Education Commons^™

Summer Bridge Programs In National And Local Context, Osvaldo Palma Vargas

Honors Theses

Research suggests that summer bridge programs (SBPs) meet their intended goal, which is to improve first-generation students’ academic outcomes as defined by first-year retention and GPA. However, we know little about whether, and if so, how SBPs optimize the implementation of known best practices and how they are perceived by participating students. This thesis compares evidence regarding key practices of SBPs at a selection of Land Grant institutions, to identify commonalities and differences. In addition, this thesis compares the key practices of these peer institutions with a local SBP in place at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, known as the Nebraska …

The Effectiveness Of The University Of Southern Mississippi's Marketing And Branding Efforts Among Prospective Students, Amy Clevenger

Honors Theses

With enrollment rates expected to surge over the next decade, the competition

between institutions of higher learning will also increase. Because of this, marketing

material produced by all institutions will need to adjust to become more effective at

establishing brand identity to attract the attention of prospective students. Using Aaker’s

brand identity model as a framework to understand branding methods, this research aims

to identify marketing communication strategies that are more effective in a prospective

student’s decision-making process. The thesis also investigates prospective students’

recall and perception of marketing material produced by USM to determine its overall

effectiveness and differences …

Table Stakes In The War For Talent: Examining The Role Of Educational Assistance Programs Among The Fortune 1000, Noah Hubbard

Honors Theses

This study gathered stakeholder viewpoints regarding the role of educational assistance programs among the Fortune 1000 companies during the war for talent. Thirteen semi-structured interviews revealed themes that addressed four guiding research questions. After analyzing the results of the interviews and reading relevant literature, I created recommendations for each of the questions. From the first guiding research question (How do educational assistance programs help attract and retain employees and differentiate companies from one another?), recommendations include: offer a broad range of programs from G.E.D. to master’s degrees, utilize tuition assistance models to improve access to educational assistance programs, and allow …

International Student Importance, Satisfaction, And Civic Engagement, Sophia Lanphier

Honors Theses

International student populations are economic, social, and academic assets to higher education institutions in the United States. A considerable body of research has been devoted to examining international student satisfaction and experiences. Previous literature has offered suggestions for additions and improvements to university international student programs that could help increase international student satisfaction and success. Despite all this, there is a considerable gap in existing literature concerning the relationship between international student academic and social success and civic engagement participation. Civic engagement is an important element of university life that has been closely tied to the academic and social experiences …

Exploring How Popular Media Affects The Motivations And Hesitations Of Women Who Go Through Sorority Recruitment At The University Of Southern Mississippi, Whitley W. Howell

Honors Theses

Fraternity and sorority life is an important part of many college students’ experiences. Sororities provide college women with many opportunities for leadership, service, academics, and growth. Even though sororities have many benefits, they often have negative connotations in popular and social media. Often, these negative stereotypes affect people’s perception of sororities, and many women have hesitations about joining a sorority because of the way sororities are portrayed.

Sorority women express concern with the media’s negative representation of Greek life. The negative connotations affect how people see the sororities. Recruitment of new women into the chapters is an important part of …

The Effects Of Higher Education On Socioeconomic Mobility: A Comparative Analysis Of Outcomes At Bucknell University, Katrien Weemaes

Honors Theses

Income inequality and the lack of higher-education opportunities across the United States often correlate with families' socioeconomic status. In this honors thesis, the following questions will be examined: How does the social mobility of Bucknell Students compare with students from other national universities? How do a student’s race and financial aid status affect their ability to achieve social mobility? How has the rate of social mobility through Bucknell changed in recent years? How does a student’s current family socioeconomic status affect their ability to achieve high-income success upon graduation? Does the level of accessibility to Bucknell change when socioeconomic status …

A Case For Collaboration: A Manual For Bringing The Collegiate Tutoring Model To The High School Level, Veronica A. Beaupre

Honors Theses

Colleges across the United States have peer tutoring centers designed to support diverse student bodies in their efforts to learn. At the surface level, peer tutoring provides tailored one-on-one instruction that meets the varied learning needs of a large learning community. In addition, peer tutoring has been shown to benefit not only the tutees coming to the center for assistance, but also increase the performance of tutors and change the learning culture of the rest of the learning community. As a powerful resource, the collegiate peer tutoring center model would greatly benefit high schools across the United States, who also …

Developing Global Citizens: The Effects Of Semester Study Abroad On Roger Williams University Students, Kevin Danaher

Honors Theses

Study abroad at Roger Williams University allows students to travel to new locations and pursue personal and intercultural development opportunities. This thesis describes a research study that investigated: How does the study abroad experience influence students’ academic, intercultural, and personal development? 28 RWU participants answered survey questions about their semester abroad experiences. Results suggest that a study abroad semester has many positive influences on a college student’s personal life and intercultural development.

Campus Architecture And Student Culture In American Higher Education, Alexandra R. Troxell

Honors Theses

Human-environment interaction theory, as it specifically relates to architectural determinism, has an indispensible impact on student culture on college campuses. Under the assumptions of architectural determinism, this thesis examines the relationship between architecture and student culture on 30 American college campuses. Specifically, this thesis looks at uniformity of architectural style and color and the prevalence of traditional styles of architecture in relation to the institutions' campus cultures. The results of the study found that a significant relationship exists between student culture and uniformity of building color, but not between student culture and uniformity of style or the prevalence of traditional …

The Honors Portfolio Project: Communicating Value In Honors, Aimee J. Jachym

Honors Theses

The Honors portfolio is presented as a tool that honors students can use to differentiate themselves in the marketplace. An honors portfolio conceptualizes and communicates the value in obtaining a well-founded honors education. It contains documents and evidence that support the student's holistic development through a diverse range of honors experience. The paper begins by discussing the background for the project by describing what the unique qualities of an honors education are, then explores the Haworth College of Business portfolio project and the problem of conceptualizing an honors education in this fashion. Next, the paper details a project completed for …