relationships Between Gender Role Congruity, Identity, And The Choice To Persist For Women In Undergraduate Physics Majors, Bronwen Bares Pelaez

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Persistent gender disparity limits the available contributors to advancing some science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. While higher education can be an influential time-point for ensuring adequate participation, many physics programs across the U.S. have few women in classroom or lab settings. Prior research indicates that these women face considerable barriers. For university students, faculty, and administration to appropriately address these issues, it is important to understand the experiences of women as they navigate male-dominated STEM fields.

This explanatory sequential mixed methods study explored undergraduate female physics majors’ experiences with their male-dominated academic and research spaces in the U.S. …

Making College Presidents More Visible, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

Last week I wrote in this column about the issue of the increasing gap between administrators (mainly presidents) and the faculty. This is an issue that has been going on for decades and does not seem to be resolving by itself. How many institutions of higher education can succeed when their leaders are seen as “missing in action” because they seem to be out of touch with reality?

Presidents of institutions of higher education have been the focus of numerous books, yet their roles are not well understood. That is the result of the sheer number of colleges and universities …

Mills Teaches The Current State Of Journalism, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

“I don’t want to say that I was ahead of my time, but my instincts just ran that way. To its credit, City College of New York accommodated me as best it could.” That’s how Professor Joshua Mills explains the way his alma mater allowed him to take a variety of courses outside the usual track of any major. He later was awarded a bachelor’s degree in political science and another in history.

That would not be the only change in career interests for this native of the Bronx. He went on to receive a master’s degree in English from …

Machine Intelligence And Higher Education, Andy Wang

ASA Multidisciplinary Research Symposium

What will Applied Sciences and Arts curriculum look like at the end of the 21st century? How are we going to teach 50 years later? What impact and implication of machine intelligence to higher education?

Access Denied: Ending The Exclusion Of Disabled Students From Media Production Courses In Higher Education, Jayne Cubbage

Journal of Media Literacy Education

As the acceptance of media literacy increases among educators, media producers and consumers, one group is often missing from the dialogue—persons with disabilities. This absence is witnessed in the marginalized media depictions of the disabled. To gain entry into the media professions, some form of higher education is required. Using muted group theory as a backdrop, this work, a narrative analysis of the author’s experience with students with disabilities in media production courses, explores the de facto exclusion of persons with disabilities in such classes, due to the poorly outfitted and non-compliant nature of audio and video production facilities.

A Nice Place To Live And Work: A Mixed-Methods Case Study Of A Residential Life Living-Learning Community And Employment Model At A Top-Tier Midwestern University, Justin Paul Linsenmeyer

Dissertations

Colleges and universities worldwide are competing with one another to provide undergraduate students with top-tier learning experiences to increase and retain enrollment. Many institutions are developing living-learning communities to maximize non-academic learning, promote social development, and facilitate interactions among students, faculty, and staff. This study was a mixed-methods, single case study of a living-learning program at a top-tier, Midwestern university. The purpose of this study was twofold: to explore the effectiveness of an undergraduate residential living-learning community at a top-tier university in regards to student satisfaction and interaction, and to investigate elements of staff job satisfaction and long-term retention of …

The Gap Between Faculty, Presidents, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

Conflicts between faculty and adminis- trators are not uncommon. In some cases, they escalate to the point in which faculty cast a vote of “no confidence,” usually against the president or chancellor of the institution. This action places the boards of trustees in the difficult position of either publicly backing or firing the chief execu- tive officer of the college. But why does this happen?

To understand these conflicts, we must take a look of how the role of the president in American universities has evolved over time.

Higher Education In Algeria: Achievements And Challenges- 1963 To 2017, Fatima Bouchikhi, Barka Zine

UBT International Conference

This paper is based on the case study of the higher education sector in Algeria. Around the world higher education is under pressure to change. It is growing fast and its contribution to economic growth is vital. Universities are mainly expected to create knowledge; improve equity among population; and respond to students. Furthermore, it has been largely documented that in developing countries, higher education is recognized as a key force for modernization and development. Consequently, this has caused an increase in the demand for its access, accompanied by several challenges: students are asking more and more for quality education and …

Tribalism Is Consuming The World, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

There is a ghost wandering countries, societies, and even the halls of academia. It is the ghost of tribalism and that ghost is as old as the dawn of the human species.

One of the defining characteristics of people around the world, is to group ourselves for our own ben- efit. Since before any civilization could be described as such, we bound together to defend ourselves from other humans, for cooperating to seek food, to build our shelters, and many more things. That is why we fought wars, conquered territories, subjugate others, and developed characteristics that define ourselves based on …

The Many Faces Of Diversity, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

Diversity and inclusion has been a hot topic

in academia for a long time. Yet, despite many

discussions on this issue and legal battles,

statistics show that we are far from achieving

success when it comes to recruiting and retaining

diverse faculty in institutions of higher education,

particularly when it comes to gender and race.

