<p> Despite gains in expanding the student pipeline to postsecondary education, first-generation and low-income (FGLI) students complete college at disproportionately lower rates and have limited access to the resources necessary to make informed decisions about higher education. Research has shown that FGLI students are less likely to apply to college after completing high school, and when they do, they often enroll in institutions that are less selective than they were academically qualified to attend. Moreover, although access to higher education has expanded, the increased concentration of students at community colleges has not led to increases in earned credentials. </p><p> This study used two parallel phenomenological inquiries to explore the college decision-making processes and first-year experiences of two groups of FGLI students pursuing a baccalaureate degree: students who completed a summer college-access program before entering a four-year institution, and students who attended a community college. Findings from the study revealed that FGLI students often sought the support of guidance counselors during the college choice process, but the degree to which community college and four-year college attendees accessed this resource varied. Additionally, four-year college attendees provided strong evidence of having the support of parents, siblings, or peers who helped influence their college enrollment decisions. </p><p> This study also examined the first-year experiences of FGLI students and found that community college enrollees spoke highly of their experience, felt more comfortable navigating higher education independently, and remained steadfast about their desire to pursue a bachelor&rsquo;s degree; however they demonstrated less engagement with the college community and were uncertain about where they would be ultimately complete their studies. Participants who had completed a summer college-access program were more engaged on campus with administrators and peers, had a better understanding of the support resources available, and gained confidence in how to approach college-level work.</p><p>

abstract: The purpose of this phenomenological hermeneutic study was to explore the meaning found in the lived-experience of producing scholarship for five higher education administrators from within the major areas of administration in higher education--academic affairs, business affairs, and student affairs--from a single research university in the western United States. In the historical and recent scholarship in and about the three fields of higher education administration, academic affairs, business affairs, and student affairs, one issue that has not been addressed is what it is like to produce scholarship as an administrator. Current scholarship in the field helps administrative practice by focusing on the practice of administration; however, current literature did not provide an understanding of what it means to do scholarship as an administrator. Thus, the challenges and rewards of producing scholarship as a practicing administrator, creating the first step toward a possible new era in the practice of scholarship on college campuses, were explored in the this study. Individual semi-structured interviews were the primary source of data. The structured questions were used to set up the un-structured questions used to explore specific examples and instances pertaining to producing scholarship as an administrator. A three-step data analysis process was used to develop both an understanding of what scholarship means for each participant and an interpretation of the meaning of producing scholarship as a higher education administrator. Across all of the lived-experiences and the participants' varied scholarly endeavors, each administrator was more connected to education and contributed more to the educational environment by participating in scholarly activities. The administrators were found to be more connected to the people within the university, their own field of practice, and with the university itself. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ed.D. Higher and Postsecondary Education 2011

abstract: The purpose of this study was to increase first year residential student engagement and participation in residence hall programs during the 2011 fall semester at the Downtown Phoenix Campus of Arizona State University. Six upperclassmen (Taylor Place Leaders) residing in a residence hall (Taylor Place) were matched by academic major with 17 first year students residing in Taylor Place. During the first eleven weeks of the fall semester 2011, first year students met regularly with their Taylor Place Leader to discuss residence hall program participation, living in Taylor Place, attending Arizona State University, and adjusting to their academic responsibilities. All 23 program participants completed a pre-survey inquiring about their satisfaction with their decision to attend Arizona State University, residence hall involvement, and knowledge of university services. The researcher met with Taylor Place Leaders throughout the study to learn about their experiences with mentoring the first year students. At the conclusion of the study, participants met with the researcher to complete a post-survey inquiring about the same information as the pre-survey and participated in individual interviews discussing their experience in the study. Two major findings were identified. First, participants reported that the Taylor Place Experience peer mentoring program assisted first year students in adjusting to college through identifying student support resources. Second, participants reported that living on campus during the freshman year, with mentoring support, could promote academic success, compared with living at home due to the close living proximity of their peers. Taylor Place also saw an increase in residence hall program participation during the 2011 fall semester in comparison to the 2010 fall semester. However, six of the seventeen freshman study participants decided to move out of Taylor Place and live at home by the end of the 2011 fall semester, for various reasons, such as family and employment obligations as well as being homesick. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ed.D. Higher and Postsecondary Education 2012

