Education Commons^™

Identity Development As A Pathway To Self-Authorship: A Restructure Of Neoliberal Programming Practices, Christopher Mychajluk

West Chester University Master’s Theses

The original purpose of student affairs was to help develop the whole student outside of just academics. I argue that to develop the whole student, student affairs professionals must aid in students’ exploration of self-authorship. Student affairs professionals do this work by putting on programs that allow students to explore their identities. I explore how this work is compromised by neoliberalism and as a result silos students’ ability to explore their whole self. To mitigate this issue, I propose a two-part intervention that restructures student affairs programming budgets as one shared budget in order to facilitate the formation of large-scale …

Re-Storying The Cost Of Higher Education: A Narrative Approach To Addressing The Racial Disparities In Student Loan Debt, Sarah Yaskowski

West Chester University Master’s Theses

This thesis investigates educational debt as a racialized construct resulting from deeply entrenched disparities expounded by the current marketization of higher education. Once hailed as a pathway to the American Dream, pursuing a college education meant access to the middle class which promised greater social capital and socioeconomic mobility. Yet for many students, specifically minority students of color who carry disproportionate amounts of educational debt fueled by this false promise, the realities of this pursuit are far direr. By framing the discussion through the theoretical lens of Critical Race Theory, this research attempts a more critical review of the discriminatory …

Over-Privileged And Under-Challenged: Leadership Programming To Challenge Collegiate Hegemonic Masculinity, Kaitlin Mcintyre

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Student affairs and higher education scholars have recently identified several problematic trends regarding the engagement, retention, performance, and behavior of college men across campuses. Concerns for college men’s lack of engagement worsen regarding leadership development, as not only do college men participate in leadership programming at very low rates, but they also have alarmingly low capacities for socially responsible leadership. This indicates that the scarce leadership programming college men are participating in is ineffective and underwhelming as an educative tool. In this thesis, I urge student affairs practitioners to provide college men with opportunities for leadership development that both challenge …

Making College Campuses Safer For Students Of Color, Lasheree Snyder

West Chester University Master’s Theses

This thesis will address the racial attitudes on college campuses that have a negative effect on students of color. More specifically, I will be shining light not only on the need for action within higher education, but also the long-term and short-term mental and physical damages that rob students of their right to an equal educational experience. Through the usage of Critical Action Research as my conceptual framework and methodology, it has allowed me to share the common power struggle and challenges that students of color face on college campuses today when dealing with racism and prejudice. I propose a …

A Queer Approach To Sex Education: An Analysis Of The Insufficiency Of Access Without Education, Rebecca Seeley

West Chester University Master’s Theses

This master’s thesis is a critical action research proposal for an undergraduate advocacy leadership role that is based philosophically and theoretically on the need for sex education resources for queer & trans students of color in universities. American culture is historically uncomfortable with and outwardly opposed to education on sex and sexuality, which often prevents queer identified people from receiving the distinct education and resources necessary to protect themselves from STIs or unhealthy relationships. Although this education is often provided, it is often unknowingly designed for their straight counterparts, which excludes and denies the queer student from participating in this …

Leading For Change: Incorporating The Values Of The Liberal Arts In Student Affairs Practice, Ben Shalk

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Higher education, once a public good, has undergone a period of systemic divestment. The business model of the university, perpetuated by neoliberalism, has changed the values of higher education. Traditionally, the core mission of higher education created critically-engaged citizens who sought to democratize society. In its current state, higher education has lost its status as a public good that benefited all of society. The liberal arts can reinvigorate higher education by reengaging students through contemplative methods. Student affairs educators live in a world of limited budgets and neoliberal practices. The connection of neoliberalism to their work in student affairs will …

New State Of Mind: A Living Learning Community For Out-Of-State Students, Molly Rorick

West Chester University Master’s Theses

The term out-of-state resonates with any person who does not permanently live in a particular state but has visited from across state lines multiple times. In this case it is in relation to students who have decided to pursue their education at an institution that is located in a different state. This thesis examines the lack of resources for OOS students living within the university's walls using the lens of transition theory. With the lack of resources, this creates a barrier between the student and their potential for their success. New State of Mind is a proposed intervention, which opens …

