Evaluation of teaching in higher education is an important, yet difficult, process for deans, other administrators and teachers. The purpose of this dissertation is to advance helpful ideas to those who are charged with the responsibility to judge teaching, and to those who are being judged. A rethinking of four central questions ((1) What is education? (2) What is teaching? (3) Can we teach? (4) Are we doing a good job teaching?) is accomplished with help from the work of Hannah Arendt, Joseph Epstein, Louis Hartz, Richard Hofstadter, Robert Pirsig, Plato, Jean-Paul Sartre and others. A significant issue raised by these four questions is the whole notion of quality and excellence. In addition, judgment itself is explored through Kant's ideas of purposiveness and exemplary validity. The particular stories of three teachers in higher education are given wherein they relate their attitudes toward the four central questions, reflections on their best teachers from higher education and their ideas about quality and excellence in teaching. In conclusion, a review of several approaches or reactions taken toward evaluations is presented. Through this rethinking process it is learned that deans, administrators and teachers need to, and can, take evaluation of teaching seriously. A framework of ideas, including excellence in teaching, philosophical agreement, shared judgment and hope for the future, and an experiment in thought which outlines a possible approach to the essentials in an evaluation process is provided to help us start anew in evaluating teaching. From this framework of ideas and the thought experiment, further research could implement the experiment and monitor the experiences. In all evaluations, the underlying notion of the pursuit and recognition of excellence in teaching must remain intact.

The purpose of this phenomenological inquiry was to explore how graduate students in education programs at a large, public university in the Southeastern United States perceived and interpreted their informal learning experiences from listening to podcasts. Guided by a conceptual framework comprised of Andragogy, Uses and Gratifications, and King's Reflective Action Research Model, this qualitative investigation, conducted during the COVID-19 lockdown of 2020, utilized in-depth Zoom interviews with 15 graduate students in education programs. The participants' constructed personal narratives revealed four distinguishable educative benefits of podcast listenership: Educative Engagement and Enhancement, Self-Directed Convenience, Parasocial Perspective Gathering, and Educative Growth Through Challenge and Conflict. In addition, four educative meaning making themes emerged from participants' informal educational experiences listening to podcasts: Educative Conversation, Practical Application Through Contextual Reflection, Educative Exploration and Discovery, and Personalized Curriculum Construction. The findings, which highlight the potential connection of informal and formal learning experiences through podcast listenership, are discussed in relation to the relevant literature. Recommendations for practice and future research are provided.

Mergers are not uncommon in higher education, yet the phenomenon has rarely been the subject of research. Although some private sector combinations have been the focus of inquiry, there is a notable lack of study of mergers involving public institutions of higher education. This work concentrates on public sector mergers in Massachusetts for the period 1964-1985. The project shows that a critical dichotomy in understanding the nature of merger exists between institutional and public participants in the merger process. At the institutional level, the focus of attention is on the relatively narrow matters of organizational structure and integrity, while the makers of public policy are concerned with the larger issue of service to constituents. As a result of this disparity in perspective, institutional representatives may fail to understand the larger public policy context of the merger process. Merger in the public sector is ultimately a matter of public policy, not just a characteristic of institutional development and evolution. This historical analysis examines four separate public mergers: A 1964 combination of two former textile schools that created the present Southeastern Massachusetts University; a 1975 merger of a technological institute (and former textile school) and a state college that produced the University of Lowell; a 1981 union of an urban campus of a state university and a state college that expanded the University of Massachusetts at Boston, and a 1985 consolidation of a community college and a technical institute that led to a diversified Massasoit Community College.

