Educational Administration and Supervision Commons^™

An Exploration Of The Retention And Attrition Factors For The Campus-Based Fraternity/Sorority Student Affairs Professional, Viancca J. Williams

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A higher education administrator who provides oversight, education, and accountability for fraternities and sororities is the fraternity/sorority advisor. Long-term retention in this role is low, with the average amount of time spent in the position being 3.33 years (Koepsell & Stillman, 2016). Limited research has been conducted to understand why. The purpose of the study was to explore the factors (including characteristics and experiences) contributing to the retention and attrition of campus-based student affairs professionals working in the fraternity/sorority life functional area. This qualitative study included 23 participants who at the time served in the role for longer than eight …

A Policy Analysis Of Performance-Based Funding In The State University System Of Florida, Monika Alesnik

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Performance-based funding in the State University System of Florida is the principle legislative based funding method for the states 12 public universities. The system and the policy is governed by the Florida Board of Governors. However, Florida’s legislative branch has ultimate authority in regards to the policy. There is a gap of knowledge on the critical factors which led to the development, implementation and adoption of this policy. Data were collected using primary and secondary document analysis as well as through interviews with individuals in the following groups: elected officials, higher education leaders, staff, financial or policy influencers and other …

Exploring The Relationship Between Pre-Medical Student Motivation And Academic Performance: Strategies To Improve Student Success, Lauren Albaum

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Colleges and universities are under increasing pressure to meet post-baccalaureate graduate and professional school outcomes, with the majority of students indicating their central reason for attending college is to “landing a better job” (Eagan et al., 2016). Thus, even as interest in medical school and veterinary medical school continues to rise (Eagan et al., 2016), thereby increasing the competition to obtain an acceptance, students and parents continue to hold an expectation that their undergraduate institution will adequately prepare them to successfully matriculate into medical school or veterinary medical school. Although a variety of factors influence acceptance to professional school, earning …

Managing At The Intersection: The Negotiations Of Racialized Role Strain Of Black Mid-Level Student Affairs Administrators At Predominantly White Institutions, David Frank Hibbler Jr.

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative interview study was to identify the unique stressors Black mid-level student affairs administrators encounter, how they cope with such stressors, and the perceived consequences of these encounters and coping mechanisms. Data for this qualitative interview study was collected from face-to-face interviews with eight Black mid-level student affairs administrators at predominantly White institutions in the U.S, and from and an optional diary entry. Findings revealed that participants experienced racialized role strain as a result of interactions with White peers and supervisors, same-race peers, and navigating campus climate. Specifically, the Black mid-level participants experienced strain in their …

Voices Of Success: Exploring Black Male Students’ Perspectives On Their Academic Success, Carmen Goldsmith

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Higher education enables individuals to be prepared to make an impact in the global society through enhanced skills and the ability to understand their community and the world in which they reside. According to EVERFI (2019), studies showed that diversity in education, specifically on college campuses, improve a student’s intellectual engagement, motivation, citizenship, and cultural engagement, while enhancing their critical thinking, problem-solving, and writing skills. It is advantageous for students to work with people from other races, ethnicities, and varying socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds. These differences prepare students to succeed in a diverse world and broaden their understanding and awareness …

Pathways To Leadership: A Qualitative Study Of Women In Higher Education, Kymia Love Jackson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Women earn degrees at a higher rate than men, yet they are underrepresented in leadership positions in general and more specifically, in executive leadership positions in the areas of finance, operations, and administration (FOA) in higher education. This qualitative study explored the journeys of women in executive leadership positions in finance, operations, and administration at four-year, public colleges or universities. The research question that guided this study was: How do women describe their experiences of securing, transitioning into, and advancing within executive leadership positions in FOA in higher education? Document and content analysis, demographic questionnaire, observations, interviews, and reflection were …

Contextual Factors In Early Career Teaching: A Systematic Review Of International Research On Teacher Induction And Mentoring Programs, Benjamin Kutsyuruba, Keith D. Walker, Lorraine Godden

Journal of Global Education and Research

Early career teachers (ECTs) are situated in a dynamic contextual landscape that both influences their development and practice and dictates professional expectations for instruction and professional learning. This systematic review of international research literature sought to establish the understanding of teacher induction and mentoring program support of ECTs through the following research questions: 1) which nations and regions are represented in research literature that details formal or programmatic support of ECTs? 2) what international research evidence is there to describe various contextual factors that affect experiences of ECTs? and, 3) how do teacher induction and mentorship programs respond to the …

Our Place And Power: Testimonios From Latina Senior Student Affairs Officers, Julie A. Leos

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Latina leadership in higher education is more important ever. This study provides an empowering understanding of the experiences of Latina Senior Student Affairs Officers (SSAOs) in higher education in the U.S. and their practices related to wielding the power and influence associated with their roles. Latino Critical Race Theory (LatCrit) (Solorzano & Yosso, 2000), Intersectionality (Crenshaw, 1988), and Borderlands Theory (Anzaldua, 1987) served as a theoretical framework for this study and provides a basis for understanding the Latina experience from a critical perspective.

