Higher Education Administration Commons^™

Harnessing The Power Of Cliftonstrengths®: How Multinational Corporations Can Use Deep-Level Diversity To Enhance Organizational Inclusion, Trapper Kay Pace

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research explicitly investigated how multinational corporations can enhance workplace inclusion through the novel use of the CliftonStrengths® assessment as a dimension of deep-level diversity. The study gleaned insights from employees’ perspectives, employing a constructivist grounded theory approach to explicate their experiences in rich qualitative narratives. Through open-ended surveys and intensive interviews, participants were selected using purposeful sampling to ensure meaningful data collection from the study organizations’ three global regions. The researcher conducted the analysis systematically through the constant comparison of data utilizing the NVivo14 software to assist in constructing codes, themes, and a theoretical schema. Results highlighted the significance …

Medical School Middle Managers Learning To Successfully Work With Leadership To Navigate Organizational Change, Elizabeth G. Smith

Doctor of Education Program Dissertations

There is a lapse in research exploring middle managers at medical schools during an organizational change. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to examine the perceptions of middle managers during an organizational change to mitigate burnout and build resilience. The literature reviewed explored how stressors from organizational changes may impact medical school middle managers, leading to feeling less secure about their position and increasing middle managers’ stress leading to burnout. For an organizational change to be successful, middle managers must build trust with their staff, communicate with middle managers, and engage middle managers in the change process. Burnout …

Racism Without Race: The Racialization Of Middle Eastern And North African Students At U.S. Colleges, Hannah Mesouani

Dissertations

Although a growing body of literature covers the experiences of international students at U.S. colleges, the stories of those who do not fit into the U.S. racial schema remain untold. This study examined how Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) students understood their racial identities given the United States’ tense history with Islam and the MENA world. Using foundational texts on critical race theory, current scholarship on Arab Americans and foreign-born students, and facets of the Ethnic Identity Scale (EIS), this study examined the experiences of MENA students who study amid a national backdrop of xenophobia and racialized Islamophobia. This …

Symbolism Or Substance: Factors Influencing Campus Messaging Decisions And Their Alignment With Institutional Values, Laura Herzog Jacobs

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Historically, institutions of higher education (IHE) have been cautious and slow in making changes. Yet in today’s fast-paced and dynamic world of content availability and information flow generated by 24-hour news cycles and the ubiquity of social media present a challenging reality for colleges and universities in their public relations and communications approaches (Sands & Smith, 2000). Creating a harmonious and agile approach to managing these responsibilities against the backdrop of an incessant flow and public demand for information, including responses to national events often with seemingly little or no connection to the institution, suggested a need to examine the …

Welcoming Families With Children To Csusb: Making An Intergenerational Difference, Leslie Leach

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Coming back to school after a gap in your education can be a daunting task. For students with children (SWC), the undertaking has different challenges than their classmates. Providing resources geared towards their success plays a significant role in the student's ability to complete their education. It also allows the SWC to feel a sense of belonging within their institution of higher learning. This project analyzes other California State Universities' family housing programs to advocate a similar program at California State University, San Bernardino. Using the Communication Theory of Identity (CTI) and Organizational Identity (OI), I can illustrate how resources …

Pathway Provider Programs: The International Student Experience, Aaron A. Mendez

Capstone Collection

As part of their commitment towards internationalization, many higher education institutions seek new recruitment practices to increase international student enrollment, to both enhance cultural diversity and increase the potential for revenue. Partnering with third-party pathway providers offers international students an opportunity to refine their English language skills, all while taking for-credit-bearing academic courses that ultimately prepare them for their second year upon matriculating into their degree-seeking programs. One difference between direct-entry international students and pathway program international students is the additional level of support for the latter.

This study explores the following research question: What are the experiences of international …

Best Practices For Voter Engagement Within Higher Education, Alyssa Tomins

Honors Projects

It is imperative that higher education institutions learn more about how to recruit members of younger generations to participate in future elections. Young people have historically voted at low rates, but that trend has started to change in recent years as more resources are being devoted to voter engagement among young people. This leads to the interest of understanding what best practices and strategies have academic institutions utilized to advance voter engagement on their campuses. This qualitative study analyzes these best practices and strategies at 84 colleges and universities, all of whom are members of The Andrew Goodman Foundation Vote …

Barriers To Post-Secondary Success, Douglas Swanson, Najeana Henderson, Maritza Sloan

Dissertations

This study reviews factors that prior studies have identified or failed to consider as barriers to post-secondary success. The three main areas include academic success for Latinx students after high school, organizational systems and their impact on African-American students’ postsecondary readiness, and what workers think of their high school education with regards to career preparedness.

