abstract: Although U.S. rates of college enrollment among 18-24 year olds have reached historic highs, rates of degree completion have not kept pace. This is especially evident at community colleges, where a disproportionate number of students from groups who, historically, have had low college-completion rates enroll. One way community colleges are attempting to address low completion rates is by implementing institutional interventions intended to increase opportunities for student engagement at their colleges. Utilizing logistic and linear regression analyses, this study focused on community college students, examining the association between participation in institutional support activities and student outcomes, while controlling for specific student characteristics known to impact student success in college. The sample included 746 first-time, full-time, degree-seeking students at a single community college located in the U.S. Southwest. Additional analyses were conducted for the 440 first-time, full-time, degree-seeking students in this sample who placed into at least one developmental education course. Findings indicate that significant associations exist between different types of participation in institutional interventions and various student outcomes: Academic advising was found to be related to increased rates of Fall to Spring and Fall to Fall persistence and, for developmental education students, participation in a student success course was found to be related to an increase in the proportion of course credit hours earned. The results of this study provide evidence that student participation in institutional-level support may relate to increased rates of college persistence and credit hour completion; however, additional inquiry is warranted to inform specific policy and program decision-making at the college and to determine if these findings are generalizable to populations outside of this college setting. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ed.D. Higher and Postsecondary Education 2011

abstract: The Stretch Model is a model of first year composition (FYC) that “stretches” the first semester's class over two semesters in order to help writing students who arrive at university with low test scores to succeed in their composition courses. Originally piloted in 1994 at Arizona State University (ASU), the Stretch Model of composition has been found to be effective in terms of retention and persistence of first language (L1) writers (e.g., Glau, 1996; 2007). It has become known at ASU and abroad as the Stretch Program. Since 1997, a separate track of the Stretch Program has been solely for second language (L2) writers, and L2 writing students are now roughly 17% of the program's population. Until fairly recently, there was no attempt to collect L2 data to support the Stretch Program's claims for effectiveness for the L2 population. As many universities across the nation have garnered inspiration for their own programs ("Stretch Award" 2016), and L2 writers have the potential to be in any composition class (Matsuda, Saenkhum, & Accardi, 2013), it is imperative to include the voices of L2 writers in the analysis of the Stretch Program. This study addresses the need for L2 writers' voices to be included in the analysis of the Stretch Program at Arizona State University. From the quantitative analysis of 64,085 students’ institutional data records, and qualitative analysis of 210 student surveys, findings include L2 writers have the highest rates of passing, but the lowest rates of persistence in the three-semester first year composition requirement when compared to Stretch L1 students and the traditional FYC population. Survey data also lends L2 student perceptions to complicate the main features of the Stretch Program including perceived writing improvement, having the same teacher and classmates for two semesters, and having more time to work on their writing. The quantitative findings are consistent with Snyder’s (2017a) analysis of the 2012 fall Stretch Program L1 and L2 cohorts. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation English 2018

Análise sobre a estrutura e a organização da base de informações institucionais e estatísticas da Pesquisa Municipal Unificada PMU, sob a perspectiva da disponibilização de seus dados. As informações institucionais e estatísticas, em âmbito municipal, constituem importante subsídio para a gestão pública, devendo ser disseminadas aos executores dos setores governamentais, bem como aos representantes da sociedade civil organizada. Assim, são avaliados os processos de comunicação em sistemas informacionais e os referenciais para organização e tratamento das informações. Procura-se mostrar que o uso de procedimentos documentários e terminológicos pode melhorar as formas de disponibilização, o acesso e a apropriação da informação, concluindo-se que esses princípios devem ser incorporados às políticas de informação institucionais, como meio de otimizar a disponibilização e a recuperação das informações. / Analysis of the structure and organization of the data systems of the institutional and statistical data of the Unified Municipal Research (PMU), from the perspective of the availability of its data. Institutional and statistical data, in that concerning the municipality, provides vital assistance in the administration of public affairs and should be disseminated among administrators of government bodies, as well as representatives of organized civil society. Communication in information systems and the references for their organization and handling are thus evaluated. What is sought is to show that the use of documentary and terminological procedures can improve the means of data availability, as well as the accessing and appropriation of data. This leads to the conclusion that such principles should be incorporated into institutional information policies as a means to optimize data availability and recovery.

Análise sobre a estrutura e a organização da base de informações institucionais e estatísticas da Pesquisa Municipal Unificada PMU, sob a perspectiva da disponibilização de seus dados. As informações institucionais e estatísticas, em âmbito municipal, constituem importante subsídio para a gestão pública, devendo ser disseminadas aos executores dos setores governamentais, bem como aos representantes da sociedade civil organizada. Assim, são avaliados os processos de comunicação em sistemas informacionais e os referenciais para organização e tratamento das informações. Procura-se mostrar que o uso de procedimentos documentários e terminológicos pode melhorar as formas de disponibilização, o acesso e a apropriação da informação, concluindo-se que esses princípios devem ser incorporados às políticas de informação institucionais, como meio de otimizar a disponibilização e a recuperação das informações. / Analysis of the structure and organization of the data systems of the institutional and statistical data of the Unified Municipal Research (PMU), from the perspective of the availability of its data. Institutional and statistical data, in that concerning the municipality, provides vital assistance in the administration of public affairs and should be disseminated among administrators of government bodies, as well as representatives of organized civil society. Communication in information systems and the references for their organization and handling are thus evaluated. What is sought is to show that the use of documentary and terminological procedures can improve the means of data availability, as well as the accessing and appropriation of data. This leads to the conclusion that such principles should be incorporated into institutional information policies as a means to optimize data availability and recovery.