<p> This comparative case study provides a qualitative exploration of how four private tuition-dependent colleges approached a tuition price reset, including the organizational context, approaches, and strategies involved. As evidenced by the literature reviewed, there is an increasing awareness that the traditional business model of &ldquo;high tuition/high aid&rdquo; is no longer viable for less selective, tuition dependent colleges and universities caught in the middle of the market. Some of these colleges and universities are trying to innovate to remain competitive and financially sustainable. One innovation is to drastically reduce undergraduate tuition sticker price; a trend referred to as tuition price resets. A tuition price reset is a strategy that shifts the pricing model for an institution from &ldquo;high tuition/high aid&rdquo; to &ldquo;low tuition/low aid&rdquo; by lowering published tuition and financial aid awards, often in similar, but not necessarily equal proportion. There are a number of tuition dependent colleges that either have or will consider resetting tuition. This study provides valuable insight for those individuals and institutions seeking to understand the process that colleges and universities go through in evaluating the tuition price reset strategy. Critical factors in each institution&rsquo;s motivations, challenges and lessons learned are explored, including the background behind the analysis and decision, planning and implementation, as well as the outcomes of the decision.</p>

<p> This dissertation investigated the association of course delivery method with persistence of first-time, beginning, and transfer nontraditional undergraduate students at two public universities over a 6-year period (2009&ndash;2015). Research exists on nontraditional undergraduates, nontraditional instructional methods/delivery, and persistence among college students; however, most research does not combine these constructs in the way this dissertation has. This dissertation adds to research on persistence among a little researched, but large and growing, population in higher education, nontraditional students, by examining the association of course delivery methods with their persistence. Analysis of the data sets revealed strong persistence results at Rush (77%) and Southeast (68%), well above persistence for first-time beginning and transfer students entering in Fall 2009 or Spring 2010 at the two institutions, and exceeding rates reported in other studies of nontraditional students. Logistic regression did not support the researcher&rsquo;s original non-directional hypothesis that course delivery method may be associated with persistence among nontraditional students at these two institutions. This dissertation study adds to research in four ways: (a) inclusion of an institutional lens added contextual data for better understanding of the quantitative result; (b) considering course delivery method as a factor in persistence; (c) providing contrast to the deficit perspective of attrition by focusing on persistence; and (d) adding evidence to the importance of multiple, cross-campus strategies that respond to student needs.</p>

<p> Graduating globally conscious citizens, prepared to lead in a global society and serve competently in their communities, is a mission for institutions of higher learning. Short-term study abroad programs with service-learning components have increased in favor toward exposing more students to international engagement, however, few studies explore socially responsible leadership development from these programs and fewer reveal participant perspectives. The purpose of the qualitative case study was to explore and interpret perceptions had by undergraduates and faculty leaders on socially responsible leadership development from participation in the short-term, faculty-led international service-learning component of a capstone course. Utilizing the Social Change Model of Leadership Development to guide the research and organize the findings allowed a thorough exploration of the constructs, identification of experiential learning and transformative learning, along with short-term international service-learning. Findings revealed engagement, reflection, and communication were integral to socially responsible leadership development as well as challenging bias and assumption, change in perspective, trust, skill contribution, global consciousness, and knowledge acquisition. A short-term, faculty-led international service-learning experience embedded within a capstone could develop socially responsible leadership in undergraduates thus influencing their global citizenship. Recommendations for practice include considering the maturity level and learning styles of participants to reduce disengagement and enhance learning and development for all students. Future research could document the longitudinal effect of short-term international service-learning on former participants&rsquo; socially responsible leadership.</p>

