This study was designed to investigate the importance of contemporary constraints on effective presidential leadership in higher education. The study was undertaken because this topic was found to be a neglected area in higher education literature. The intent was to fill a void and add to the present knowledge about effective presidential leadership.;The research focused on the perceptions of a stratified random sample of 400 college and university presidents from publicly and privately controlled doctoral, research, liberal arts, and comprehensive institutions. A mail-questionnaire requested personal and professional information and asked the presidents to indicate (1) their perception of the importance of thirty suggested constraints; (2) the three constraints perceived as being the most important; and (3) how frequently they found their work to be highly satisfying or extremely rewarding. A total of 232 (58%) completed questionnaires were returned.;Frequency distributions, means, and standard deviations were calculated. A one-way analysis of variance was used to test the null hypothesis. When statistically significant differences were found, Tukey's HSD test was used to determine where the differences were significant.;The findings verify that college and university presidents perceive their leadership effectiveness to be constrained by situational factors. Few statistically significant differences were found based on institutional type, control, or size; presidents' age; or length of presidential tenure. No statistically significant differences were found based on presidential gender. "Inadequate Funding," "Lack of Understanding by the Academic Community of the Demands Involved in the Exercise of Presidential Leadership," and "Role Overload" were named as the three most important constraints by the total sample. A high level of job satisfaction was reported.;Further study is needed to advance the understanding of leadership in higher education; to raise the question of how college and university presidents can adjust their behavior to increase their effectiveness in the face of contemporary constraints; and to investigate the perceptions of constituents other than presidents regarding constraints on effective academic leadership.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the educational conditions existing for women students during the initial years of coeducation at an institution. The choice of the University of Virginia as a case study was based on its significance as a southern, state university which claims, in addition, national visibility.;A questionnaire was administered to a small sample of first-female students who attended Virginia between the years 1970-1974. The questionnaire, developed from an original set of interview questions prepared by Virginia's Student Affairs office in a 1971 study, asked the sample to respond, retrospectively, to conditions existing at Virginia while they were undergraduate students.;The research was based on the premise that female students attending coeducational institutions confront institutional barriers which interfere with the quality of undergraduate life. This study examined if institutional barriers (which may be either strengthened or created during a transition to coeducation) affected the quality of undergraduate life for Virginia's first class of women.;It was concluded that while Virginia was able to meet some of the needs of its initial class of female undergraduates, overall it fell short of adequately serving these women students. More specifically, the women faced barriers in the areas of academic programming and instruction; social and student services; and career and personal counseling. In addition, it was revealed that the women in the sample felt, as undergraduates, socially isolated and (while not overtly) perceived discrimination towards women students.;The obstacles faced by the first-female class may have been alleviated if the University of Virginia had (1) initially moved towards a more equalized male-female student ratio; and (2) initially established more adequate services for its undergraduate women.

The problem was to identify and assess the policy basis for the universal policy of colleges to have library operation programs. Colleges are higher education institutions whose main business is the delivery of college education, undergraduate instruction, leading to baccalaureate degrees. The conventional wisdom--the explanation of policy basis given in the literature--is a construct here called the College Library Doctrine. According to it, there is a fundamental relationship between the library operation program and the delivery of college education, undergraduate instruction. This relationship is said to be the result of historical process.;The College Library Doctrine was analyzed using a forensic or investigative approach. This approach looked for consistency and/or contradiction, treating the literature as data or evidence.;As a result of the analysis it was found that the same data or evidence supports a quite different explanation of why colleges have library operation programs. This alternative explanation of policy basis has little to do with the delivery of college education, undergraduate instruction. The existence of this quite different alternative explanation raises a serious reasonable doubt over the existence of the fundamental relationship posited by the College Library Doctrine.;The unresolved doubt, along with the recurrence of the college library operation program in the arena of institutional reputation, in topics such as "quality," image, and prestige--through such phenomena as accreditation, ratings, rankings, and media coverage--suggest a policy relocation of the college library operation program from its usual but problematic placement in the broad area of "academic support," to a different venue, "institutional support." Enhancement of institutional reputation is an important part of institutional support. In this relocation there would be a better fit between policy basis and policy; and there, accordingly, the institutional support benefit and potential of the library operation program might be maximized.;The Appendix recalls an early question of the analysis conceptualization and demonstrates that, whether or not the results and conclusions of the analysis itself are accepted, there are decisive flaws in attempts to prescribe college library program resource allocation on the basis of historical data.

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The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of financial investment, involvement, and post-college outcomes on perceived alumni satisfaction. Based on a conceptual framework guided by Alexander Astin's I-E-O model, the researcher developed the "displacement model," which illustrated the possibility that one variable could displace the effect of another. This framework also aided in understanding the joint and separate effects of the independent variables of financial investment, involvement, and post-college outcomes on the dependent variable, alumni satisfaction. The analyses also explored the effect of gender and class year on the variables. The researcher surveyed alumni from the graduating classes of 1994, 1999, and 2002 from a selective, public institution on the east coast. The results of this exploratory research indicated a significant relationship between post-college outcomes (combined measure of satisfaction with career and with salary following graduation) and alumni satisfaction as it both correlated with the dependent variable (p<.001) and was the only predictor in the stepwise regression analysis (p<.001). The variables of investment and involvement did not correlate significantly with alumni satisfaction and were not predictors in the regression analysis. However, involvement was significantly correlated with post-college outcomes (p<.05) indicating a possible indirect link between involvement and alumni satisfaction through post-college outcomes. Given prior research indicating a strong relationship between involvement and student satisfaction (Astin, 1993) and considering the skills gained through involvement for career success (Zekeri, 2004), further research should explore this connection.

