Thesis (M.A.)--Miami University, Dept. of History, 2006. / Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 81-85).

Rapidly changing trends in society have contributed to increasing enrollments in community colleges. Increased enrollment has resulted in an emphasis on the effectiveness of community colleges. Despite limited funding, community colleges are challenged to provide educational access and equity to meet developmental needs of diverse student populations who have many different objectives, concerns, social interests, academic skills, and life experiences. This quantitative causal-comparative study assessed holistic wellness characteristics of traditional and non-traditional students attending selected rural community colleges in a state in the southeastern region of the United States. This study examined differences between mean scores assessing holistic wellness in traditional and non-traditional student populations based on the Five Factor Wellness Adult Inventory (5F-Wel-A). A total of 307 community college students participated in the study. Participants ranged in age from 18 to 54 with a mean age of 25. Demographic data collected from students included age, gender, cultural background, marital status, employment status, and educational status. Total Wellness results found no statistical significance between mean scores for traditional and non-traditional students, gender of traditional and non-traditional students, or cultural backgrounds of traditional and non-traditional students. No statistical significance was found between mean scores for traditional and non-traditional student populations in the dependent variable sub-groups of Creative Self, Coping Self, Social Self, Essential Self, and Physical Self. Based on gender, statistically significant differences were found in mean scores of three dependent variable sub-groups, including Social Self, Essential Self, and Creative Self among female students with females having higher levels of wellness in those sub-groups than male students. Statistically significant differences between mean scores in the Physical Self sub-group were found for male students with males having higher levels of wellness in that sub-group than female students; however, no statistically significant differences in mean scores were found for the Coping Self sub-group based on gender of traditional and non-traditional students. Based on cultural background, significant statistical differences in mean scores were found in the Essential Self sub-group among African American students, with African American students reporting higher levels of wellness than Caucasian students.

This study examined the role of stress in the persistence intentions of nontraditional community college students by surveying 244 students and interviewing 22 students at a single campus of an urban community college in the Southwest. All participants completed a demographic questionnaire, the Perceived Stress Scale (Cohen, Kamarck, & Mermelstein, 1983), and the Intention to Leave Questionnaire (DeLuca, 2004). From the survey group, 10 students reporting high levels of perceived stress and high intent to leave college, and 12 students reporting high perceived stress and low intent to leave college were selected for in-depth interviews. Interviews explored the stressors of traditional (ages 18-24) and nontraditional (ages 25 and older) students, compared ways high and low intent to leave college students differentially perceived and coped with stress, and examined participant knowledge and utilization of institutional support services.Survey results revealed significant differences in perceived stress between high and low intent to leave college students, and between female and male students. No significant differences were found between traditional and nontraditional students on the measure of perceived stress. Stressors for traditional and nontraditional community college students were found to be largely similar and related to external demands. Interviews revealed differences in the ways high and low intent students perceived and managed stress; with low intent students appraising stress as more of a challenge and coping through greater utilization of social support and problem-focused coping strategies, while high intent participants perceived stress as more of a threat and were more likely to report coping deficiencies and greater use of maladaptive strategies. Low intent students were highly committed to completing college despite their stress, whereas high intent students had weak goal commitment and considered leaving college to reduce stress and attend to external demands. Most participants had little knowledge of, or desire to utilize stress support services offered by the community college. The findings suggest the importance of considering appraisals of stress and ways of coping in research on the role of stress in persistence decisions. This study led to the development of eight propositions designed for further testing by community college researchers and practitioners.

Thesis (M.A.)--West Virginia University, 2008. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains vii, 27 p. : col. ill. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 27).

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Liberty University School of Education, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--Eastern Illinois University, 2010. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 51-54).

Thesis PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 95-98).

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the role of studentaculty interaction in retaining nontraditional community college students. There are a large and growing number of nontraditional students, especially at the community college level. Being labeled as nontraditional typically implies that there are multiple competitors for the time and resources of these students. Often, nontraditional students are less connected to their institutions, and exploring the relationships between faculty and student is a way to meet them where they are: in the classroom. As a result of the label nontraditional being difficult to define, the researcher used seven characteristics to provide a variety of contexts for the interviews. The study included 10 students age 24 or older who had completed 12-36 hours and attended a community college in the southeastern United States. They were asked to participate in 30-minute, one-on-one interviews regarding their interactions with faculty and the role of these interactions on their decisions to persist. Findings suggest that continuity decisions are largely based internally. However, 20% of the participants attributed their decisions to continue to interactions with their instructors. Attributes that contributed to making the instructors more approachable were openness, being oneself, and speaking to students as peers, rather than subordinates. Throughout the interviews, the participants admitted to seeing themselves differently than traditional students, but they did not feel like their instructors treated them differently. They assumed the responsibility of initiating contact, but they also appreciated initiation and acknowledgement by the instructors. Formal interaction did not appear to be as important as casual interaction. Even students who appear to be doing well can benefit from interaction, leading the researcher to conclude that interaction can be beneficial as both a preventative and a prescriptive measure. Educating both faculty and nontraditional students on the seemingly untapped value of interaction can help increase the retention rates at the community college level.

This study’s general purpose was to examine nontraditional students’ satisfaction with services provided by community colleges. A survey was administered to 81 Coahoma Community College students who identified themselves as nontraditional students. The Nontraditional Students’ Satisfaction survey was designed to examine the needs and satisfaction of nontraditional students. The nontraditional students at Coahoma Community College deemed getting information on financial aid opportunities, studying and test taking, computers and Internet use, job opportunities in their majors and academic tutoring as most important. The nontraditional students at Coahoma Community College deemed getting information on campus events and/or campus job opportunities as least important. In addition, the nontraditional students deemed getting advice on careers, getting advice on choosing courses, taking an active part in what goes on in their classes, having one place to go for general questions and problems, and having access to campus services and offices and/or on weekends as most important. The nontraditional students indicated participating in social activities on campus and being involved in extracurricular activities such as clubs, organizations, and student government as least important. Overall, the research data indicated that nontraditional students were satisfied with the services provided by Coahoma Community College. The nontraditional students were more satisfied with the opportunities to take an active part in what goes on in classes and instructors’ availability outside of classes. The findings suggested that there was no significant relationship between nontraditional students encountering problems and their expressions of satisfaction.