University Extension Commons^™

Faculty-Leader Relationships And Work Engagement: A Mixed-Methods Study, Sonya Davidson Kopp

<strong> Theses and Dissertations </strong>

Nearly three-fourths of faculty at U.S. institutions of higher education (IHEs) are classified as non-tenure track faculty (NTTF), and more the 70% of higher education students had taken online courses following the move to emergency online instruction in 2019. Remote faculty relationships with leaders have been shown to play a vital role in faculty satisfaction and engagement with their work. This convergent parallel mixed-methods study was guided by the following research questions: Primary Research Question 1 (RQ1) - What is the relationship between faculty-leader relationship and work engagement when controlling for faculty classification (lead faculty, full-time faculty, or part-time faculty), …

Developing A Sense Of Belonging Among First-Year First-Generation College Students, Charlotte Rose Balkus

Culminating Experience Projects

The purpose of this project is to explore the barriers experienced by first-year first-generation college students, and what support services can be provided to mitigate the barriers. Through an intensive review of literature, sense of belonging is one of many barriers that first generation college students face. Being the first to do something can be uncomfortable and scary. The intentions of this project are to create a Living Learning Center that aids first-generation college students during their transition to college. This Living Learning Center will host a summer bridge program designed to lessen the struggles that first generation college students …

Remote Learning - The Future Of Education: Effective Instructional Strategies Used By Parent Educators And Recommendations For Building Capacity, Raelene Ferguson Haugen

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this mixed methods Delphi study was to identify the remote learning instructional strategies used by expert Southern California parent educators for implementing the anticipatory set, modeling, checking for understanding, and guided practice elements of Madeline Cheek Hunter’s Instructional Theory Into Practice (ITIP) framework. The study sought to identify how expert Southern California parent educators rated the effectiveness of the remote learning instructional strategies in the aforementioned elements of Hunter’s ITIP framework. Additionally, the purpose was to generate recommendations from expert Southern California parent educators to build capacity in the identified effective instructional strategies.

Methodology: The classical …

The Experiences Of International Graduate Students From Latin America In Their Transition Of Graduating And Finding A Job In The United States, Natalia Hernandez, Natalia Hernandez

Master's Theses

The purpose of this thesis project is to conduct a qualitative phenomenological study to understand the lived experiences of international graduate students from Latin America in the United States as they transition from their studies to finding a full-time job in the United States. The most common themes mentioned in the different sections of the interviews were: the different dynamics in their identity, the benefits, and limitations of their status in the American context, and how their professional development and economy are impacted while being international graduate students from Latin America. Student service departments such as the Career Service department, …

Housewives To Heroines: Continuing Education For Women At The University Of Kentucky, 1964-1988, Allison L. Elliott

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation

Beginning in the early 1960s, the movement for the continuing education for women (CEW) brought together a seemingly unlikely alliance of American activists, educators, philanthropists, and government agencies. Fueled by philanthropic funds, accelerated by the quest for “womanpower” to bolster national defense, and aligned with regional workforce needs as well as the personal goals of individual women, CEW programs pioneered new models of academic advising and student support that continue to influence higher education practitioners today. By studying the experiences of both administrators and students involved with CEW at the University of Kentucky, this study sheds light on how one …

Equity By Design And Delivery Model In Online Learning: Educator And Student Perceptions And Behaviors As Leading Indicators Of Systemic Change, Miebeth Bustillo-Booth

Ed.D. Dissertations in Practice

The purpose of this study is to explore educator and student perceptions of and behaviors in the Equity by Design and Delivery (EDD) model and its online courses as leading indicators of systemic change. The EDD model is a pilot intervention to eliminate opportunity to learn gaps at the program level in a mid-sized northwestern college in the United States. It shifts instructional behavior from individual efforts to collective approaches to limit quality variances in online courses, theorized to be a major contributor of missed opportunities to learn at high levels, by developing and delivering reliable quality courses based on …

Understanding Volunteer Motivations To Serve, Dominique P. Wood

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

An organization’s volunteer development program can serve as a useful tool in the P-20 framework to address transitional gaps preventing smooth and consistent movement of individuals from traditional education to career attainment. Utilizing Maslow’s Theory of Motivation and Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, this qualitative study revealed volunteer motivation effectively resolved needs that work toward Self-Actualization. Satisfied needs, addressed by the volunteer experience, places the organization as a relevant partner in the P-20 framework to resolve career attainment goals. The volunteer makes the gift of time, skills, experience, and knowledge based on personal preferences to the organization’s work. Partnerships are achieved …

The Experiential Learning Connections Between University And Community: Recent Ontario Experience, Emmanuel Asafo-Adjei

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Experiential Learning (EL), including a range of pedagogical approaches such as co-ops and community service learning, connect the university and its external community. Universities are considering such approaches to meet a number of needs and priorities both on and off-campus. As it unfolds rapidly at the present time, EL becomes the connection between the university and the community beyond its gates, both locally and more extensively. However, university-community or so-called town-gown (TG) connections traditionally focus on research and/or science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). This thesis focuses on the teaching and learning connections, especially in Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences …

