Education Commons^™

Grounded Practical Theory To Improve Persistence-Retention Strategic Enrollment Management, Kenneth W. Borland Jr.

Journal of Research, Assessment, and Practice in Higher Education

The author introduces grounded practical theory (GPT) as a useful research approach in the field of strategic enrollment management (SEM) and its focus on persistence-retention. The GPT approach is then illustrated by engaging sample voices of persistence-retention and SEM; scientific theory (the philosophical level) and normative theory (the technical level) as observed in the literature. The scientific theory voices and normative theory voices are then positioned in relation to voices of students and practitioners (observed respondents) who have identified real world persistence-retention and SEM problems. These problems suggest implications for reconstructing the relationship between persistence-retention and SEM philosophical, theoretical, and …

How Managers Use The Stockdale Paradox To Balance “The Now And The Next”, C. W. Von Bergen, Martin S. Bressler

Administrative Issues Journal

Recent discussions of leadership paradoxes have suggested that managers who can hold seemingly opposed, yet interrelated perspectives, are more adaptive and effective. One such paradox that has received relatively little attention is the “Stockdale Paradox,” named after Admiral James Stockdale, an American naval officer who was held captive for seven and one-half years during the Vietnam War and survived imprisonment in large part because he held beliefs of optimism about the future, while simultaneously acknowledging the current reality of the desperate situation in which he found himself. This contradictory tension enabled him and his followers to emerge from their situation …

Letter From The Editor, Amanda Evert

Administrative Issues Journal

The Winter 2017 issue of the AIJ begins with an invited article on the evolution of a bridge-to-college program at Idaho State University.

Invited Article: Bridging The Gap – Supporting The Transition From High School To College, Julie A. Frischmann, Kelly S. Moor

Administrative Issues Journal

Idaho State University’s Bengal Bridge is a summer program designed to help students successfully transition from high school to their first year of college at Idaho State University. All Bridge students at ISU take two general education courses, plus an additional credit of supplemental instruction focused on academic strategies specific to the disciplines represented by those general education courses, as well as a First Year Transition (ACAD) course to facilitate engagement with and acculturation to the university community—a total of nine to 10 credits in just seven weeks. Bridge students are also supported by one-to-one academic coaching, supplemental tutoring, peer …

Classical Literature Gives Life To Business Paradox And Systems Integration, Robert A. Page, Samuel K. Andoh, Robert A. Smith

Administrative Issues Journal

Professors bemoan the great difficulty students have understanding the complexity of their disciplines or functional specializations. Many non-traditional students have work and family commitments that limit the time needed to reflect professionally and to master these concepts. This disconnect has persisted despite decades of work developing more integrated, interdisciplinary curricula. One potential, partial solution is to simply start sooner and partner with liberal arts courses to introduce business students to complexity and paradox before they arrive at the business school. Grounding these concepts in the Classics embeds them in great stories of passion, betrayal, commitment, and emotion normally absent in …

Authentic Leadership—Is It More Than Emotional Intelligence?, Phyllis Duncan, Mark Green, Esther Gergen, Wenonah Ecung

Administrative Issues Journal

One of the newest theories to gain widespread interest is authentic leadership. Part of the rationale for developing a model and subsequent instrument to measure authentic leadership was a concern that the more popular theory, the full range model of leadership and its instrument, the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) (Bass & Avolio, 1985), did not sufficiently emphasize aspects of leader emotional intelligence (EI), such as self-awareness (Avolio & Gardner, 2005).

In its current configuration, the Authentic Leadership Questionnaire (ALQ) (Walumba, Avolio, Gardner, Wernsing & Peterson, 2008) measures four dimensions of leadership: relational transparency, internal moral perspective, balanced processing, and self-awareness. …

Addressing Uncertainty During Workplace Change: Communication And Sense-Making, Rich Parsells

Administrative Issues Journal

Change is a commonplace occurrence in today’s organizations. A number of scholars suggest that communication strategies during organizational change are an important element to the success of a change initiative, yet such strategies are not given primacy in the research literature. The purpose of this paper is to add to the discourse on communication and workplace change initiatives by reporting on a research project that explored communication actions which were employed and viewed as useful by those experiencing a change in the workplace. This paper presents the findings that emanated from the study and explore their meaning in relation to …

