Digital Commons Network^™

An Emerging Hispanic Serving Institution Looks Toward The Future: A Case Study On A Collaborative, Community-Based Systemic Change Effort At An Urban Land-Grant College, Eric Dunker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many higher education organizations face the issue of structural isolation (Ruben, 2004) based on a lack of integration and functional coordination between faculty, staff, and students. Community-based research (CBR) offers higher education a more collaborative, wider reaching avenue of organizing a variety of stakeholders around social change. The CBR model is an atypical change model due to its interdisciplinary, participatory, and collaborative structure that values multiple sources of knowledge and focuses on social justice action. As opposed to serving as the 'experts' who were performing research on a community of people, academics and community members who utilize CBR focus on …

A Comparison Of Institutional Climates In Higher Education In The United States And South Africa, Juanyce Deanna Taylor

Dissertations

Increasing opportunities and access of historically underrepresented populations to higher education in both the United States and South Africa have proved challenging due to institutional climates that are perceived as unwelcoming and unsupportive. The purpose of this study was to investigate factors relating to institutional climates to uncover social constructs that positively and negatively impact the institutional environment. Transformational leadership serves as the theoretical framework for this study.

Data results from institutional climate studies administered higher education institutions in the United States and South Africa were analyzed and compared. Collegiality and collaboration; communication; diversity and equity; governance and strategy; harassment …

Manufacturing Mississippi's Workforce: An Assessment Of Employability Skills As Perceived By Faculty And Senior Students Of Four Year Manufacturing Related Degree Programs, Mamie Yvette Griffin

Dissertations

A worldwide concern exists that undergraduate programs are not producing graduates with the kind of lifelong learning and professional skills needed for workplace success. Numerous research studies indicate new employees lack needed employability skills such as teamwork, decision-making, and communication.

Similarly, recent national and state findings suggest that graduates of Mississippi‟s manufacturing-related degree programs may not be fully prepared to meet the needs of manufacturers in the state. Hence, this research proposes to determine the degree to which Mississippi‟s four-year manufacturing-related degree programs address employability.

To answer this question, the present study utilizes descriptive non-experimental research to assess the perception …

April 13, 2012 Ereporter, University Of Alabama At Birmingham

eReporter (campus newsletter)

No abstract provided.

Perceptions Of Personnel At Selected Texas Community Colleges Regarding The Impact Of Technology On Their Libraries, Sharon K. Kenan

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Technological innovations have transformed all areas of community college libraries. Automated library systems, office software, and Internet access have altered work processes for library personnel and have changed research methodologies for students and faculty. The purpose of this bounded multiple case study was to explore how the adoption of technology has changed important areas of four community college libraries in Texas. Using purposeful sampling to select community colleges with high technology libraries, the study explored how the adoption of technology by the case college libraries changed the libraries and the roles of people employed within the libraries by examining the …

General Education Requirements In A Community College Baccalaureate Rn-To-Bsn Program, Jason Bentley Krupp

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

Increasing demand for nurses with bachelor degrees, the growing culture of accountability in higher education, and the community college baccalaureate phenomena provided the impetus for this study. This ex-post facto quantitative study examined the graduation rates and time to degree of 240 students who were enrolled in a bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) program at a community college in Florida between Fall of 2002 and Spring of 2004. The general education course enrollment patterns of the students were analyzed to determine if they impacted student graduation rates and time to degree. Graduation rates and time to degree of students …

A Third Way Beyond The Old College Teacher-Scholar Model And The University Researcher Model Of Faculty Excellence, Eugene Rice

UNIversitas: Journal of Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

In this forum, I want us to talk about the models of academic excellence. What makes for good work? What is it that gets rewarded? I’m convinced that if we really take a careful look at American higher education there are only two models that dominate our thinking about academic excellence, and the changing character of faculty work. I also think that we need a third way, which I will discuss after considering the two models that currently dominate.

Rethinking The “Apprenticeship Of Liberty”: The Case For Academic Programs In Community Engagement In Higher Education, Dan W. Butin

Education Faculty Publications

This article articulates a model for the “engaged campus” through academic programs focused on community engagement, broadly construed. Such academic programs—usually coalesced in certificate programs, minors, and majors—provide a complementary vision for the deep institutionalization of civic and community engagement in the academy that can revitalize an “apprenticeship of liberty” for students, faculty, and academic staff.

Identification Of Perceived 21st Century Graphic Design Skills, Content Knowledge, And Tools Needed In An Effective University-Level Graphic Design Program, Amanda W. Bridges

Education Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study was to identify 21st century skills, content knowledge, and tools needed in an effective university-level graphic design program. Inconsistencies in the graphic design curriculum, fueled by the increasingly large number of programs and concentrations and the inability to track graduates, were some of the issues that led to a need for this study.

