Leadership Studies Commons^™

How Navy And Marine Corps Veterans Make Meaning Of The College Choice Process In The Post-9/11 Gi Bill Era, Derek Abbey

Dissertations

The Post-9/11 GI Bill was implemented in 2009. Since then more than 1,900,000 people have used the benefit and more than $90 billion have been paid to institutions of higher learning and to Post-9/11 GI Bill users. During this period there has been a shift in the types of college and universities veterans attend, as well as the educational models they select. These shifts are different than the general population of students. This period also included a spike in questionable recruiting practices by some colleges. In response to many institutions taking advantage of veterans, the President of the United States …

Step Into Success: An Exploration Of The Impact And Potential Of The Second Year Torero Experiential Program, Carlos E. Cortes

M.A. in Higher Education Leadership: Action Research Projects

The purpose of my study was to gather qualitative data with students and professional staff associated with the Second Year Torero Experiential Program at the University of San Diego. I wanted to identify best practices regarding supporting and developing second years and gain an understanding of the potential and impact of the program on the student experience. Recognizing a need for more intentional engagement with second-years, I conducted one on one interviews using appreciative inquiry. My findings indicated a lack of awareness around STEP, the resources available through the program, and a desire to engage with a program that connects …

Improving The Practice Of Advocacy Among Student Leaders At The University Of San Diego, Martel Serwenda

M.A. in Higher Education Leadership: Action Research Projects

The purpose of the study was to improve how student affairs professionals can assist student leaders involved in the United Front Multicultural Commons (UFMC) to become better advocates for their needs at the University of San Diego. Utilizing O'Leary's cycle of action research, data was gathered in four cycles that included activities that focus on student engagement. Students kept a journal detailing some of their experiences and went through interviews and a focus group. Participants were from across the entire campus, but many were involved in student organizations and the UFMC. The findings indicate that students are aware of advocacy …

Coming Together: Graduate Students And Community Engagement, Irma Gonzalez

M.A. in Higher Education Leadership: Action Research Projects

The purpose of my research was to explore how graduate students regard and participate in community engagement opportunities at the University of San Diego (USD), specifically within the School of Leadership and Education Sciences (SOLES). Thus, my research question was: How can I explore and facilitate community engagement among SOLES graduate students? Through my work, I found that community engagement efforts are of interest to the USD graduate student population while greater efforts for access and involvement would be appreciated. By focusing on the current role of this topic among the graduate population and fostering greater awareness, I was able …

Analyzing The Impact Of Student Involvement And Leadership Development On Academic Achievement, Kalie Sabajo

M.A. in Higher Education Leadership: Action Research Projects

This study examined my effectiveness in supporting students’ use of the CSUSM Co-Curricular Model to deepen their understanding of and ability to articulate transferable skills between academics, employment, and extracurriculars, motivated by the following research question: (a) How can I, as a professional staff in student activities, support the students I serve to connect academic achievement and engagement in leadership development and student involvement? Data was collected through student self-evaluations, weekly one-on-one meetings, and larger group surveys with seven undergraduate students and three faculty members. My findings informed further implementation of the Co-Curricular Model in campus-wide programs and student evaluations.

Empower To Strengthen Culturally Based Fraternal Organizations, Koua Thao

M.A. in Higher Education Leadership: Action Research Projects

Membership in fraternities and sororities has served college students to have a sense of belonging at colleges and universities. However, students who are affiliated with culturally based fraternal organizations (CBFO) do not have a sense of belonging in the larger fraternity and sorority life community at the University of San Diego (USD). The purpose of this action research was to use my role as an advisor to guide the three CBFO to develop a Multicultural Greek Council to enhance CBFO member’s experience and to have a sense of belonging in the larger fraternity and sorority life community at USD. Participants …

Empowering Filipino American Young Adults Through Culturally Relevant Leadership Experiences, Donnaly Y. Atajar

M.A. in Higher Education Leadership: Action Research Projects

The purpose of this study was to explore the leadership development of Filipino American young adults. As an advisor for Lakas Mentorship Program in the Inland Empire, I explored the following question among program staff and mentors: How could I use culturally relevant curriculum to foster personal and professional development for young Filipino American leaders? I evaluated the impact of four cycles centered on leadership training and improving program practices to understand how to deepen engagement and facilitate positive transformation. I found that the following contributed to meaningful engagement: intentional leadership opportunities, institutionalized program structure, and peer mentorship and community …

Full Of Pride: Improving Latino Engagement And Retention In Usd's Lgbt+ Community, Miguel Rios

M.A. in Higher Education Leadership: Action Research Projects

The purpose of my study was to examine and implement strategies that would get gay Latino students at USD to engage more with the LGBT+ community on campus. Using McNiff’s action research method, I researched how I can work effectively with USD’s LGBT+ community to create a more diverse community that enhances the involvement of Latino students. My findings indicate that Latino students choose to explore their LGBT+ identity through other identity-based organizations and that a stronger need for community building is critical to enhance the involvement of Latino students within the LGBT+ community.