<p> The purpose of this qualitative research, guided by Black Feminist Thought, was to examine the experiences of African American women senior student affairs officers to understand the strategies they utilized to advance their careers. Participants included six vice presidents/chancellors for student affairs (reporting directly to the president of the institution) and one dean of students reporting to the vice president for student affairs. The participants&rsquo; recounted raced and gendered experiences during their journey to <i> becoming</i> a senior student affairs officer into their journey of <i> being</i> a senior student affairs officer. Their shared experiences were based on tokenism, hyperawareness of systemic racism and sexism, and perceptions of leadership styles verses angry Black woman. They also reported support systems such as mentors, sponsors, spirituality, and family that influence their thoughts, decisions, and motivation to continue in the field of student affairs and ultimately in higher education. The implications of the study encourages and challenges African American women and other women of color who are administrators to share their professional experiences to continue to enlighten scholarship and practice while encouraging institutions to provide funding, personnel resources, and training for all employees.</p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between administrator use of a leadership style (transformational, transactional, or laissez-faire) and work-life balance for postsecondary administrators. The problem addressed was that while transformational leadership has been shown to increase follower job satisfaction, decrease employee turnover, encourage followers to reach their potential, and motivate followers to do more than required, it could negatively affect the leader&rsquo;s work-life balance. Thus, as the study and implementation of transformational leadership in higher education continue, failure to address this problem may result in increased reports of administrator fatigue and unsatisfactory work-life balance. Determining the effects of administrator use of transformational leadership on administrators&rsquo; work-life balance can provide new insights into the application of transformational leadership in higher education, while also helping leaders build their repertoire of effective leadership techniques. The research chosen was a quantitative correlational study on the relationship between leader use of transformational leadership and work-life balance for postsecondary administrators. For this quantitative study, administrators completed the self-evaluation version of the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ)-5x short adapted to fit a higher educational setting and the Work-Life Balance Measure (WLBM). Following the self-evaluations, the two surveys were reviewed to identify if a correlation existed between the use of transformational leadership and an unhealthy work-life balance, controlling for gender, marital status, and dependents. The study used survey data from 125 postsecondary administrators to determine the relationship between administrator use of a leadership style and work-life balance. The research question null hypothesis (leadership style predicting work-life balance) was rejected. Therefore, it is recommended that the topic be explored further to assess the degree to which follower work-life balance can be predicted based on leader use of the full range of leadership.</p><p>

No description available.

The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944 (Public Law 78-346), generally referred to as the GI Bill, provided any veteran, who had served for at least 90 days from the time period of September 1940 to July 1947, paid full-time education. The original Act also called for the creation of a central agency dedicated to the administration of all veterans' benefits, which ultimately became the Veterans' Administration (VA). The GI Bill has been revamped five more times since its initial inception, with the most recent iteration, the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008, being hailed to be potentially as powerful a social policy groundbreaking as the original GI Bill.;The purpose of this research was to conduct a study and evaluate the data regarding the use of the benefits of the Post-9/11 GI Bill by veterans and active duty military college students. The overarching research question was: What are the Tidewater Community College (TCC) veteran and current active-duty military member/reservist perceptions of the Post-9/11 GI Bill and does their usage of benefits align with the federal policy goals of recruitment, retention, and rewarding our military members for their service?;An analysis of the results of the online survey showed that of the three federal policy goals, retention of quality personnel and the feeling of reward for military service were being met through the perception of TCC student veterans. While the Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits were not a primary recruitment reason for the majority of respondents, most felt that the Act would aid in future military recruitment. This research also found that Post-9/11 GI Bill users were using their benefits primarily for degree attainment and increased job opportunities. Military students appeared to be positively using educational swirl in order to alleviate the 36-month time limits and to continue receiving their living stipend. Specifically, they were attending more than one institution concurrently and/or in series because they were driven to complete their degree as efficiently as possible.;Dissatisfaction exists, mainly with the implementation of the policy, time limitations on usage, and changes to the living stipend payments. This dissatisfaction may be the main reasons those eligible are not using the Post-9/11 GI Bill. Other reasons for current non-use that should be explored further include the possibilities that students are waiting to use their Post-9/11 benefits after other federal monies have been used, and they may have already depleted their GI Bill benefits. Modifications to alleviate students' perceived issues could ultimately increase the attainment of the Post-9/11 federal policy goals of recruitment, retention, and rewarding military members for their service.