A testimonio research design was used to explore the following wonderments: (1) What meaning do Latina SSAOs …

Relationship Between Membership In Honors College And Participation In High-Impact Activities And Perceived Gains, Clara H. Ohannes

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research study investigated the relationship between membership in the Honors College and senior-level students’ self-reported involvement in high-impact educational activities and their perceived gains from their college experience. This quantitative study analyzed secondary data from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) collected from senior-level students in Spring 2017 at a large, four-year, public research institution in the southeast United States.

A logistic regression analysis was used to explore the relationships between the involvement in high-impact educational activities and Honors College membership. The relationship between Honors College membership and several high-impact activities were found to be significant (p<.05), which included participation in a leadership role, study abroad, research with faculty and a senior capstone experience. Since membership in Honors was found to significantly contribute to participation in four out of the six high-impact practices listed in NSSE, it could be said that generally, at the particular institution in this study, Honors students are more likely than Non-Honors students to participate in high-impact learning activities.

Then, …

Student Attitudes And Behaviors Regarding Academic Dishonesty, Kelly A. Pearson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research study investigated the relationship between students’ attitudes toward academic dishonesty and their self-reported cheating behaviors. Additionally, the study investigated the potential differences between gender and the academic variables class level and cumulative GPA and both students’ attitudes toward academic dishonesty and their self-reported cheating behaviors. This quantitative study analyzed secondary data from a Spring 2014 administration of the Academic Integrity Student Survey (AISS) to examine the attitudes and behaviors of undergraduate level students (N = 574) at a large, four-year, public, research intensive institution in West-Central Florida.

Results indicated a statistically significant correlation between students’ attitudes toward academic …

Life After Graduation: Current Seniors' Perceptions Of Alumni Engagement And Their Expectations Of The Institution Once They Graduate, Jessica Burns Fugate

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Alumni participation in the life of an institution is more important now than ever before as state and federal funding continue to shrink and alumni are called on for financial support and to serve as resources for current students. Institutional leaders are hard-pressed to bring in external revenue to bridge the gap as budgets shrink to successfully balance operational costs (Barr & McClellan, 2011), which is done mostly through fundraising efforts targeted toward parents of students, alumni and often current students before they graduate to establish a culture of philanthropy. This need for external revenue increases the necessity for engaged …

Educators' Perceptions Of Students' Academic And Social Growth In A Collegiate High School Program., John Matthew Legg

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to examine educators’ perceptions of high school students’ academic and social growth in a collegiate college program. Collegiate high school programs afford opportunities to minorities and the economically disadvantaged, as well as first-generation college students (Aviles-Reyes, 2007). This research used a qualitative case study framework to collect information about educators’ perceptions of the academic and social integration of students in a collegiate college program. Data were collected in phases—educator focus group interviews and individual interviews—and subsequently coded and reviewed using thematic comparative analysis. The guiding question was as follows: What are educators’ perceptions of …

An Evaluation Of The Effects Of The Hillsborough County Public Schools (Hcps) Principal Induction Program On Principal Performance, Gloria Waite

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The principal at all instructional levels holds an awesome responsibility of ensuring that students receive the instruction that they need to be successful. They are responsible for both the management of the building and their employees as well as the instruction that students receive. Interactions include working with students, teachers, parents and community members to create a positive school culture that promotes student success.

Expectations for schools are great and are measured by school grade in the state of Florida. School grades are determined by the performance of students on state assessments. The components of the school grade are updated …

Inside The Work Of A Rookie Principal Coach: Tackling Equity In Disciplinary Practices, Olayinka A. Alege

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Hillsborough County Public Schools embarked on an ambitious goal to improve the highest-need schools by restructuring how the district supports schools and their leaders in July 2018. As part of this effort, the superintendent reduced the span of control and assigned principal coaches to support principals in a more intentional way. The purpose of this study was to explore how a principal coach engages a principal in examining inequities in disciplinary practices and how the principal coach provides the supports to prompt and sustain the principal’s efforts to reduce the disproportionate number of students of color being suspended from school. …

