This study analyzes the dominant governance and decision making characteristics in community colleges by tracing the implementation of state mandated program review through two Florida community colleges. An alternative hypothesis is presented which challenges the predominate assumption in the community college literature which portrays these institutions as bureaucratic organizations. Through the application of a hybrid framework which combines three dominant organizational models--bureaucratic, political, and organized anarchy--with three parallel views of policy implementation--programmed, evolutionary, and adaptive--the study suggests that in governance and decision making as well as policy implementation, these colleges exhibit behavior more varied and complex than can be captured by any one model. A case study method was utilized to address the assumptions of the study. Field work included extensive interviews at both institutions and at the Division of Community Colleges. Content analysis was completed on the data gathered on site and analyzed across the several dimensions of the framework. In addition to suggesting alternative governance and decision making models, the study also challenges the closed systems perception of community colleges. Issues of coordination and control are explored, particularly in relation to the environmental vulnerability of two-year colleges. The study concludes that community college governance and decision making is too complex to be explained by a single model. Political and anarchic behavior are generally more prevalent than bureaucratic behavior. The president at each institution exercised authority in a manner which encouraged political and anarchic behavior. This led ultimately to increased presidential discretion and greater executive or managerial authority. These institutions responded to the state policy initiative by projecting the appropriate image of conformity to the state while simultaneously buffering the institution from any substantive policy influence. Implications for further research include the need to more thoroughly analyze the open systems nature of two-year colleges, with particular emphasis on the complex environment in which they operate. Policy implementation in community colleges should be reconsidered in light of the adaptive and evolutionary implementation behavior of these local institutions.

The subject study identifies some theoretical, methodological and program considerations that set the conditions in which the basic parameters, criteria of adequacy, and methodological rule and instruments are established. The study then sequences and analyzes the content of previous materials related to staff development in the literature as (1) activities, (2) processes, (3) purposes and goals, and (4) concepts and models, beginning with materials most distant from the definitive paradigm being sought and progressing to efforts most closely approaching the ends being pursued in this study. Finally, the study identifies the structural components (the categories) that must be contained in an effective staff development program. Further, it presents a taxonomy for ordering the terms identified to modify the word "development" in common usage; attempts an exhaustive listing of all the functions that must be performed to carry out any organizational mission for an educational institution; develops a format that adequately articulates the subject matter of staff development into the necessary and sufficient content categories; designs a paradigmatic model capable of ordering the variables that must be considered for incorporation into a staff development program while providing a conceptual reference system for relating and integrating the goals of the organizational development and staff development programs, and while identifying the documentation instruments that insure the necessary "paper trail" which make measurement, assessment, evaluation and valuation possible; discusses the various types of evaluation applicable to the paradigmatic model; reviews some extra-program considerations that influence the conditions in which staff development takes place and affects the success or failure of the programming; presents a process model for the design/evaluation of a staff development program; and develops an instrument (of questions to be answered) to be used for deciding whether the program now designed is a "good" program which, when implemented should accomplish the ends toward which the plans were directed.

This phenomenological, qualitative research study examined the experiences that influence students’ decisions to laterally transfer from one four-year institution to a public, regional, liberal arts university in the southeastern United States of America. The lack of prior research on the study of lateral transfer students and my professional interest in the topic have prompted the study. Most research studies look at the academic achievement of vertical transfer students; few studies examine lateral transfer students as an independent subpopulation. Two 30- to 60-minute interviews with 18 lateral transfer students were conducted. Of the 18 lateral transfer students, nine were enrolled at the research site for at least one year and persisted to a second year, and nine were in enrolled in their first semester at the research site during their interview process. Horizonalization (Moustakas, 1994) and imaginative variation were used to determine the reasons for departure and persistence across four-year institutions, in addition to discovering how lateral transfer students transition academically and socially. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester 2017. / August 14, 2017. / departure, lateral, persistence, student, transfer / Includes bibliographical references. / Kathy L. Guthrie, Professor Directing Dissertation; Diana Rice, University Representative; Bradley Cox, Committee Member; Robert A. Schwartz, Committee Member.