<p> An imminent wave of community college president retirements is well-documented in the literature, which will likely contribute to a serious leadership void on American community college campuses (American Association of Community Colleges [AACC], 2013; Eddy, 2013). To address this impending leadership crisis, governing boards must focus on how to develop leaders prepared to meet the unique and increasingly complex challenges of community colleges. In keeping with Katz&rsquo;s (1955) three-skill conceptual framework, the purpose of this qualitative study was to explore and describe trustees&rsquo; and presidents&rsquo; perceptions about the importance of technical, human, and conceptual competencies to a successful 21st-century community college presidency. In addition to data collected from in-depth, semi-structured interviews, participants ranked a list of 16 common duties of the community college president that occupy the majority of the president&rsquo;s time. Based on interviews with 15 trustees and eight presidents serving at Missouri community colleges, themes were identified specific to technical, human, and conceptual competencies. Trustees and presidents similarly ranked two common presidential duties: enrollment management and state and federal relations. However, noteworthy differences in trustees&rsquo; and presidents&rsquo; perceptions were found with six common duties: budget and finance matters, faculty and academic issues, fundraising and alumni relations, governing board relations, personnel and human resources, and strategic planning. Implications for practice were discussed specific to the trustee-president relationship, community college president competencies, institutional fit, succession planning, and the impact of underprepared trustees on the 21st-century president&rsquo;s success and the institution&rsquo;s effectiveness.</p><p>

<p> This qualitative narrative research study explores the reasons that undergraduate transfer students make college and career planning decisions. The insights of community college students who expressed interest in completing a bachelor&rsquo;s degree but did not enroll at a university were compared with the perspectives of university students enrolled in a bachelor&rsquo;s degree program who had successfully transferred from a community college. The student input was analyzed to determine if there were differences in their decision-making experiences. Sixteen undergraduate students enrolled at higher education institutions in Pennsylvania responded to open-ended questions related to choosing a college and degree major, navigating the transfer admissions process, and participating in extracurricular activities. The participants provided viewpoints for ways in which they engaged with academic advising and transfer student support services and the influences that motivated their decisions. The qualitative data analysis resulted in nine emergent themes related to community college transfer student decision-making. The study concludes with a discussion and recommendations for further investigation. Understanding the student decision-making experiences of community college transfer students provides fellow-students, parents, education leaders, and policymakers with insights to support student success.</p><p>

<p> This qualitative, bounded, single case study centered on the process of building and leading the top management team during a presidential transition at a private, not-for-profit, coeducational, faith-based university in the United States. Specifically, the research concentrated on the dynamics of rebuilding a leadership team in a turbulent environment under a new president. </p><p> The primary source of data was semi-structured, in-person interviews with the new president and nine out of 10 top management team members. Detailed interviews provided comprehensive and extraordinary first-hand access to the team construction and leadership process. Other data sources, including relevant artifacts, documents, and press releases, were collected and analyzed to provide important details about the case context. </p><p> Major findings and conclusions are discussed in relation to the literature on leadership and top management teams. Five conclusions provide practical recommendations from the president&rsquo;s vantage point: (1) the president recognized the necessity of restructuring her team in order to meet the board&rsquo;s mandate; (2) in a highly turbulent institutional environment, the president constructed a diverse executive-level team with very limited resources; (3) the president&rsquo;s communication and leadership style reflected a high degree of emotional intelligence that contributed to her overall effectiveness; (4) the president provided structure and a defined role, which enabled and guided the team to more effectively implement its mission; and (5) the president&rsquo;s coaching assisted in (a) managing conflict, (b) developing trust, and (c) enhancing the team&rsquo;s learning. </p><p> Recommendations for future research and implications for both theory and practice are presented to conclude the study. Senior leadership teams are essential to the success of their organizations. Therefore, it is important that those charged with executive leadership give priority to the important task of systematically assessing and building the leadership team, particularly under new leadership. In this study, the new president completely overhauled the team, and her personal leadership style, which involved a high level of emotional intelligence along with personal coaching of the team, attracted others to join. The use of coaching in senior leadership teams in higher education seems to be emerging as a new area for theory development. </p><p>

<p> Given that community colleges are facing an increasingly great demand for leaders who possess the core competencies necessary to lead in a turbulent environment, this quantitative study aimed to determine first, community college administrator collaborative leadership competencies, and second, the connection between the use of collaborative leadership competencies and background, leadership, and educational characteristics of community college administrators. The collaboration literature and complexity leadership theory formed the theoretical basis of this study. This research found that community college administrators are repeatedly engaging in complex collaborative initiatives. From an exploratory factor analysis, one collaborative leadership competency emerged as an internally consistent factor, representatively named Multi-Perspective Collaborative Leadership Competency. Significant predictors of this factor score, <i> Multi-Perspective-Score</i>, were the independent variables of <i> position-type-president, position-type-vice-president-or-provost, position-type-dean-or-associate-dean </i>, and <i>highest-degree-earned-master&rsquo;s</i>. This research empirically analyzed community college administrator collaborative leadership competencies which may aid future researchers, leadership program developers, policy makers, and community college administrators in their endeavors. </p><p>