This study interviewed four faculty members (two-year public and private, four-year public and private) who participated in ongoing cooperative education programs in 1990 in four colleges in Massachusetts. This study was designed to interview and discuss faculty benefits in order to gather and document information necessary to improve and expand involvement of faculty for future growth and success of cooperative education programs. Research was conducted during the Spring Semester of 1990. The study determined there were not many differences between the subjects in the perceptions of benefits. Though there were some which were primarily between the two and four-year faculty on whether or not faculty involved in cooperative education helps to evaluate individual student progress in the classroom. There was also a disagreement as to involvement aiding in the faculty promotion process. There was disagreement between the two-year faculty and four-year faculty as to cooperative education providing opportunities for new research. There was also disagreement in involvement of faculty in cooperative education helps in gaining a favorable tenure recommendation. The two-year faculty and the four-year faculty disagree on whether cooperative education provides faculty with the opportunity to review and evaluate the overall curriculum offered by the institution. There was also disagreement as to whether involvement in cooperative education by faculty creates consulting opportunities. There was a general consensus that cooperative education offers certain benefits (e.g., research) but are utilized differentially. Overall, all faculty were positive about cooperative education, but see a need for help (clerical, administrative, etc.). In summary, it is apparent that an examination of cooperative education benefits to faculty was worthwhile and important. Faculty do perceive benefits to incorporating cooperative education learning experiences. The benefits faculty perceived were academic related, classroom learning is enhanced, a better relationship with students develops, and self-growth. If cooperative education is to continue to grow and prosper, an understanding of faculty benefits will aid in its development and utilization.

Enrollment management has become the focus of institutional planning efforts on many college campuses. It is not possible to address the complex strategic issues in enrollment planning without institutional research that documents the experience of the school as it relates to the external environment and the body of prospective students. This study was constructed to provide institutionally based data that describe and compare two class populations of accepted students, based on their decision to enroll at the College. The purpose of the study was to generate a data base on student characteristics which could be used to support future recruitment efforts by the Admission and Financial Aid Offices. Several methods of data analysis were used. First, surveyed student opinion data on twenty college characteristics were compared. Second, seventeen descriptive characteristics were selected. Frequency data and descriptive statistics were generated for five different groups of students within the two classes. Third, crosstabulation studies using the chi square test of independence were used to test five hypotheses about differences within class or enrollment groups. Findings of the study reveal consistent patterns among enrolled and no-enrolled students and between the two classes. The impact of the financial aid variables on the enrollment decision proved to be statistically significant.

As public higher education examines itself in light of changing environmental trends, demands and needs of society, the public service aspect of its mission must also be reassessed. This area has traditionally been loosely defined and typically focuses on service by the individual faculty member or student, rather than the responsibility of the institution as a whole. A broadly framed definition of public service describes it as the outreach of the university to society at large, through which the resources of the campus are extended to individuals and groups not part of the academic community. In this manner, the academic institution's special competence is brought to bear on the solution of specific needs and problems. The emphasis for public service is on the transfer of knowledge into usable, meaningful forms for its application to these needs. The purpose of this study is to provide a detailed description of an institutional service and outreach model for public higher education, in which client-responsive research and evaluation techniques are applied to assist in the solution of management problems in both public and private sector organizations. The model is presented as an alternative to traditional views of means for addressing the public service and outreach component of the mission of public higher education. It integrates into that mission the capability to generate necessary additional resources while providing valued public service. By presenting this model, the study seeks to contribute to the larger discussion of the overall role of public higher education in society and the implications of that role on the manner in which all aspects of its mission are perceived and addressed. The description of the model is presented in the form of an embedded case study of a research and evaluation unit within a public service and outreach institution of the University of Massachusetts' President's office. Individual case studies, describing typical applications of the unit's services to various types of clients and problems, are incorporated within the overall study as examples of the manner in which the model is implemented. The summary and conclusions identify key characteristics of the model which are considered central to its ability to provide meaningful public service.