This study researched authentic leaders (Avolio & Gardner, 2005) who were selfaware of their values, beliefs, ethical philosophies, and character strengths while using this knowledge to strengthen their self-regulation. They used positive modeling to enhance follower development, which ultimately promoted veritable and sustainable outcomes personally and professionally that integrated with the authentic leader's purpose in life. Higher education, as a multi-billion dollar industry, uses shared governance that creates challenges for its leadership. Authentic leaders who hold senior administrative positions within higher education are often confronted with varying levels of administrative challenges, especially immoral, unethical, or illegal policies and practices. Senior administrators are often the frontline for creating, supporting, and maintaining either an inauthentic culture at their institution that supports the status quo or an authentic culture at their institution that promotes and supports positive change focused on the common good. This study reviewed the literature regarding eudaimonia, positive psychology, positive leadership, and higher education administration. The focus was on authentic leaders who were senior administrators in higher education administration. This study utilized life stories to identify the common themes within these senior administrators' lives that allowed them to develop into authentic leaders who had the moral courage to take courageous principled-action against immoral, unethical, and illegal policies and practices within their institutions. This study produced a theoretical model that was juxtaposed against Avolio and Gardner's (2005) Authentic Leader Model confirming their research, as well as extending their research into the moral courage and courageous principled-action research domains. This study has primary value for persons interested in having a deeper understanding of leadership, positive leadership, authentic leadership, moral development, moral courage, courageous principled-action, and higher education administration. This study has secondary value for persons interested in developing as an authentic leader, working effectively within higher education administration, or aspiring to develop the moral courage that will support their willingness and capabilities for taking courageous principled-action. / text

In higher education today, international students from various sociocultural backgrounds have contributed to the internationalization of many colleges and universities. The factors that help them succeed academically in a different cultural environment have become an important topic of research designed to improve the quality of higher education in a globalized environment. This qualitative study adopts a sociocultural perspective to explore their conceptions of academic success and their strategies for achieving it, by analyzing cultural factors that impinge on the experience of Chinese international graduate students in the US. There were three phases in this in-depth qualitative research. In the first phase, using semi-structured interviews, the researcher investigated Chinese students' conceptions of academic success, the factors that they perceived as most influential on their attempts to achieve it, and the strategies that they adopted to optimize their chances. In the second phase, based on results from the first round, a follow-up interview was conducted to probe for further details and to understand the strategies adopted by these students according to their study-abroad experience. In the third phase, new data were collected through a focus group discussion to generate a deeper understanding of the students' perspectives on academic success and its relation to acculturation. The final results from this study indicated that the conceptions of academic success of these international students and their strategies for attaining it were not only characterized by cultural and socio-institutional values and norms , but were also shaped and reshaped by the international students' individual characteristics and personal acculturative attitudes and experiences. Chinese international graduate students have developed acculturative strategies, characterized as ─ Americanization, Globalization and Individualization ─ to achieve their visions of academic success. The findings offer possible answers to help explain how Chinese international STEM students manage to achieve academic success despite the challenges such as language barrier and acculturation process (dealing with cross-cultural barriers on cultural, institutional and personal levels). They also provide new perspectives on acculturation theories and suggest practical implications for university international student affairs work. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester 2015. / July 14, 2015. / Academic success, Acculturation, American graduate education, Chinese international students, International higher education, Sociocultural perspectives / Includes bibliographical references. / Helen Boyle, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Peter Easton, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Tom Ratliffe, University Representative; Jeffrey Milligan, Committee Member.

