Education Commons^™

Policing Postsecondary Education: University Police Legitimacy And Fear Of Crime On Campus, Christina N. Barker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Assessing the perceptions that students have of the university police officers charged with ensuring student safety is important to maintaining the overall safety of the campus. The current study sought to assess the relationship between student perceptions of university police and the fear of crime felt by students while on campus. Data collection was conducted through a survey methodology using a convenient sample of students in which a self-report survey was sent to the university email addresses of all students enrolled in a southeastern university (n=260). Through the employment of a scale developed to assess the perceptions of university police …

Preparing Future Leaders: An Ethnographic Study Exploring The Culture Of Succession Planning And Leader Development In Christian Higher Education, Andrew Barton

Dissertations

The purpose of this ethnographic case study was to explore the culture of succession planning and leader development at Lipscomb University, using the 5C’s: Strategies for succession planning in the academy model. In the face of unprecedented disruption and complexity, the review of literature suggested the higher education sector in the United States is largely underprepared for the upcoming exodus and shortage of leaders. With religiously-affiliated institutions accounting for more than one in five colleges and universities in the US, there were no visible studies attending to succession planning and leader development in Christian higher education. Given the important contribution …

Operation Transition: Post-9/11 Combat Marines Transitioning To Civilian Life And The Role Of Higher Education In Their Identity Formation, Jamie M. Fenton

Education (PhD) Dissertations

Operation Transition is an excavation of the experiences of Post-9/11 combat Marines, who have been Honorably Discharged, as their transition to civilian and student life. The work of Operation Transition was conducted with a group of Marines, called The Unit, and presents the variety of stories that exist among Veterans, beyond the highly publicized and limiting narratives of Hero, Wounded Warrior, or Killer. The fictive piece represents the experiences of transition that illuminate a civilian privileged higher education system and society-at-large. Operation Transition exemplifies and acknowledges that value of stories for understanding and community building. As such, Operation Transition, which …

First-Year Students: Investigating The Impact Of Participating In A Mathematics Learning Community, Lindsay Barrie

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate how participating in a mathematics learning community can impact a first-year students’ experience in college. The total population in the Math Learning Community (MLC) was 40, 36 of these members participated in a survey and five volunteered to participate in an interview. The survey collected demographic information and responses to statements regarding the students’ transition to college, their connectedness to Rowan, their peer interaction, faculty interaction, and their overall satisfaction at Rowan. The interview questions asked about their most and least satisfying aspects of participating in the MLC and what recommendations they …

Examining The Nature And Development Of Group Cohesion In Residence Hall Staffs, Thaher J. Aiyash

All NMU Master's Theses

The study of group cohesion has brought forth meaningful insight into the interworking of groups in athletic sports teams, classrooms, adult couples, businesses, and military training groups. This study used a mixed quantitative and qualitative methods survey to examine the nature of group cohesion in relation to resident hall staffs located on the campus of Northern Michigan University. A quantitative assessment of group cohesion used in previous studies of group cohesion was modified and used in supplement to a series of nine extended response items. Through the research, seven themes which were consistent across the staffs were discovered. The discovered …

Reading As A Resource: Exploring Reading Habits And Multicultural Awareness And Acceptance In Undergraduate Students, Megan E. Owens

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Considerable research has been conducted examining the benefits of diversity on campus and diversity programming for undergraduate students. However, minimal research has been focused on connecting reading fiction as a potential resource for diversity programming. Diversity courses, racial awareness workshops, and service learning opportunities are all supported by research for their transformational influence on students’ attitudes and perceptions towards minority and underrepresented groups on campus. Emerging studies have established that reading narrative fiction can enhance readers’ empathic and multicultural attitudes, shift perspectives and outlooks, and enhance moral reasoning. Benefits such as these could be harnessed to cultivate a campus culture …

Socio-Economic Inequalities, Academic Failure, And Institutional Interventions: What Cuny Is Doing To Help Its High Risk Populations, Cynthia Constant

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

There is a lack of adequate research of the City University of New York’s (CUNY) school-based programs and services that are designed to aid and empower students in achieving academic success. These programs serve an urban based student population. A substantial number of these students are of low income and from historically underrepresented cultural and ethnic backgrounds. A significant portion of these students also attend a community college like Kingsborough Community College (KBCC) in the CUNY system. For most of this student population academic success is not easily obtained. This study examines the rationale behind student failure, as well as, …

Black Student Union Demands: A Response To Racially Hostile Campus Climates, Beleqsa Tamaami