No description available.

The purpose of the study was to investigate relationships which existed between levels of perceived leadership effectiveness and selected dimensions of thinking style among chief student affairs administrators in four-year colleges and universities. The initial research sample consisted of 96 randomly selected chief student affairs administrators and selected professional student affairs staff members who reported directly to chief student affairs administrators.Chief student affairs administrators completed the Level 1: Life Styles Inventory, comprised of 240 short phrases and words producing a twelve-dimension thinking style profile. Professional student affairs staff members (subordinates) completed the thirty-item Leadership Effectiveness Questionnaire (L.E.Q.). The L.E.Q. allowed subordinate student affairs staff to evaluate levels of leadership effectiveness of superordinate administrators on 30 specific task and relationship behaviors identified by practicing student affairs professionals as being important behaviors for effective leadership in student affairs.Sixty-three chief student affairs administrators and 293 subordinate student affairs staff members were included in data analysis. Responses of subordinates from each institution to the L.E.Q. were averaged to obtain a single leadership effectiveness score for respective chief student affairs administrators. The distribution of scores was divided into four equal sub-groups based on quartile splits of the total distribution of scores.Multivariate analysis of variance procedures (MANOVA), subsequent analysis of variance (ANOVA) and post-hoc Nevnan-Keuls procedures there appropriate, were utilized to test 12 null hypotheses pertaining to perceived leadership effectiveness and thinking style among chief student affairs administrators at the .05 level.Findings of the study included the following:1. No significant differences were found among sub-groups of chief student affairs administrators when responses to all 12 scales of the Level 1: Life Styles Inventory were grouped together.2. Ten of 12 dimensions with no significant differences were: (a) humanistic-helpful, (b) affiliative, (c) conventional, (d) avoidance, (e) oppositional, (f) power, (g) competition, (h) competence, (i) achievement, and (j) self-actualization.3. Significant differences on the approval and dependent thinking style dimensions existed between chief student affairs administrators who were perceived by subordinates to be low-average in leadership effectiveness and administrators who were perceived to be high-average or high in leadership effectiveness.

<p> This study explores private higher education and implementation of quality assurance procedures in Ghana, a country in West Africa. While focusing on the three main isomorphic classifications (coercive, mimetic and normative) of DiMaggio and Powell&rsquo;s (1983) institutional theory, this study examines how regulatory measures are not only designed to enhance the quality of private higher education institutions, but also how they impact the efforts employed by private providers towards meeting quality assurance standards in the environment in which they are located. Using a qualitative methodology, participants from five private university colleges and two private chartered institutions are selected as constituting the sample for this study. In addition, quality assurance documents from the website of the Ghana&rsquo;s National Accreditation Board (NAB) as well as documents from the websites of seven private higher education institutions are coded using NVivo 10 to determine the kind of efforts made by institutions to convey the message of legitimacy across to students and other clientele. Other participants are officials from the NAB, higher education specialists and retired faculty of public higher education institutions in Ghana. In general, the outcome of open-ended interviews with selected participants as well as documents analyzed found evidence of efforts private institutions are making towards meeting their quality assurance requirements through mimetic, coercive and normative isomorphism. These are indicated through institutional affiliations, conformity to mentoring (supervising) institution&rsquo;s programs, quality assurance requirements and measures established in conformity to the NAB requirements. Higher education specialists advocate that a specific policy aimed at addressing shortage of faculty members in Sub-Saharan Africa should be formulated to take on a more regional dimension. The Ghanaian private higher education landscape has a number of issues including shortage of academic and non-academic staff, dependence on adjunct faculty, and non-compliance to time frame given for program and institutional accreditation. These issues will require a holistic approach involving the NAB and the PHEIs in order to find long lasting solutions. As a result of the continual growth of private higher education providers in Ghana, it is imperative that the NAB make the quality assurance process very welcoming to genuine actors.</p>