In response to the need for further research on promotion and tenure decisions, this study examined one of the criteria used in these decisions: inbreeding. Based on an analysis of the academic marketplace modifying Spence's theory of job market signaling behavior, the following research hypotheses guided the study: (1) female inbred faculty have patterns of productivity which are significantly different from the patterns of productivity of male inbred faculty; (2) inbred faculty show less professional advancement than noninbred faculty; and (3) inbred faculty receive fewer institutional rewards than noninbred faculty.;The data for the research was taken from the 1977 Survey of the American Professoriate. This instrument was designed and implemented under the direction of Everett Carll Ladd, Jr. and Seymour Martin Lipset. Seven statistical hypotheses were tested covering the productivity of male and female inbred faculty, their professional advancement, and their rewards. Methodological factors included a broad operationalization of academic productivity, the use of multivariate analyses, and the inclusion of a test for the statistical significance of discrimination in rewards.;The results of the analyses showed that inbred faculty do experience discrimination in rewards and in some areas of professional advancement. Significant differences were found in the patterns of productivity exhibited by female and male inbred faculty members. Women show higher performance in most traditional institutional areas while men emphasize external activities. The results indicate that institutional origin cannot be used as a reliable signal in the academic labor market.

The purposes of this study were (1) to gather information on advisor and advisee perceptions, (2) to gather information on advisor and advisee expectations, and (3) to analyze the satisfaction level of the participants. This research was conducted at the College of William and Mary during the 1980-1981 academic year. Questionnaires were used to survey both freshman students and their advisors.;The results indicated that in general advisees had lower perceptions of the Freshman Advising Program, had higher expectations for advising, and were less satisfied with the advising system than the advisors. These results were significant for the analysis of perceptions for the dimensions of Academic Planning, Knowledge, Personal Development, Developmental Advising, and Advising Style and for the Total Perception Score. In the analysis of expectations, these results were significant for the dimensions of Academic Planning, Career Planning, Knowledge, and Developmental Advising and for the Total Expectation Score. When satisfaction with advising was considered, the results were significant for all six of the dimensions and for the Total Satisfaction Score.;Female advisees had greater expectations for advising on Career Planning than male advisees. They also were less satisfied with their current advising on the dimensions of Academic Planning and Knowledge.;Satisfaction with advising decreased as advisees increased the number of visits to the advisor and as they lengthened the time in their advising sessions.;Advisee satisfaction with advising was affected by the congruence between the advisee's intended major and the advisor's teaching field only on the dimension of Knowledge. Advisees were most satisfied with advisors in the social sciences on all dimensions except Career Planning in which case they were most satisfied with advisors in the natural sciences/mathematics. Advisees were least satisfied in all cases with advisors in the humanities. Advisors did not differ in their satisfaction with advising by field.;Further research is indicated for three areas. First, the negative relationship between advisee satisfaction and length of advising sessions, number of contacts, and total exposure to the advisor needs to be investigated further to determine the effects on satisfaction which advisee-advisor dissonance in perceptions and expectations and which advisee personal characteristics have. Second, additional research on advisor teaching field as a criterion for satisfactory performance is needed. Third, the personal characteristics of advisors need to be studied to determine their impact on the advising system. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.).

No description available.

The purpose of this study was to both identify and analyze those major political factors which had a significant impact on the establishment and growth of Richard Bland College. The study was also designed to record a significant period in the history of a two-year branch college and to provide insight into the political nature and developments of a changing Southside Virginia.;It was hypothesized that the establishment and growth of Richard Bland College was based largely on decisions of a political nature rather than on sound academic planning. Further, the effective use of politics enabled the institution to survive many of the crises it faced during the period 1958 to 1972.;The historical method of research was used in writing about the establishment and growth of Richard Bland College. This method allowed for the examination of primary source documents, the obtaining of oral testimony from participants and observers, and the scrutiny of relationships among people, places, and events.;It was concluded that politics permeated every major decision that was related to the establishment and growth of the institution. The role played by local, state, and national political figures and the rivalry that existed among local political sub-divisions materially affected Richard Bland College during the period being considered. Decisions of a political nature which related to nearby public and private colleges also affected Richard Bland.;Further research into the post 1971 period is needed to analyze the changing social nature of Southside Virginia and to determine the effect of neighboring colleges on the future of Richard Bland. The future viability of the institution might be studied in light of state and national educational decisions.