Retention research has been empirically studied for over 70 years (Attewell, Heil, & Reisel, 2011; Bowen, 2009; Braxton, 2000; Goldrick-Rab & Roksa, 2008; Nora, Barlow & Crisp, 2005; Turner, 2004), yet there is minimal research describing high-risk students' perceptions and learning that occurred after being placed on academic probation after their first semester of college and mandated to complete an academic strategies course during their second semester. The purpose of this study was to explore first-year students' perceptions of being placed on academic probation as they adjust to college and completing a mandated academic strategies course at a large public postsecondary institution in the Southeast. This study employed grounded theory methods to understand how students interpret their academic failure after being placed on academic probation and mandated to take an academic strategy course. The research framework was guided by Tinto's (1975) theory of student departure that suggests students who connect both academically and socially in a college environment will persist to degree attainment. College students may have negative experiences after entering college and experiencing academic failure, e.g., earning below a 2.0 GPA, during their first semester. Because these students are still transitioning into the academic environment, they may be at greater risk for attrition than students who have not experienced initial academic failure. This research explored 14 students' perceptions of experiencing academic failure and their perceived learning that occurred in their second semester. Students who earn below a 2.0 GPA at this particular university are placed on academic probation and mandated to take a 1-unit (12 week) course that focuses on teaching students academic skills, such as learning strategies, time management, and self-regulation strategies, and therefore provides a unique situation to explore students' adjustment to college. Data collection consisted of individual in-depth interviews conducted with a majority Caucasian sample of 14 students in their second semester of college. The result was the emergence of a theory of college transition grounded in the perspectives and experiences of the students. Results identified ways students evaluated their experiences with academic failure and identified how students may or may not be using strategies (e.g., learning or volitional) while experiencing transition in college. The results also indicated the positive influence family relationships and academic strategies course instructors had on high-risk first-year students' motivation to persist towards a college degree. The findings are relevant for prospective first-year and current students, as well as for parents, college administrators, and faculty. This research also has implications for retention services and student affairs practice. Finally, the findings inform both theory development and future research, particularly transition theory. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester 2015. / April 24, 2015. / college students, first-year, high-risk, learning strategies, persistence, retention / Includes bibliographical references. / Jeannine Turner, Professor Directing Dissertation; Robert A. Schwartz, University Representative; Susan Losh, Committee Member; Janet Lenz, Committee Member.

This dissertation research is a study of the dynamics of continuous change in Florida's public higher education system between 1998 and 2009. There are three subsidiary questions used to explore these events in greater detail: What is the impetus for changes in the structure of Florida's education system? What are the key dynamics of social change outlining this period of history of governance in the higher education system? How have these changes affected the ability of the individuals and boards responsible for education to be effective, legitimate, accountable, autonomous and authoritative? Since the Florida Legislature abolished the Board of Regents (the board statutorily directed to oversee the public state university system) in 2000, three separate entities were at one point or another charged with the task of overseeing the system before the Board of Governors and university boards of trustees were constitutionally created in 2002. Since that time, the myriad stakeholder groups have struggled to clearly define their own powers within the confines of constitutional and statutory law. Moreover, these groups have been unsuccessful in defining their own powers in such a way where agreement with other stakeholder groups is achieved. Through the use of semi-structured interviews, the perspectives of representatives of the various stakeholder groups on the historical changes of the system during this time period, their feelings about the changes and the results of these changes on the relationships between the stakeholder groups will be explored. Additionally, historical information outlining the events that have taken place in Florida will be obtained through the review and examination of documents, such as state laws, proposed and approved legislation, task force meeting minutes, relevant court cases and news articles. This study will employ grounded analysis and pattern matching as tools to inductively identify emergent patterns and relationships as identified by the examination of the behaviors and reactions of those individuals intimately involved in this issue. / A Dissertation Submitted to the Askew School of Public Administration and Policy in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2010. / March 22, 2010. / Board of Regents, Board of Governors, Autonomy, Authority, Accountability, Governance, Higher Education, Florida / Includes bibliographical references. / Ralph Brower, Professor Directing Dissertation; Robert A. Schwartz, University Representative; Lance deHaven-Smith, Committee Member; Richard Feiock, Committee Member.

