The problem of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a group vocational counseling method among community college students. The purposes of this study are to present an application of developmental counseling to group vocational counseling with community college students, and to determine whether this vocational counseling program will have an effect upon certain selected variables. Self-concept congruence was measured by a semantic differential, the Personal Concept Scale; and vocational maturity was measured by the Attitude Scale of the Vocational Development Inventory. Anxiety associated with the concepts "myself," "other people," "choosing a career," and "five years from now" was assessed by the Concept-Specific Anxiety Scale. Certainty and satisfaction with vocational plans were assessed by eleven-point rating scales included on the Vocational Status Sheet, an instrument designed specifically for the present study. Included on this same instrument was a check list designed to measure vocational information gathering activity.

This study sought to evaluate the effectiveness of guidance and counselling services offered in Zimbabwean universities. A mixed-methods design consisting of quantitative and qualitative approaches was adopted for the study and data were collected through questionnaires and unstructured interviews. The population for this study comprised all the 18 universities in Zimbabwe with approximately 75 000 students and 200 counsellors. The participants in the study comprised eighty (80) students (40 males and 40 females) in their second year of study and upwards and nineteen (19) guidance counsellors (11 females and 8 males). The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences Version 20 was used to analyse quantitative data derived from closed-ended questionnaire items. Frequencies and percentages were then derived from the quantitative data. Thematic analysis was used to analyse qualitative data from open-ended questionnaire items and interviews. The study revealed that although both students and guidance counsellors expressed positive perceptions of guidance and counselling services offered in their universities, in terms of their potential benefits to students, the majority of students regarded personal-social, career, placement, consultation, assessment, referral and evaluation services ineffective. The majority of guidance counsellors also regarded assessment, follow-up and evaluation services offered in their universities ineffective. The study also showed that the majority of guidance counsellors (63.2%) were not professionally trained. It also emerged from the study that internal evaluation of guidance and counselling services offered in the universities was never taken seriously. The study also showed that Zimbabwean universities were not adequately resourced in terms of guidance and counselling personnel and materials. The study revealed that generally guidance and counselling services offered in Zimbabwean universities were not effective. The study recommended that if Zimbabwean universities and their stakeholders collaborated and instituted a clear guidance and counselling policy which, among other important things, stipulates how guidance and counselling programmes would be run in universities, the effectiveness of guidance and counselling services offered in universities would most likely be enhanced. It was also recommended that if universities employed adequate fulltime professionally qualified guidance counsellors; periodically run training and in-service training workshops for the guidance counsellors and peer guidance counsellors; build proper infrastructure for all guidance and counselling activities; and secure proper assessment tests, the quality of guidance and counselling services offered in universities may be enhanced. The study also recommended that if guidance and counselling personnel were supervised regularly, and guidance and counselling services offered to students evaluated periodically and objectively, the guidance and counselling services offered in universities would be enhanced. This study may be significant to university counsellors, students, stakeholders and researchers in that it shares knowledge about the importance of effective guidance and counselling services offered to students and what constitutes effective guidance and counselling services. / Psychology of Education / Ph. D. (Psychology of Education)

The problem of this study was to determine the nature of the perceptions of leadership behavior held by deans and directors of student development/student personnel services in Texas community/junior colleges. The directors were further identified as directors of counseling and guidance, student activities, admissions and records, financial aid, job placement, and health services. Deans and directors from all Texas community/junior colleges constituted the population for this group and were selected from college catalogs and a professional directory. Ranking and correlation techniques were used in the statistical analysis of data. Results indicated that leadership behaviors exist which are common to the field of student development/student personnel services, and that jurors generally agreed with deans and directors on those leadership behaviors which they perceived to be the most and least important to leadership. In addition, deans and directors agreed on those behaviors which they perceived to be the most and least important to leadership in their position and area of responsibility. Data revealed that deans and directors placed a high priority on collaborative-interactive type behaviors and a low priority on administrative-related behaviors.

Administrators, faculty, and researchers have assumed that advising needs and preferences for advising styles are similar across student population segments and do not consider the relationship of student attributes or the institutional setting to academic advising. Crookston (1972) presented two advising styles--developmental advising, which reflects a concern for the student's total education, and prescriptive advising, which is primarily focused on formal academic matters. In order to better understand the preference for advising relationships among college students, a model of developmental advising was formulated by Winston and Sandor (1984b). However, because of the increased numbers of special student populations such as women and minorities, it is difficult to ascertain the extent to which advising styles are received and desired by most students. / Ph. D.

The problem addressed in this study is how selected universities in the South and Southwest recognize and attempt to deal with alcohol use and other drug use among students. The purpose of the study was to determine current practices and policies concerning student alcohol and drug use among the 20 selected universities. The data were obtained by means of a descriptive survey questionnaire which was mailed to 20 selected universities under the jurisdiction of the Southern Regional Accrediting Board. The instrument was designed to identify practices and programs concerning student alcohol and drug use. A copy of each institution's alcohol and drug policy was requested. The content and procedures of the programs implemented by the responding institutions were reviewed, in order to evaluate the extent and degree to which they provide for the recognition, education, intervention, and treatment for students with alcohol- or drug-use problems. Results are presented in tabular form. Of the 20 major state-supported universities which were mailed questionnaires, 75% returned usable instruments. All responding institutions felt they have an alcohol or drug problem of some magnitude, and all either have, or believe they have, some kind of policy to deal with substance use by students. All of the responding institutions also indicate that they have various programs in operation which deal with student substance use and abuse. Since this was a regional study the results are not necessarily generalizable. On the basis of the literature reviewed and the survey responses received, an authentic problem with student alcohol and drug use exists on campus. The institutions surveyed appear to recognize a problem; however, the results of this study reveal that most have yet to develop an effective or coordinated strategy to combat student alcohol and drug abuse.