Proposal To Implement A Peer Mentorship Program Project, Paige H. Wilson, Mitchell L. Cameron

Agricultural Education and Communication

California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo’s College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Science (CAFES) needs a peer mentor program modeled after the Orfalea College of Business’ (OCOB). Younger students who have mentors do exponentially better than students who do not. Upperclassmen gain a sense of fulfillment from helping younger, less experienced underclassmen. Rodger’s research provides insight into students’ academic success when paired with a peer mentor. Those who participated in a full year of peer mentoring had considerably higher grades than the control group. A specific group of students who benefit from programs like these are students who struggle …

Making A Diplomat: Study Abroad Pathways To International Relations Occupations, Anthony E. Ciero

Capstone Collection

This case study surveys and interviews alumni of International Student Exchange Programs (ISEP) direct enroll study abroad programs to learn about their post-program career path. ISEP alumni study from and in over 50 countries worldwide. Survey and data analysis methodology for this study used Cognitive Information Processing, Social Cognitive Career Theory, Chaos Theory, and Systems Theory of career development to determine what guides alumni toward or away from international relations (IR) related occupations.

Alumni in IR-related careers usually had an internationalized personal history prior to university and reported that their ISEP program improved their ability to secure and perform their …

Gearing Up For College, Beatriz Amy Huerta

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Sadly, in the Greenfield community, there are exceedingly high rates of individuals who lack post-secondary education. The Census (2010), states that only 4.8% of persons age 25 years and older in Greenfield, CA obtain a bachelor’s degree. At Greenfield High School over the past five years, an average of 16 students enrolled at a CSU campus (The California State University, 2018). In efforts to promote higher education, Gear Up (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) empowers students and families of the Monterey County by fostering equitable access to postsecondary education and career readiness through relevant rigorous academic and …

Are Higher Education Institutions Addressing The Employment Needs Of Clinical Laboratories In Rural Areas?, Pamela Dawn Meadows

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Clinical laboratories across the nation are faced with a shortage of qualified Medical Laboratory Technicians (MLTs) and Medical Laboratory Scientists (MLSs). As the clinical laboratory workforce continues to shrink, it is essential that higher education institutions acknowledge the employment needs of rural laboratories to ensure quality health care in underserved areas. An aging workforce, program closures, and a general increase in demand for laboratory testing have compounded the workforce shortage for rural clinical laboratories, which often face unique challenges. The purpose of this research study was to examine the perceptions of rural clinical laboratory managers toward higher education’s response to …

The Influence Of Transformational Middle Leaders On Work-Life Balance, Timothy D. Tanner

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

Work-life balance is a key indicator of employee satisfaction, retention, and social health as well as organizational creativity and productivity. These dual benefits for employee and employer have generated interest in promoting work-life balance. Supervisors who operate from a transformational leadership framework have been linked to greater work-life balance among employees (Lamm, 2011; (Kutilek, Conklin, & Gunderson, 2002). The role of a supportive organizational culture is also central (Lewis, 2001).

In this study, Cooperative Extension Service agents (N = 1390) participated in a nationwide survey exploring the relationship between rated levels of transformational leadership among district directors, work-life balance, …

Gear Up & Beyond, Stephanie Sanchez

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

At Salinas High School there is a low number of high school students completing CSU/UC requirements. In the academic year of 2015, there was a total of 560 high school graduates, of these students 245 graduated with all CSU/UC requirements which is 43%. Gear Up (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) has a purpose of helping students succeed throughout high school. Gear Up promotes post-secondary education by taking field trips, working with parents, and offering tutoring before and after school as well as during lunch are some of the resources offered. Gear Up & Beyond was developed as …

A Challenge To Inclusive Excellence: What We Can Learn From A Jesuit Catholic University, Terri Lewis-King

Master's Projects and Capstones

This paper draws attention to the ethics of the organization (institutional structure) to fulfill its mission by examining what does it mean that a Jesuit higher education institution strives for "inclusive excellence". From a staff member lens, what does the campus climate tell us about how that impact is felt. The result of this project are tools for professionals to use in their assessment and development of organizational support for staff.

A Mixed-Methods (Quantitative-Qualitative) Study To Identify The Perceived Level Of, Zeky Zardo

Dissertations

Different approaches to developing leaders have been established through various forms of self-assessment, action learning, and education and training activities (Smither et al., 2005). The existing body of research on the impact and success of college and university leadership development programs focuses heavily on undergraduate leadership programs and not graduate-level programs such as the Master of Business Administration (MBA) or the doctorate. The purpose of this mixed-methods (quantitative–qualitative) study was to identify the perceived level of transformational leadership skill development by students enrolled in a doctoral program in organizational leadership. In addition, it was the purpose of this study to …