Social Work Commons^™

Goal Setting And Student Retention, Hugh Castillo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Student retention has been a problem with which higher education institutions must face. Institutions have employed numerous different programs and services to improve student retention. This study sought to open up a new way to improve student retention by utilizing a goal-setting intervention that focused on creating SMART goals for student areas of weaknesses. This study employed the use of a quasi-experimental interrupted time series to better understand how goal-setting interventions could impact the participant attitudes correlated to retention. It was shown that goal-setting interventions had no significant impact on likelihood of retention but did exhibit improvement in client engagement …

An Exploratory Descriptive Study Of The Bridge Scholars Program At A Private, Faith-Based University, Susan Lewis King

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

An exploratory descriptive study was completed regarding the Bridge Scholars program in a private, faith-based university setting. The program was described as bridge because it was created to be a flexible consideration in the student admissions process, as the required metrics for admittance were modified for students that would not have otherwise been admitted to the university. Admitted provisionally, these students had to earn a 2.5 GPA or above before they were considered fully assimilated students. This admissions exception has been in place since 2016, when the program was initiated.

Three student cohorts were analyzed with particular emphasis on academic …

Thriving On A Faith-Based Campus: An Exploratory Study On Sense Of Belonging, Spirituality, And The Student Experience For Students Of Color, Hannah Felice

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

While enrollment for students of color has increased by nearly 15% over the past 20 years, universities have struggled to retain and graduate students of color in comparison to their White peers, including Christian universities. Looking to foster success for all students, higher education has sought to better understand the factors that impact student retention and graduation, particularly for students of color. Thriving has been shown as an effective metric for understanding the student experience through a more holistic framework as it pertains to the student success. The purpose of this study is to explore the concept of thriving as …