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Sesquicentennial Commencement [Program], May 15-16, 2026, University Of Northern Iowa

UNI Commencement Programs

Contents:

Brief History of UNI --- 2
Board of Regents --- 3
Institutional Leadership --- 3
Ceremony Symbols & Traditions --- 4
Commencement Over the Years --- 6
University Honors Program --- 8
Graduation with Honors --- 8
Legacy Graduates --- 8
Military Science --- 9
Merchant Scholarship --- 9
Outstanding Student Leader --- 9
Commencement Student Speakers --- 9
Purple and Old Gold Awards --- 10
Lux Service Award --- 11
7 p.m. Program --- 13
College of Education --- 15
David W. Wilson College of Business --- 22
10 a.m. Program --- 29
College of Humanities, Arts & …

Performatic Learning In Informal Education: A Mixed Methods Study Of Zine-Making As A Catalyst For Intentional Epistemic Claiming, Experiential Knowing, And Cultural Mediation In A Museum-Based Learning Environment, April Ursula Fox

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Informal learning environments are powerful sites of meaning-making when learners are invited to move from observer to author. This study positions zine-making as an effective educational tool capable of promoting that transformation. The study advances a new framework—Performatic Learning—to articulate how creative, multimodal practices can support learning as becoming. Developed through foundational pilot studies and an in-depth mixed-methods investigation in a natural history museum, the framework integrates five constructs: Intentional Epistemic Claiming, Experiential Knowing, Cultural Mediation, Performatic Space, and Learning as Becoming. Across cases, zine-making emerged as a generative learning space in which participants authored knowledge, navigated uncertainty, drew on …

Integrating Social-Emotional Learning To Foster Regulation And A Positive Classroom Climate, Klarika Meghan V. Alquisada

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Social-emotional learning (SEL) supports the development of emotional regulation, interpersonal skills, and meaningful participation in academic environments. Increasing regulatory demands within classrooms highlight the need for structured approaches that support both educators and students in maintaining engagement and fostering positive learning environments. Occupational therapy (OT) practitioners are uniquely positioned to collaborate with educators to integrate regulation-focused strategies within daily classroom routines.This quality improvement project aimed to develop and implement an OT-informed SEL program for educators serving students with diverse learning needs. Teachers received consultation and tailored SEL strategies, implemented them for 5 weeks, and provided feedback on their effects on …

Exploring Ai-Driven Scaffolding For Critical Questioning In Argument Evaluation, Ebenezer A. Belete

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The fast-paced changes caused by generative AI (GenAI) innovations call for exploring the potential benefits of GenAI in empowering 21st-century pedagogical strategies. Previous studies in the field of argumentation have shown how students can benefit from using critical questions. However, scaffolding argument evaluation through custom GenAI using critical questions has not been systematically investigated. This study involved two components: (1) designing and determining the usability of a GPT-powered conversational assistant (CQMAA Conversational Assistant) and (2) testing its impact on participants' efficacy for argument evaluation and their acceptance of GenAI as a learning tool through a pretest–posttest experiment. A convergent mixed-methods …

Voices Under Constraint: College Students’ Self-Censorship, Empowered Resistance, And Solidarity, Richard Chang

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Self-censorship, empowered resistance, and solidarity are critical yet understudied phenomena that shape the lived experiences of college students from racially marginalized communities. The present research comprises three studies examining the interconnected roles of these constructs in the psychosocial well-being and collective action of racially marginalized college students in the United States, specifically in the context of students’ activism behaviors during the 2023 and ongoing genocide in Gaza. Chapter 2 will present findings from an online mixed-methods study that examines college students’ self-censorship and psychological distress factors that support or hinder open discussion during the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Results suggest …

Understanding Chinese Students’ Intent To Study Abroad: Case Study Of A Collaborative Chinese & U.S. University Program, Jaekeun Cho

