Education Commons^™

Engagement Requires The Institution Too: A Case Study Of A California Community College Using Assessment Data To Improve Student Success Practices, Duane Brooks

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

While the collection of assessment data by educational institutions is important, these activities are not sufficient to create an institution that is fully “engaged” with not only the data, but also in using data to improve decision making and student success practices within the institution. The institution must be ready to use the data for action and improvement. Understanding the process that transforms data into institutionalized knowledge is an important component of what institutional engagement looks like. This qualitative single case study explored the scope and nature of institutional engagement in the case of one California community college by examining …

Enrollment Management And Intercollegiate Athletics: A Study Of Women’S Beach Volleyball, Valerie Clem-Brown

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

With college costs increasing annually and the number of high school students dropping in many areas of the country, enrollment management professionals must seek out creative strategies to appeal to a broader population of out-of-state students. This study assessed the impact of the three common faces of a holistic enrollment management plan: structural management, planning, and leadership, on the recruitment of out-of-state student-athletes to play NCAA Division I beach volleyball. Alternative explanations were explored to determine how an institution was successful in recruiting out-of-state beach volleyball student-athletes when the three common faces of a holistic enrollment management plan were not …

The Role Of Undergraduate Student Affairs Coursework In Aspiring Student Affairs Professionals’ Career Development, Matthew J. Nelson

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

This qualitative, single case study explored the influence of an undergraduate introductory student affairs course (SA 101) on the career development of aspiring student affairs professionals. Using Lent et al.’s (1994) social cognitive career theory, the study was guided by the following questions: (1) How did SA 101 contribute to the career development of students interested in a career in student affairs? (2) In what ways did this course assist students in the development of self-efficacy in relation to their interest in pursuing a career in student affairs? (3) To what degree did students in SA 101 describe positive outcome …

Keeping The Faith: The Organizational Saga Of Anderson University From 1995-2015, Mark Hughes

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

This case study tells the story of Anderson University from 1995 to 2015. During this period, Anderson transitioned from a 2-year college to a 4-year university. The institution made this transition to remain viable and went through a period of decline because of the high costs associated with becoming a senior institution. After a leadership change, a period of stabilization occurred which set the stage for an evolutionary leader who determined the institution was ready for change. As an experienced strategic planner, this evolutionary leader engaged the faculty in the process of strategic planning which achieved their buy-in to develop …

Defying The Odds, Stories Of Success: A Case Study Of Foster Care Alumni In The Community College Environment, Julia Philyaw

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

The purpose of this dissertation was to explore the lived experiences of foster care alumni and how these experiences influenced the individual’s decision to enroll in a community college, persist, and complete a degree. The dissertation drew from two conceptual frameworks, Bandwidth (Verschelden, 2017) and Capitals – cultural, social, and academic (Bourdieu, 1986; St. John, Hu, & Fisher, 2010). Foster care alumni were selected as the population due to their underrepresentation in college enrollment and poor completion rates. Moving beyond a deficit model that focuses on identifying obstacles, this dissertation focused on success stories of the foster care alumni in …

Pay No Attention To The Regulation Behind The Curtain: The Implications Of The Return To Title Iv (R2t4) Federal Aid Policy On Time To Degree, Apri Medina

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

Federal aid programs and their effect on student persistence, stopout, and completion have long been studied, but current literature does not fully capture the temporal nature of these programs due to insufficient methods, imprecise data, or both. Using event history methodologies, I leverage a unique level of access to data at a public four-year, research intensive university to explore how the Return to Title IV federal aid withdrawal policy, one of the most prominent yet understudied aspects of federal financial aid policies, influences time to degree. The treatment of this policy is associated with a 58.6% reduced risk (reduced conditional …

Going The Distance: A Case Study Of One Community College's Journey Across The Digital Divide, Michael Robert Jolley

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

Rural communities throughout the nation continue to lag their urban and suburban peers in access to high-speed internet service. This digital divide affects rural populations in a myriad of ways, but access to higher educational opportunities may be most problematic. While the promise of technology to level the field for rural students continues to offer hope, the scarcity of broadband service lingers. This qualitative instrumental case study explores how one exceptional rural community college in the Great Plains developed the capacity to deliver distance education programming. The study relies upon Rogers's theory of diffusion of innovations to validate the extent …

First-Generation College Student Experience In The Financial Aid Process, Kristy Saunders

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

How do first-generation college students experience the financial aid process? In what ways does a first-generation status affect the financial aid process for college students? Prior literature shows that first-generation college students are more likely to navigate the financial aid process without the help of parents and are less likely to complete the financial aid process in its entirety. However, there is a gap in prior literature examining the first-generation college student experience within the financial aid process overall. The current study utilizes a hermeneutical phenomenological approach to examine first-generation college student experiences in the financial aid process at a …

Toward Supporting Nphc Students And Organizations: An Autoethnographic Critical Race Theory Story Of What Fraternity And Sorority Life Can Learn From The Multicultural Center At One Predominantly White Institution, Ashley Swift

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

This is an autoethnographic study that focuses on the ways in which the office of fraternity and sorority (OFSL) can better support the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) organizations and its members at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The study examined what the OFSL could learn from the multicultural center about their approach to supporting NPHC students at Nebraska. The three questions that helped guide this study were: What does the OFSL do to support NPHC organizations at Nebraska? What are the needs of Black students in the NPHC at Nebraska? How does the multicultural center provide support for Black students at …

Curating The Campus Nightlife Experience: Documenting A Program Model For Late Night And Weekend Programming., Derrick Gulley Jr

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

This study provides a comprehensive definition of the elements that make a campus programming board. This is important to understand because it provides a framework to talk about campus programming boards as organizations and it provides a model that other organizations could utilize. While this study is specifically looking at the CNL program model for late-night and weekend programming it provides a framework for practitioners to critically review and document aspects of their organization if they choose too. The program model encompasses all of the operational, structural, and shared philosophical beliefs implemented in the approach or design of campus activities …

Speaker Of The House: The Intersection Of Faculty And Administrator Roles Among Community College Faculty Department Chairs, Miles Young

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

Community colleges face significant challenges in the 21^st century due largely to the effects of neoliberalism. Shifts in governance structures and an emphasis towards productivity and accountability have put a strain on institutional relationships, particularly between the faculty and the administration. Much attention has been given to how this relationship could be restored through direct means; however, another institutional stakeholder group has largely been overlooked in terms of a resource that could help bridge the faculty and administration. The community college faculty department chair is uniquely situated between the faculty and administration within these institutions, yet little is known …

Counternarratives Of Success: A Narrative Inquiry Into The Life Experiences Of Prior-Enlisted Reserve Officers Navigating Higher Education, Adam B. Fullerton

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

The current extant literature on student veterans describes the student veteran population in monolithic terms through a deficit perspective. With reserve servicemembers making up 33% of the veteran population (VA, 2018), reservists move beyond tokenism (Kanter, 1978;1987) and need to be explored separately. This separation enhances the understanding of their experiences in working towards educational attainment and the differences from the traditional student veteran identity. To engage in the study of this subpopulation, a narrative inquiry into the lived experience of three Marine officers who obtained their degrees while serving as enlisted reservists was conducted.

This study used Veteran Critical …