This panel is aimed at proposing best practices

based on the experiences of the panelists.

Sharing of other experiences by the audience

will be encouraged so we can put together a

document that can be used by ICFAD members

to improve their chances for success …

Lawyers Have Two Approaches To Higher Ed, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

After decades of a culture of social isolationism, we see how colleges and universities have gradu- ally become the battlegrounds of national issues such as race, religion, sexual assault, gun control and free speech. Over the last 50 years more than 120 cases related in one way or another to higher education have been heard by the U.S. Supreme Court. Hundreds of other cases have been filed, only for the justices to deny hearing them.

However, most colleges and universities are not well prepared to deal with litigation. For one thing institutions of higher education have had for decades a …

Helpers And Heroes, Hurdles And Highs: A Humanistic Autoethnographical Reflection On Working Class Student Experiences, Willey A. B. Dow

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This research sought to answer the question of what helps working class university students at risk of withdrawal graduate from their program. An autoethnographic method was employed to systematically analyze my story, one of being a working class person navigating the higher educational system, compare the results to existing psychological research, and generate new themes, and ideas in the hope of ameliorating the experience, and increasing the likelihood of success for others. Themes, conclusions and implications for students were presented.

Civility Needs To Return To Higher Education, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

According to The Institute for Civility in Government, civility is “about more than just polite- ness, although politeness is a necessary first step. It is about disagreeing without disrespect, seeking com- mon ground as a starting point for dialogue about differences, listening past one’s preconceptions, and teaching others to do the same.”

If we go by current events in academia it seems that civility has all but been lost. We see students actively impeding or shouting out at outside speakers just because those guests do not adhere to a particular “party line,” a pure version of a particular ideology, or …

Administrative Costs Of Colleges Can Be Controlled, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

Higher education is being attacked for many things from many different quarters. From the political spectrum, we hear things that colleges and univer- sities are “too liberal” or teach “useless things.” Those perceptions, paired with increasing calls for accountability, have generated a series of both fed- eral and state laws calling for more oversight of the operations of these institutions, ranging from where students sleep when going off campus on university business to how to assign textbooks to students.

This increased oversight, in turn, has created more administrative burden on colleges and universities, requiring them to spend more time, effort, …

Let My People In: A Comparative Study Of Diversity Rhetoric To Reality In Institutions Of Higher Education, Darvelle Hutchins

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Due to longstanding structures that have failed to provide an academic climate that is inclusive of the many dimensions of difference that exist among all people, institutions of higher education are under increased pressure to not only communicate but to live out a commitment to diversity as a means for business survival. By conducting this two-step research study at one private, Midwestern university, I examined the extent to which Black faculty members identified with their institutional rhetoric on diversity. In the first step, I completed a rhetorical analysis on four official texts to fully understand the extent to which Saint …

Supporting Students With Disabilities In Catholic Elementary And Secondary Schools: A Catholic Higher Education Perspective, Michael Boyle

Education: School of Education Faculty Publications and Other Works

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Substance Use On The Prevalence Of Sexual Misconduct At Institutions In The Midwest, Jerilyn Jean Reed

Dissertations

Sexual assault has been an issue facing institutions of higher education for many years (Office of Civil Rights, 2011). Alcohol plays a role in both who have been victims of sexual assault and who have perpetrated the crime of sexual assault (Crawford, Wright, & Birchmeier, 2008). The purpose of this study was to look at sexual misconduct at institutions of higher education and to determine if substance use, such as alcohol or drugs, is a factor in the incidence of sexual misconduct happening to students on college campuses. The quantitative data section of the study reviewed three years of data …

What Changes To Title Ix Mean For Higher Education, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

The fight for civil rights in this country has a long history. It became particularly notable in the 1960s with the passage of The Civil Rights Act of 1964. Yet, such a law did not include any prohibition against gender discrimination in public education and federally assisted programs. After some legislative battles, Indiana Democratic Sen. Birch Bayh proposed in 1971 a provision that would eventually become Title IX within the Higher Education Act of 1965 and was signed into law by President Nixon in 1972. In the words of Bayh, this provision would provide “an equal chance (for women) to …

Online Education Is Faulty And Needs Reform, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

Online courses have become very popular – and very controversial – for many reasons. In the fall of 2014 there were 5.8 million students taking online courses, with 2.85 million taking all of their courses online. Originally being offered by for-profit institutions, now a number of public colleges and universities are offering them under a number of premises, such as making higher education more accessible, the belief that offering on-line courses is cheaper than in person and that they provide an easier way to learn.

Yet, it has been the common wisdom that students consistently perform worse in an online …