This study was an expansion of a previous 2006 study conducted by Shyang-Yuh Wang, which took place in Kansas and Missouri. This current study used a modified Delphi Technique in which perceptions from university-level graphic design educators and industry professionals from North …

Empowering Advisors To Facilitate Change, Melissa R. Shehane, Michael Baumhardt, Michael E. Shehane, Sherry L. Early Phd

Leadership Studies Faculty Research

Advancing group dynamics is difficult. In order for students to learn, develop, and grow within an organization, they need to be empowered by their advisor to feel that their ideas and contributions are both important and valuable. This concept of empowerment means providing freedom for people to do successfully what they want to do, rather than getting them to do what you want them to do (Whetten & Cameron, 2011). As an advisor to a student-led organization, it is important to empower students to identify specific actions and strategies that facilitate change and achieve the outcomes of the organization.

Maintaining Or Disrupting Inequality: Diversity Statements In The University, Linda A. Merkl

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of my study was to identify whether university Diversity Statements aid in maintaining or disrupting inequality in the university. Using critical discourse analysis, I analyzed an initial sample of eleven Diversity Statements to develop a list of common themes found within the diversity statements. Using a maximum variation method, I then reduced my sample to four universities to provide breadth of information for the final study (Miles & Huberman, 1994). In my case analysis, I first conducted an individual analysis of each of the four Diversity Statements using the common themes from my critical case analysis, common functions …

2011-2012 Financial Summary, Morehead State University. Budget & Financial Planning Office.

Morehead State University Financial Summaries Archive

2011-2012 Financial Summary of Morehead State University.

Academic Librarians In Second Life, Denise Cote, Beth Kraemer, Diane Nahl, Robin Ashford

Faculty Publications - George Fox University Library

The multi-user virtual world Second Life is an online software platform that allows users to jointly explore realistic three-dimensional environments via avatar characters, communicate via voice and text chat, and collaborate using shared creation tools. Librarians and educators have been developing academic content and services in Second Life for use with students and other constituency groups since 2005. This study surveyed academic librarians working in Second Life to discover their perceptions of virtual world environments for teaching and learning and to gauge the impact of this technology on their work with faculty and students. Sixty-two librarians provided details on various …

About The Authors, Volume 31 (2012)

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

About the editors and authors of volume 31 (2012) of To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development.

Supporting International Faculty, Cutting Li, Sterling K. Wall, Marty Loy, Kelly Schoonaert

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

No abstract provided.

Using Small Group Individual Diagnosis To Improve Online Instruction, Jennifer H. Herman, Melissa Langridge

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

No abstract provided.

Factors Influencing The Institutionalization Of Diversity In Higher Education, Kelly S. Meier

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

To understand the impact of diversity in higher education, it is important to consider the critical role that diversity plays in the educational process. This requires a broader understanding of the influence diversity can have on the curricular, co-curricular, and interpersonal experience of a developing college student (Denson & Chang, 2009). Strategies for anchoring diversity as a core value or relating it to the inner workings of an institution are in demand (Chun & Evans, 2008). The purpose of this study was to identify highly actualized diversity initiatives and practices that can be replicated at other institutions meeting the sample …

Faculty Work: Moving Beyond The Paradox Of Autonomy And Collaboration, Mark A. Hower

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Freedom to pursue one's intellectual interests, known as professional autonomy, is a valued and longstanding faculty tradition. Profound changes in society and the academy, however, suggest new values may be emerging. Collaboration, for example, is increasingly vital to success outside of the academy, and faculty culture, long an individualistic domain, may be shifting in response. This multiple case study explores how faculty members experience the relationship between professional autonomy and collaboration within the context of their department work. Faculty members in four departments were interviewed and both qualitative and simple quantitative data collected. The study found faculty members satisfied with …

Library Annual Report

Library Annual Reports

No abstract provided.

Novice Principals’ Perceptions Of Effective Leadership Practices And Their Principal Preparation Programs, Melissa Y. Wilson

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine novice principals’ perceptions of effective leadership practices and the elements of their principal preparation program that prepared them for the role of school leader. A mixed-methods study was utilized by the researcher to gather quantitative data through the use of an online survey and to gather qualitative data through subsequent focus-group interviews to address the proposal’s three research questions: (a) What are the differences (if any) between the perceptions of novice elementary, middle, and high school principals regarding the five instructional leadership practices identified by Kouzes and Posner (2003; i.e., challenging the …

Implementation Through Innovation: A Literature-Based Analysis Of The Tuning Project, Krisztián Pálvölgyi

Higher Learning Research Communications

Tuning Educational Structures in Europe is perhaps the most important higher education innovation platform nowadays. The main objective of the Tuning Project is to develop a tangible approach to implement the action lines of the Bologna Process; thus, implementation and innovation are closely linked in Tuning. However, during its development, Tuning has evolved into a complex, multilevel policy implementation toolset with a worldwide significance. The purpose of this article is to present the complex nature of the Tuning Project, the environment and dynamics of its development, and the mechanisms of its operation from a multilevel implementation perspective, through a literature-review-based …