The current and growing shortage of student affairs administrators is a growing concern among colleges and universities within the United States, and raising awareness and recruitment within the profession are recognized national priorities (NASPA, 2012). The growth and sustainability of the student affairs profession is largely dependent on the ability to recruit the next generation of administrators. However, there is not a clear understanding of the experiences that influence student affairs administrators' decision to choose student affairs as a career. The purpose of this study is to examine the experiences (personal, professional, social) that influenced African American student affairs administrators at public, four-year, predominantly White institutions decision to pursue student affairs as a career. Further, this study investigates the association between these experiences and anticipatory socialization. The concept of early professional socialization or anticipatory socialization is the first step that takes place in the socialization process and occurs prior to entry into an organization. I argue that African American student affairs administrators are imperative to the student affairs profession because they play an instrumental role in the development of African American college students, as well diversifying the field of student affairs as a whole. This diversity enhances the educational experience for both minority and majority students. Therefore, it is imperative that student affairs administrators continue to encourage and recruit more African Americans to the field, by building a pipeline of future student affairs professionals. This qualitative study examines the previous experiences and backgrounds of African American student affairs administrators. Focusing on professionals working at four-year, predominantly White institutions (PWIs), this study seeks to learn about the personal, professional, and social experiences that led participating staff members to pursue work in the area of student affairs. The central focus of this study is to examine and understand how African American student affairs administrators come to choose their profession, and ways in which current African American student affairs administrators may recruit and encourage students to enter into the student affairs profession. Socialization is the process by which an individual learn the necessary attitudes, skills, and behaviors in order to fulfill professional roles organization (Merton, 1957; Tierney, 1997; Van Maanen & Schein, 1979). Socialization theory frames this study and provides a framework for analyzing my research problem in light of understanding how minority student affairs professionals may apply the socialization process in order to recruit and influence African American students to pursue careers in the student affairs profession. I hope that the significance of my findings will assist current African American student affairs administrators in gaining a better understanding of how these experiences impact the decision of African Americans to pursue careers in student affairs, so that they can better recruit more African American students into the field.

<p> With the increase in enrollment in online courses, comes the need for institutions to continue to encourage success and persistence, and ultimately provide appropriate support services. Additionally, postsecondary institutions have seen an increase in the number of nontraditional students enrolling in online courses as a means to further their education. Research indicates that nontraditional students may have different needs than traditional students. Because of this, it is important to examine if there are also differences in the factors that may lead to success for students in each group. Three research questions were designed to determine the success factors necessary for each group. These questions examined success factors for nontraditional students, success factors for traditional students, and whether there were differences in the success factors for each group. The participants in this quantitative study included students enrolled in an online undergraduate introductory computer course at a proprietary school. A survey was administered to gather data related to age, gender, work status, military experience, high school GPA, social networking usage, self-esteem, responsibility, technology skills, and organization. Final course grades were obtained in order to examine which students were successful, where success was defined as earning a grade of C or better. Data analysis revealed that the success factors for nontraditional students included being female and perceiving oneself as being responsible. In the traditional student group, being female was the only factor indicated as being necessary for success.</p><p>

<p> Recognizing that the percentage of females in NCAA Division I athletic department leadership positions lag far behind their male counterparts, this study sought to learn about the lived experiences of females who have reached a senior level, defined as associate athletic director and athletic director using narrative inquiry. </p><p> The purpose of this study was to record the lived experiences of senior-level women administrators in intercollegiate athletics. Data was gathered through in-person interviews. Participants were asked to describe the paths their careers have followed, including the factors, issues, and circumstances that they feel have shaped the process by which they made career decisions. </p><p> Four primary themes from the participants&rsquo; backgrounds and life stories emerged that influenced the paths of the participants&rsquo; careers. They were: (1) the willingness and desire to take on challenges and opportunities; (2) the importance of family considerations, (3) influence of support they received from colleagues and people they came in contact within athletics; and (4) the impact of lack of support they received from colleagues and people they came in contact within athletics during their careers. This study revealed the presence of a strong sense of efficacy within the participants, which influenced the persistence of the participants in pursuing this particular career path, even when faced with obstacles. Finally, these participants offered advice, based on their career experiences to other current and future female athletic administrators. Policy implications and recommendations for institutions and athletic departments are provided.</p><p>