Educational Administration and Supervision Commons^™

A Phenomenological Study Of Mid-Career Female Student Affairs Administrators' Experiences Navigating The Career Labyrinth Including Obstacles In Catholic Higher Education, Michele Starzyk

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

While the role of women in the Catholic Church has been a topic of much discussion, there has also been a call for the Church to partner with the laity. However, women who choose to work in Catholic co-educational, male sponsored higher education institutions may find a gendered organizational culture to embrace. Little research has been done in regards to the experience women have navigating the career labyrinth at mid-career while employed at Catholic institutions.

This study attempted to answer the grand tour question of what meaning do mid-career female student affairs professionals make of navigating the career labyrinth, including …

Effect Of Racial Socialization And Racial Identity In Adolescent African American Males On Academic Achievement, Rasheema Pitt

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This study examined possible influences of racial socialization and racial identity in minority’s academic achievement. Qualitative data sources (in-depth, personal interviews, focus groups, and a survey) were collected from 10 minority students and 8 administrators. In addition, a quantitative survey was used to supplement qualitative data. The researcher established her own set of questions for the interviews and focus groups. The pre-established measures used were the Does Your School Have High Expectations for All Students survey and the School Climate survey.

Thematic and theoretical analyses procedures were used to identify emerging themes and patterns, with particular attention to what minority …

The Role Of Leadership Experience In Self-Authorship Development: A Qualitative Case Study, Anna Pressler

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

Marcia Baxter Magolda’s research showed development of self-authorship typically occurred around 30 years of age. However, some programming and experiential learning presented opportunities to accelerate self-authorship development in college. Baxter Magolda emphasized the importance of self-authorship in the formative years of college and post-graduation with significant life decisions of academic major, career choice, and relationships. Therefore, the purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the role leadership experience played in development of self-authorship in college. Previous research touted multicultural programming, developmental advising, challenging classroom environments, and living-learning community models as ways to promote self-authorship development, but little research …

Older Undergraduate English Majors And Their Self-Described Value Of English, Joseph W. Price

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

The purpose of this multiple case study was to develop an understanding of what older nontraditional undergraduate English majors voiced as the challenges, attributes, and promises concerning their choice of that academic major.

Ten participants took part in this study; these were students enrolled during the Spring 2012 semester as English majors at an urban state university in the Midwest. Data from ten interviews were analyzed using a combination of structural and verses coding. Thirteen themes surfaced that cut across cases and questions and offered insight and explanation to the research question and sub questions. These included (in alphabetical order): …

Institutional Crisis Readiness As Perceived By Small College And University Senior Student Affairs Officers At Naspa Member Institutions, Philip D. Covington

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

The purpose of this study was to examine current readiness plans of small colleges and universities through the eyes of Senior Student Affairs Officers and develop recommendations for institutional use. Plans were examined across both institutional size and type to gauge institutional readiness, and commonalities were sought in the areas of plan development and maintenance. This explanatory mixed-methods study utilized survey research methodology and phone interviews. Following the initial survey administration, five respondents participated in phone interviews focused on the development and maintenance of institutional crisis management systems. Unexpected delays in the research necessitated a second administration of the survey …

Influences On Student Attitudes: An Examination Of Ten Selected Influence Areas That Impact Community College Students’ Attitudes Towards Postsecondary Education And Student Outcomes, Luke A. Stobel

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

The purpose of this study was to examine different selected influence areas that may have an impact on a community college student’s attitudes towards their education. The study was first examined in relation to existing research regarding influences that can affect, positively or negatively, a student’s attitude towards education, the courses and type of institution that they select, and ultimately in their decision to pursue higher education in general. Ten different selected influence areas were chosen and aspects of each area were examined to provide insight into influences that may impact student attitudes towards education and ultimately student outcomes. Some …

First To Second Year Retention Based On Financial Aid Package: A Quantitative Study, Emily E. Carpenter

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

Retention in higher education continues to be a constant issue for administrators. The university studied for this research is one that intends to expand its current undergraduate body by more than 25% by 2017. To do this, the chancellor of the institution has claimed that increasing the retention rate is vital. As shown in many studies, if an institution can retain students into their sophomore year they are more likely to graduate them within a 6-year period. This study specifically analyzes 1,328 equity aid eligible resident students from the 2011-2012 academic year to the 2012 fall semester. A student is …

Exploring Chinese International Students’ Perceptions Of Their Experience In An Intensive English Program At A Us Midwestern University, Yishi Long

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

This phenomenological study described Chinese students’ learning experiences in an Intensive English Program at a U.S. public university. Its main purpose was to investigate whether Chinese students think this program help them transition to American academic and social environment more smoothly.