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study examined how Chinese undergraduate students enrolled in a Sino-Foreign Cooperative Program (SFCP) made decisions about studying abroad and selected a U.S. institution, with particular attention to institutions in less traditional destinations, such as Nevada. International student enrollment has become a critical strategy for U.S. higher education institutions facing declining state appropriations, demographic contraction in domestic enrollment, and increased global competition. Although China has remained the largest source of international students to the United States for decades, states such as Nevada enroll comparatively few international students and lack empirical research on recruitment pathways. This study addressed this gap by …

Promoting Classroom Management Through Elementary Teacher Education On Movement-Based Social-Emotional Learning, Daija Renee Georgette

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This doctoral capstone project addressed a knowledge gap among K–5 th–grade teachers at Cornerstone Christian Academy (CCA) regarding the purpose, benefits, and educational value of movement-based brain breaks. Although CCA currently incorporates social–emotional learning (SEL) frameworks such as the Zones of Regulation, teachers have received limited training on how structured movement opportunities can enhance student engagement, attention, and regulation. This program aimed to strengthen teachers’ understanding and confidence by providing a series of evidence-informed workshops that explored the connections among movement, self-regulation, and classroom management.

The project consisted of orientation, teacher recruitment, needs assessment, workshop development, and program delivery over …

Portraits Of Resiliency And Possibility: Women Superintendents As Trailblazers For Future Leaders, Lisa Michelle Martin

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Women remain underrepresented in the superintendency despite comprising the majority of the educational workforce. This qualitative study examined how women superintendents access and sustain the role. Grounded in Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) and using portraiture, the study explored how self-efficacy and contextual conditions shape leadership trajectories. Data were collected through interviews and analyzed by adopting narrative coding and cross-case portraits. The cultivation of self-efficacy, the accessibility of opportunities through connections, and the management of systemic obstacles influence trajectories. Sustainable leadership was strengthened by adaptive capacity and extensive professional networks. This study promotes an asset-based perspective and emphasizes the necessity …

Exploring The Impacts Of Contextualized Learning In An Engineering-Specific Corequisite Precalculus Course On Student Achievement, Motivation, And Belongingness, Amy Mathis-Leonard

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study examines the design and implementation of a contextualized engineering-specific corequisite Precalculus I course and its impacts on student achievement, motivation, and sense of belonging. This study was conducted in response to decreasing national rates of mathematical readiness, the elimination of stand-alone developmental mathematics courses across multiple states and systems, and the demand for research related to effective corequisite models in mathematics coursework. The intervention created an experimental section of corequisite Precalculus I in which all the students were engineering majors who did not demonstrate readiness for a college-level precalculus course. Unit lessons incorporated engineering-specific topics and career-oriented discussions. …

“I Just Kept Showing Up”: On Institutional Actors’ Motivations, Change Work, And Homeplaces At Desert Rose University In Support Of Undocumented Students, Vanessa Núñez

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

My dissertation examines the roles that faculty and staff play in (re)shaping institutional policies and procedures to support undocumented students. While access to higher education has been examined through various lenses, we know very little about the “institutional activists” who advocate for undocumented student support in a bounded system like a college campus. The extant literature on faculty support of undocumented students focuses on the ways they create a sense of belonging and validation through mentorship and encouragement (Pérez-Huber, 2010; Gámez, Lopez, and Overton, 2017). My research suggests that while undocu student activists are the driving force behind change at …

Who Am I As An Elementary Cs Teacher? The Identity Development And Struggles Of Elementary Teachers As Computer Science Teachers, Burak Sahin

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study investigates how elementary teachers develop and negotiate their identities as computer science (CS) teachers within the expanding presence of CS in early K–12 education. As CS is increasingly integrated into early grades, many teachers are expected to teach it without formal preparation. It positions them to simultaneously learn, teach, and construct a professional identity in an unfamiliar domain. Using an interpretive phenomenological approach, this study examines teachers’ lived experiences of identity development by drawing on identity theory (Gee, 2000) and the performance, recognition, and competence framework (Carlone & Johnson,2007) to understand how identity is shaped through practice, institutional …