Enhancing Racial Allyship At A Predominately White Institution, Breana Z. Clark

M.A. in Higher Education Leadership: Action Research Projects

This action research explores how undergraduate students involved in multicultural clubs and organizations at the University of San Diego, define and engage in racial allyship. The purpose of the study was to understand how these students identify allies of color or other racially minoritized groups; as a means to work in collaboration for resource acquisition, persistence, and to magnify student voice. This is important to the research as current social and racial justice rhetoric primarily focuses on white people as allies to communities of color. Thus, my research question was: how can I help students of color enhance their capacity …

Peer-To-Peer Interactions Between First-Generation Students At The University Of San Diego, Christopher Kitchings

M.A. in Higher Education Leadership: Action Research Projects

The purpose of this study was to examine the interactions between peers who identify as first-generation college students at the University of San Diego. Thus far, research regarding first-generation college students has shown that those students who have increased interactions with other first-generation students experience increased success during their time in college. This study sought to examine which specific characteristics of these interactions facilitated or enhanced the success of those students. This study also sought to examine how higher education professionals can better serve first-generation college students through the programs and services which they provide. The results of this study …

Changemakers Bend The Beam Inward: Contemplative Practices In Social Innovation Education, Catherine Northcutt

M.A. in Higher Education Leadership: Action Research Projects

Why, as a global community, are we collectively creating results that nobody wants such as poverty, hunger, and inequality? Learning about the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the leadership learning and change theory known as Theory U by Otto Scharmer (2009), led to a profound shift in my awareness of the global challenges we face as a species and a strong desire to study Theory U. This action research report includes an explanatory account of my collaboration with the University of San Diego Global Social Innovation Community to cultivate vertical literacy (capacity for awareness of self and …

Soaring Through Leadership Development, Marisela Cornejo

M.A. in Higher Education Leadership: Action Research Projects

With an increase in the enrollment of students of color at the University of San Diego, it is important to assess their sense of belonging and leadership engagement. This study evaluates the leadership development plan established for students of color in the Student Outreach and Recruitment (SOAR) Ambassador Club. As the advisor of the SOAR Ambassador Club, I had the opportunity to conduct three Action Research cycles including a survey of the organizational climate, one-on-one interviews with current and previous advisors, and one focus group with the executive board members of the organization. The findings of this research address how …

A Student’S Journey To Career Readiness: Maximizing On-Campus Employment, Daniela Saldana Gurgol

M.A. in Higher Education Leadership: Action Research Projects

The purpose of this research was to improve my capacity as a supervisor in building career readiness. I used a total of three action research cycles utilizing qualitative methods only. The research participants included professional staff, graduate assistants and part-time student employees within the University of San Diego. The findings of this research provide insights into the lived experiences of student employees, the tactics used by supervisors to develop career readiness and the institutional initiatives to maximize student employment. The primary research question guiding this report is: How can I as a supervisor develop career readiness for undergraduate student employees …

A Collaborative Approach Toward Onboarding For Graduate And Law Students, Yuri Kwak

M.A. in Higher Education Leadership: Action Research Projects

The purpose of this action research was to examine the silo effect across schools when onboarding graduate and law students to the University of San Diego. My research question was, how can I collaborate with students and administrators in enhancing the onboarding experience to foster a sense of community for graduate and law students across campus? By evaluating administrators’ practices and graduate and law students’ experiences, I found that creating a culture of communication among administrators and involving graduate student leaders are key steps toward standardizing onboarding processes and designing opportunities for engagement among all incoming graduate and law students.

Culture In Mind: Fostering A Sense Of Belonging For Students Of Color In Wellness-Affiliated Spaces, Mandy Mekhail

M.A. in Higher Education Leadership: Action Research Projects

The purpose of this study was to bridge the gap between students of color and mental health resources at a predominantly white institution. Previous research demonstrates that negative mental health outcomes are positively correlated with students who feel a lack of belonging while on campus. These negative outcomes are felt more pronouncedly by students of color. Furthermore, students of color are shown to underutilize mental health resources relative to their white-identifying peers. Utilizing my positionality as a person of color working within a wellness office, I worked with students of color, wellness professionals, and multicultural professionals to ask what more …

The Impact Of Hypermasculinity On Students' Development In Fraternity Organizations, Cristian Mcgough

M.A. in Higher Education Leadership: Action Research Projects

The purpose of my study was to explore the concept of hypermasculinity in fraternal organizations and how that may affect students’ personal development during their collegiate years. My research question was, how can I work with fraternity students to understand what contributes to hypermasculinity and provide support that will better promote an inclusive masculine culture? My findings indicate that certain environments in fraternity organizations promote hypermasculinity traits and that students on the executive board of the Interfraternity Council are seeking spaces to have dialogue about their experiences to challenge the norms of fraternity organizations.

