Higher Education Commons^™

Transition From High School To Associate Degree Nursing Education: A Qualitative Study, Kathy Jessee Mitchell

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

Nursing is facing a critical shortage and retention of nursing students is of paramount importance. Much research has been completed related to retention in nursing education and student success, but there is very little in current literature related to issues associated with the transition from high school to associate degree nursing (ADN) education. The purpose of this study was to explore this phenomenon through qualitative research involving ADN students who entered the nursing programs immediately after graduation from high school. This qualitative study involved students from a rural associate degree program. The intent was to provide a better understanding of …

A Phenomenological Study Of The Experiences Of Women In Leadership And Community At Old Dominion University From 1970 To 1990, Ann E. Wendle Barnes

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

During the 1970s college campuses in the United States were often the venue through which change occurred. Female faculty and students were assertive in their efforts to influence equality between men and women across the country (Morris, 1984). This historical phenomenological study examined the oral history of several women who advocated for women's rights at Old Dominion University (ODU) by establishing the Women's Caucus, Women's Studies Program, and Women's Center during the late 1970s through the 1990s.

Participants selected for this study took part in semi-structured interviews, and the results of the interviews were triangulated with archived documents available at …

The Expected Adjustment And Academic Outcomes Of Honors College Students, Christina R. Washington

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

The transition to an institution of higher education can present challenges and difficulties, but it is a student's expectations that can ultimately predict adjustment (Jackson, Pancer, Pratt, & Hunsberger, 2000). A larger number of students who experience difficulties in their adjustment end up withdrawing from the institution (Baker & Siryk, 1986). There is evidence that for some students there is a vast disconnect between their expectations regarding the institution of higher education, and the reality of their experiences. Students may not realize that what was expected of them in high school will differ greatly in college. It is this lack …

The Influence Of Late Registration On Academic Outcomes And Retention At A Multi-Campus Community College, Kathy John Maalouf

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

In response to the increasing challenge for community colleges to uphold their mission of accessibility with an open door policy, while being held accountable for student success, higher education administrators and counselors need to have a better comprehension on the relationship among community college students, institutional enrollment policies, and academic success. The overall purpose of study was to broaden the understanding of the implications of late registration policy on community college students. Specifically, the purpose was to (1) investigate if there are statistical relationships between the demographics of community college students, registration behaviors, academic outcome, and retention (2) identify possible …

A Case Study Of Key Factors Driving Global Virtual Team Effectiveness, Pilar Pazos, Ana María Canto, Nina C. Magpili

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study is to increase our understanding of the factors contributing to global virtual team effectiveness. We report on a case study on global virtual teams whose members differed in location and nationalities, worked on common collaborative projects, and used media to communicate and coordinate their work. This paper examines the relationships between input factors such as goal commitment, planning and resource availability and team outcomes. Data were collected from 14 teams in an international Master's program in Quality Management, Safety and Environmental Impact hosted in Bolivia and Chile. Students were from nine different countries in South …

Predicting Student Success In Passing The Exit Exam For Writing Proficiency, Cheryl Ann Latko

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the Exit Exam of Writing Proficiency (EEWP) and the variables that may impact the probability of a student passing the EEWP. The EEWP is one of the graduation requirements for all undergraduate students at a mid-sized four-year university in the mid-Atlantic region. The purpose of the EEWP is to ensure that undergraduates demonstrate clear, concise, and professional writing skills.

The literature discusses general issues with student writing skills specific to the field of human services, as they relate to teacher educators, developmental education, and the field of human services. Student demographics, such …

Community College Student Persistence: A Focus On Occupational And Academic Clubs, Catherine Jean Songer

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

Community colleges have increased demands for data to substantiate their institutional effectiveness in financially challenging times to stakeholders and accrediting agencies. Tied to performance funding, North Carolina community colleges are focusing attention on policies and programs that encourage student persistence. The Community College Survey of Student Engagement indicated a strong relationship between student engagement and student success. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to investigate student persistence as measured by student intent to persist as it related to participation in community college-sponsored occupational and academic clubs, to investigate the student-perceived level of participation as it related to student intent …

Exploring The Impact Of Classified Staff Interactions On The Student Experience: A Multiple Case Study Approach, Mary Ann Schmitt

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

This qualitative multiple case study explored front-line classified staff interactions with students as a possible strategy for increasing student success. The study was based on the premise that too few students stay at a community college long enough to achieve their academic goals. Therefore, college leaders must identify new strategies to increase student retention and success. A literature review revealed positive student experiences increase the likelihood of student persistence. Since classified staff members interact with students throughout the college, the author examined their interactions as one potential strategy to increase the likelihood of student success.