Exploring Non-Native English Learners’ Attitudes Towards Ai And Online Multimedia Persuasive Opinions And The Role Of Sentiment, Zvetomira N. Svetleff

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study and various other studies use quantitative models to identify which persuasive features predict persuasiveness. Most studies in the field do not explain why participants responded as they did nor do they focus on studying adult non-native English learners also referred to as second language (L2) English learners. Despite seemingly remarkable progress on research related to how to convey persuasive messages, there has been little work related to persuasive messaging targeted at second language learners or non-native speakers. In addition, despite the increasing reliance on AI technologies and tools in language learning within educational and work settings, there has …

Digital Literacy And Language Proficiency As Factors Of Accessible Digital Training In The Hospitality Industry: Employee Perspectives Of Training And Working In A Diverse Industry, Gillian Bowden

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This explanatory sequential mixed methods study explored how digital literacy and language proficiency impact employees’ access to and engagement with digital training, as well as how these experiences influence their perceptions of training and the organization. In the quantitative phase, survey data were collected from hourly employees at a large foodservice corporation (n=67). Four constructs were assessed: digital literacy, language proficiency, accessibility, and engagement. Results indicated strong, statistically significant relationships with higher levels of digital literacy and language proficiency associated with greater accessibility and increased engagement with digital training materials. The large effect sizes suggest these competencies play a meaningful …

Púchica! Central American Students Navigating A Community College In The Southwest, Reina Ferrufino

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This qualitative study centers the lived experiences of U.S. Central American students at a large community college in the Southwestern United States. Guided by Latinx Critical Race Theory (LatCrit) and Garcia’s (2023) Servingness framework, the study examines how institutional structures—including classrooms, student support services, and co-curricular spaces—shape students’ experiences of belonging, access, and recognition. Grounded in LatCrit, particularly its attention to racist nativism, the study situates students’ experiences within broader racialized and migration-related contexts. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with eight Central American students and recent alumni. Findings reveal patterns of misrecognition, generalized understandings of Latinidad, and navigational challenges …

Evaluating An Educational Intervention On Screen-Time And Behavior Change: A Pilot Study, Kayla L. Sweeney

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Background: Excessive screen time among adolescents has been associated with negative health outcomes, including sleep disturbances, anxiety, and depression. Despite growing awareness, many parents lack sufficient understanding of these risks and their impact on adolescent well-being. This project evaluated whether a brief educational intervention improved parents’ knowledge of the health effects of excessive screen time. Methods: A pre-and post-survey design was used to assess changes in parents’ understanding following an educational video intervention. The educational intervention consisted of evidence-based content highlighting the impact of screen time on mental health and sleep. The survey measured knowledge, beliefs, behavioral intentions, and strategies …

An Ex Post Facto Study: The Social Validity Of Two Evidence-Based Instructional Practices, K. Ryan Wennerlind

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

For over 15 years, the opportunity for individuals with intellectual disabilities to continue education in inclusive postsecondary education programs has steadily risen (Baker et. al, 2018). Poor employment trends for these individuals has motivated institutions to provide more educational opportunities by increasing the number of such programs. Education is consistently linked to greater employment opportunities and the potential for greater earnings as more education is achieved (BLS, 2023). Research attests this connection by studying individuals’ experiences in education after high school. In addition to greater employment opportunities, those individuals receiving postsecondary education services are also earning wages at a higher …

Principals’ Perceptions On How Artificial Intelligence (Ai) Is Used In Schools By Administrators, Teachers, And Students: A Mixed Method Research Study, Dianna M. Sopala