An Exploration Of Adjunct Faculty Preferences For Professional Development Opportunities At A Florida State College, Ashley M. Navarro

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore adjunct faculty perceptions of factors that influence participation in faculty development at a multi-campus Florida state college. To improve Florida state college adjunct faculty participation in faculty development, it was necessary to examine their faculty development needs and the incentives and barriers that influence their participation in faculty development. This study extended the research on characteristics of adjunct faculty and their faculty development interests. This quantitative study addressed the gap in the literature related to the scheduling, format, and communication preferences of a Florida state college adjunct faculty, related to faculty development. …

Proceedings Of The Global Conference On Education And Research: Volume 3, Waynne B. James, Cihan Cobanoglu

University of South Florida (USF) - M3 Publishing

This is the third volume of the Global Conference on Education and Research Proceedings Series.

ISSN: 2572-6374

Understanding The Experiences Of Multiracial Faculty Members: A Phenomenological Inquiry, Gianna E. Nicholas

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study was designed to understand the experiences of multiracial faculty at a public, four-year university in the United States, including the challenges and supports that may affect their role and responsibilities within academia. Another objective of this research study was to center the voices of multiracial faculty. While there is much research on faculty of color, research specifically on multiracial faculty is limited, indicating an even greater need to explore the experiences of this population. This qualitative, phenomenological study utilized semi-structured interviews with six, multiracial faculty members. This study’s findings have implications for institutional policies and practices regarding faculty …

Advances In Global Education And Research: Volume 3, Waynne B. James, Cihan Cobanoglu

University of South Florida (USF) - M3 Publishing

This is the third volume of the Advances in Global Education and Research Book Series. This volume has the following parts:

• Part 1: Adult Education
• Part 2: Curriculum and Instruction Development
• Part 3: Education in Other Specialties
• Part 4: Educational Technology
• Part 5: Global Competence
• Part 6: Higher Education and Educational Leadership
• Part 7: Human Resource Development
• Part 8: Inclusive Education
• Part 9: International Education
• Part 10: Pre K-12
• Part 11: Research Methods in Education

ISBN: 978-1-7321275-4-8

The Textbook Decision: Purchasing Options Affecting Students In The Classroom, Josef Rill

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examined the relationship of student textbook purchasing practices to student success and satisfaction in selected general education undergraduate courses at a Florida public community college. The study utilized secondary data sources, specifically bookstore purchasing data, student records, and student satisfaction survey results. Descriptive statistics and ANOVA were used to determine relationships. Seven specific research questions were answered, and statistically significant results were identified as a result of the data analysis.

The results indicated that there was a relationship between the type of textbook/course material purchased or rented and a student’s final grade in a course. There was also …

Support Received From The Dissertation Advisor And The Graduate Student Success Of Doctoral Students Majoring In The Sciences, Brittany N. Sheehy

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This quantitative study utilized surveys to explore how science doctoral students receive support from their dissertation advisors and its relationship to graduate student success outcomes. The survey was distributed to active doctoral students majoring in the sciences at one large, public, Southeastern University. Within examining how the support science doctoral students receives relates to graduate student success outcomes, the study also examined additional factors that could influence graduate student success such as the participant size of the laboratory group, experience with undergraduate research, and time in program.

Findings revealed that on average science doctoral students report receiving more psychosocial support …

Leadership Advocacy, Ethical Negotiations, And Resignations To High-Stakes Assessment: A Pilgrimage, Jennifer Galbraith Canady

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of my study is to explore the stories of the ethical tensions K-12 educational administrators navigate when implementing high-stakes assessment policy in a culture of measurement during testing season. Some educational leaders, in particular K-12 school and district administrators, struggle with the tensions existing between their own personal belief systems, organizational dilemmas, and the requirements of enacting high-stakes assessment policies. Using narrative inquiry as method, I collected and analyzed four school administrators selected who expressed frustration with enacting high-stakes assessment policies. The participants include a middle principal, a middle school assistant principal, a high school assistant principal, and …

An Analysis Of The Self-Perceptions Of Women Leaders In Higher Education, Angela Mclendon

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to (a) investigate perceptions of women administrators in higher education as they relate to their positions and (b) learn more about women’s perceptions as they relate to gender in leadership in higher education. and (c) determine where we need to go from here in terms of improvement. Investigating these issues in the 21st century will give us a current temperature and a snapshot of where we are and where we need to go from here as it relates to women leaders in higher education.