There is a general lack of evaluations of college counseling programs. This is attributed to difficulties encountered in attempts to undertake evaluation, one source of difficulty being the uniqueness of the couseling problem of each student. Nevertheless, leaders in the field of personnel work feel that there is a distinct need for evaluation and make an effort to encourage further research of this type. / Typescript. / "A Paper." / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science under Plan II." / "August, 1950." / Advisor: Stewart Murray, Major Professor. / Includes bibliographical references.

The Student Support and Development Services (SSDS) at Further Education and Training (FET) colleges represent a holistic and systemic approach to addressing barriers to learning and development. College SSDS are based on the acknowledgement that all FET students need support and development and that, when addressing needs of the college student, it is done in a holistic, integrated, intersectional and inclusive manner.<br /> <br /> The SSDS therefore strive to develop competencies, knowledge, skills and attitudes in a systemic and holistic manner. The aim of the study was to design, implement and evaluate SSDS at the FET colleges in the Western Cape Education Department and to establish a Lecturer Support and Development Team (LSDT) at each FET college, which would include the following services.<br /> <br /> <ul> <li>student counselling services</li> <li>academic development and learning support</li> <li>occupationald evelopmenat nd careerg uidance</li> <li>life skills education and health education, and</li> <li>college institutional development</li> </ul> Student counselling services at FET colleges aim to render comprehensive student services with a holistic developmental aspect of the student in relation to his/her social, emotional, physical and cognitive dimensions. The staff of the LSDT are the first line of contact for the troubled student. Academic development is aimed at the students who enter the FET sector with inadequate schooling, education and training. Orientation programmes include bridging the gap between schooling and FET education and training. Bridging programmes and remedial programmes are offered to students to compensate for their academic backlog and to accelerate their education and training up to a level suitable for FET.

The study focused on the student service related problems of culturally distinct groups of students attending a community college. The groups selected for the study were sixty international students and sixty English as a Second Language students. The researcher administered the Michigan International Student Problem Inventory, an instrument which has been widely used to indicate foreign students' problems. Combining the use of naturalistic research methodology, the researcher utilized an indepth interview to document the problems they were facing. Patterns and trends among the problems were analyzed and reported. The results indicated that many international students experienced concerns in the area of financial aid, had difficulties with some of the immigration regulations and work restrictions, and experienced forms of racial and social discrimination. The English as a Second Language students tended to experience most difficulties in the area of English language functioning but also experienced problems related to academic functioning and making friends. The student service areas most closely related to the international students' concerns were Financial Aids, Admissions, Placement, Counseling, and English Language Services. English as a Second Language students' problems were most closely related to the areas of English Language Services, Admissions, Counseling, and Academic Advisement. Recommendations generated by the study include the development of a new instrument to include topics generated by the students in the open-ended section of the questionnaire, a translation of the instrument into the major languages of the English as a Second Language population, and the need for future research on subgroups of the populations who indicated a greater number of problems than the others. Institutional recommendations are included which focus on how the college could address the problems which the students identified.

The Student Support and Development Services (SSDS) at Further Education and Training (FET) colleges represent a holistic and systemic approach to addressing barriers to learning and development. College SSDS are based on the acknowledgement that all FET students need support and development and that, when addressing needs of the college student, it is done in a holistic, integrated, intersectional and inclusive manner.<br /> <br /> The SSDS therefore strive to develop competencies, knowledge, skills and attitudes in a systemic and holistic manner. The aim of the study was to design, implement and evaluate SSDS at the FET colleges in the Western Cape Education Department and to establish a Lecturer Support and Development Team (LSDT) at each FET college, which would include the following services.<br /> <br /> <ul> <li>student counselling services</li> <li>academic development and learning support</li> <li>occupationald evelopmenat nd careerg uidance</li> <li>life skills education and health education, and</li> <li>college institutional development</li> </ul> Student counselling services at FET colleges aim to render comprehensive student services with a holistic developmental aspect of the student in relation to his/her social, emotional, physical and cognitive dimensions. The staff of the LSDT are the first line of contact for the troubled student. Academic development is aimed at the students who enter the FET sector with inadequate schooling, education and training. Orientation programmes include bridging the gap between schooling and FET education and training. Bridging programmes and remedial programmes are offered to students to compensate for their academic backlog and to accelerate their education and training up to a level suitable for FET.

This study captures the process and methods used in selecting and organising content for an ontology. In the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) field ontology refers to a way of organising and storing information and facilitating interaction between the system and its users. Ontologies are being used more frequently to provide services that deal with complex information. In this study, I record my experience of developing content for an HIV and AIDS ontology for Rhodes University students. Using several different methods, I started the process of selecting and organising HIV and AIDS information, free of scientific jargon and prescriptive language, and consisting only of relevant information. I used data derived from interviews with six HIV and AIDS experts to develop questions for a survey that was open to all Rhodes University students. The 689 people who responded to the survey indicated that they needed more information on testing, treatment and living with HIV. Responses also showed that students had a lot of information on HIV prevention and transmission. Four focus group discussions revealed that students were tired of repetitions of the „same‟ information on HIV and AIDS and wanted to know more about life after contracting HIV. Using this data, I propose some guidelines to populate HIV and AIDS ontology. Ontologies can be customized for particular groups of users, for example according to gender, race, year of study etc. Another advantage of the ontology is that it can be expanded or contracted depending on the scope of one‟s intervention.