<p> The career college sector of the post secondary education industry contributes more than $20 billion to the U.S. economy annually, but turnover in executive leader roles at career colleges is extremely high. Usually, such turnover occurs without succession planning or knowledge transfer for the new executive. The purpose of this exploratory case study was to explore the need for knowledge transfer when executive turnover occurs in career colleges. This single case study was framed on theories of knowledge addressing concepts such as knowledge stickiness, transfers, and gaps. The overarching research question concerned how lack of knowledge transfer during executive leadership succession at a career college influences stakeholder engagement, where stakeholders are executives, administrators, and faculty. The conceptual framework for this study was Szulanski&rsquo;s sticky knowledge concept, which pertains to how knowledge transfer from one executive leader to the next may be blocked. Knowledge attrition can be the basis for declining performance and outcomes in an institution such as a career college. In this bounded, exploratory case study using semistructured interviews with stakeholders, the aim was to understand how to improve knowledge transfer in these colleges so that they may remain available for the students they serve, who usually represent the first generation in their families to obtain any postsecondary certification. This aim is socially significant because completion of career education can be a factor leading individuals into the middle class. Social change for a portion of the underserved population can certainly emanate from educational opportunities that lead to career placement, which is why understanding executive succession in career colleges has significance in American society.</p><p>

<p> Much of the research on employee voice has focused on voice as a property of the individual, emphasizing the characteristics of front line, individual employees, and leader behaviour that enables or constrains voice. This qualitative study explored the lived experience of mid-level managers speaking up to their supervisors with the aim of understanding how managers experience and make sense of speaking up in the workplace, and the relational and contextual factors that enable or constrain voice. </p><p> Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 senior and mid-level academic managers from 12 higher education institutions across Canada and the United States during which participants described positive and negative experiences of speaking up. Thematic analysis of transcribed narrative accounts (both inductive and deductive coding), combined with coding of participant figurative language and resonant metaphors provided rich, vivid, descriptions of participant experiences. </p><p> Two storylines emerged from the analysis. The <i>pulling together </i> narrative, based on positive experiences, described how leaders contributed to a relational context characterized by a sense of relational equality that enabled voice. The <i>standing apart</i> narrative, based on negative experiences, described how leaders contributed to a relational context that constrained voice. As a consequence, managers experienced moral distress which suppressed voice. </p><p> This study highlights the importance of the relational context in enabling and constraining voice, and demonstrates how authority-ranking social relations shape the relational context that constrains voice. Findings suggest that a positive relational context may be an important enabler of voice, while a negative relational context constrains voice and contributes to moral distress. Recommendations for future research and implications for leadership practice are addressed.</p><p>

<p> Many colleges and universities have space on campus that extends beyond a traditional classroom. These areas include but are not limited to dining hall facilities, residence halls, college bookstores, and outdoor quads that serve as a focal point of the institution. In the case of a small, private, Los Angeles-based art and design college, this type of space was not always formally available to its students. Thus, a sense of student community engagement was absent from the college experience.</p><p> The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore how the implementation of a new multipurpose space at a college of art and design had the ability to alter the social and academic experiences of art and design students. The study amplified the voices of students who lacked power and longevity at an art and design institution. In a case study method of design, an interview protocol was used for primary data collection, with additional data obtained through document collection and participant observation. Environmental theory served as a conceptual framework for this research. Ten students and seven faculty, staff, or other administrators participated in this study in the fall of 2016. Findings emphasized that art and design students have a need to foster expression and thrive in environments where strong levels of student engagement are present. </p><p> The new facility serves as the central platform to highlight values or desires that ultimately sustain the heartbeat and magnificence of the new space. Participant motivation to utilize the new space was driven by the opportunity to experience stronger engagement in spaces that were previously nonexistent. While data were collected from multiple college stakeholders, the primary focus of this research was the influence on student culture. The findings suggested a need for new systematic processes that equate to a series of short- and long-term recommenda- tions for policy and practice.</p><p> This study provides recommendations for policies and practice that may transfer to similar institutional contexts and provide institutional leaders with insights and strategies to develop community and facilitate a stronger sense of campus life in the context of an art and design school.</p>

This thesis aims to establish how high school librarians in Scotland and America can become effective evidence-based decision-makers. Initial data collection consisted of written questionnaires to elicit background data from librarians on the extent of their evidence-based practice. Three main themes emerged: collaboration; interprofessional relationships and roles; and decision-making. These themes are discussed in more detail. A range of qualitative methodologies was designed and implemented to gain more in-depth information on practice and viewpoints, involving librarians and stakeholders. A draft model was created of the effective evidence-based practitioner in a high school library, based on an interpretation of findings and readings from the literature. After member-checking and validating by stakeholders, a final model was produced. This emergent model focuses not on the role of the school librarian in isolation, but stresses the importance of interrelationships involving the librarian. The study makes an original contribution to knowledge by giving a better understanding of the effective evidence-based high school librarian in the wider context of education. There is also a contribution to knowledge by adding to the general theory of workplace decision-making and evidence-based practice which is applicable outwith the school sector, and the pragmatic solution-driven model of decision-making is introduced. Key findings give an insight into the complexity of the school library situation, and highlights that ideally there will be positive relationships between school management, school librarian and collaboration. When these come together, it can mean an increase in student achievement, and more effective evidence-based decisions can be made. Findings also demonstrate links between these elements with evidence, national bodies and skills and qualities needed to be an effective evidence-based high school librarian, and identify how the new and complex expectations made of school librarians can be met. Recommendations are made to help stakeholders improve practice.

Title from title page of PDF (University of Missouri--St. Louis, viewed February 8, 2010). Includes bibliographical references (p. 70-74).

Thesis (M.S. in Information Technology Management)--Naval Postgraduate School, September 2003. / Thesis advisor(s): Norman F. Schneidswind, Brian Steckler. Includes bibliographical references (p. 35-37). Also available online.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2003. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 179-191).

<p> On October 1st of every year, college campuses throughout the United States are required to publish an annual security report (ASR), which provides an overview of the institution&rsquo;s security program. The ASR includes policies and procedures as well as crime statistics for the previous 3 years. The intent of the Clery Act was to provide valuable information on campus safety and security so that students, faculty, and staff can make more informed decisions as to either attend and/or work at a specific institution. This study examined how knowledgeable campus security authorities (CSAs) are with respect to these ASRs, also known as the Clery Act. Furthermore, this research examined whether or not the Act has influence on the success of the institutions&rsquo; missions. This is a qualitative study, which consists of data collected from structured interviews from 14 participants from 2 institutions representing four-year, for-profit colleges. Questions asked during these structured interviews focused on each respondent&rsquo;s knowledge of the Clery Act and its various provisions. The study revealed that the CSAs were unsure whether the Clery Act made college campuses safer; they were aware of the Act but not very familiar with the provisions of the Act; they were unable to identify resources other than additional personnel-power; and finally, they were familiar with the annual requirement of the Act and the published data but not with other provisions of the Act.</p>

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Murdoch University, 2004. / Thesis submitted to the Division of Arts. Bibliography: leaves 371-385.

Thesis (M.Sp.Ed.)--University of Waikato, 2008. / Title from PDF cover (viewed February 25, 2009) Includes bibliographical references (p. 73-80)