The researcher adopted purposive sampling because there were selection criteria: (a) Chinese Intensive English students, (b) not in the Partnership degree Programs, (c) 19 years of age or older, and (d) enrolled in 2013 spring academic semester at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The sample was 10 students, five males and five females, from Basic Level to Advanced Level.

The …

Exploring The Construct Of Social Integration In A Community College Environment, Scott Mertes

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

Among current retention models, Tinto’s Interactionalist Model has reached near paradigmatic status. When his model has been applied to two-year college settings, the social integration results have been inconsistent. This has led Maxwell (2000) and Deil-Amen (2011) to suggest that a different construct of social integration exists in community colleges, and that this construct may not be related to the traditional construct of social integration in four-year university settings. The current study sought to ascertain whether these two constructs of social integration were related. A random sample of two-year college students were asked to complete a survey consisting of questions …

Exploring Tribal/Ethnic Inequality In The Allocation Of Campus Housing To Students In A Kenyan Public University, Diana C. Awuor

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

Kenya has 42 ethnic groups. The importance of tribal affiliations in the culture has led to reports of ethnic inequality in job distributions, service provision and resource allocation. Higher education institutions (HED) have not been left out in this. This descriptive/exploratory study focused on government/public HEIs with the aim of knowing the perceptions of students regarding the allocation of on-campus housing and how ethnicity influences the process, if any. The sample was made up of 100 students currently enrolled at a public university in Nairobi, Kenya.

The researcher used nonrandom purposeful sampling because there were specific characteristics that the sample …

Nebraska Transcript (University Of Nebraska College Of Law), Volume 46, Number 1, Spring 2013

Nebraska Transcript

Dean’s Message 2

Faculty Updates

Faculty Profile: Craig Lawson 4

Ruser Helps with Kosovo Legal Education 6

Faculty Notes 8

Burkstrand-Reid Participates in TEDxUNL 18

Big Ten Faculty Colloquia/Endowed Speakerships 20

Feature:

Beyond the Walls of McCollum Hall: Collaborating to Enhance Student Experience, Education 22

Around the College

Clement: “The Roberts Court Comes of Age” 26

The Value of a Patent? 28

Sen. Ben Nelson Reflects 30

S.T.I.R. Talks 32

Trivia Night at the Gradwohls 34

Human Trafficking is Pervasive 36

Darrel Parker’s Wrongful Conviction 38

Nebraska Adopts Uniform Bar Exam 40

December Graduation & Family Tradition Ceremony 42

Our …

Journal Of The National Collegiate Honors Council, Volume 14, Number 1, Spring/Summer 2013 (Complete Issue)

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Forum on “Nontraditional Honors Students”

Forum Articles

Janice Rye Kinghorn and Whitney Womack Smith

Nancy Reichert

Angela M. Salas

Mimi Killinger, Rachel Binder-Hathaway, Paige Mitchell, and Emily Patrick

Kimberly Aramburo and Suketu Bhavsar

2012 NCHC Portz Scholar’s Essay

Jeffrey Cisneros

Research Essays

Melissa L. Johnson

John S. MacLean and Brian J. White

The Role Of The Community College President In Fundraising: Perceptions Of Selected Michigan Community College Presidents, Matthew W. Miller

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

This multiple case study examines the role of the community college president in fundraising as perceived by selected Michigan community college presidents. Over the past few decades, fundraising from private sources has become increasingly important in the fiscal landscape of community colleges. Pfeffer and Salancik’s (1978) work in resource dependence theory provides a theoretical framework for this study. In a resource dependent environment, community colleges are changing their activities in an effort to pursue alternative revenue sources. Using a qualitative approach, data from interviews were analyzed to examine the perspectives of four presidents regarding their overall leadership role in fundraising …

The Effects Of Parental Involvement On The College Student Transition: A Qualitative Study At A Large Midwestern University, Lauren Edelman

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

This qualitative research studied the phenomenon of parental involvement in the college transition process and sought to understand if students perceived they were affected, relative to the development of independence and autonomy, by the amount of parental involvement they experienced during this transition. Six traditional college freshmen were interviewed and asked about their relationships with their parents, their parent’s involvement during the college search, application, and transition process, and how they perceived this involvement affected their development of independence and autonomy.

