This thesis proposes and estimates a model of university scientists interactions with the private sector; in this model students are conceptualized as an important enabler of such interactions. The results of the study show that university scientists student-related behaviors such as grant support of students and research collaboration with students, and student-related attitudes such as mentoring orientation positively affect the probability that scientists will enter interactions with industry as well as the intensity of such interactions. Behaviors such as teaching and advising of students are not related to interactions with industry. This study is motivated by the increased emphasis on closer relationships between universities and industry as a means to facilitate the commercial application of university research. Today, numerous policies and programs attempt to achieve such goals. As a result, university scientists are called on to perform many tasks which on the surface seem misaligned. There is substantial study of conflict between the teaching and research missions of universities, and a growing body of study on conflict related to university based commercial and technology transfer related activities. Fewer, there are studies suggesting that these activities are not so misaligned after all. This study falls into the latter category as it posits a complementary relationship between university scientists student related activities and their work related interactions with industry, research and otherwise. Speculations regarding the importance of students in university industry relations and indirect evidence are scattered through the relevant literature, but little or no systematic empirical tests of their importance exist. This study uses data from a national survey of university researchers to discern the centrality of students to university-industry interactions. Theoretically, students are conceptualized as a dimension of university scientists respective research capacities that enable cross-sectoral processes of accumulative advantage and thereby help to enable their interactions with industry. As a component of scientists scientific and technical human capital, students help university scientists to identify and act upon on research opportunities originating in the private sector. Moreover, students increase the appeal of university scientists to industry agents seeking research partners in academe. Implications for theory and policy are discussed.

Most of today's college students perceive higher education as the most critical element to their future success, quality of life, financial security, and general well-being. Consequently, more and more students entering colleges and universities choose to major in professional or pre-professional programs such as business, engineering, pre-med or pre-law. The majority of past research has concentrated on student attrition and retention in undergraduate education for the majority population. These studies have not enabled scholars to obtain a deeper understanding of the factors relating to minority populations -- especially those from the Hispanic community. In addition, the majority of these studies have not provided an understanding of students' progress and eventual success in legal education. The purpose of this study was to determine which variables from commonly accepted foundational theories on higher education retention, attrition, and student development are applicable to the first-year experiences of Hispanic students enrolled in a Juris Doctorate Program at an accredited law school at a public institution who are the first in their family to attend. Using both a survey instrument and narrative interviews, the study revealed that first-generation Hispanic students are disadvantaged compared to their peers when it came to understanding important law school financial, cultural, and academic issues. While family support, faculty relationships, law school study/support groups, academic mentoring, and academic advising positively influenced first-year progress; the respondents' cultural identity and race negatively impacted faculty and peer interactions both in and out of the classroom. The lack of need-based financial aid, higher tuition costs associated with legal education, tuition deregulation, increased debt from borrowing, and poor information about financial assistance all negatively affected their success. The negative effects of stress and anxiety permeated numerous first-year experiences including law school orientation, law school classes, final exams, grades, and figuring out how to pay for school. These results should help key stakeholders associated including faculty and administrators to better understand minority student issues and the impact of stereotype threats specific to the legal education context in an effort to reduce first-year attrition rates and improve minority access to the legal profession. / text

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A qualitative study of how first year foreign language students perceive different interactions in an online environment. In depth interviews were conducting with ten students after the completion of an online second semester Spanish course. Individual case studies recorded the unique experiences of each study participant and those experiences were then compared and analyzed for common themes. Emerging themes included the value of explanatory feedback programmed into the course, the use of message boards for making interpersonal connections, the difficulty of conducting online chats, the role and value of announcements and the importance of immediacy behaviors for creating social presence. The themes were then applied to the following research questions: 1) What is the effectiveness of the available interactions in a web-based Spanish course as perceived by community college foreign language learners? 2) How do these interactions work together to facilitate learning based upon their purpose? 3) How do these interactions work together to facilitate learning in an online foreign language learning environment based upon with whom or what the student is interacting? The results of this study included three attributes of effective interaction. The participants indicated a need to make a connection between their personal learning goals and the available interactions. Timeliness was also identified as a key component of effective interactions. Automatic feedback, archives for previous information and a quick turnaround on email correspondence were listed as important aspects that created a feeling of timeliness. The third attribute was identified as a low level of frustration when compared to the potential benefit of an interaction. The study participants indicated a willingness to endure some frustration if they thought it would be worth it in the end. Final recommendations suggested that designers of online foreign language courses should include non-linear instructional activities, carefully designed chat opportunities, quality automatic feedback and reading and listening passages that are level appropriate. Instructors should engage in behaviors that enhance the effectiveness of interactions by making regular announcements, helping learners draw connections between the interactions and their learning goals, maintaining and organizing archives and keeping response times as close to 24 hours as possible. / text