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Abstract

In the same way electricity changed how people lived, artificial intelligence (AI) is being hailed as that next transformative technology that will change every aspect of daily living, including education.  As AI is in its infancy and humans are just beginning to make sense of this new technology, educators are trying to integrate it into the educational landscape.  While many technologies are often initiated at the district level, school principals are often charged with leading the adoption and implementation of new technologies within their school.  Additionally, New Jersey has decided to invest $165 million dollars into being the artificial …

Unveiling Unseen Obstacles: A Phenomenological Exploration Of Black Women's Tenacity In Doctoral Programs, Yolanda V. Jackson

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

This phenomenological study explores the lived and student experiences of Black women pursuing Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) and Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) degrees in the United States, centering the underexamined internal barrier of Imposter Syndrome — the persistent experience of intellectual fraudulence in the face of demonstrated competence.

The study investigated Black women's perceptions of Imposter Syndrome, the lived and student experiences that contribute to feelings of imposterism, and the coping mechanisms and strategies they employ to persist and succeed in doctoral programs. A pre-screening survey administered to 124 Black women enrolled in doctoral programs across the United States measured …

Evaluating Computer-Based Instruction To Improve Teacher Competence In Function-Based Antecedent Strategy Implementation, Valentina Arias

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Teachers often manage challenging student behaviors without formal training in behavior analysis, which can increase stress and reduce instructional time. This study evaluated whether computer-based instruction (CBI) is an effective and cost-effective way to train early education teachers to understand why challenging behaviors occur and how to prevent them, using antecedent strategies. Ten general education teachers working in a private, neurodiverse-inclusive school participated. They completed a brief training delivered through computer modules developed in PowerPoint that taught them how to identify functions of behavior and select functionally equivalent antecedent strategies to decrease challenging behaviors. Learning was measured using pre/post tests …

Transitioning To The American School System: Insights From Immigrant English Language Learners And Factors Influencing Their Success, Yolanda Gomez

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

This qualitative study examined the factors influencing the post–high school experiences of immigrant English Language Learners (ELLs) in the United States. Fourteen recent high school graduates from the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Ecuador, and Peru participated in semi-structured interviews. Data was analyzed using grounded thematic coding within a social-ecological framework. Four interconnected themes emerged: (1) Language Acquisition, including challenges and empowerment through developing English proficiency; (2) Support Systems, such as family, teachers, peers, and community mentors; (3) Social and Cultural Integration, facilitated by extracurricular involvement and adaptation to new norms; and (4) Resilience and Personal Growth, reflected in persistence, self-efficacy, and …

Child Study Team Attitudes Toward Inclusion, Kathleen Derillo

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

The inclusion of students with disabilities has been the focus of both quantitative and qualitative research for more than fifty years. Despite extensive evidence demonstrating positive outcomes for learners with and without disabilities, including improved academic achievement, social skills development, and improved school culture, inclusion rates in New Jersey have remained largely unchanged. Students with disabilities continue to be educated in segregated settings at disproportionate rates. The purpose of this quantitative study was to learn about the attitudes toward the inclusion of students with mild to moderate disabilities held by Child Study Team (CST) members. The CST is composed of …

Defying The Catholic Secondary School Enrollment Decline: A Case Study Exploring Strategic Enrollment Management Practices In An All-Boys Catholic High School, Traci A. Koval

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Catholic secondary schools in the United States continue to face persistent enrollment decline, closures, and consolidations, creating an urgent need for sustainable and mission-centered strategies. This qualitative case study examined Hillcrest Catholic High School, an all-boys Catholic secondary school in the Mideast region, as a best-practice model for enrollment resilience. Guided by Strategic Enrollment Management (SEM) Theory, the study explored how SEM principles were operationalized across eight pillars: mission and branding, institutional strategy, culture and belonging, programs and outcomes, family engagement and retention, tuition and financial strategy, marketing and recruitment, and selection and onboarding. Data were collected through interviews, focus …

The Role Of State Policy In Influencing Teacher Academic Expectations: A Quantitative Study, Jessica Varevice

