Education Commons^™

The Relationship Between Living Arrangement, Academic Performance, And Engagement Among First-Year College Students, Denise Shata Balfour

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

One way students become engaged in their undergraduate experience is through place of residence. Factors associated with high academic performance suggest high levels of engagement in campus life. This study investigated the relationship between living arrangement and the academic performance of first-year, full-time undergraduate students. The researcher also considered age, gender, race/ethnicity, and key characteristics of student engagement as moderating factors in the relationship between living arrangement and the academic performance.

Students enrolled at a four-year, public research university located in Southeastern Virginia were utilized for this study. The final participant group consisted of 870 first-year, full-time students who participated …

Community College Presidents' Perspectives Of Dichotomous Events: The Consequences Of The Great Recession & Coincidental Increased Enrollment, Corey W. Carlson

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

The community college, like all of higher education, has been significantly impacted by the Great Recession and coincidental increased enrollment. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the decision making processes of community college presidents as related to resource allocation and the impact of these decisions on the comprehensive community college mission. Declining state funding and increased enrollments have greatly impacted how community college leaders make decisions with leaders incorporating shared governance and informed decision-making. Community college leaders have also been proactively seeking out alternative revenue streams in order to help offset decreased state funding. Findings of this …

Faculty Compensation For Developing And Delivering Online Courses, Jeffrey Allen Burleson

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

The intent of this dissertation was to determine the most common compensation practices higher education institutions provided faculty for developing and delivering online courses. Many higher education institutions provided compensation as motivational tools to elicit faculty participation in new online learning initiatives; however, limited research was available on equitable compensation for these services. The population consisted of 263 small, medium, and large baccalaureate and masters level private and state-funded not-for-profit United States higher education institutions. This population was selected using the maximum number of institutions identified by the Carnegie Classification system that met these criteria.

Data for this study were …

A Cultural Approach To Understanding Professional Experiences Of Foreign-Born Faculty In U.S. Educational Leadership Preparation Programs, Iryna M. Khrabrova

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate professional experiences of foreign-born faculty members serving in U.S. educational leadership preparation programs utilizing a cultural approach to discern their lived experiences related to professional life. Cultural values reflected in professional life experiences were explored. The information gathered through phenomenological approach was used to analyze the influence of national background on the professional experiences of foreign-born faculty in educational leadership preparation programs.

Certification Of Financial Aid Administrators, Stacey A. Peterson

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

The certification of financial aid administrators has been debated for over 37 years. A job satisfaction survey conducted by the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA, 2008a) revealed that college and university administrators' perceptions of the efficiency, effectiveness, and quality of the services provided by the financial aid office have a direct effect on the job satisfaction of financial aid practitioners. The study also hinted at a possible link between these perceptions and the resources allocated to the financial aid office. Open-ended comments collected as a part of the survey suggested that while members of the financial aid …

Adjunct Faculty Organizational Sense Of Belonging And Affective Organizational Commitment, Constance L. Merriman

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

In recent years all public higher education institutions have increased their reliance on adjunct faculty. Adjuncts provide expertise in key areas, are available at times that meet the needs of the changing student demographic, and cover an increasing number of introductory courses. It has been suggested that adjunct faculty may be more weakly linked to their students, colleagues, and institution. This may, in turn, be detrimental to the organizational health of the institution. Prior research has indicated that adjunct faculty have different motivations and expectations from teaching that impact the connections they form in the higher education workplace. This study …

Examining The Impact Of Leadership Style And School Climate On Student Achievement, Tina Robinson

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate whether or not leadership style and school climate are significant predictors of student achievement. The target population consisted of elementary and high school teachers from Virginia public schools who had taught under the leadership of their respective current principals for at least 4 years. Nine school divisions were randomly selected from each of the following regions—rural, suburban, and urban—within the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Data were collected using two surveys. Bass's (1985) Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (Form 5X) was used to assess principals' leadership style—transactional, transformational, or laissez-faire—as perceived by teachers. The Organizational …

The Administration Of Community College Blogs: Considering Control And Adaptability In Loosely Coupled Systems, Troy A. Swanson

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study using a multiple case study method is (1) to further the understanding of how community college administrators and blog authors strike a balance between organizational control and adaptability when implementing and using blog technologies and (2) to create a model that will help administrators better strike this balance within a loosely coupled system of college units and individuals. The rise of Web 2.0 technologies, which allows for direct publication to the Internet, presents two conundrums for community colleges: the conundrum of control and the conundrum of adaptability. As the oldest implementation of Web 2.0 technologies, …

Perceptions Of Second-Level Managers' Performance In Student Affairs, Jennifer Kingsley

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

This study explored first- (subordinates) and second-level (managers) student affairs professionals' perceptions of managers' skills and abilities (N = 193). Participants in this study were members of the National Association for Student Personnel Administrators, National Association for Campus Activities, Association of College an University Housing Officer-International, and the Association on Higher Education and Disability in Virginia. Two instruments were used for the study: (1) Demographics, collecting demographic information and qualitative data, (2) Survey of Management Practices, which assesses managers' skills and abilities.

The respondents were predominantly Caucasian (82%), female (62%), between 26–40 years old (72%), and held a master's degree …

Predicting Academic Success Of Entering Freshmen At An Urban University Through The Assessment Of Oral And Written Language Competency, Karen D. Cobbs

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

In Moores and Klas' (1989) definitive study on college student retention, postsecondary administrators ranked the maintenance of student enrollment second in importance on a list of twenty critical issues facing higher education. Of particular relevance to college administrators has been the retention and graduation of African-American college students (D. B. Hawkins, 1994; Western Reserve, 1991).

Researchers, in considering the overall problem of student attrition, particularly, among African-Americans, have explored such questions as these: Which students are dropping out (Sherman, Giles and Green, 1994; Robinson, 1992)? Why do they discontinue their studies (Austin, 1982; Bohr et al., 1995; Kraft, 1992; Tinto, …

Retracing Gender Bias And The Validity Of Believed Differences Between Male And Female Coaches Of Women's Basketball, Melissa Baile

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

Leaders in higher education and athletics are concerned with the decline in the number of female coaches. The lack of role models for young women athletes and the inability for young women to be hired into, and remain in, coaching is problematic to the development of women in society.

The results of Acosta's 1985 study indicated that athletic directors held two stereotypical beliefs regarding the decline in the number of female coaches: a lack of qualification and time constraints due to family responsibilities. The purpose of the current research is to address two questions: (1) are male athletic administrators correct …

Retirement And Re-Entry Decision-Making: A Faculty Perspective, Seth Zimmer

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Universities are faced with an aging workforce and threatened with deficits in number and quality of replacements for retirees. New policies and programs affecting retirement and workforce re-entry are taking shape. This points to the need for research on the factors used by faculty members in the retirement decision-making process.

Faculty are somewhat unique in that their university roles and responsibilities often allow them to be professionally active simultaneously in other settings. The usual concept of retirement becomes somewhat blurred where faculty members are concerned.

The decision of when to retire and whether or not to re-enter the workforce must …