Higher Education Commons^™

Self-Perception Of Gender Influence On Leadership In Two-Year, Public Institutions Of Higher Education, Kimberley Turner-Rush

Culminating Projects in Higher Education Administration

This quantitative cross-sectional study examines the way in which leaders of two-year, public institutions perceive their gender identification influences the way they are able to demonstrate leadership traits. The study is founded in social identity theory, first introduced in 1979 by Tajfel, which helps to evaluate whether members of a group (leaders) assimilate to specific traits in order to be accepted and valued by their peers. The findings show that overall leaders identifying as women and those identifying as men perceived no difference in how their gender identification impacts their ability to display specific leadership traits to supervisors, peers, or …

The Influence Of Campus Facilities On The Satisfaction And Retention Of Students In A Higher Education Setting, Tim Norton

Culminating Projects in Higher Education Administration

The goal of this quantitative study was to provide insight into the influence of facilities on satisfaction and retention of students in a single higher education setting, St. Cloud State University (SCSU). I used a survey research design with current undergraduate and graduate students to examine relationships among various aspects of facility design, student satisfaction, and student intention to persist to graduation. The survey was used to explore (a) the influence of specific campus facilities on students’ current level of satisfaction and intention to continue enrollment; (b) specific types of facilities most affecting student choice and satisfaction; and (c) how …

Are We There Yet? Where Developmental Education Has Been And Where It Is Going: A Critical Discourse Analysis Of California’S Ab 705, Denise Kruizenga-Muro

Culminating Projects in Higher Education Administration

This critical discourse analysis was conducted to understand how the public entities in California higher education have redefined Assembly Bill (AB) 705, and, in the process, redefined California community college students and the community college mission statement. Current literature on AB 705 has been limited to success stories and data analyses and has been mostly funded by organizations with a stake in the successful implementation of the law. There are currently no studies of the language of the law and the documents that were written to translate the law into layperson’s language. This study used the methodology and methods of …

Narrative Study: The Impact Of Food Insecurity On Student Health And Persistence, Deborah Allen

Culminating Projects in Higher Education Administration

The current study collected and evaluated students’ firsthand stories to learn whether their stress from nutritional intake or lack thereof impacts students’ health, well-being, coursework, sense of belonging and mattering, and persistence. Additionally, this narrative study investigated students’ experiences with a college pantry on their campus. The students were invited to share personal narratives about their engagement with the campus food pantry and their feelings about any perceived effects of this institutional support in such areas as health, self-esteem, community support, academics, motivation, and future plans.

The research question presented in this study utilizing a qualitative narrative-inquiry approach was the …

Engagement Theory Based Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis Of Computer Science Students’ Perceptions Of Their Learning Engagement Using Mobile Devices, Aleksandar Tomović

Culminating Projects in Higher Education Administration

The use of mobile devices in the college classroom can enhance learning engagement, leading to enhanced learning outcomes. There is scant research on college student perceptions of learning engagement using mobile devices in the classroom. The purpose of this qualitative research was to explores upper-class undergraduate computer science college students’ perceptions about their use of mobile devices in the classroom. Research questions were designed to explore how college students believe their classroom engagement is impacted by mobile device technology use. The theory of engagement, including intellectual, social, and behavioral components, served as the theoretical framework. This research applies interpretative phenomenological …

Perspectives From Female Athletic Trainers In Men's Professional Sports: How Their Athletic Training Programs Set Them Up For Success, Caitlyn Champ

Culminating Projects in Higher Education Administration

Female athletic trainers working in male professional sports are represented at a number strongly disproportionate to the number of female athletic trainers making up the profession. This research study works to focus on how athletic training education programs (ATP) have successfully set up the female athletic trainers who have made it to professional sports. The goal was to focus on what these education programs were doing to set their students apart from other athletic training programs. Three female athletic trainers currently working in male professional sports were interviewed for this qualitative research study by utilizing semi-structured interviewing. The data was …