Navigating A Social Justice Motivation And Praxis As Student Affairs Professionals, Nadeeka D. Karunaratne, Lauren M. Koppel, Chee Ia Yang

Journal of Critical Scholarship on Higher Education and Student Affairs

While diversity and social justice are espoused values of the field of student affairs, student affairs professionals are socialized to varying degrees in regard to the awareness, knowledge, and skills necessary to be social justice advocates. Through qualitative interviews with nine entry- and mid-level student affairs professionals, we explored the motivations and experiences of student affairs professionals who enact values of social justice in their praxis. Participants shared strategies to navigating the field and their advocacy, the influence of theirs and others’ identities on their work, techniques for implementing intentional social justice praxis, challenges faced in their advocacy, and how …

Migrating Learning Management Systems: A Case Of A Large Public University, Brenda L. R. Such, Albert D. Ritzhaupt, George S. Thompson

Administrative Issues Journal

In the past 20 years, institutions of higher education have made major investments in Learning Management Systems (LMSs). As institutions have integrated the LMS into campus culture, the potential of migrating to not only an upgraded version of the LMS, but also an entirely different LMS, has become a reality. This qualitative research study examines the perspectives of five stakeholders involved with the migration of an LMS at a major research institution in the southeastern United States. Using Lewin’s (1947) Change Management Model and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Model as analogies, this research seeks to understand the role and responsibilities …

The Impact Of Ethics And Faith On The Leadership Styles Of Black Women In Higher Education, Emetrude Lewis

Journal of Research Initiatives

Abstract

This phenomenological study explored the connection between ethics and faith as well as the impact that such connection has on the leadership styles of Black women in institution of public education. For the sake of confidentiality, pseudonyms were used for the participants and to protect their privacy. Multiple data collection and analytical methods were utilized to document the experiences and voices of the participants. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to understand the role and impact of ethics and faith on the leadership styles of Black women in higher education. The major goals of the research are: 1) …

The Benefits Of Constructing An Effective Internship Program, Danielle Harrison

Journal of Research Initiatives

The internship program offers opportunities for learners to fulfill their scholastic, professional, and personal interests through a contractual agreement. The various stakeholders within the internship experience are vital and should be aware of the internship program structure. The goal is to prepare the intern for life outside of the collegiate experience and to transition from novice to expert. To ensure best practices while creating, implementing, and maintaining experiential learning programs, the need for an effective program structure is addressed in this paper.

Faculty Expectations Of Administrative Leaders’ Behavior Of The Department Chairs: The University Of Belize, Theodore J.M. Ogaldez, Adriel Hilton

Journal of Research Initiatives

Abstract

A new University of Belize (UB) was created through the assimilation of several smaller institutions and was only two years old at the time of this study. The authors recognized that the creation of this most-recent university would bring different expectations of leadership on the part of faculty and administrators. As higher education changes, particularly at the UB, the need for persons in leadership positions who can bring groups together in spite of differences, will be critical. According to Machiavelli (1961), there is nothing more difficult to plan, more uncertain of success, or more dangerous to manage than the …

The Importance Of Support Networks For At-Promise Students, Melissa Cheese, James Vines

Journal of Research Initiatives

At-promise students enter colleges and universities with various challenges including being academically underprepared and lacking those essential critical thinking skills to be successful. However, providing support mechanisms within a nurturing environment can help these students overcome academic obstacles as well as personal challenges in order to achieve academic success. This article explores the role of an educational opportunity program and its efforts to support student success.

Guest Editors’ Conclusions: Financial Aid Practitioner-Researcher Partnerships: Lessons From The Field, Rajeev Darolia, Justin Chase Brown

Journal of Student Financial Aid

N/A

Financial Aid Research: The Nexus Of Academic, Practitioner, And Policy Work, Donald E. Heller

Journal of Student Financial Aid

Academic research often does not find its way into the policy arena because of the nature of the work. Policymakers often find journal articles and academic books too long, difficult to understand, and lacking in policy-relevant ideas and recommendations. This article provides suggestions to academic and other researchers on how to make their research policy relevant and most likely to have an impact on policy and practice.

The Importance Of Partnerships In State Financial Aid Research, Sarah Pingel, Dustin Weeden

Journal of Student Financial Aid

In this essay, we explore the importance of state financial aid programs for both states and the students they serve. Effective state financial aid policy benefits from rigorous research that engages partners from a variety of roles, such as state agencies, legislative staff, and intermediary organizations. It also benefits from the engagement of financial aid professionals. This essay supports the key role played by each of these stakeholders in the execution and dissemination of research projects related to state aid programs.