Ccure: Campus & Community United For Recovery Efforts, Alexandra Schmied

West Chester University Master’s Theses

The CCURE pilot program combats historical stigma and the current lack of support for students in recovery from Substance Use Disorder during their collegiate careers. Using the ideas of Paulo Freire and Michael Oakeshott, the author’s philosophy states education should be continual, communal, and accessible. The CCURE program intervention outlines a Living Learning Community in a six-bed recovery house on campus in conjunction with a seminar course taught by campus partners. Student development theories such as Schlossberg's Mattering and Marginality & Transition Theories; best practices found in public health, and at Rutgers University, Augsburg University, and the University of Delaware …

Re-Establishing The Value Of Family And Consumer Science In The General Middle School Curriculum, Cassidy Wallace

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Family and consumer science is a subject that carries a complex cultural legacy. Beginning as a response to the social upheaval of the industrial revolution, family and consumer started as home economics, and was split between elevating the importance of the domestic arts and applying science to traditionally domestic tasks to both improve homelife and create new fields of academic research. While second goal was reached, and we now have food science, sanitation engineering, and materials research, among others, family and consumer science is still often relegated to domestic associations. However, family and consumer science is still relevant and powerful …

Correcting The Lack Of Representation And Support For Lgbtq Students In School, Colleen O'Neill

West Chester University Master’s Theses

While some progress has been made toward the inclusion of previously excluded historically marginalized communities from school curricula, there remains a notable absence of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex, asexual+ (LGBTQIA+) community. Specifically, the LGBTQIA+ community is considered controversial to address in schools because anything outside of the heterosexual, cisgender norm conflicts with some people’s religious and political beliefs. Though school administrators may insist that the inclusion of LGBTQIA+ content in schools is in violation of public schools’ duty to remain neutral, the purposeful omission of such is a political act in itself.

This program will emphasize the …

Re-Forging Democracy In Schools Through The History Of American Social Movements, Jonathan Privado

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Democratic virtue and spirit are severely lacking in the traditional school setting. With so many threats to the planet, the nation, and democracy as a whole, direct action, and active civic engagement are more important than ever. The traditional social studies and history curriculums of schools, both sanitized and passive, often claim to prepare students for citizenry, but are actually ill preparing students for the challenge and the necessity of genuine civic engagement. In particular, one of the most egregious offenders within the domain of the social studies is the traditional American history curriculum. In most cases, as this study …

I Don’T Really Work Here: Part-Time Faculty And The Adjunctification Of Higher Ed., Maggie Cawley

West Chester University Master’s Theses

This critical action research thesis will explore the 40-year rise of adjunctification, the term coined to describe the increased reliance on adjunct and contingent labor in institutions of higher education. This thesis will examine adjunctification’s detrimental effects on teaching in higher education as a profession, on adjuncts and contingent teachers, and on students. Institutional overreliance on adjunct faculty as cheap, ad hoc labor flies in the face of the role that education should play in society: to develop student potentiality and capacity for critical thought. I believe that the casualization of teaching and the subsequent rise of adjunctification preclude these …

Exploring The Responsibilities Of Student Affairs Educators To Student Activists, Catia Rembert

West Chester University Master’s Theses

This thesis addresses the need for student affairs professionals to effectively support student activists. More specifically, entry and mid-level professionals need to develop and cultivate skills that will allow sustainable and meaningful support for student activists of color. Using a critical action research framework I analyzed the ways in which hierarchy affects the ability of student affairs professionals to provide effective advocacy and support. I propose a student led summer professional development series that shifts power dynamics from the student affairs professional to the student activist. An effective leader of this intervention would be someone who is immersed in activism …

Name, Image, And Likeness Rights As A Means To Student-Athlete Self-Authorship, Wesley Hamilton

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Today, the common discourse surrounding student-athletes’ Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) Rights is evolving from an archaic sense of paternalism and conservative protectionism to various forms of redistribution such as salaries and endorsement rights. Although I have found the NCAA’s protectionist stance on amateurism to be outdated, I do not find the salarying of student-athletes to be tenable for the majority of higher education institutions. The NCAA should roll back their codes (2.9, 2.13, 12.4.4, 15.1, in particular) restricting student-athlete NIL rights in order to maximize these students’ potential for self-authorship. To support student-athletes bfore, during, and after this legislative …

Building Bridges: Overcoming Barriers To College Access For Low-Income And Working-Class Students, Sarah Mcguckin

West Chester University Master’s Theses

This thesis will explore the barriers that cause a lack of access to higher education for low-income and working-class students. My own experience as a working-class, firstgeneration college student has had a direct influence on my interest and exploration of this concern. There are four specific barriers highlighted within this thesis: discrepancies in education at the primary and secondary level, lack of familial knowledge, economic disparities, and a phenomenon known as summer melt. I believe that higher education should be a given right so that one can develop one’s ontological vocation. I utilize philosophers and theorists such as Paulo Friere …