Five factors are identified as major barriers for Latinx students to continue in a higher education system. A survey of former students from Saint Louis, Missouri, and Dallas, Texas, metroplex area identified 56 Latinx students that participated in an initial survey. This led to a …

The Influence Of Instructor Mental Illness Disclosure On The Perceptions Of Mental Illness, Classroom Climate, Teacher Credibility, Homophily, And Social Attraction, Kirsten L. Bridgemen

Theses and Dissertations

This study uses the lens of Communication Privacy Management theory to analyze the impact an instructor’s depth of disclosure of their mental illness can have on mental illness stigmatization, classroom climate, as well as teacher credibility, homophily, and social attraction. Participants responded to a series of quantitative-based questions regarding a hypothetical syllabus with varied levels of a teacher disclosing their mental illness. Results indicated that none of the investigated dependent variables were negatively affected by the hypothetical instructor’s disclosure, and mental illness stigmatization was lessened. Implications, limitations, and areas for future research are discussed.

A Look At Vision: Perspectives Throughout The Organizational Hierarchy Of The Christian University Context, William Kyle Brantley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Research supports vision as a central tenet to leadership. Just as important as the content of vision is how it is communicated. However, once a vision is cast, far less is known about how it is communicated throughout the organization and how it influences members throughout the organizational hierarchy. For faith-based organizations like Christian colleges and universities, vision is particularly important as it serves to steer the institution toward a greater realization of its faith-based identity. This study contributes to the empirical research on vision, its communication, and its effect, as both the nature and impact of vision communication within …

The Predictors Of Juvenile Recidivism: Testimonies Of Adult Students 18 Years And Older Exiting From Alternative Education, La Toshia Palmer

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this descriptive, qualitative study was to identify and describe the importance of the predictors of juvenile recidivism and the effectiveness of efforts to prevent/avoid juvenile recidivism as perceived by previously detained, arrested, convicted, and/or incarcerated adult students 18 years of age and older exiting from alternative education in Northern California. A second purpose was to explore the types of support provided by alternative schools and the perceived importance of the support to avoid recidivism according to adult students 18 years of age and older exiting from alternative education.

Methodology: This qualitative, descriptive research design identified …

The Relationship Between Education Levels And Public Opinion Before The Iraq War, Damion Steele

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Researchers have found that higher education is known to stabilize political opinions and thought to enhance critical thinking skills. The role that an individual's level of education plays in shaping public opinion during a foreign affairs crisis, within the context of repetitious and uniform news media coverage, has yet to be determined. The theoretical foundation of agenda-setting explains how salience is created by emphasizing certain messages and influencing public opinion and may bypass education and political knowledge. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the relationship between education level and public opinion immediately before the Iraq War. The …

Measuring What Matters: Exploring Student Motivations To Inform International Student Recruitment, Rebecca Lubitz

Capstone Collection

Over the last decade, international students in the United States have surpassed the one million mark (Institute of International Education [IIE], 2016(a). Research found here highlights the goals and motivations of this growing constituency and examines factors that influence international students to choose educational experiences in the United States.

Two online surveys were distributed, one to international recruitment agents that work for UC Berkeley Extension, and another to international students. The paper examines survey responses along with existing research to offer data-driven theories on how international educators might more effectively approach student recruitment and program design. The research concluded that …

Girls Are Us: A Collection Of Oral Histories From The Jmu Community, Anne M. Sherman

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

On a campus where women make up a majority of the student population, it is especially important that female voices are heard and given a platform on which they can control their own narrative. I wanted to give those female-identifying voices that platform. I conducted a series of interviews to examine how college-aged female-identifying students feel about their identity and how they construct that identity within the climate of the JMU community. I was particularly interested in the intersections of gender, race, ethnicity, class, sexual preference, and ability. I asked each person to share their stories of times when they …

