This qualitative research study explored the recollections of work-life balance and fatherhood through the reported experiences and reflections of select college presidents. The researcher used a basic narrative research practice which allowed individuals to share their experiences while shedding light on how the individuals see themselves. Six college presidents participated in one-on-one semi structured interviews. The researcher incorporated Clark's Work-family border theory as the framework for this study, which recognized that a working individual largely functions in two separate domains: work and family. The presidents' experiences were examined within this construct and addressed the research question that guided the study: How do male college presidents balance their work and life domains? This study represents a significant addition to the scholarly literature concerning work-life balance experienced by male college presidents as little scholarship exists in this area. The results led to recommendations and implications for college Boards of Trustees, professional development associations, spouses, and partners.

"There are wounds that never show on the body that are deeper and more hurtful than anything that bleeds." -Laurell K. Hamilton, Due to the proximity of working with and engaging students, residence life staff members, have a unique work experience. This functional area of student affairs is responding to myriad student needs. Staff are responding to varying levels of campus emergencies, student illness, and assault (physical or sexual) on a given workday or workweek (Ojo & Thomas, 2012). One study found college students' on-campus lifestyle and routine activities can create opportunities for victimization (Fisher, Sloan, Cullen, Lu, & 1998). What cumulative impact does responding to these victimizations have on residence life staff members? This study will investigate the relationship between the exposures to vicarious trauma, considering emotional intelligence as a mitigating factor to explain job satisfaction of residence life staff members. Taking a closer look at how the continued exposure to victimization of others (in this case students), the individual's job satisfaction provides context to burnout and attrition, specifically in residence life professionals. Understanding how secondary exposure can impact a professional is a concern that has been studied in other professions such as nursing, social work, and mental health counseling. The findings have provided invaluable insight to the professional's experience. This study will attempt to do the same by exploring how these three variables interact with each other, through the use of three scales, Vicarious Trauma Scale (VTS), Genos-Emotional Intelligence Inventory (Genos-I), and Job Satisfaction Scale (JSS).

Women with military experience are attending colleges and universities across the United States. It is important to understand how they describe their experiences as students and how their help-seeking behaviors impact their success (DiRamio & Jarvis, 2011; Baechtold & Da Sawal, 2009). Using Schlossberg's Adult Transition Theory (1981, 1984) as a framework, this qualitative phenomenological study explored the help-seeking behaviors of women student veterans. In addition, the events that caused them to seek help and the resources they utilized are described. The research questions were: (1) Does the prior military experience of women student veterans influence their willingness to seek help? (2) What are the events that cause women student veterans to seek help? And (3) What are the resources that women student veterans utilize? Using Smith, Flowers and Larkin's (2009) Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), this two-phase mixed method design employed a sequential descriptive strategy employing a profile questionnaire and individual semi-structured interviews (N=9). The research identified six themes using Schlossberg's framework (1981, 1984). These six themes were: military influence, transitions, times of distress, tailored support, traditional support and support 'from my own'. The findings of this study provide researchers, student personnel professionals, and military educational constituencies with a foundation for policy and programming that account for the help seeking behaviors women student veterans' exhibit as they transition from the military to college.

Collegiate athletics plays an important role in higher education. As a result of this importance student athletes also play a significant role in higher education. However, due to their athletic responsibilities they face a number of challenges while enrolled in a college or university. An academic advisor for student athletes is responsible for not only helping the student athletes with their academics, they also play an important role in ensuring the eligibility of college student athletes so they are able to compete. As a result, academic advisors for student athletes use a number of tools and resources that help ensure the academic success of the student athletes. This study examined the use of these tools and resources from three institutions in the American Athletic Conference by 14 participants and how they related to the Graduation Success Rate of each institution. In addition, this study highlighted and examined the learning styles of not only the student athlete but also the academic advisor using Kolb's Learning Style Inventory (LSI). The study was quantitative in nature using survey research to answer five research questions. A Chi-Square analysis revealed there was significance between the number of tools and resources used and the Graduation Success Rate. A second Chi-Square revealed there was no significance between the student athletes learning style and the tools and resources used by academic advisors and learning specialists. The study also identified that of Kolb's four learning styles, the student athletes were mainly Accommodators and Divergers. The results of this study suggest that academic advisors and learning specialists should use more tools and resources when working with student athletes to ensure a higher Graduation Success Rate. This study was one of the first to examine the tools and resources used by academic advisors and learning specialist, as well as, the learning styles of student athletes. Future research should continue to investigate the tools and resources used by academic advisors use and the role of the academic level of the student athlete.

