Student Counseling and Personnel Services Commons^™

Dying For Change: The Impact Of Awareness Prevention And Intervention On Graduate Assistant Stress, Marla Bruner

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

As challenges surrounding mental health and well-being in doctoral graduate students (GAs), continue to rise, it is imperative that higher education institutions evaluate the stressors that GAs experience, their awareness and use of campus resources for dealing with stressors, and the impact that additional resources and programming may have on stress. The research questions for this study sought to examine the stressors experienced by doctoral level graduate students working in GA positions and their corresponding awareness and use of campus resources, and to determine what impact, if any, providing additional services, resources, and programming in had after a three-year implementation …

Being There For Your Students - Online Office & Office Hours, Emily Faulconer

Publications

Instructor presence personalizes the online learning experiences

• Persona – factors that build student’s impressions of you

• Social Presence – connections you foster

• Instructional Presence – how you guide students through learning

Planning Your Pathway Of Scholarly Influence & Impact, Emily Faulconer, Jeremy Ernst

Publications

The goal of this workshop is to encourage thinking about the broader context of research activities.

• Research Impact (journal and author bibliometrics)
• Scholarly Communication (altmetrics)
• Broader Impacts
• Professional specialists & practitioners
• Legislators and policymakers
• Economic benefits
• Tangible community benefits

The Submission & Review Gauntlet, Emily Faulconer

Publications

• Understand the manuscript submission process
• Explain why articles are rejected
• Develop a strategy to respond to reviewers
• Discuss options when rejected
• Optional: Practice working with reviewer feedback

Research And Publication Strategy, Emily Faulconer, Jeremy Ernst

Publications

Know the type of research you conduct.

• Applied
• Basic
• Descriptive
• Exploratory
• Explanatory

Listening To Their Voices: A Narrative On Campus Climate For Trans* Students, Cloe Bourdages

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact that campus climate has on trans* student academic and personal success. This qualitative study was explored through individual interviews by four participants. Participants discussed practices which enabled and inhibited their success; which lead to the finding of four themes: identity and validation, academic climate, climate outside of the classroom, and resources and services. Overall, a positive correlation in trans* student success was found when institutions use inclusive practices within their work. Lastly, the study provided implications for higher education recommended by both the participants and the researcher.

Preparing For Life After College: The Career Skills Learned By Resident Assistant Alumni, Kala Cousineau

Masters Theses

According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), there is a high value placed on college graduates who acquire skills that can be utilized to attain their professional goals (2015). On college campuses, the resident assistant (RA) role is one of the many opportunities the residence life department has that can help develop students and their career readiness (Peck, 2017). There is a lack of research looking at what transferable skills students in the resident assistant position acquire and then use in their careers post-graduation. This qualitative study utilized semi-structured interviews to explore what skills former RAs learned …

Advising Black Students And Anti-Oppressive Frameworks: A Systematic Review Of College Access And College Counseling Literature, Tenisha L. Tevis, Tiffany J. Davis, Stephanie R. Perez-Gill, Tori Amason

Journal of College Access

It is well known that Black students have higher expectations for attending college than their White and non-White peers, yet consistently lag behind in degree attainment. It is important then that practitioners use differentiated approaches with and researchers offer disaggregated analyses of historically underrepresented racial/ethnic minoritized populations in the college advising process. Doing so could reveal systemic barriers to achievement and advancement that are specific, in this instance, to Black students. Since the role and practice of college advising is (or at least should be) informed by the extant literature, then a systematic review is an ideal avenue for scholarly …

Black Male Collegiate Athletes’ Perceptions Of Their Career And Academic Preparation: A Mixed Methods Study, Jennifer R. Curry, Franklin A. Soares, Justin E. Maclin, Imre Csaszar

Journal of College Access

We employed a mixed methods approach with sequential explanatory design (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2017) and a Social Capital Theory framework (Bourdieu, 1977) to investigate three research questions: (1) In what ways were participants’ career and college readiness capital developed during high school? (2) How do participants view their academic and career growth and development prior to and after coming to college? (3) Who provided career and college development to participants in this study prior to their college entrance? Results revealed potential reasons why disparities existed between Black and White participants beginning in K-12 and continuing through college. Implications for …

Reflections From Gifted Students: A Qualitative Study Examining Social-Emotional Development In Relation To Social Justice-Oriented Citizenship, Margo A. Nauert

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Gifted students have unique social-emotional needs that are amplified through their heightened sensitivities or overexcitabilities. Common traits that gifted students exhibit in addition to their social-emotional needs are similar to those needed for the optimal level of citizenship, the justice-oriented citizen. This qualitative study asked a convenience sample of gifted students to reflect on their social-emotional development and overexcitabilities and how their gifted traits have begun to prepare them for justice-oriented citizenship.To gather data to be coded, nine incoming 7th grade students in a gifted program were recruited from a self-contained gifted program. These students participated in this study by …

Female Student Service Member’S Experiences With Higher Education And Military Transitions, Sophie Cieslicki

Masters Theses

This study explored the experiences of female student service members when transitioning between military-related and higher education responsibilities as well as their motivations for degree completion and campus resources they utilized. While the number of studies on female student service members is growing, research on this population is scarce. This study utilized a narrative qualitative approach to give female student service members a voice and platform to share their experiences and truths. Participants in this study have served at least one year in the United States Armed Forces and have completed at least one semester of college coursework. Participants were …