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Standards-based reform has shaped American education for decades, yet the mechanisms through which state policy influences what teachers expect of students and how those expectations shape student outcomes remain understudied. This quantitative study investigates the relationship between state education policy, teacher academic expectations, and student achievement in elementary and middle schools within a single charter management organization (CMO) operating in both Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Camden, New Jersey. The study utilizes a unique natural experiment: twenty-four schools sharing a common curriculum, instructional model, salary schedule, and leadership structure, but operating under two distinct state accountability systems. This design allows state policy …

Queer Ballroom In 1980s-90s New York City: Connections To Joy And Education, Maya A. Gary

Masters Theses, 2020-current

This master's thesis project delivers a concise history of the development of Queer Ballroom in the 1980s–1990s in Harlem, New York City, primarily focusing on low-income Black and Latino queer individuals and how they created spaces of belonging and joy during the HIV/AIDS crisis. This work illustrates how ballroom culture functioned as both a space of refuge and a network for mutual aid, outreach, and advocacy. In addition to the historical analysis, this project includes a free-to-use educational website and lesson plans aligned with the Virginia Standards of Learning for grades 6 and 11. This work demonstrates the importance of …

Tracing Hazing Across Adolescence: Examining How Prior Hazing Experiences Shape Hazing Motivation And Tolerance Among Newly Initiated Ifc Fraternity Members, John Michael Vanhorn

Theses and Dissertations

Hazing remains pervasive and underreported, disproportionately affecting adolescent and emerging adult men, particularly within athletic teams and fraternity contexts. Although hazing is most often studied within collegiate organizations, many students encounter hazing behaviors prior to college, yet little is known about how these early experiences shape later hazing perceptions, motivations, tolerance, and masculine norms. Grounded in Bronfenbrenner’s Process-Person-Context-Time (PPCT) model, this dissertation conceptualizes hazing as a developmental process shaped by repeated social interactions, individual characteristics, contextual environments, and time across adolescence and emerging adulthood. Using a two-paper approach with a quantitative, longitudinal survey design, study 1 examined fraternity new members’ …

Experience As A Site Of Knowing, Daphne Nicolaidis Saunders

Emancipations: A Journal of Critical Social Analysis

No abstract provided.

Resilience Otherwise: Ambivalence, Care, And The Cultural Politics Of Endurance Under Neoliberal Capitalism, Vered Ben David

Emancipations: A Journal of Critical Social Analysis

Over the past two decades, resilience has emerged as a central cultural keyword circulating across psychology, public policy, education, labor, and popular culture. Frequently celebrated as a marker of strength and adaptability, resilience has also become entangled with neoliberal forms of governance that relocate responsibility for managing insecurity onto individuals and communities. This analysis offers a critical cultural account of resilience as an ambivalent formation that operates simultaneously as a lived capacity for adaptation and as a normative demand that responsibilizes subjects under conditions of structural precarity. Drawing on scholarship in developmental psychology, political economy, and critical cultural theory, the …

Lay Presidents In Jesuit Higher Education: How Ajcu Lay Presidents Learn About, Articulate, And Express Jesuit Mission And Identity, Carl Joseph Caceres

Dissertations

Since the year 2000, over the course of the past quarter century, lay presidents went from being an emerging phenomenon to becoming the majority of presidents in the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU). Lay presidents are now the norm and no longer the exception, as 24 of the 28 institutions of the AJCU are now lay led. This qualitative research study intended to explore how lay presidents of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU) in the United States who have been at their current institution for at least three years, came to learn about Jesuit mission …

The Lead, End-Of-Spring 2026, Lindenwood University

The Lead

Newsletter from the Lindenwood University College of Education and Human Services.

Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center - 2026 - 153rd Commencement, Office Of The Registrar, Lsu Health Sciences Center-No

Graduation & Commencement Programs

The program for the 153rd Commencement of LSU Health Sciences Center - New Orleans held May 14, 2026.