The focus of this study was women who are administrators …

The Impact Of Prior-Prior Year On Federal Student Aid Eligibility, Valerie A. Mockus

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Each year, millions of Americans complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) in hopes of securing federal, state, and institutional funding to support their educational goals. The FAFSA recently changed the age of tax data used to determine eligibility for aid, including the Federal Pell Grant—eligibility for which is often used as a proxy for students with the highest need. This study includes a comprehensive review of the extant literature on the subject of prior-prior year. It is also the first look into the actual impact of the recent shift from Prior Year (PY) tax information to Prior-Prior …

The Relationship Between First Year Student Expectations And Persistence Into The Second Year Of College, Ashley Baltuch Dees

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Incoming first year students have varying expectations for their college experience. As Florida public education budgets are more closely aligned with student persistence and graduation rates, it is vital institutions retain more first time in college students. The purpose of this study was to better understand how first year student college expectations on academic preparation, co-curricular involvement, socializing, and institutional commitment relate to persistence into the second year of college at one of Florida’s large, preeminent public research universities.

This quantitative study utilized the Beginning College Survey of Student Engagement (BCSSE) in order to better understand incoming student expectations. The …

Creating Laboratories Of Practice For Scholarly-Practitioners: How Leaders Learn Through Action Research Of Clinical Supervision, Ian Mette, Teresa Starrett

Journal of Practitioner Research

The purpose of our work the past three years has been to understand how clinically rich laboratories of practice can be created that allow aspiring administrators hands-on experiences in order to learn how to provide effective supervision to teachers. Through our cross-university collaboration, class members in our Educational Supervision courses have been provided an action learning structure and experiential learning opportunities to develop their own concepts of educational supervision. The two primary goals of our work were to understand a) how aspiring administrators identify when to apply directive versus nondirective supervisory behaviors (Glickman, Gordon, & Ross-Gordon, 2014), and b) analyze …

School Leadership And Appreciative Inquiry In Culture Of Care, Anthony Jones

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This capstone project was part of a group project completed by five school and district administrators in Hillsborough County, Florida. The project began because of our passion for teachers who are able to establish a culture of care in their classrooms that support students academically but transform their learning through experiences that enable them to be more highly engaged and productive students, regardless of ethnicity, socioeconomic status, perceived academic abilities, and backgrounds.

My focus in this group project was an exploration of how Walker Middle Magnet School became more diverse while increasing student achievement during the conversion to a ‘reverse …

Lynn Steen's Imprint On Demographic Change And The Demand For Higher Education, Nathan D. Grawe

Numeracy

Nathan D. Grawe. 2018. Demographic Change and the Demand for Higher Education (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press) 192 pp. ISBN 978-1421424132.

This essay introduces and excerpts my Demographic Change and the Demand for Higher Education, published by Johns Hopkins University Press. The book reflects Lynn Steen's vision of quantitative reasoning as more to do with the quality of thought than the impressiveness of the mathematical tools involved. The excerpt lays out the basic demographic challenge facing higher education and how a refinement of simple headcount forecasts can support institutions of higher education as they make preparations.

Student Employment During Senior Year Of Undergraduate Study, Christina A. Brown-Wujick

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study filled a gap in the higher education literature regarding whether a relationship exists between students’ employment location on or off campus, students’ identification as either native or transfer, and academic success as measured by self-reported grades for full-time seniors between the ages of 20-23 who enrolled in urban colleges and universities. The researcher used the National Survey of Student Engagement survey to collect data. It was administered to students during the 2013 or 2014 administrations at urban colleges and universities, with the purpose of representing the senior cohorts of students at their college or university during the years …

An Exploration Of The Relationship Between Institutional Financial Resources And Global Ranking, Matthew S. Anderson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Global rankings are a popular way for governments, HEI’s, faculty, staff, and students to compare institutions worldwide, therefore it is important to rank well. However, in order to have top-quality research and education programs, HEI’s need to have significant financial resources. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between an institution’s financial resources and its global ranking. The results of this study provide additional insight and a better understanding of global rankings and the nature of the relationship between various financial resources and global rankings.

This was a quantitative study that used ranking data from the Academic …

Grit And Academic Performance Of First- And Second-Year Students Majoring In Education, Lindsey N. Williams

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Postsecondary student performance has been studied in great detail by higher education systems and their stakeholders in attempts to identify what may contribute to increased rates of retention and degree completion. Research on predictors of postsecondary performance has focused significantly on the relationship between performance and traditional cognitive measures, yet a growing body of literature examines other factors that may play a role, including that of grit, a non-cognitive trait described as a disposition toward perseverance and passion for long-term goals. Moreover, for graduates who enter the workforce in a profession as demanding as teaching, characteristics such as grit have …