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No description available.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which institutional saga and charter influence the formulation of institutional operating strategy and the degree to which the resultant strategy utilizes the concept of the marketing mix in an attempt to achieve institutional objectives.;Lynchburg College in Lynchburg, Virginia was chosen as the subject of the study for several reasons. First, as a private institution, it was assumed that Lynchburg College would exercise more discretion in the allocation of institutional resources to its marketing efforts than would a public institution. Second, Lynchburg College offered an opportunity to examine an institution that, while sound academically, fiscally and administratively, is not well known beyond the region it serves. Third, Lynchburg College experienced administrative transition at the same time the institution recognized the problems it faced as a result of rising costs and declining enrollment. Thus the College offered a unique opportunity to observe the response of a new administration to existing and anticipated institutional problems.;It was hypothesized that (1) the marketing practices of Lynchburg College would conform to marketing practice as prescribed by the concept of the marketing mix and (2) that institutional strategy developed on the basis of the marketing mix would be influenced by institutional saga and charter.;It was concluded that institutional saga and charter were exercising a definite influence on the choice of institutional strategy. The study was not able to establish the degree to which strategy as developed by Lynchburg College conformed to the concept of the marketing mix.;Further study is needed to establish the extent to which a concept such as the marketing mix serves as a basis for developing institutional strategy.

The purpose of the research was to model student choice behavior in order to gain a better understanding of the choices students made (a public four-year college, a private four-year college, or a public community college) and the variables which influenced those choices. The probability of selecting any one educational option was assumed to be a function of variables which reflected costs, income, and tastes and preferences. A logistic form of the demand equation was used which measured the effects of the independent variables on the likelihood that an educational option was chosen.;The study used a cross-sectional design, studying enrollment demand for 1985. The unit of analysis was the local political jurisdiction, either a Virginia city or county.;Financial burden (the ratio of tuition and required fees to median income) was found to have significant positive effects on the probability of choosing a private four-year college, and significant negative effects on the probability of selecting a community college. Local wage rates and unemployment rates were found to be significantly and positively related to choosing the community college option. The local educational completion rate for adults proved to be significantly and positively related to the probability that either a four-year private or the four-year public college was chosen.;The coefficient of determination was highest for the public four-year college option. The community college option, however, had the greatest number of statistically significant independent variables, and appeared to be most in harmony with human capital theory.;Future research can be directed in three areas. First, the effects of the independent variables on full and part-time students should be examined separately, to explore the degree to which the ability of part-time students to work and attend college influences their choices. Second, additional research is needed to confirm and explore why the probability of selecting a private college increases as financial burden increases, and to what extent this is due to substitution of public colleges for private colleges at lower levels of financial burden. Third, future research should explore and refine the concept of the educational options open to the students, perhaps initially by characterizing college options along institutional selectivity and price dimensions. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.).

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of the Preparing for Life as a University Student (PLUS) transition program on student achievement, persistence, and integration. The mixed design study was conducted at a highly selective, coeducational, mid-sized university. Three cohort groups were combined as the treatment group and compared statistically to a closely matched sample of non-PLUS students. Focus groups with PLUS participants were also held.;Two research questions investigated whether there was a significant difference in academic achievement and persistence between PLUS participants and non-PLUS students after the first and second semesters. The remaining three research questions addressed PLUS participants' perceptions of the impacts of PLUS on integration patterns and of the impact of integration on academic achievement and persistence. Statistical analyses showed that there was a significant difference in mean GPAs after the second semester and a significant difference between mean numbers of credits earned after the first and second semesters. Analysis of focus group responses showed that participation in PLUS positively impacted academic and social integration. Furthermore, responses indicated that integration positively impacted achievement and participants' will to persist.;The results suggest that there are advantages to taking the course in PLUS. The results also suggest that strong peer and student-faculty relationships are crucial to student success. Recommendations are made for further studies that analyze achievement and persistence rates beyond the first two semesters of matriculation. The researcher also suggests that future research designs should include comparative analyses of various summer transition programs.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of an interaction between pacing and cognitive style upon student achievement and attitude in a basic mathematics college course. It was hypothesized that student characteristics and alternative teaching methods interact to produce differential effects on academic achievement, withdrawal rate, pacing rate, and attitude. A Posttest Only 2 x 2 factorial design was used in this study with teaching method (instructor-paced and self-paced) as one variable and cognitive style (field-dependent and field-independent) as the other.;The original sample consisted of 318 prospective students who were administered the Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT). The 34 most field-independent and the 34 most field-dependent students were identified and assigned at random to two classes on the basis of 17 field-independent and 17 field-dependent students per class.;All procedures except the pacing procedures were identical for the two groups. Students in both groups used self-instructional modules that focused on five to ten well-defined behavioral objectives. Self-paced students proceeded at their own rate; whereas, instructor-paced students took module quizzes according to a course calendar covering the 12-week experimental period.;At the end of the experimental period, each student was posttested in achievement, as measured by the California Achievement Test (Mathematics, Level 19, Form C), and attitude, as measured by the Aiken Revised Math Attitude Scale. Differences in achievement and attitude were tested by means of the chi square statistic. All results were reported at the .05 level.;The findings support Witkin's theory of cognitive style. A major implication of this study is that instruction should be individualized in such a way that field-dependent students are matched with instructor-pacing and field-independent students are matched with self-pacing instructional modes.