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This study is concerned with the problem of determining the types and characteristics of wellness programs presently offered by selected junior and community colleges throughout the United States. The purposes include (1) the investigation of the extent to which the six dimensional scheme of wellness, as developed by William Hettler, M. D. [Family and Community Health, May, 1980], has been implemented on the campuses of junior and community colleges and (2) an exploration of the validity of Hettler's model of wellness for these institutions. The study population sample is the membership list of the junior and community college section of the American College Health Association, which is a multidisciplinary professional organization for university and college health administrators. The specially designed survey instrument produced a 73 per cent response return. Response frequencies and percentages were gathered to show the current and anticipated prevalence of different types of wellness programs and the current and anticipated management related characteristics of wellness offerings in these college settings. Several open-ended questions also produced narrative respondent opinions.

The purpose of this study was to identify differences in attitudes of vocational teacher education majors based on age, sex, marital status, earner status, educational level, vocational program area, mother's work history, and familial attitudes. Data for the study were obtained from 1,182 vocational teacher education majors. The more contemporary attitudes were held by those who were female, aged 26 - 35, currently members of dual-income families, graduate students, identified as homemaking education majors, from families whose mothers had worked outside the home when they were growing up, and who were not brought up to believe that a woman's place is in the home.While females had more contemporary attitudes than males, both could be described as having moderate attitudes toward the dual-income financial support of the family. Both females and males felt that women should contribute financially to the support of the family, that it is just as important for a woman to be able to earn a living as it is for a man, and that women should expect to be permanent members of the labor force.

As the world becomes increasingly interdependent, mutual understanding becomes increasingly important. Therefore, it is essential that people strive for reductions in social distance on an international level. Study abroad is one of the ways to approach internationalization and promote understanding among different peoples and cultures. Prior research has been done on the degrees of social distance between people from different cultures; however, little research has been done regarding changes that cultural immersion produces among those who reside in different cultures. Studies about study abroad programs have focused on cultural sensitivity and adaptability, yet few have combined the study abroad experience with the perceptions of self and other cultural groups. This study presents a framework for understanding people through intercultural activities. It studied social distance and attitude changes brought about in social distance as an artifact of cultural immersion. The study took place both in China and in the United States. It focused on the social distance among American undergraduate students who participated in a China Study Abroad program sponsored by the University of North Texas. The study measured before and after social distance of a group of American students who studied abroad in China. The study abroad program itself was the intervention and lasted for three weeks. A mixed methods research design was used in the study. Social distance data were collected before and after students studied abroad in China. Both inferential statistics and descriptive statistics were used. Qualitative data were also collected and analyzed in the study. Most of the sample population were close to the Chinese people to begin with. Some participants positively changed their social distance and attitudes towards the Chinese people after the study abroad program, even though the changes were not statistically significant. This study merits replication among randomly selected samples. Study abroad programs should be promoted and supported. More research needs to be done that explores the quality of cultural immersion study abroad programs. Studies also need to be done to examine attitude changes among peoples in host countries.

The purpose of this study was twofold. First, the study compared fashion personality characteristics and shopping behaviors of African-American and Caucasian-American college students. Secondly, this study examined characteristics of leadership in general, and fashion leadership specifically, on fashion personality characteristics. The fashion personality characteristics studied included fashion leadership, fashion involvement, shopping enjoyment, and fashion consciousness. The participants consisted of 268 African Americans and 239 Caucasian Americans from two universities in the United States. Ethnicity was found to be an influence on fashion personality characteristics and shopping behaviors in this study. African Americans in the sample were found to have higher levels of fashion personality characteristics and shopping behaviors than Caucasian Americans. Fashion leadership was found to be positively related to general leadership, fashion involvement, shopping enjoyment and fashion consciousness. General leadership was found to be positively related to fashion involvement, shopping enjoyment, fashion consciousness, academic classification level. However, there was no significant difference found between general leadership and age.

A survey testing student uses of and attitudes towards traditional broadcast television news and eleven "tabloid" programs was conducted using 300 students enrolled at the University of North Texas. The 10:00 p.m. newscast was most watched by the students. The most watched weekly news magazine was "60 Minutes." The Oprah Winfrey Show" was the daily "tabloid" leader. "America's Most Wanted" led the weekly "tabloid" shows. Students perceived daily newscasts as important sources of information. "USA Today," the weekly news magazines "60 Minutes" and "20/20,1" and "America's Most Wanted" were also cited by students as being "important" information programming. However, the survey showed "tabloid television" was not a major source of informational programming for college students.