Problem-based learning (PBL) is a method of instruction that challenges students to answer questions in a practical manner using their understanding of learned course content. The question at the heart of this study concerns if and how faculty in one institution are currently using PBL. I used an exploratory descriptive case study to research the perceptions of Arts & Sciences (A&S) faculty on the use of PBL as an instructional approach to support the academic learning of students. The use of PBL is suggested in the university’s general education requirements, and yet may not be familiar to the all Arts & Sciences faculty members. I designed a survey instrument sent to all A&S faculty to determine if and how PBL is being used, and what resources or supports may be needed to support the use of PBL in A&S departments. This study found that while many faculty members had heard of PBL, there were concerns, across all disciplines and programs of instruction, about the implementation, resources, and training needed to support the use of PBL. This study concluded that faculty participants desired greater professional development in the use of PBL and improved access to resources germane to specific fields of study. Differences in use of PBL emerged based on discipline, faculty career stage, and tenure status. Faculty using PBL saw its potential as an effective method to meet the needs of students as they pursue further study or enter the workforce.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the awareness, knowledge, and skills of institutional agents who interact with college students who are undocumented, to inform professional development and practice. Through a survey and interviews, participants revealed familiarity with students who are undocumented and discussed the support provided to them. All interview participants understood the experience of assisting students who are undocumented, as evidenced by six major themes: (a) an understanding of student financial needs, (b) recognizing students' anxiety, (c) providing consistent guidance, (d) establishing supportive collaborations, (e) gaining foundational knowledge, and (f) sharing professional development with others. Participants described the overwhelming financial needs of students who are undocumented as a barrier to their educational persistence. Participants also faced policy and legal limitations and lack of funding, which prevented them from assisting all students. The collaborative nature of higher education meant participants often had to rely on other professionals at their institutions to navigate policies and procedures. Participants expressed an essential responsibility to share information and engage in dialogue with other faculty and staff due to misinformation surrounding this population. The study concludes with suggestions for practice and further research.

Since 2008, the number of students with intellectual disabilities and the number of postsecondary education programs supporting students with intellectual disabilities have drastically increased on college campuses in the United States. The purpose of this document analysis qualitative research was to explore the publicly available information provided by universities with Postsecondary Education Programs (PSP) that have Southern Association of College and Schools (SACS) accreditation and receive Transition Program for Students with Intellectual Disabilities (TPSID) grant funding. K. Patricia Cross's Chain-of-Response (COR) model was the conceptual framework used to frame this andrological inquiry. Lack of information, as identified by Cross (1981) in the COR Model, has been a barrier to participation in higher education. This study examines the availability of public information detailing the inclusivity of eight postsecondary programs using a qualitative document analysis methodology. This dissertation answered three research questions using a directed content analysis to analyze the data collected for this inquiry. The Think College standards, quality indicators, and benchmarks for inclusive higher education (Grigal, et al. 2012) along with the program classification system developed by Hart et al. (2004) were used to guide the directed content analysis. The results of this research indicate that the barrier, lack of information, is present.

During the recent decades, the importance of intercollegiate athletics has proliferated amongst institutions of higher education. As such, the transition through higher education for student-athletes has increasingly included experiences with challenges and barriers, which influence their success. To address difficulties, institutions and athletics departments have implemented support services and resources to assist student-athletes throughout their transition. Additionally, the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) has conducted several studies, which examined the experiences and well-being of current student-athletes. Through the Growth, Opportunities, Aspirations and Learning of Students in college (GOALS) survey, detailed information has been provided to member institutions, which has influenced the support services and resources provided to student-athletes. This study utilized the NCAA GOALS survey instrument, in addition to semi-structured interviews, to explore the experiences of 10 student-athletes with challenges and barriers as they transitioned through higher education. Furthermore, the study investigated which support services and resources student-athletes depended on and which support services or resources should be implemented to assist them during their transition. Particular questions from the NCAA GOALS survey were predetermined based on their alignment with the research questions; follow-up interviews provided additional insight into the phenomenon. The results of this study found that student-athletes do experience challenges and barriers in higher education. Five themes emerged, including time commitment, major selection, study aboard and internship, health problems and symptoms, and mental wellness. Moreover, student- athletes depended on several support services and resources, including relationships with faculty, care from team or college medical personnel, communication with parents/guardian, and academic support services. The study also found that student-athletes wished the coaches or athletics administrators talked more about budgeting/financial management, preparing for a career after college, mental wellness, and proper nutrition. The results of this study also found that the four major factors of Schlossberg's Transition Theory, situation, self, support, and strategies, were influential in the student-athletes' abilities to cope during a transition. The results of this study suggest that institutions and athletics department should continue with their support services and resources to ensure the success of their student-athletes. This was the first research done, which supplemented the NCAA GOALS study with supportive qualitative data. The findings will contribute the success of current and future student-athletes in higher education. However, future research should investigate the everchanging challenges and barriers that influence the success of student-athletes.

The purpose of this study was to investigate if employment location, on-campus versus off-campus, impacted student success. Four factors of student success were evaluated: (a) persistence, (b) satisfaction, (c) high-level learning, and (d) personal development. Additionally, employment location and its impact on student success were evaluated for a subpopulation of underrepresented students who self-identified with at least one of the following communities: (a) Black or Latinx, (b) first-generation college, (c) transfer students, (d) LGBTQ, (e) active military or veteran, (f) person with disabilities, and (g) from a low socioeconomic background. Data collected from a survey produced 2,250 responses to be analyzed. All mean scale scores for the student success factors were significantly lower for off-campus student employees than on-campus student employees. Underrepresented student employees reported lower levels of student success than their non-underrepresented peers. Educational leaders should evaluate the benefits of on-campus employment opportunities when making policy and funding decisions related to student employment programs.