Social Justice Education: Using Communication Activism Pedagogy To Help University Cultural Centers Increase Campus Diversity & Inclusivity, Sophia T. Vu

Journalism

This study examined how student affairs professionals, especially those in cultural centers, could increase campus diversity and inclusivity. More specifically, it sought to find a theoretical basis for social justice education programs that could increase campus climate. It was performed as a single site case study at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. Three Cal Poly student affairs professionals were interviewed for qualitative data which were then compared and analyzed with the literature surrounding campus diversity and inclusivity. The study concludes that student affairs professionals can increase campus diversity and inclusivity by developing social justice education programs that not …

The Relationship Between Demands And Resources And Teacher Burnout: A Fifteen-Year Meta-Analysis, Tammy Marie Stewart

Doctoral Dissertations

This meta-analysis explored the phenomenon of teacher burnout— the biggest contributor to teacher attrition (Owens, 2013; Unterbrink, 2014; Yu, 2015). The focus of this study was to use meta-analytical procedures to explore the relationship between burnout dimensions (i.e., emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and feelings of personal accomplishment) and specific demand and resource correlates. Demand correlates included work overload, role conflict, role ambiguity, and student misbehavior. Resource correlates included peer support, supervisory support, and decision-making. This meta-analytical research method encompassed fifteen years of published and unpublished studies from January 2000 through January 2015. A total of 116 studies met the following inclusion …

Strategies For Developing Interpersonal Communication Skills For Business Students, Sharon A. Pope

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Strategies for Developing Interpersonal Communication Skills for Business Students

by

Sharon A. Pope

M.B.A., Cleveland State University, 1995

M.S.H.P/A., University of Cincinnati, 1983

B.Ed., University of Toledo, 1981

Doctoral Study Submitted in Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree of

Doctor of Education

Walden University

December 2015

Research has shown that interpersonal communication skills (ICS) are important for employment success, particularly if they are learned by students during college. A private university in Ohio identified the need to enhance students' ICS; however, the university's faculty lacked strategies to teach those required skills. The purpose of this qualitative case study …

Obtaining Cultural Competency Skills: Perceptions From Supervisors In Higher Education, Veronica Gomez Vilchis

All Master's Theses

A program evaluation was done on the supervisor training at Central Washington University to obtain the perceptions of supervisors on cultural competency. Eighteen supervisors were interviewed. The results demonstrated supervisors’ support of incorporating cultural competency as part of their professional development. However, supervisors indicated the current supervisor training does not give them tools to interact effectively with diverse populations. Implications for including cultural competency skills for supervisors in higher education are discussed.

The Transition To College: An Acculturation Comparison Of Domestic And International Students, Kim Omachinski

Theses and Dissertations

Domestic and international students face challenges when transitioning to college. Researchers believe first-year intervention programs and orientation are important in successful transition to the university environment. Student involvement from the beginning of the first semester helps create a connection to college and a sense of belonging. Domestic and international students traverse homesickness, financial issues, lack of social support, changes in routine, and academic issues while navigating life away from home. Additionally, students experience a turning point that can often create a change in educational trajectory that results in continuing in college, transferring out, dropping out, or seeking help. The turning …

Exploring The Relationship Between Faculty Perceptions Of Chairperson-Faculty Member Communication Exchanges And Department Climate, Jodi Lynn Hallsten Lyczak

Theses and Dissertations

Leadership communication has many consequences: those that affect an organization and its outcomes, and those that affect the followers. In academia, one of the most important leadership roles is that of the departmental chairperson. Through her or his communication, the academic chairperson influences nearly every aspect of departmental life for faculty, including organizational climate. In fact, it can be argued that the chairperson helps both create and sustain the department climate for faculty.