The study explored classified staff …

State Of The University Address, 2011, John R. Broderick

State of the University Addresses

President John R. Broderick's 2011 State of the University Address and Faculty Welcome.

The Impact Of The Higher Education Regulatory Environment On For-Profit Higher Education Institutions, Rhonda L. Myers

School of Public Service Theses & Dissertations

The growing presence and transient nature of for-profit higher education institutions in the US pose governance and regulatory challenges for bureaucratic structures, legislatures and non-profit postsecondary institutions. One such challenge is the perceived lack of governance and regulation of for-profit higher education institutions. This paper examines the impact of the higher education regulatory environment in the US on the presence of for-profit higher education institutions. Ordinal logistic regression is employed to determine whether state higher education governance structure, regulatory characteristics, and/or regional accreditation agency jurisdiction influence the prevalence of for-profit colleges and universities. State higher education governance structure and two …

Descriptive Study Of The State Of Post-Professional Athletic Training Education Points Of Distinctiveness, Specialty Certifications, And Competencies, Taylor Stephanie Arman

Human Movement Studies & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

Context: As post-professional athletic training education programs (PPATEPs) continues to advance, it is crucial that it be studied and evaluated, however current research is limited. Objective: To obtain descriptive information about PPATEPs. Design: Online Survey Instrument Participants: Of the 267 graduates in population, 106 participants submitted the completed survey (39.70% response rate). Main Outcome Measure(s): Data collection occurs over a four-week period during the fall of 2010. The survey instrument was created with lnquisite 9.5 Corporate Survey Builder (Catapult System Corporation, Austin, Texas). Participants answer questions about the program's points of distinctiveness (PODs), specialty certifications, and the new competencies in …

Attitudes Of And Behaviors Towards Academic Integrity Between Community College Students Who Enroll In Online Courses Versus Traditional Courses, Kristine Marie Christensen

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

Advances in technology have allowed educators to use new methods for delivering education, students are finding new ways to leverage technology to learn, and online course enrollments are growing at a faster rate than traditional face-to-face courses. Using McCabe's Academic Integrity Survey, data was collected from over 1,700 students enrolled in online or traditional, face-to-face courses at a large Midwestern community college during the fall of 2008. The purpose of this study was to examine whether differences in the self-reported attitudes and behaviors toward academic integrity exist between community college students enrolled in online courses and those in traditional, face-to-face …

Relationships Between Religious Orientation And Academic Attitudes, Lauren Everitt

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The goal of this study was to examine whether there is an underlying consistency between college students' approaches to religion and their approaches to higher education. A sample of 234 undergraduate students completed the Religious Life Inventory (Batson, Schoenrade, & Ventis, 1993), which assesses orientation to religion, and the Academic Attitude Scale (Wong, 1998), which identifies factors that motivate students to pursue higher education. The three dimensions (Means, End, and Quest) extracted from the Religious Life Inventory were compared to the six subscales (Intrinsic, Instrumental, Personal Development, External Pressure, Social Interest, No Better Option) of the Academic Attitude Scale to …

Efficacy Of Computer Aided Drafting (Cad) Certifications, Daniel L. Trent

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

This research investigated the perceived effect of industry recognized Computer Aided Drafting (CAD) certifications among community college drafting instructors and employers. The research questions that guided this study were: (1) Do community college drafting instructors believe that certified drafters perform better on the job than non-certified drafters? (2) Do employers believe that certified drafters perform better on the job than non-certified drafters? (3) Do employers seek CAD certified individuals to fill drafting positions? (4) Is there a difference between the perceptions of community college drafting instructors and employers of community college drafting program graduates regarding the importance of drafting certification? …

Faculty And Student Perceptions Of Students' Sense Of Community In Online Courses, William C. Fiege

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

The Classroom Community Scale (Rovai, 2002b) was used to examine faculty and student perceptions of students' sense of community at two points during an academic semester. The study also examined the relationship between student sense of community scores and their final course grades. A non-experimental research design was used by the researcher to analyze pre-survey to post-survey score means of students' sense of community as perceived by students and faculty. Two hundred sixty-nine (269) students and 48 faculty members representing 56 online arts and science courses at a community college in Virginia completed the pre-survey and post-survey surveys.