Global Honors Theses

This paper looks at how college campuses across the globe foster racially hostile climates that negatively impact Black students’ college experience both in and outside the classroom. I use Critical Race Theory (CRT) as an analytical framework to examine Black college students demands in response to their experiences with racism on campus. For this thesis, colleges include community colleges, four-year institutions, and universities. In my findings I break down my analysis of the list of Black Student Union (BSU) Demands by looking at how Black college students challenge and respond to a racial climate in both Academic and Student Affairs. …

Tales From The Field: A Phenomenological Study On The Unique Challenges Iraq/Afghanistan Ptsd Veterans Experience While Attending A Community College In Southern California, Nick N. Arman

Dissertations

With the downsizing of U.S. military personnel and increased educational benefits offered by the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill, many Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) veterans will enroll in a community college for education and training opportunities (Vacchi, 2012). A review of literature revealed the majority of OIF/OEF combat veterans in higher education suffered from symptoms consistent with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; Ackerman, DiRamio, & Garza Mitchell, 2009; American Council on Education, 2009; Cate, 2014). The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand the unique challenges experienced by OIF/OEF veterans diagnosed with PTSD when attending community college …

A Study Of Outcomes Based Educational Interventions And Moral Development Of Undergraduate College Students, Jay Christopher Robert Wildt

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Discussions regarding moral development and subsequent behavior are common in political and philosophical arenas. The consensus is that resolutions of moral dilemmas are best accomplished through careful deliberation and the use of principled moral reasoning. The purpose of this study was to examine changes in moral development in undergraduate college students who participated in an outcomes based education program. The study also investigated the influence of certain demographic and attribute variables on moral development within the same population.

This study examined extant data from 295 University of Charleston (UC) students who took the Defining Issues Test as freshmen and then …

Blended Learning For Faculty Professional Development Incorporating Knowledge Management Principles, Julie E. Hewitt

CCE Theses and Dissertations

Adjunct faculty comprise a large percentage of part-time faculty for many colleges and universities today. Adjunct faculty are hired because they are experts in their content areas; however, this does not guarantee that they are skilled in effective classroom management. These instructors can become bewildered and frustrated because they lack the knowledge and skills that are needed to run an effective classroom.

While educational organizations have adopted blended learning environments as an effective delivery method for their students, this method has not gained much traction as a way to deliver instruction to their own employees. Thus, there are opportunities to …

A Big Idea: The Rollout Of Open Suny, Karen E. Case

CCE Theses and Dissertations

Leveraging technology may be a viable solution in the higher education industry as enrollments decline and institutions have a hard time meeting their projected budgets. One innovative approach to mitigating this problem was approved in March of 2013 by the Board of Trustees of the State University of New York (SUNY). It is called Open SUNY. Open SUNY consists of nine components: the creation and expansion of online programs to meet workforce development needs, the development of online credit-bearing experiential learning experiences, support for training of faculty who opt to use emerging technologies, support for student access to online courses, …

Navigating Intercultural Space: A Narrative Analysis Of College Student Learning In A Global Village Living-Learning Program, Brendan James O'Farrell

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation

The American Association of Colleges and Universities (AACU) has termed our century “The New Global Century” and begun touting the importance of internationalization and global learning outcomes as a necessity in the post-9/11 era. These outcomes suggest students should be immersed in an unprecedented level of intercultural difference and rest on an assumption that student success is contingent upon students’ ability to navigate intercultural difference. Institutions across the country have embraced strategic interventions designed to support intercultural exchange and learning. This study focuses on intercultural learning as it unfolds in one such intervention: the international living-learning program (LLP).

The study …

Undocumented Students In Higher Education: How Liminal Legality Influences The College Experience, Michelle Simon

Theses and Dissertations

Undocumented students’ pursuit of higher education mirrors in many ways the path of traditional American students. However, there are policies in place that create barriers unique to undocumented students. While the policies directly influence these students’ educational plans, their emotional states are influenced as well. This paper will explore the policies that have had historical impacts on undocumented students’ access to higher education. Through interviews with students at universities in the southeast region of the United States, this paper will identify the impact these policies have on students’ educational pursuits. The hope is that this paper will serve as a …

Challenges To Building An Open Learning Organization In Higher Education: A Scholarly Personal Narrative, Robert Austin Skiff

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Higher education is undergoing rapid changes brought about by the ongoing financial crisis, globalization, and the rapid advancement of information technology. This scholarly personal narrative will apply assemblage theory and system dynamics to analyze the financial, cultural, and political constraints hampering change processes at traditional institutions of higher learning. Using this analysis as a starting point, the author will describe an open learning organization that addresses these issues, and how these principles have been applied to create Oplerno, LLC.–a new kind of higher educational institution.