Faculty Advisors' Development Of Academic Advising Knowledge And Competencies, Elizabeth M. Twiton

Culminating Projects in Higher Education Administration

Academic advising is widely touted as essential to retention and student success. Faculty members have advising responsibilities at a majority of colleges and universities. Faculty members typically receive little or no preparation for advising through their graduate education, and advising training for newly hired faculty members is often limited. This interpretive qualitative study explored the experiences of faculty members in developing academic advising knowledge and competencies using the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) Academic Advising Core Competencies Model (NACADA, 2017a) as a conceptual framework. Using a semi-structured interview format, I interviewed eight faculty advisors at a mid-sized, public, four-year university. …

The Minnesota Alliance For Nursing Education: A Case Study, Faith Johnson

Culminating Projects in Higher Education Administration

The purpose of this case study is to tell the story of the Minnesota Alliance for Nursing Education (MANE), a grassroots innovation in nursing education. Specifically, I interviewed fourteen nurse educators who had experience on at least one of the four work teams. Using Yin’s (2014) work as a guideline, I asked the participants why they committed to becoming involved in this collaborative curriculum and how they worked to create and implement the curriculum between community colleges and a university partner. I used Kezar and Lester’s (2011) grassroots leadership model as a theoretical framework to guide my research. From this …

Reluctance Toward Online Teaching, Sally Dufner

Culminating Projects in Higher Education Administration

Online education has become a staple in the American higher education system. A shortage of qualified and motivated online instructors exists as online learning demand increases. The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify why faculty members are not motivated to teach online courses. This study sought to answer the following three questions: (1) Why are faculty members not participating in online instruction? (2) What incentives, if any, are likely to motivate non-participating instructors to adopt online instruction? and (3) What are the differences in perceptions regarding online instruction between faculty members who had been asked or had an …

Q & A / Closing Remarks, King Banaian

SCSU Data-Informed Symposium

Wrap-up of the symposium.

Enrollment In A Time Of Turbulence: Understanding Key Market Forces Redefining The Enrollment-Management Change, Caroline Painter, Anika Olsen

SCSU Data-Informed Symposium

EAB is a firm that provides best practices research and data-driven solutions for enrollment management, student success, and operational efficiencies to generate academic program revenues. This presentation discusses the five challenges facing higher education recruitment, enrollment, and retention and how EAB may be able to assist St Cloud State University address these challenges.

Lunch On Your Own, Strategic Enrollment Management

SCSU Data-Informed Symposium

Lunch break.

Welcoming Remarks, King Banaian, Robbyn Wacker, Annesa Cheek

SCSU Data-Informed Symposium

Welcoming remarks to open the symposium.

Enrollment In A Time Of Turbulence: Understanding Key Market Forces Redefining The Enrollment-Management Change, Caroline Painter, Anika Olsen

SCSU Data-Informed Symposium

EAB is a firm that helps colleges and universities improve enrollment and retention through best practices research and data analytics. In this presentation Painter and Olsen present the five key market forces that are forcing higher education institutions to change how they do business.

An Interpretive Phenomenological Study Of How Rn To Bs Students Experience And Make Meaning Of Participating In A Poverty Simulation, Carrie Mcnamer

Culminating Projects in Higher Education Administration

The purpose of this research was to explore the lived experience of nursing students as they participated in, and reflected upon, a poverty simulation using the techniques of interpretive phenomenology. Eight registered nurses enrolled in a bachelor’s degree completion program were interviewed about their experience including the ways they made meaning of new information and whether or not it influenced their perspective on providing culturally competent patient care. The theoretical framework consisted of the constructivist learning theory and Campinha-Bacote’s Development of Cultural Competence in Healthcare theory. Data were analyzed according to van Manen’s six steps to guide phenomenological research. Three …

Healthcare Student Collegiate Honors Decision-Making: A Grounded Theory, Brenda Frie