Guest Editors’ Introduction: Strengthening Financial Aid Researcher-Practitioner Partnerships, Justin Chase Brown, Rajeev Darolia

Journal of Student Financial Aid

N/A

Nudging Students Beyond The Fafsa: The Impact Of University Outreach On Financial Aid Behaviors And Outcomes, Benjamin L. Castleman, Katharine E. Meyer, Zachary Sullivan, William D. Hartog, Scott Miller

Journal of Student Financial Aid

A growing body of research indicates that proactive outreach from high schools and college access organizations about college preparation tasks, and specifically focusing on completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), results in increased college enrollment. Comparatively less attention has been paid to the role of colleges and universities in this outreach and outreach relating to additional financial aid barriers that students face while applying to college, such as the CSS PROFILE form. In this article we investigated, through an inter-university collaboration, the effect of sending targeted, semi-personalized text messages to students during the college application process about …

Ask And You Might Not Receive: How Ferpa’S Disclosure Provisions Can Affect Educational Research, Lindsey Tonsager, Caleb W. Skeath

Journal of Student Financial Aid

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) regulates how schools collect, use, and disclose student information, including disclosures to third-party educational researchers. This article examines how educational researchers can structure their activities to reduce the risk of violating FERPA’s disclosure restrictions. In order to do so, we present two options for researchers to consider: utilizing de-identified student information that does not fall within the scope of FERPA, or complying with FERPA by securing prior consent for student information disclosure or qualifying for an exception from FERPA’s consent requirement. The article’s discussion of these options includes an overview of FERPA’s …

Non-U.S. Citizen, Community College Students: Their Federal Student Aid Status, Gender, Achievement, And Persistence At An Emerging Hsi, Jafeth E. Sanchez, Jeannette Smith

Journal of Student Financial Aid

This study presents a quantitative, exploratory analysis of 535 students attending Truckee Meadows Community College in Northern Nevada who were eligible or ineligible for federal student aid and were non-U.S. citizens. Within a snapshot of the Fall 2015 through Fall 2016 semesters, we examined the variables of gender, grade point average (GPA), credits earned, type of financial aid, amount of financial aid, persistence, and graduation status of these two groups via a collaboration between two institutions. Results revealed no statistically significant differences by gender. Non-U.S. citizens attained similar GPAs regardless of eligibility for aid, but there were differences in credit …

Federal Pell Grant Eligibility And Receipt: Explaining Nonreceipt And Changes To Efc Using National And Institutional Data, Brent J. Evans, Tuan D. Nguyen, Brent B. Tener, Chanell L. Thomas

Journal of Student Financial Aid

In examining national data on Federal Pell Grant eligibility in the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS), we were puzzled to discover that many students who appear to have eligible Expected Family Contributions (EFCs) do not receive the award. We use institutional data from a large public university to understand and enumerate changes from initial Free Application for Student Financial Aid (FAFSA) EFC to final Pell Grant EFC and explore why EFC changes occur. We determine that the nonreceipt of Pell Grant observed in NPSAS is likely due to NPSAS not reporting final Pell Grant EFCs. We examine how the …

Uncovering Barriers To Financial Capability: Underrepresented Students’ Access To Financial Resources, Brenda Eichelberger, Heather Mattioli, Rachel Foxhoven

Journal of Student Financial Aid

Financial aid is designed to increase access to postsecondary education at all socioeconomic levels; however, college students are not always knowledgeable about personal finances or capable of making sound decisions regarding complex college and program choices, debt options, and long-term spending. This article reviews previous research on the need for financial literacy training among underrepresented students and the barriers caused by inadequate access to financial services and information. Studies reviewed explore (a) the abilities of underrepresented students to make informed financial decisions; (b) the disadvantages faced by minority and first-generation students compared to their more advantaged peers; and (c) the …

Roadmap Connecting Researchers And Practitioners To Relevance For Postsecondary Policy Interests, Zakiya W. Smith

Journal of Student Financial Aid

Those interested in positioning research to be used by policymakers or funded by foundations often wonder how best to do so. Foundation and policy interests can intersect, as philanthropy and policy both aim to provide solutions to big societal problems. This article explores themes from federal financial aid policy, in particular, suggesting that relevance can come from attention to the national mood, aligning solutions with identified problems, and condensing ideas for more immediate connection.