The purpose of this dissertation was to investigate the lived experiences of community college dance students. Previous research was examined to provide a more holistic picture of dancers during their college years and while in the workforce. The literature reviewed indicated that the emergence of dance as a field of study was controversial. Its beginnings were marked by debates concerning (a) the very definition of dance as a body of motion and a body of knowledge that includes a history and a philosophy as asserted by Dimondstein (1985), (b) its legitimate place within the academy (the perception that university dance programs were vocational in nature with little academic value) as noted by Stinson (1990); and, more recently (c) the possibility of some resolution to make dance not only a performing art but an academic discipline in its own right (Savrami, 2012). The theoretical framework of social cognitive career theory was used but was modified to include only the tenets most frequently cited in the literature that directly influenced the career identity of dancers particularly in relation to their motivation to academically persist and graduate. The phenomenological analysis, in the tradition of Moustakas (1994) and Wertz (2005), produced an early thematic matrix of 18 codes that were reduced to six major themes: aspirations, academic commitment, emotional identification, anticipated outcome or career expectation, vicarious learning, and challenges. One of the major recommendations included conducting a longitudinal study focusing on how students navigate an unpredictable job market, including the discussion of issues of workforce preparation in the academic curriculum and major.

Research points to Latino/a parents as an important source of motivation and support for high achieving Latino/a students who are the first in their families to go to college (Arellano & Padilla, 2006; Gandara, 1982; 1994; Hurtado & Sinha, 2006; Zalaquett, 2005); however, very little is known about their experience as they parent children whose educational paths are so different from their own. Cultural values such as collectivism and familism play a unique role in the level of connection between these parents and their children (Suarez-Orozco & Suarez-Orozco, 1995), creating dynamics that merit exploration. This dissertation qualitatively examines how seven Latino/a parents of first-generation college students pursuing a PhD expressed the parenting characteristics outlined in Parent Development Theory (Mowder, 2005). Furthermore, this study explores how these parents experienced their daughters' higher education journey. Moustakas' (1994) transcendental phenomenology was utilized in analyzing parents' voices. The textural and structural descriptions of major and minor themes provided the essence of the parents' experience. Example of themes are: "Pero la Apoyo - Uncertainty and Support for the PhD", "Siempre Juntos - High Levels of Interaction", and "Amor Compasivo - Distance, Pain and Sacrifice". Recommendations include support for pre-doctoral preparation initiatives, co-curricular innovations, and the exploration of the impact of modern technologies on the communication between parents and their children while in college.

This study investigated how work impacts academic performance for community college students, from a multiple role balance perspective. Perna (2010) called for a re-examination of the role of work in college students' lives, especially regarding the exploration of benefits, rather than just the detriments of working while studying. According to Karp and Bork (2014), more research was also needed on community college students and how they balance multiple roles. Exploring the relationship between balancing multiple roles and academic performance may provide new insight into how community college students contend with demanding roles, while striving to achieve academic success. This study was framed by the theoretical understanding of Marks and MacDermid's (1996) role balance theory and the instrument used was the Role Balance scale. Four hundred and ten participants responded to the online survey containing role balance and demographic questions. Data from 403 respondents were used in the regression analysis to determine how work impacted role balance. Among the community college student respondents, hours worked for pay was a significant factor in predicting role balance when controlling for demographic and lifestyle variables. For every extra hour worked per week, the role balance score would decrease by 0.02. Demographic and lifestyle variables were not significant in predicting role balance. Data from the survey responses of all 410 respondents were used for the correlation analysis. There was no significant relationship found between role balance and academic performance.