This study explored the effects of parental involvement as students transitioned from high school to college. The study looked …

This Is An Exciting Place, And These Are Challenging Times., Walter E. "Ted" Carter Jr

United States Navy: Publications

In early July of this year I became the fifty-fourth President of the U.S. Naval War College. Out of respect for the tremendous legacy of the naval officers who have preceded me in this position for nearly 130 years, I made a pilgrimage to the nearby grave site of the College’s founding President, Rear Admiral Stephen B. Luce, on the ninety-sixth anniversary of his death. Luce was one of the greatest maritime minds of his generation, and in the 1880s he envisioned a Naval War College that would be “a place of original research on all questions relating to war …

Fostering A Growth Mind-Set: Integrating Research On Teaching And Learning And The Practice Of Teaching, Beth A. Fisher, Carolyn L. Dufault, Michelle D. Repice, Regina F. Frey

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Centers for teaching and learning have a crucial role to play in helping facuity learn about and apply research on learning. The approach we have developed integrates discussion of recent research with specific recom mendations of teaching modifications that can be adapted for different disciplines and courses. Preliminary evaluation suggests the effectiveness of this approach in fostering a growth mind-set about teaching--a mind-set that helps faculty develop, implement, and assess effective teaching modifications, thereby transforming facuity into scholars of teaching and learning and further developing a collaborative, innovative culture that integrates research on teaching and learning with the practice of …

Navigating The New Normal, Terre H. Allen, Holly Harbinger, Donald J. Para

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Faculty socialization and satisfaction are critical to retaining quality teacher/scholars and key to a well-functioning teaching-intensive, research-driven university (Ponjuan, Conley, and Trower, 2011). This chapter reports on a year-long research project aimed at investigating faculty work life and satisfaction at a large, urban, comprehensive state university. Our goal was to use empirical evidence to understand and support faculty work under the "new normal" conditions characterized by reduced state funding and increased faculty workload. We discuss the results in terms of a revitalized direction for facuity and explore directions for organizational development within the context of the new normal.

Envisioning Creative Collaboration Between Faculty And Technologists, Gail A. Rathbun, Sally Kuhlenschmidt, David Sacks

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Faculty developers must often mediate conflicts resulting from differences between seemingly mutually exclusive cultures that university technolo gists and university teachers inhabit. Activity theory embraces workplace conflict as normal and as contributing to organizing health and adapta tion, in contrast to a functionalist approach that focuses on how to maintain system equilibrium. Engestrom’s (1987) interpretation of activity theory provides a theoretically informed framework for under standing different forms of human activity, mediated by culturally mol ded rules, values, and division of labor, without suffering from the polarizing effects of an us-versus-them approach.

Keeping The Fire Burning: Strategies To Support Senior Faculty, Michael J. Zeig, Roger G. Baldwin

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Recent reports indicate that at some colleges and universities, as many as one in three professors are age sixty or older. This increase in senior faculty raises the question of what institutions do to support this large and important cohort. Historically, faculty development programs have focused on early-career faculty, with less attention paid to more seasoned professors. Based on a national web-based investigation, this chapter reviews the strategies some institutions have implemented to support senior faculty. It also provides recommendations for how senior faculty and their administrator colleagues can provide new meaning and purpose to this phase of academic life.

Connect To Learning: Using E-Portfolios In Hybrid Professional Development, Bret Eynon, Judit Török, Laura M. Gambino

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Based at LaGuardia Community College, the Connect to Learning (C2L) project has developed an innovative hybrid professional development model using e-portfolios, online conversations, and face-to-(ace meetings to support campus leadership teams as they strengthen e-portfolio initiatives on twenty-five diverse campuses nationwide. The C2L model adapts a conceptual framework of inquiry, reflection, and integration to a hybrid context and addresses the challenge of local professional devel opment leadership for classroom and institutional change.

Developing A Faculty Learning Community Grounded In The Science Of How People Learn: A Year-Long, Faculty-Led Teaching And Learning Seminar, Alison Rudnitsky, Glenn W. Ellis, Patricia Marten Dibartolo, Kevin M. Shea

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

This chapter describes a multiyear professional development effort undertaken by a learning and teaching center at a liberal arts college. As part of its founding mandate, the center helps faculty improve teaching by paying attention to the current literature about how people learn. This core commitment of our center is pursued through support of a year-long faculty seminar. Now in its fourth year, the seminar has had a significant impact on its faculty participants and their thinking about teaching and learning. Moreover, the seminar has seeded a number of teaching and assessment initiatives at the college.

Faculty Development Scholarship: An Analysis Of To Improve The Academy, 1982-2011, Kathryn E. Linder, Suzanna Klaf

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

As To Improve the Academy enters its thirty-second year, this chapter offers a retrospective to honor the history of the field through a timely analysis of the content published in TIA and editorial and authorship trends over the previous three decades. Frequency distributions identify the most published authors, their institutional affiliations, the most written about topics, and patterns of collaborative authorship in volumes 1 (1982) through 30 (2011), and findings from a citation analysis of ten years of TIA (volumes 21-30), highlight trends in resources cited and types of resources.