“Undocumented” Ways Of Navigating Complex Sociopolitical Realities In Higher Education: A Critical Race Counterstory, Alonso R. Reyna Rivarola

Journal of Critical Scholarship on Higher Education and Student Affairs

In the United States, undocumented students must navigate complex sociopolitical realities to access and succeed in higher education. These complex sociopolitical realities are shaped by federal policies on education and immigration, state-specific legislation on education and public policy, as well as general attitudes regarding race, immigration, and nationalism in the U.S. In this manuscript, I weave in counter-storytelling to document some of the ways one undocumented student accessed and navigated U.S. higher education. I begin by reviewing the national and state policy contexts that affect undocumented students in the U.S. I focus a state policy analysis in Utah, as one …

Against The Clock, Trey Conatser

Greater Faculties: A Review of Teaching and Learning

In The Slow Professor, Maggie Berg and Barbara K. Seeber's thoughtful contribution to the conversation on academic labor is to challenge what often goes without saying: that it's good to be more efficient, to be faster, to manage as many tasks as possible at once. How can we practice slowness and pleasure in thoughtful ways for the good of our disciplines and colleagues and, more importantly, for those whom our decisions and actions affect profoundly?

Front Matter

Greater Faculties: A Review of Teaching and Learning

No abstract provided.

Nine Potential Solutions To Abate Grade Inflation At Regionally Accredited Online U.S. Universities: An Intrinsic Case Study, David Blum

The Qualitative Report

Grade inflation must be abated. The effect of grade inflation weakens academic standards to the point where accurately assessing levels of competency and student knowledge is difficult to determine. Using intrinsic case study design, I contacted 411 online instructors in the United States exploring potential solutions to abate grade inflation. Of 411 faculty members contacted via personal e-mail, 27 instructors at three regionally accredited online universities in the United States agreed to be interviewed by the use of an interview protocol and recorded via Skype. The research question guiding the study was “What are potential solutions to abate grade inflation?” …

Facilitating The Transition From Military Instructor To Academic Educator: Cognitive Apprenticeship In Teacher Induction At The United States Air Force Academy, Thomas T. Swaim

The Qualitative Report

This article examines teacher induction in the military undergraduate education context. The U.S. Air Force Academy relies on approximately 520 military and civilian instructors to educate nearly 4000 future military officers each year. These educators must be highly skilled and unquestionably capable in their abilities to teach these future leaders. Many of these instructors derive from highly technical active duty operational career fields (such as pilot, missile operator, etc.). This article reveals how Collins’, Brown’s, and Newman’s (1989) theory of cognitive apprenticeship is manifested within teacher induction experiences at the U.S. Air Force Academy. Using a qualitative multiple-case study approach, …

It All Adds Up: Examining And Enhancing Campus Climate For Affordability At A Four-Year University, Kevin R. Mcclure, Andrew J. Ryder, Andrew J. Mauk

Journal of Student Financial Aid

This study examined undergraduate students’ perceptions of non-academic spending in college and how they navigated these expenses. Using a mixed-methods study at a public comprehensive university in the southeastern United States, we conceptualized these perceptions as a central component of campus climate for affordability in college. Findings demonstrated that campus policies, practices, and spaces facilitated non-academic spending and exacerbated students’ perceptions that college is unaffordable. Non-academic and social costs were more expensive than students anticipated, and many students struggled to manage their money and cover these costs. Students shared a range of strategies to navigate non-academic expenses, from opting out …

Certification Of Financial Aid Administrators: Is It Time To Move Forward?, Stacey A. Peterson

Journal of Student Financial Aid

Financial aid administrators administer various aspects of financial assistance programs; oversee, direct, coordinate, evaluate, and provide training for program activities and the personnel who manage office operations and supervise support staff; and ensure alignment of student and institutional needs while protecting the public interest. They have long recognized the value of professional standards in this complex field. This study uses Peterson’s (2011) professionalization theory, 2010 archival data, analyses of variance, and risk estimation to examine the need for, benefits of, and level of support for certification, credentialing, and establishing basic core standards for financial aid practitioners. Among 2,756 survey respondents, …