In 2014, Florida formally adopted a performance funding model for its State University System of higher education. The case study provides a qualitative analysis of the policy's implementation at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, a historically black institution (HBI). Using the lens of coercive and normative isomorphism, this study identifies how institutional relationships between higher education administrators have changed in response to performance funding. Participants, though supportive of the policy as an accountability tool, disliked the specific metric items policymakers use to measure institutional performance. Participants perceived the metric items and policy goals as contradictory to the mission of their institution. The article identifies recommendations for policymakers to increase institutional buy-in and areas of future research. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies in partial fulfillment of the Master of Science. / Spring Semester 2016. / April 13, 2016. / Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University, HBCU funding, HBI, higher education, performance funding, public policy / Includes bibliographical references. / Lara Perez-Felkner, Professor Directing Thesis; David Tandberg, Committee Member; Bradley E. Cox, Committee Member.

All 28 colleges of the Florida College System (FCS) have made space in their budgets and on their campuses in order to attract upper-division partners, colleges and universities that represent the State University System (SUS), Independent Colleges and Schools of Florida, and other higher education institutions nationwide. Partnership relationships such as the ones negotiated between FCS institutions and upper division schools are defined as academic strategic alliances in higher education literature. Scholars have taken this terminology from business management lexicon wherein organizations respond to a competitive market by joining forces (Das & Teng, 1997). Accordingly, scholars from both fields emphasize the concept of collaboration packed inside the strategic decision of campus leaders to pool their resources partnerships (Adegbesan & Higgins, 2011; Eckel, Hartley, & Affolter-Caine, 2004). This study explored both sides of the state college-university partnership dynamic through the eyes of the administrators using themes from Gulati’s (1998) network embeddedness framework. I employed a qualitative research design to determine the influence of alliance initiatives on the social networks involved in their implementation. I used a collective-case study approach employing data triangulation (interviews, documents, and observation) to seek out any emerging themes. I also sought out institutional data to support this study. A majority of these FCS concurrent-use arrangements have persisted while others have failed. This study contributes to higher education literature by offering a means to expand the scope of previous academic strategic alliance studies. Instead of focusing on partnership dyads, this study explored how host and partner institution administrators operate within a social network embedded at the study sites. I propose fresh perspectives to explain how each member involved within a state college’s university partnership program can assert its own needs while working in concert to define common goals and objectives. My two key findings identified the perception of lack as the primary barrier and effective communication as the most influential aid to partnership creation and maintenance. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester 2016. / October 14, 2016. / College, Florida, Partnerships, State, System, University / Includes bibliographical references. / Shouping Hu, Professor Directing Dissertation; Gerald Ferris, University Representative; Tamara Bertrand Jones, Committee Member; Robert Schwartz, Committee Member.

This study is a quantitative, quasi-experimental inquiry into the effectiveness of motivational instructional strategies on undergraduate math students' subject learning. Secondarily, it examines the effects of the motivational strategies on the effort students exert in lesson activities, and on their motivation within the lesson. The treatment in this study is based on the MUSIC® Model of Academic Motivation and was conducted within a single lesson. The existing literature shows that motivational instructional design by lay educators is often hindered by the complexity of the field, and by the specialization of existing motivational models. The MUSIC Model holds some promise in organizing and simplifying motivational strategies such that classroom educators and non-instructional specialists can apply them in their lesson design. The research questions for the study are "How do MUSIC based motivational instructional strategies affect student learning, student effort and the five components of students' motivation within an undergraduate math lesson?" Two sections of a single mathematics course, taught by one instructor, were participants in the study. The treatment section received the MUSIC intervention for the lesson. This research intervention was created by mapping each of the lesson activities to each component in the motivational model, thereby generating motivation enhanced adaptations of lesson activities. Students were tested and surveyed post-lesson for all three variables; subject learning, effort and lesson motivation perceptions. Results of the study inform and facilitate the design and implementation of further engaged lessons based on the MUSIC Model. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester 2018. / November 8, 2018. / Higher Education, Learning and Motivation, Mathematics Teaching, Motivation and engagement, MUSIC Model of Academic Motivation, STEM Teaching / Includes bibliographical references. / Vanessa Dennen, Professor Directing Dissertation; Stephen McDowell, University Representative; James Klein, Committee Member; Insu Paek, Committee Member.