One perspective of leadership and communication posits that leadership is enacted in the dyadic communication that occurs between the leader and the follower. According to Leader Member …

Stop The Madness! College Faculty And Student Perceptions Of Classroom Incivility, Christina M. Nutt

Ed.D. Dissertations

Classroom incivility is causing major concern, nation-wide, to college administrators, faculty, and students. The damage caused by student incivility has been associated with a decrease in student learning, the deterioration of the classroom learning environment, lower faculty morale, and reduced student retention rates. The purpose of this quantitative non-experimental fixed research design was to explore and compare college faculty and student perceptions of type and frequency of classroom incivilities at a private college in order to provide a foundation for the development of strategies to reduce uncivil behaviors and increase student success. Study results demonstrated that faculty members and students, …

Trait And Situational Variables Affecting Communication Channel Preferences In College Students, Britt Alan Frye

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

As more and more interpersonal communication is being conducted via mediated communication channels, important theoretical questions about the impact of this shift in the use of communication media are raised. This study began the process of exploring the implications of the shift in channels used in interpersonal communication situations by examining several factors that previous research has linked to important aspects of relationship development and maintenance. Specifically, respondents were surveyed about their preferred channel of communication in four types of interpersonal communication situations that reflect varying levels of interpersonal comfort in association with communication locus of control scale (CLOC) scores. …

Maintaining Or Disrupting Inequality: Diversity Statements In The University, Linda A. Merkl

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of my study was to identify whether university Diversity Statements aid in maintaining or disrupting inequality in the university. Using critical discourse analysis, I analyzed an initial sample of eleven Diversity Statements to develop a list of common themes found within the diversity statements. Using a maximum variation method, I then reduced my sample to four universities to provide breadth of information for the final study (Miles & Huberman, 1994). In my case analysis, I first conducted an individual analysis of each of the four Diversity Statements using the common themes from my critical case analysis, common functions …

Technology Mediated Recruitment: An Exploration Of How Students Used Social Media To Choose College, Ashley Nicole Cooper

Masters Theses

This qualitative study explored the use of social media as a tool to recruit prospective college students. Social media was defined as any electronic media that serves as a networking tool with the ability to educate prospective and current college students about an institution of higher education (i.e. Twitter, Facebook, Blogs, etc.). The researcher met with two focus groups comprised of current college students to discuss their use of social media during their college search process.

Recommendations were developed for student affairs professionals and for future research. General themes and categories from participant responses were evaluated. The findings suggest that …

Upper Level Administrators: Communication With Students Via Social Media, David Adam Arnold

Masters Theses

The present qualitative study was executed by interviewing five upper level administrators at a four-year public institution in the Midwest in order to explain their current understanding of social media technologies, and in what ways they were currently using social media to connect with millennial students. Previous research has been done on millennials' use of technology and social media in the university setting; however, little research has focused on way non-millennial upper level administrators are using social media in order to purposefully engage students in a meaningful way. Themes from categories identified during one-on-one interviews indicate that upper level administrators …

Rural Retiree Volunteer Motivations For Nonfamily-Based Intergenerational Communication, Jennifer Jm. Salisbury

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Several decades of research document a growing communication gap between older adults and younger generations, with retirees limiting the information they share with younger generations. This limitation is often due to older adults' low self-efficacy and technology as a communication distraction, a trend which has resulted in the loss of intellectual capital for younger generations. The purpose of the study was to understand and increase knowledge transfer between retirees and unrelated younger people in a rural Canadian community. Communication theory of identity and social cognitive theory provided the research frameworks. The research questions examined what knowledge retirees could pass down, …

Project Management Competencies Leading To Technology Implementation Success At A Community College, Bradford Orcutt

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The problem addressed in this study was to understand the knowledge gap between project management competencies available and those needed for successful implementation of technology projects at a community college. The purpose of the qualitative study was to evaluate, compare, and analyze the performance of project managers of 2 large technology projects in a specific community college with respect to each other and what was known about achieving project success at a public institution of higher education (IHE). The research questions for this study examined the competencies exhibited by the project leaders, the success parameters established for the projects, and …

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, …

A Burkean Analysis Of The Rhetoric Of Sexual Harassment: An Examination Of The Polarization Of Attitudes Related To Consensual Relationships On Campus, Loretta Lovelace Wiman

Masters Theses

A history of sexual harassment traces the recognition and development of the issue as a social problem in the workplace and on college campuses. A review of research literature reveals both percentages of students involved and the effects on those students of academic or teacher/student sexual harassment. A brief overview of institutional policy statements shows that some colleges/universities have responded to the issue with a ban on all consensual amorous relationships between teachers and students; some ban such relationships only when a supervisory relationship also exists, and some do neither. Some policies include sanctions on those who violate bans; others …

A Comparison Of Communication Climate And Sponsored, Formal Media Between A Small University And A Large University, Patricia S. Karnes

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.