Strengths So White: Interrogating Strengthsquest Education Through A Critical Whiteness Lens, Nicholas Tapia-Fuselier, Lauren Irwin

Journal of Critical Scholarship on Higher Education and Student Affairs

Many college student leadership programs utilize StrengthsQuest as a tool for individual and group development. Although StrengthsQuest is touted as a universal tool to help all individuals leverage their strengths in varied settings, the authors are critical of both the tool itself and the ways educators utilize StrengthsQuest. This paper employs tenets of critical whiteness theory, including color evasiveness, normalization, and solipsism, to deconstruct StrengthsQuest within the context of leadership education. Additionally, the authors offer possibilities for reimagining StrengthsQuest education in ways that center inclusion and justice. Finally, strategies for critical leadership educators are discussed.

Support Services For Formerly Incarcerated Students, Janelle Brown-Peters

M.A. in Higher Education Leadership: Action Research Projects

The purpose of my study was to improve and/or create support services for formerly incarcerated students at the University of San Diego. I sought to discover first if there were any existing support services available for these students at USD. I also sought to discover what kinds of support services existed at other local colleges and universities in order to compare and contrast with USD. Through 1:1 interviews, surveys, focus groups, and community restorative justice organizations, I learned that USD was one of the only higher education campuses in San Diego not currently providing support services for this population of …

Sexual Violence Prevention Programming For Collegiate Athletes: A Behavior Change Approach To Prevention, Amy Kame

M.A. in Leadership Studies: Capstone Project Papers

Sexual violence is a pressing issue on college campuses. Evaluations of prevention programming on college campuses have shown to increase knowledge about sexual assault and increase the use of resources on campus, but current programming has been unsuccessful in reducing violent behavior. Male student-athletes are found to be incorporated in an extensive amount of sexual assault complaints and specialized prevention programming for this population does not exist. An examination of the literature on effective prevention strategies show that dosage, timing and sociocultural relevance has been found necessary for behavior change. Effective prevention techniques are used in accordance with specific frameworks …

A Qualitative Case Study Of Student Persistence In A Bachelor Of Science In Forestry Program, Maxwell Holmes

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Educational leaders in forestry have been challenged to increase and diversify the pipeline of ‘society ready’ foresters. To meet these challenges, leaders must shift their focus to student retention. By understanding the factors that influence student engagement and persistence, these leaders will be better positioned to support students in forestry programs, thus positively impacting retention. This qualitative case study investigated student persistence of second-year forestry students in an undergraduate forestry program. The study was guided by Social Cognitive Theory and Social Capital Theory and explored the malleable psychosocial mechanisms of self-efficacy, sense of belonging, emotion, and well-being proposed by Kahu …

Gender Equity In Outdoor Adventures: How Gender Constructs Shape Engagement At The University Of San Diego, Lauren Wong

M.A. in Higher Education Leadership: Action Research Projects

Outdoor Adventures (OA) at the University of San Diego bridges the industries of outdoor education and higher education. This action research investigates the constructions of gender that inform programming and relationship building within OA. Through a survey and focus groups, I collected data from OA professional staff and student leaders. The purpose of this research was to explore how different genders engage with experiential learning in an outdoor setting through a lens of queer theory, by evaluating the engagement of OA professional staff and participants. My findings indicate that the constructs of gender inform the ways students experience their capacity …

Remaking Identities, Reworking Graduate Study : Stories From First-Generation-To-College Rhetoric And Composition Phd Students On Navigating The Doctorate., Ashanka Kumari

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation responds to the decreasing number of first-generation-to-college doctorates in the humanities and the limited scholarship on graduate students in Rhetoric and Composition. Scholars in Rhetoric and Composition have long been invested in discussions of academic and/or disciplinary enculturation, yet these discussions primarily focus on undergraduate students, with few studies on graduate students and far fewer on the doctoral students training to become the next wave of a profession. In this dissertation, I argue that if we engage intersectional identities as assets in the design of doctoral programs, access to higher education and academic enculturation can become more manageable …

Connecting People, Places, And Pollinators: A Year-Long Classroom And Community Collaboration In Portland, Oregon, Hannah Werthman

The International Undergraduate Journal For Service-Learning, Leadership, and Social Change

This unique project at Portland State University (PSU) has been revolutionizing undergraduate community-based learning (CBL) efforts since the collaboration started in 2012. This case study involves a deep look into a year-long CBL effort involving three university instructors, two undergraduate student fellows from PSU’s Institute for Sustainable Solutions (ISS), Green Lents, a neighborhood-based nonprofit, and approximately seventy-five undergraduate students.

