Higher Education Commons^™

Oh, You're The One That's Keeping Us Open: Senior Student Affairs Officers' Crisis Leadership And Decision Making In Response To Covid-19, Michael R. Lango

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation was to understand the experience of higher education crisis leaders while facing an unprecedented crisis. COVID-19 thrust senior student affairs professionals, who most often serve as crisis leaders on small college campuses, into the position of decision-maker guiding the campus response to the pandemic. The research explored the crisis leadership experience of SSAOs during the first year of their crisis response. Five themes emerged from the data collected during the research: a) the influence of institutional structure and culture on decisions, b) uniqueness of crisis decision making, c) engagement and utilization of human resources, d) …

The Balance Of Online Learning: A Qualitative Case Study Exploring Online Students’ Decision Making And Experiences, Jessica Ashley Hill-Jones

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Online learning is an evolving and growing aspect of higher education. Past research highlights the benefits of online learning, such as the flexibility and increased access it provides to students, as well as its drawbacks such as isolation, time management, and teacher presence. As the number of students who are pursuing their degrees online continues to increase, more research is needed to holistically understand the experiences of online learners.

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore what influences students’ decisions to pursue an online degree and their experiences once in the online program. Data was collected via …