Students' perceptions …

Financial Aid As Retention Predictor: The Relationship Of Financial Aid To Retention At A Virginia Community College, Eunice Rohrer Wine

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

This study examined the relationship between student financial aid awarded, unmet financial need, and fall-to-spring student retention of students at a small, public, southeastern, U.S. community college. The research hypotheses drew upon past research on retention theory, employing economic persistence theory. This study focused on three areas: the amount of grant awarded per student, the amount of loan awarded per student, and the amount of unmet need per student. These variables were then used as the predictors for student retention.

The research methodology was an exploratory, non experimental quantitative study of ex post facto data using logistic regression. The participants …

Effect Of A Mindfulness Intervention On Community College Students' Writing Apprehension And Writing Performance, Megan E. Britt

Teaching & Learning Theses & Dissertations

This experimental study used a quantitative data collection strategy to examine whether a mindfulness intervention, a three-minute breathing exercise marked by focused attention on the sensations of breath, would affect writing anxiety and writing performance measures. The researcher compared Daly-Miller Writing Apprehension surveys and narrative writing samples from 277 students enrolled in a freshman composition course at a southeastern community college, half of whom practiced the mindful-breathing technique at class onset.

Quantitative results revealed students in the mindful-breathing group experienced a statistically significant decrease in writing apprehension and mechanical error scores from pre- to post-measures when compared to controls. No …

The Preparation Of Master's Level Professional Counselors For Positions In College And University Counseling Centers, Brian M. Shaw

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

College and university counselors are tasked with performing a multitude of roles and meeting a variety of client needs unique from other counseling settings. It is important to examine the ability of counselors who work in these settings to determine if they have been adequately prepared. This study investigated the adequacy of preparation of entry-level master's level professional counselors for work in college and university counseling centers. Adequacy of preparation was examined by surveying college and university counseling center directors about their perceptions regarding the ability of entry-level master's level professional counselors to perform specific roles and meet relevant client …

Utilizing A Web-Based Career Development Workshop To Address Career Decision-Making Difficulty Among Community College Distance Learners, Johanna Michele Brown

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

Career decision making difficulty, as it relates to undecided college students and career indecision, has been a concern for counselors and academic advisors for decades (Gordon, 2006; Mau, 2004). Individuals struggling with career indecision often seek assistance via career counseling, self-help tools, and/or computer-assisted career guidance systems (Gati, Gadassi, & Shemesh, 2005). The past decade has brought a large increase in the development of a number of web-based career guidance systems (CGS) (Bobek, Robbins, Gore, Harris-Bowlsbey, Lapan, Dahir, & Jepsen, 2005). Despite the rapid growth in the type and use of computer-assisted CGS, little empirical research has been conducted on …

Writing Program Design For Esl Writers, Kacie M. Kiser

English Theses & Dissertations

Research and scholarship in the field of second-language writing have suggested that English as second language students (ESLs) require different modes of instruction than their native English speaking peers within the composition classroom (Matsuda, 1996; Silva, 1994). Yet ESL students are commonly marginalized in institutions' writing programs due to several commonplace beliefs shared by administrators that ESL students can be taught according to the same standards as mainstream students. Therefore, writing program administrators and instructors often do not have specific knowledge of ESL writing issues and, thus, do not know how to pedagogically accommodate these students or design a program …

An Ex Post Facto Study Of First-Year Student Orientation As An Indicator Of Student Success At A Community College, Amanda Ellis-O'Quinn

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this ex post facto study is to determine if a relationship exists between certain student success indicators and students completing an orientation course their first semester at a small, rural community college in comparison to those students who do not complete an orientation course their first semester. The study will compare three instructional methods used in teaching orientation; a two-day, ten-week, and distance learning format. This emphasis will identify the impact of the delivery format on success measures. The measures representing student success are retention from the fall to concurrent spring semester and grade point average (GPA). …

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 …

Magnification Loupes In U.S. Entry-Level Dental Hygiene Programs, Leslie Mchaney Congdon

Dental Hygiene Theses & Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine policies and practices regarding magnification loupes among accredited dental hygiene programs as measured by a 31- item, self-designed questionnaire titled Magnifying Loupes in U.S. Entry Level Dental Hygiene Programs. In addition, the study compared policies among dental hygiene programs in two year versus four year programs in terms of requirements for the use of magnification loupes.