Program Planning, Prioritizing, And Improvement: A Simple Heuristic, Peter Felten, Deandra Little, Leslie Ortquist-Ahrens, Michael Reder

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

As educational developers working with multiple constituencies and demands on our time, how can we efficiently and creatively improve our programming and prioritize our efforts? In this chapter, we offer a simple heuristic to prompt quick yet generative examination of our goals or programs in relationship to three key characteristics of effective educa tional development on three different institutional levels. We then describe uses and applications of the tool and reflective process, which allow developers to efficiently gain insight into their work and effectively frame priorities for planning and improvement.

A Consultations Tracking Database System For Improving Faculty Development Consultation Services, Jason Rhode, Murali Krishnamurthi

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

The role of the facuity development center in supporting the academic environment of the institution often includes creating or sustaining a culture of teaching excellence, responding to individual faculty members’ needs, and advancing new initiatives in teaching and learning (Sorcinelli, Austin, Eddy, and Beach, 2006). The varied programs, resources, and services offered routinely result from efforts to meet the expressed needs of faculty. While workshops and seminars are effective for introducing new pedagogical approaches or emerging technologies, faculty often have unique questions within specialized contexts that cannot be fully addressed in a large group setting. In such instances, a more …

From Outsiders To Insiders: Graduate Assistant Development At State Comprehensive Universities, Kathleen M. Brennan, Laura Cruz, Freya B. Kinner

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

We assess graduate assistant competency in key skills that employers in and outside of academia value and examine whether these skills are developed in the context of the graduate assistantship (GA) at a specific state comprehensive university. The GAs in our sample rate themselves as competent or very competent on all skills and report their GA experience somewhat influenced or influenced their skill competencies. Furthermore, perception of how one’s graduate assistantship influenced skill compe tency was significantly associated with perceived skill competency level. Based on these findings, we qiscuss distinct gaps that could be addressed to facilitate GA development at …

Using Undergraduates To Prepare International Teaching Assistants For The American Classroom: Development Of Senior Faculty, Warren E. Christian, Brian J. Rybarczyk

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

This chapter describes how undergraduates may be used in the training of international teaching assistants (IT As) in three ways: as conversation partners, classroom consultants, and guest instructors. Increasing the contact between undergraduates and international graduate students before they meet in the classroom as students and instructors can benefit each group. After a brief review of the literature that explores the chal lenges IT As face in the American university classroom, we describe the roles that undergraduates may perform in training IT As, explain the benefits to both IT As and undergraduates, and provide a list of best practices for …

Tomorrow's Professor Today: Tracking Perceptions Of Preparation For Future Faculty Competencies, Michael S. Palmer, Deandra Little

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

The University of Virginia’s Tomorrow’s Professor Today (TPT) pro gram is a broadly conceived graduate student professional development program designed to facilitate the transition from student to academic professional. Begun in 2005 in response to the recommendations of a number of national reform initiatives, TPT focuses on improving pre paredness in three key areas: teaching, research, and service. We describe the key elements of the program and ongoing assessment efforts. Pre- and postprogram participant surveys from the first eight years show that TPT is improving perceptions of preparedness in twenty-one competencies tracked; follow-up studies support long-term impact.

Student Consultants Of Color And Faculty Members Working Together Toward Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy, Alison Cook-Sather, Praise Agu

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Through positioning undergraduate students as pedagogical consultants to college faculty, Students as Learners and Teachers is a program that provides reconceptualized "counterspaces" for students and facuity members with whom they work. In our study of the experiences of consultants of color, we found that those students and their faculty partners used program counterspaces to explore links between their lived identities and pedagogical commitments and to share authority and responsibility in developing culturally sustaining pedagogy. In this chapter we report on participants’ experiences in these collaborations and how they legitimate the knowledge of students of color in faculty learning.

Measuring Student Learning To Document Faculty Teaching Effectiveness, Linda B. Nilson

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Recent research has questioned the validity of student ratings as proxy measures for how much students learn, and this learning is a commonly accepted meaning of faculty teaching effectiveness. Student ratings capture student satisfaction more than anything else. Moreover, the overriding assessment criterion in accreditation and accountability-that applied to programs, schools, and institutions-is student learning, so it only makes sense to evaluate faculty by the same standard. This chapter explains and evaluates course-level measures of student learning based on data that are easy for facuity to collect and administrators to use.

Mobile App Learning Lounge: A Scalable And Sustainable Model For Twenty-First-Century Learning, Michael H. Truong

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Twenty-first-century learning is increasingly defined by the use of mobile devices and applications. Centers for teaching and learning can help facuity and students acquire greater familiarity and fluency with just-in-time learning using mobile apps by creating informal, inviting, and informative learning spaces on their campuses. This chapter features the Mobile App Learning Lounge (MALL), a low-cost, high impact initiative of a center for teaching and learning at a California research university. Beyond sharing how MALL works, this chapter offers practical suggestions and strategies for replicating a similar ini tiative at other institutions.