Culminating Projects in Higher Education Administration

This qualitative study explored high aptitude healthcare students’ decision-making surrounding collegiate honors program participation. The topic of decision-making was relevant; according the National Collegiate Honors Council (2014-2015) the mean four-year honors program completion rate is less than 50% . The primary research question explored how students’ values, knowledge, and experiences influenced decisions to participate in a collegiate honors program. Twenty-five students’ were interviewed representing ten different healthcare professions. The transcribed narratives were analyzed using a constructivist grounded theory method. The result was a model, grounded in the data, which identified the factors associated with decisions to join, decline or drop …

Students' Performance On Institutional Learning Outcomes, Cheryl R. Norman

Culminating Projects in Higher Education Administration

In response to increased attention within higher education to develop essential learning outcomes, faculty and administrators have worked to measure students’ performance in relation to these outcomes. Students’ learning is often measured through standardized tests or students’ perception of their learning, rather than authentic learning that is connected to the curriculum. This study incorporated results from one institution’s involvement in the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) project to assess learning outcomes using the Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education (VALUE) rubrics. The learning outcomes assessed included critical thinking, quantitative literacy, and written communication. The purpose of this …

International Students Adjustment To College: The Relationships Between Adjustment, Background Characteristics And Student Success, Ghulam Yahya Ahmadi

Culminating Projects in Higher Education Administration

Abstract

This quantitative study examined the relationships between international students’ background characteristics, adjustment to college and academic success in the United States. An online survey questionnaire was sent to all graduate and undergraduate degree-seeking international students (935 students) studying in Saint Cloud State University in the spring semester 2016 and 149 (nearly 16%) completed questionnaires were returned. The data was collected using a modified version of Student Adjustment to College Questionnaire developed by Gomez et al. (2014). Independent sample t-test and one-way ANOVA tests were used to study the relationship between students’ background characteristics and five adjustment sub-scales. Multiple …

The Development Of Critical Thinking Skills In Undergraduate Students, Karla J. Saeger

Culminating Projects in Higher Education Administration

This quantitative study investigated whether alternative instructional approaches to develop critical thinking, exemplified by different general education requirements in two different Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) institutions, impacted the development of critical thinking skills among undergraduate students. This study is framed by Ennis’s classification of general, infused, immersed, and mixed instructional approaches.

St. Cloud State University and Winona State University, two MnSCU institutions, share a collective definition of critical thinking and a common goal of developing critical thinking in undergraduate students. St. Cloud State University and Winona State University do, however, differ in approaches to fulfilling the goal area …

Past, Present, Future: Times Of Change For Continuing Education Units In Higher Education Institutions, Gail M. Ruhland

Culminating Projects in Higher Education Administration

This is a qualitative multiple case study that analyzes and compares the purpose, roles, and drivers of change for continuing education divisions in public, four-year, post baccalaureate, comprehensive higher education institutions in the United States. The research stems from a historical standpoint. This study also examined processes carried out by continuing education leadership to demonstrate quality and accountability to their higher education institutions. This investigation focuses on the distinctive drivers that have triggered and influenced changes in continuing education units within higher education institutions.

The findings from this study illuminated areas in need of development and enhancement of continuing education …

Effects Of Gender On The Career Aspirations Of Administrators In The Minnesota State Colleges And Universities System, Christine C. Lepkowski

Culminating Projects in Higher Education Administration

A recent national survey found women hold only 23% of higher education institution presidencies (American Council on Education, 2007). However, women now earn 58% of all bachelor’s degrees and 4% of all doctorates (U.S. Department of Education, 2005). These findings suggest something may be interfering with the pool of capable women moving through the pipeline to attain higher education administrative positions. Gender differences in career aspirations have been suggested as one potential reason for this disparity.

This study examined the career aspirations of women and men holding administrative positions of dean or higher (excluding presidents) within the institutions in the …