P.E.A.R Participation, Education, Action, And Resources: Combating Food Insecurity Through Collaboration, Aileen Assumma

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Students have been negatively impacted socially, academically and personally through the inability to provide enough nutritious meals to fuel their bodies. The higher education public system should be seen as a collaborative effort to educate institution employees on the issue of food insecurity as the first step in combating food insecurity among their local community. Creating a group of Community Advocates made up of members across the community will provide the opportunity for institutions to examine the systemic barriers put in place within higher education systems that hinder student ability to have sufficient access to food sources. I will validate …

Transformative Education For Autistic Students: Sustainable Employment Readiness Training For Autistic Students, Maryellen Stephens

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Higher education institutions are in the business of transforming neurotypical students into becoming fully human and flourishing into employable graduates that contribute to societal development while failing to be fully inclusive of the needs of students on the autism spectrum. To address these concerns, I propose a developmental employment readiness program for matriculated autistic students. The Autism Workforce Program will transform the system of higher education to be more inclusive of the needs of the autism population and their growing unemployment rate. This program will provide employment training opportunities, job shadowing, internships, and paid positions through campus mentorships from faculty …

More Than An Income: Learning Through Student Employment, Raina Johnson

West Chester University Master’s Theses

When attending university, many students choose to work, whether off or on campus, in order to earn some money or enough to pay their way. Student employment can help students become more acclimated to campus and aid in building transferable skills that will follow them throughout college and beyond. However, on campus not every job is equal and not all students can clearly say what skills were cultivated during their experience. To bridge the gap between student learning and employment I propose a centralized student employment office which will implement a training and advising program for student employees and their …

Accessibility For Student With Disabilities, Amanda Martin

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Accessibility for students with disabilities on university campuses is important to our field as student affairs professionals because students with disabilities make a growing population of the student body on university and college campuses (Burgstahler, & Moore, 2009). I believe that it takes someone who passionately cares to make a difference in the higher education community. A value that is significant to understand me would be my fierce belief that all people deserve a chance to earn a higher education regardless of their background, socioeconomic status, and ability levels. I believe a chance at higher education is not only growth …

Fictive Kin Relationships And Advising: The Roles Of Chosen Family As An Advisory Framework For Higher Education, Zachary Burden

West Chester University Master’s Theses

The structure of a chosen family centers love, commitment, empathy, and accountability into relationships outside of a person's biolegal family. This project asks, if student affairs professionals framed their advising and mentoring work with a platonic and familial sense of love and commitment, would it offer their students a new sense of openness, trust, and community? Using theories of love in education and building a teaching community by bell hooks (2003; 2018), Paulo Freire's (1970) banking model of education, and experiential learning by John Dewey (1997), I examine these chosen family relationships and their application into higher education advising. In …

The Duality Of The Black Student Activist: A Decolonial Approach To Reframing Student Activism As Student Leadership, Kaileik Asbury

West Chester University Master’s Theses

This thesis addresses how reframing activism as leadership allows student activist to be viewed as student leaders on college campuses. More specifically, I explore how the Black student existence and experience on college campus and their desire for an equitable education has always been considered a form of activism that had continuously been suppressed. I used the methodology of critical action research to examine the structures of Eurocentricity, colonization, racialization and domination that affect the educational experiences of Black student activists, while also utilizing my personal experience. I propose a leadership building program that promotes racial justice, decolonial methods and …

Back To Our Roots: Revolutionizing Black Greek Letter Organizations To Dismantle Racism In Higher Education, Ashley Lyles

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Black Greek Letter Organizations (BGLOs) started appearing across college campuses in the early 1900s at a time when racism was widely spread and accepted in society and institutions of higher education. Over time, BGLOs that existed at predominantly White institutions (PWIs) were forced to assimilate to the norms of the dominant culture as a way to mitigate the acts of racial bias and discrimination that these organizations were often subjected to. Throughout generations, BGLOs have continued to be deculturalized and therefore have moved further away from their intended purpose of fighting racial inequality and promoting racial uplift. This thesis seeks …

Queering The University: Implementing A Systematic & Organizational Approach To Equity, Brian Moore