The First Year: A Cultural Shift Towards Improving Student Progress, Becky Jobe

Higher Learning Research Communications

Student attrition has been a primary focus among higher education institutions for nearly 50 years, yet overall retention and graduation rates continue to be of significant concern. Despite increased attention, ongoing struggles of colleges and universities to effectively address potential barriers to student progress are well-documented. Part of the challenge lies in garnering widespread organizational commitment that establishes student progress as an institutional priority. Along with leadership commitment, broad institutional involvement and adherence to a systematic approach to testing new, innovative solutions are necessary to better position the institution to make clear, evidence-based decisions that improve the student experience. The …

Trends In Expenses And Revenues At Not-For-Profit And For-Profit Postsecondary Institutions: The Nondistribution Constraint And The Future Of The Trust Market, Bonnie Fox-Garrity, Roger Fiedler, Mark Garrison

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

In the United States, every child has the right to an education and is required by law to attend school. The government provides an enormous number of public schools throughout the country, free of charge, in order to ensure education for all, yet there are families who choose to homeschool their children instead. Hill (2010) explains that “homeschooling is not a new phenomenon. In colonial days families, including wealthy ones, educated their children at home, combining the efforts of parents, tutors, and older children” (p.1). He goes on to mention how colonial rural one-room schoolhouses provided a place for the …

Waiting For ‘Superman’: A Review And Commentary, Tony Durr

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

With the advent of the global economy and high-speed Internet, online collaboration is fast becoming the norm in education and industry [1]. Information technology (IT) creates many new inter-relationships among businesses, expands the scope of industries in which a company must compete to achieve competitive advantage. Information systems and technology allow companies to coordinate their activities in distant geographic locations [2]. IT is providing the infrastructure necessary to support the development of new collaboration forms among industry and education. Virtual research and development (R&D) teams represent one such relational form, one that could revolutionize the workplace and provide organizations with …

Teachers’ Perceptions Of The Leadership Styles Of Middle School Principals And Instructional Leaders, Jessica Devine, Gary Alger

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

Grade inflation has been a “hot topic” in the higher education literature for some time now, due primarily to conflicting interpretations of grade-change data. While definitions of grade inflation vary, most seem to indicate that inflation has occurred if a higher grade is awarded without a co-occurring increase in student achievement, and is the outcome of decreased rigor in the assessment of student learning (see Boretz 2004; Young and ERIC Clearinghouse on Higher Education 2003). Thus, the controversy is in regard to whether or not reported changes in GPA and grade distributions reflect instructor leniency.

Transforming Data Into Knowledge, Lane Mills, James Mcdowelle, William Rouse Jr.

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

Hans Selye, the first major researcher of stress coined the word ‘stress’ in 1936 and defined it as “a non-specific response of the body to any demand for change”. Selye (1974) is of the view that stress is a facet of life which human beings cannot avoid. In fact he confidently declares that “total freedom from stress is death” Selye (1976) stated that stress in moderate levels enhances function. Kaplan and Sadock (2000) in their study on students also found out that moderate stress among students enhances learning ability. Pfeiffer (2001) emphasizes that stress helps students to peak their performance. …

Supporting Online Faculty: Developing A Supporting Website Resource, Peter John Anthony, Eric Nordin

Higher Learning Research Communications

Current trends in post-secondary education enrollment indicate that colleges and universities are likely to experience an increase in the number of online students. The purpose of this study was to ascertain the type of resources and support features online faculty need, desire, and expect in a support website. The method used to collect research findings was an online survey. The participants for this study consisted of the online faculty population at an institution of higher learning in the southwestern United States. Participants were invited by email to participate in a 13 question survey which asked participants to rate the importance …

American Accreditation: Why Do It?, Deborah Prince

Higher Learning Research Communications

A review of the history and purpose of accreditation followed by a brief case study of how a small specialist institution outside of the USA went through the process of becoming accredited. The changes needed inside the curriculum and inside the organization in order to make this significant organizational development are reviewed and discussed.The paper concludes with some discussion as to why a non-US based institution might decide to become accredited by an outside agency.DOI: 10.18870/hlrc.v2i3.71

Sustainable Leadership: Creating Foundations For Lasting Change, Matthew Lynch

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

The change in the United States population and the pace of Internet technology-perhaps more dramatic than most universities may have forecasted-translates into more diverse prospective students with changing needs and interests in university education (Wilson & Meyer, 2009). Immigration and U.S. population growth patterns have converged into a new prospective student profile (Banks, 2008), such that between now and the year 2050, one in three U.S. residents will be Hispanic (U.S. Census, 2009). Similarly, African Americans and Black immigrants will increase to 15% of the U.S. population, and the Asian population will grow from 5.1% to 9.2%. People of two …

Hlc Accreditation Letter 2011, Sylvia Manning

Accreditation

A letter from Sylvia Manning of the Higher Learning Commission confirming the continued accreditation of UNO through the AQIP program.