Methods: After institutional review board approval, the questionnaire was emailed via Survey Monkey to 303 entry-level dental hygiene programs. An overall response rate of 75% was obtained. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and …

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

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development 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.

An Analysis Of Ncaa Enforcement And Its Influence On Conference Bowl Revenue: Does The Punishment Fit The Crime From A Financial Perspective?, Mark Joseph Patterson

Human Movement Studies & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

In 2009, $260 million dollars in bowl game revenue was paid out to Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) schools competing in bowl games (BCS, 201 la). This study examined the relationship between the annual revenue each FBS conference receives from their teams' bowl appearance and various factors impacting this revenue. Specifically, this examination identifies what, if any, impact violations and probation have on conference bowl revenue, and the distribution of that revenue to individual institutions.

The majority of research in this area focuses on individual athletic department success and how variables such as attendance, postseason play and winning percentage can be …

Unpacking Faculty Engagement: The Types Of Activities Faculty Members Report As Publicly Engaged Scholarship During Promotion And Tenure, Chris R. Glass, Diane M. Doberneck, John H. Schweitzer

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Faculty Publications

While a growing body of scholarship has focused on the personal, professional, and organizational factors that influence faculty members’ involvement in publicly engaged scholarship, the nature and scope of faculty publicly engaged scholarship itself has remained largely unexplored. What types of activities are faculty members involved in as publicly engaged scholarship? How does their involvement vary by demographic, type of faculty appointment, or college grouping? To explore these questions, researchers conducted a quantitative content analysis of 173 promotion and tenure documents from a research-intensive, land-grant, Carnegie Classified Community Engagement university and found statistically significant differences for the variables age, number …

The Football Factor: Shaping Community On Campus, Stacy Warner, Stephen L. Shapiro, Marlene A. Dixon, Lynn L. Ridinger, Scott B. Harrison

Human Movement Studies & Special Education Faculty Publications

Many American universities continue to invest in expensive intercollegiate football programs, and specifically cite the sport’s ability to foster a sense of community (SOC) as justification for the cost. This study sought to assess the importance of SOC and the influence of football on the cultivation thereof. A pre-post test design utilizing an online survey compared SOC levels for students (N = 886) before and after the implementation of Division I football on a large university campus. No significant differences were found in SOC levels before and after the football season (regardless of attendance). Post-test SOC perceptions differed based on …

"Dreams Hanging In The Air Like Smoke": A Personal Reflection Of Factors Influencing Enrollment And Persistence In Higher Education, Kaavonia Hinton-Johnson

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Retention Issues Of Mature Students: A Comparative Higher Education Analysis Of Programs In The United States And Ireland, Kim Bullington Sibson, Dr. Dennis Gregory, Brian-Patrick D. Kurisky

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Faculty Publications

Retention of students is an issue that challenges colleges and universities around the world and South Africa is no exception. A comparative look at Ireland and the United States shows that there are many similar tools used to retain mature students, and, at the same time, many different ones are used depending on particular situations. A brief retention literature review dealing with mature students is provided as well as examples of retention strategies used in both countries. While these strategies may not fit for South Africa, they may serve as a point of departure for similar activities there.

A Focus On Technological Literacy In Higher Education, John M. Ritz

STEMPS Faculty Publications

[First Paragraph] Technological literacy continues to be an important construct for learners in all societies.Quite often it is a knowledge area not required of university students unless they are engineering or technology majors. If the mission of design and technology education is literacy for all, this same mission should apply at the university level. An analysis was made of 256 students to determine their attitudes of knowledge gained from a general studies technological literacy course. The course was offered at the 100 level and was designed to expose students to various technologies so they would have a better foundation for …