How Professional Physical Therapist Education Programs Develop Cultural Competence Within Their Students: An Exploratory Concurrent Mixed Methods Study, Dustin E. Domingo

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this exploratory concurrent mixed methods study was to describe experiences that shape the factors of cultural intelligence (CQ) as perceived by students of professional physical therapist education programs. In addition, it was the purpose of this study to determine whether any particular factor of cultural intelligence influenced one’s overall cultural competence according to the cultural competence continuum by Cross et al. (1989).

Methodology: Students in a professional physical therapist education program completed a questionnaire, which included Likert scale questions, open ended questions, and a 37-item self-assessment based on the expanded cultural intelligence scale by Van Dyne …

The Incidence And Impact Of Workplace Incivility: A Quantitative Study Comparing Public University Staff Member Experiences In The Northeast, Tracy St. Pierre

Thinking Matters Symposium Archive

Workplace Incivility (WI) is a construct similar to sexual harassment or bullying - it is unwanted behavior and can cause negative emotions for those who experience it. However, it lacks a clear definition or legal repercussions that have been established for sexual harassment and bullying. Thus, incivility is able to thrive in the workplace with little intervention and can create adverse consequences for employees and the organization. Several studies demonstrate that up to 96% of employees have experienced WI (Porath & Pearson, 2010, p.64). Employees who experience WI reduce their work effort and decrease productivity by “venting” to co-workers (Cortina …

Profiles Of A Non-Profit Statewide College Women's Leadership Training Program's Effectiveness, Wendy Grey Huckabee Broyles

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this intrinsic, multiple case study has been to describe the effectiveness of the non-profit statewide college women's leadership training program, Leading Edge Institute, through profiles of the program’s key stakeholders. The study participants included key stakeholders: members of the organization’s faculty, staff, and alumnae. The theory guiding this study was the transformational theory of leadership (Burns, 2010; Bass & Riggio, 2006; Caldwell, McConkie, & Licona, 2014; Kendrick, 2011), as it appreciates the individualization of diversity that informs different perceptions of reality (ontological philosophical assumption) and considers how social context helps those individuals develop personal values (social constructivism …

Student Involvement & Leadership Center: Impact Report Spring 2015 To Fall 2018, Erik Dickamore, Amanda M. Hagman, Spencer Bitner, Nathan Laursen, Mitchell Colver

Publications

Leadership and involvement programs are an integral part of the student experience on University campuses. Volunteers and scholars within leadership and involvement serve their peers by providing rewarding events that unify the student body. Volunteers and scholars also benefit through opportunities for personal exploration and growth. Working with SILC allows students to serve and lead in a unique way. This report explored the association between student participation in leadership and involvement programs, and student persistence to the next term at Utah State University. METHODS: Students participation was captured by rosters across all SILC programs. Students who had a record of …

Exploring The Impact Of Diversity Training On The Development And Application Of Cultural Competence Skills In Higher Education Professionals, Kendra Cabler

Theses and Dissertations

In recent years the terms diversity and inclusion have become major buzzwords across industries and fields of study. Within the field of education broadly, and higher education in particular, a shifting student demographic can be seen across the country. Issues of equity and inclusion have become central complexities for present day educational strategists, and organizations committed to cultivating a culture of inclusion must do so with intentionality. In the context of higher education, this often requires the intentional development of professionals within a particular college or university. There has been a great deal of research concerning the development of cultural …

Support From Above The Glass Ceiling: Narratives Of Women As University Student Leaders, Rebecca Schwartz

Masters Theses

Using qualitative methodology. the researcher examined motivations, social support networks, and challenges college women face in student leadership positions. Four semi-structured interviews were conducted at a midsized university in the Midwest with college women in various positions of organizational leadership. The researcher identified motivational factors for women to apply for leadership positions as well as described the social support network that exists for college women in positions of leadership. Challenges college women face in achieving higher leadership positions were also identified. Lastly, recommendations were made for student affairs professionals and women in leadership based on the research findings.

The Impact Of Racism On The Personal And Professional Lives Of Student Affairs Professionals: A Mixed Methods Study, Trent A. Pinto

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The phenomenon of racism in our world is deeply tragic, with historical roots that pervade college campuses and the work of student affairs professionals no less than elsewhere in society. In fact, a premise of this research is that the American university as an institution was founded on White dominance and privilege. Today the effects of racism still trickle into the personal and professional lives of those working in student affairs. This study was aimed at understanding the problem through the eyes and experiences of student affairs professionals. The overarching research question was how do incidents of racism on campus …