Examining The Relationship Between Acculturative Stress And Religion/Spirituality Among International Students, Ly'jerrick Ward

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between acculturative stress and religion/spirituality of international students. This study utilized Sandhu and Asrabadi’s (1994) Acculturative Stress Scale for International Students (ASSIS) as well as the Santa Clara Strength of Religious Faith Questionnaire (SCSORF) created by Plante and Boccaccini (1997). Much research exists on how international students adapt and acculturate to a host country. This research will add to the body of literature that exists regarding how international students use their religion/spirituality to deal with acculturative stress. Students in this study were asked a number of questions from the ASSIS …

The Impact Of Mentoring African Americans Males During Their Undergraduate Experience At Predominantly White Institutions, Michael D. Miller

Masters Theses

Mentoring is often described as a positively effective relationship socialized by a professor or faculty member that assists the student with academic and interpersonal endeavors (Lavant, Anderson, & Tiggs, 1997). Black males face many obstacles in higher education that limit their abilities to obtain resources such as mentorship. The purpose of the present qualitative study was to examine the impact of mentoring relationships for African American males enrolled at a predominately White university. This study sought to explore if mentoring had an impact on Black males, what effects does mentorship have, how they describe their mentoring relationships, and how satisfied …

An Exploration Of The Perception Of Faith Development At A Midwestern Public Institution, Zachary Sandoval

Masters Theses

Despite research indicating benefits to religious or faith involvement, there is an increase in individuals that claim to have no religious affiliation. Additionally, most research that has investigated faith development of college students has been conducted at private religious institutions. This qualitative study utilized semi-structured interviews to examine students’ perceptions of various interactions on their faith development at a public, rural Midwestern institution. Moreover, this study investigated how the institution of interest can better support spirituality on campus and the role student affairs can have on spiritual development. Thematic material was developed through Parks’s (2000) theory of faith development. Results …

Deployments To Diplomas: An Examination Of Academic Motivation Among Military Dependents Using Self-Determination Theory, Meagan C. Arrastia-Chisholm, Samantha Tackett, Kelly Torres, Khushbu Patel, Jacob W. Highsmith, Kacy Mixon

Journal of Higher Education & Student Affairs

Using self-determination theory, the academic motivation of college students from deployed military families was examined. Implementing a case study methodology, interviews with 14 college students were transcribed and coded using a theory-driven rubric to identify their needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Each case was analyzed for one’s self-determination regulatory style (external, introjected, integrated, or identified). The need for relatedness was the most prevalent in the data and the majority of cases exhibited regulatory styles consistent with introjected motivation.

The Rise In Use Of Emotional Support Animals By College Students: The Impact Of Parenting Styles, Misty G. Smith, Samantha Ballard, Jill Willis

Journal of Higher Education & Student Affairs

As the generational context of higher education shifts, a rise of Emotional Support Animals (ESA) and mental health concerns are present for students on college campuses. While previous studies have aimed to address the relevancy and controversy of ESAs in higher education as well as their effectiveness in supporting individuals, less research has explored underlying factors that contribute to the use of an ESA. The purpose of this study was to explore the parenting behaviors of parents/caregivers of students with ESAs in comparison to parents/caregivers of students without ESAs. An embedded mixed methods design was used. Participants completed the Parenting …

From Kindergarten Classrooms To Phd Pursuits: Academic Narratives That Influence Career Decisions In Black Women Counselor Education And Supervision Doctoral Students, Erin Hanley

Theses and Dissertations

Though Black women continue to receive advanced degrees at increased rates, this attainment is not reflected in the number of Black women serving as faculty members in academia. The field of counselor education encourages the recruitment and retention of diverse students and educators, though the literature outlining the reality of the experiences of Black women in counselor education has been limited. This qualitative interpretive phenomenological analysis uncovered the academic experiences of Black women doctoral students from kindergarten to their current doctoral programs, and how these experiences have influenced their career decision making. Guided by Black feminist thought and career human …

College Choice And College Match Among High-Achieving Pell-Eligible Students: An Instrumental Case Study Exploring Social Actor Influence, Jennifer A. Perkins

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

College undermatch, the pattern of well-qualified students applying to and attending less selective colleges than their academic qualifications would permit, disproportionally affects low-SES students, a particular concern since attending a match college increases the likelihood that a student will graduate and reduces the amount of time to degree. The number of college-going individuals in one’s social network (including parents, peers, teachers, mentors, etc.) has a strong influence on whether a student attends a good academic match college, but little is known about the nature of the interactions between students and these college-going influencers. This instrumental case study sought to fill …

Effective Research Presentations, Emily Faulconer, Jeremy Ernst

Publications

Posters and conference presentations share similar components.

• Background
• Research Question/Hypotheses
• Methodology
• Findings
• Conclusions

College Access For Prospective First-Generation High School Students: Parent Perceptions, Christopher W. Brown Ed.D, Alison Reeves Associate Professor, Laurel Puchner Professor

Journal of College Access

This qualitative interview study examined how parents of potential college-going first-generation students in one high school perceive and experience their access to resources and knowledge that would allow them to support their adolescents’ successful entrance into postsecondary institutions. The study found that the parents believe that high schools will help their children with college but that they underutilize the resources available and lack important social capital needed to help their students succeed.