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore how middle-manager housing and residence life professionals apply what they learn from attending a housing professional development conference. This study was guided by Biggs's (2003) framework, theory of constructive alignment, focused on intended learning outcomes used to create what students need to learn, followed by how they are assessed. This qualitative study used 10 in-depth semistructured interviews with middle-manager housing and residence life professionals working at a 4-year institution in the United States. Three research questions drove this study: (a) how do middle-manager housing and residence life professionals describe their learning experience from attending a housing professional development conference; (b) how do middle-manager housing and residence life professionals apply their experiences from learning at the housing professional development conference to their home institution; (c) how do middle-manager housing and residence life professionals describe their impact or changes in their housing and residence department and/or institution resulting from their participation in the housing professional development conferences? The interviews were transcribed and analyzed using the Stevick-Colaizzi-Keen analysis method, phenomenological analysis designed by Moustakas (as cited in Creswell & Poth, 2018). Four themes emerged from the analysis of the data: (a) Collegiality; (b) Professional Learning; (c) Supervision Support; (d) Time Allocation for professional development. An analysis of the study along with relevant literature is provided including implications and recommendations should further research be conducted.

The number of students transferring from state colleges to state universities in Florida is significant due to the articulation agreements that are supported by the Board of Governors. These agreements allow students who have completed an associate degree to transfer their credits toward a bachelor's degree at a state university. However, transfer students face numerous barriers including academic, financial, and personal that hinder their success as they transition and start their first year at the state university. A large metropolitan public university in Florida has implemented success coaching, a new model of holistic student support, and advising services to provide targeted guidance and advising for transfer students. Some of these services start while the students are at the state college to facilitate the transfer process and allow them to be successful at the state university. The purpose of this study is to explore the perspectives of transfer students to get an insight regarding the obstacles they battle and determine whether these services were effective in helping students overcome challenges. To this end, this study is embedded within Schlossberg's Transition Theory and utilizes a qualitative approach to allow important insights to emerge from the student perspective. The researcher conducted and video recorded in-depth interviews with 11 transfer students in their first year at the state university who have utilized the transfer and advising services provided by the university. The data was then transcribed, reviewed, and coded resulting in several themes relating to the first and second research question. The findings of this study are discussed within the context of the existing literature and the theoretical framework. Implications for higher education institutions as well as recommendations for future research are presented.

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to research the correlation between the academic achievement and enrollment data of students who attend Deer Park Community College who are majoring in Health Sciences. These students were categorized into four groups including subjects who are: traditional students who do not register for remediation courses; traditional students who do register for remediation courses; non-traditional students who do not need remediation courses; and non-traditional students who do need remediation courses. Additional analyses included how many remediation courses the students had to take, the student’s age, financial situation, standing GPA, and semester. This specific research is evident in the current limitation of quantitative data regarding the remediation student who is interested in Health Sciences as a possible career path. Although many researchers have sought to seek the reason behind the lack of enrollment of non-traditional students in Health Sciences and STEM programs none have correlated the possibility of the student having to enroll in remediation courses due to the education gap as a theory. Data gathered were analyzed using statistical methods including aggregated data which were provided by Deer Park Community College’s institutional research department and a survey delivered online to all health science students. Accordingly, this study was designed to provide data to Deer Park Community College’s institutional research office about the impact of remediation on enrollment and admission to Health Sciences programs. / Educational Leadership

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a tremendous influence on higher education in America. While college presidents have led through multiple crises in the past several decades, this challenge is unique for both the depth of its influence (e.g., revolutionizing course and service delivery methods, financial upheaval and institutional closures, political implications of institutional decisions) and the fact that every college and university in the world was influenced nearly simultaneously, providing the inability to benchmark decisions. As college presidents were faced with series of unprecedented choices during the period from March 2020 through November 2021, this study sought to prompt reflection on the choices made, as well as influences on those choices and implications to inform crisis leadership in the future. This hermeneutic phenomenological study utilized interview data and a thorough web content analysis to engage college presidents in reflections on their experiences, specifically evaluating the impact that COVID-19 had on their leadership style and their perceptions of the effectiveness of their choices from a retrospective stance. This research surfaced four key findings: 1) that reflections and past experiences informed presidential crisis response decisions throughout the evolving crisis; 2) that central to the success in managing a pervasive and unprecedented crisis is engaging as many people as possible in the crisis response; 3) that communication is essential and that communication strategy must be intentional and evolving with respect to the most salient needs of the community, and; 4) that presidents must employ a holistic approach to viewing, assessing, and solving institutional problems that can be supported by utilizing a four frame approach to leadership decision-making and execution.