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Too often higher education educators take a lackadaisical approach to solutions surrounding negative queer and trans student experiences; however, educators hold an obligation to foster student success, retention, catalyze identity development, and maximize the human potential of queer and trans students. This master’s thesis develops a systematic and organizational approach to achieving an equitable campus for queer and trans student experience through a critical action research proposal. Utilizing my perspective as queer and trans educator and/or student, I will primarily use the philosophical lens of Friere, hooks, Foucault, and queer theory to support my philosophy of education. Theoretical frameworks from …

Rooting For Everybody Black: Exploring The Need For Mentorship For Black First-Generation Students At Predominantly White Institutions, Layshan Gilliard

West Chester University Master’s Theses

This thesis addresses how mentorship can enhance the experience and success of Black first-generation college students at predominantly white institutions. More specifically, I explore why first-generation Black students need guided support that comes with mentorship, what that support should entail, and how and when it should be delivered to them. I used the methodology of critical action research to analyze the structures of power that affect the education received by these students, while also utilizing my personal experience. I propose a mentoring program that promotes Black excellence. The program, SOUL (Students Overcoming Uniting and Learning), will provide students with the …

The Higher Education Experiences Of International Students: Rethinking Orientation With A Participatory Action Research (Par) Perspective, Matheeha Majeeth

West Chester University Master’s Theses

The U.S.A. has the world’s largest international student population (Institute of International Education, 2019). While there is some research on the stressors and the impact those stressors have on the educational experiences of international students, there is very little research on the common practices around orientation and its efficiency. The traditional format of new student orientation, an event that happens for a day or two upon the arrival of the new international students, fails to address the needs of those students as well as it could. Rather, orientation should be presented as a gradual, progressive process that both the university …

Navigating The Higher Education Transition: Focused Support For Transfer Students, Scott Yannick

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Transfer students often face challenges when transitioning into a new institution. Transfer student orientation and onboarding usually consists of a broad overview that does not speak directly to individual circumstances and concerns. In this thesis, I will propose an alternative to traditional orientation programming that supports the transfer student transition through online modules that are focused on the student’s individual needs. I use Critical Action Research as my framework to address these concerns. My proposed intervention, a Transfer Student Onboarding Experience, is described and includes an examination of funding and implementation challenges. This topic is important for Student Affairs practitioners …

Mitigating Risks Of Miseducation Within Labor-Focused High-Impact Practices, Andrew Garda

West Chester University Master’s Theses

In this thesis, I address the risks of miseducative experiences resulting from the labor-focused high-impact practices of internships and service learning/community-based learning. As high-impact practices are often considered inherently valuable, there is a need to examine these two practices under a critical action research lens in order to expose the ways in which these practices are not serving students properly. I go on to argue that issues such as unpaid internship programs taking advantage of free student labor and voluntourism existing on travel-based service learning/community-based learning programs negate the potentiality of students to experience the growth in their sense of …

Deschooling Deficit Perspectives: An Exploration Of Culture And Place For Educators, Madison Dorschutz

West Chester University Master’s Theses

The purpose of this critical action research is to increase awareness of deficit perspectives that damages the academic outcomes of diverse students while offering approaches to address them. Theories of decolonialism, culturally responsive pedagogy, and place-based education will be discussed as they are able to pull back the raciallyinformed curtain of bias development. These theories come together in a 4-day series of workshops that seeks to inform educators of their damaging thinking in an effort to negate it before they enter their classrooms. Through reflection, cultural-perspective taking, and relationship building, educators can gain skills to acknowledge systems of oppression that …

The Importance Of Interdisciplinary Education, Jennifer Liegeot

West Chester University Master’s Theses

This thesis work explores the concept of Interdisciplinary Education and how it can improve the educational experience for students while also creating citizens more capable of participating in a democratic society. In order to create more well-rounded citizens, schools should provide an interdisciplinary approach to education that centers the perspectives of the those who are traditionally excluded. Much of the education curriculum today is based on a system that favors the majority leaving out entire groups of students from minority populations. As a result, schooling overwhelmingly does not help oppressed students become critically conscious citizens who are equipped to participate …

Recognizing And Addressing Mathematics Anxiety In Female Students, Amanda Sost

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Mathematics anxiety is a prevalent concern in the world of education. As a female mathematician myself, my own personal experiences led me to research the reasons why mathematics anxiety affects more girls than boys. Specifically this paper explores the basics of anxiety including its definition and causes. This definition provides a meaning behind discussing the authoritarian model of education and the importance behind creating a free democratic society, not only in the classroom but in the world. Specifically, the authoritarian style of pedagogy has many affects on students who are learning mathematics, which will be explored as one of the …