Much of the literature regarding Black students at predominantly White institutions (PWI) focuses on these students' academic difficulty, while there is far less attention paid to the performance of higher achieving Black students (Fries-Britt, 1998; Fries-Britt & Griffin, 2007). Therefore, this study explored the lived experiences of high-achieving Black female students, focusing particularly on the experiences which contribute to their success at a PWI. The qualitative phenomenological research design was used to highlight emergent themes revealed during the study. Eight purposely selected students participated in one-on-one semi structured interviews and a Sister Circle group process. The participants' stories were highlighted both independently and collectively, reflecting a wide range of sentiments. During the data analysis process, there were six themes that emerged from the data which highlighted the experiences which contributed to the students' success at a PWI. Those themes included: 1) Support, 2) Processing Situations, 3) Defining Success, 4) Involvement, 5) Motivation, and 6) Background. The emergent themes provided strategies and recommendations for Black female students, higher education practitioners, and institutions. These recommendations included areas regarding programming, retention and recruitment strategies, resource creation, and relationship building. Additionally, implications were made for future research initiatives. The data, coupled with the researcher's reflections served as the basis for the implications and recommendations for this study.

At the beginning of the new millennium, concerns were raised that a leadership crisis was soon to develop due to a high percentage of community college presidents and chief academic officers (CAOs) approaching retirement within the decade. With concerns that there would not be a sufficient number of leaders ready to assume these roles, the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) developed a list of six competencies essential to community college leadership (AACC, 2005). The purpose of this study was to examine the pathways, competencies, and preparation of community college presidents and CAOs. Leaders in those positions at two-year colleges in eight southeastern states were surveyed in August-September 2017. Demographic data was collected to determine common career pathways and it was found that an overwhelming majority of current respondents earned doctorate degrees and that many of them had focused their advanced degrees in the areas of education and/or leadership. Approximately 84% of the leaders who responded expected to retire within 10 years of the study. Also, at least 50% of the presidents who responded followed an academic pathway to the presidency. Respondents were asked to rate the extent to which they agreed that the AACC competencies were essential to their leadership roles and the extent to which they agreed that they had been prepared for each competency prior to assuming their current roles. The results indicated high levels of agreement that all six competencies were essential; however, tests did reveal statistically significant differences between the levels of agreement, namely that one competency -- community college advocacy – had a lower level of agreement than the other five competencies. Respondents also indicated that they had been adequately prepared for each competency prior to assuming their current roles, with on-the-job experiences being the most common method of preparation for the competencies. A correlation analysis revealed that there was a positive relationship between the extent to which leaders agreed that the competencies were essential and the extent to which they agreed that they were prepared for the competencies. There were also no statistical differences between presidents and CAOs on the preparation ratings for each competency and there was only a difference in the essential ratings for the competency of collaboration. Recommendations for future practice based on the leadership frameworks of Bolman and Deal (2013) and Nevarez, Wood, and Penrose (2013) are provided, along with recommendations for higher educational leadership doctoral programs and future research regarding pathways, competencies, and preparation.

The purpose of this study was to understand how first-year undergraduate college students use smartphones to receive parental support. A conceptual framework was implemented to frame the research and focused on first-year college student transitions and development within the context of parental support. A Phenomenological methodology with semi-structured interviews was implemented which explored the phenomenon from both immersive and holistic perspectives. Seven themes emerged from the analysis: decision-making, academic pathways, autonomy, emotional support, access, safety, and preparation. This study provided two recommendations for practice, including to educate students and parents about parental support and to educate parents about specific student success resources. Parental support is unlikely to stop once college begins, which requires students and parents to devise a strategy to maximize the effectiveness of parental support while also remaining mindful of the potential challenges.