The academic demands of college can be strenuous. Nontraditional students in particular may be at risk for role conflict and overload. This study examines levels of academic stressors and reactions to stressors between traditional and nontraditional undergraduate college students in order to investigate the relationships between academic stress, time management behaviors and overall psychological adjustment between the two groups. Participants completed Gadzella's (1991) Student-Life Stress Inventory, Time Management Behaviors Scale (Macan, Shahani, Dipboye, & Phillips, 1990) and the Symptom Checklist-90 Revised (Derogatis, 1994). Results reveal significant differences between traditional and nontraditional students on a subscale of the Time Management Behavior Scale measuring the ability to set goals and prioritize. Additionally, a marginally significant difference between traditional and nontraditional students was found on another subscale of the Time Management Behavior Scale measuring the mechanics of time management. These results indicate students who maintain multiple life-roles and responsibilities in addition to their role of college student are better at identifying and setting goals that need to be accomplished and prioritizing the tasks required to meet these goals. Furthermore, these students may be more adept at the mechanics involved with time management such as making list and scheduling activities in advance.

Master of Science / Department of Special Education, Counseling and Student Affairs / Christy Craft / Nontraditional students are a growing and changing population of students that encompass a wide variety of demographics and have many external factors that contribute to their academic and social success. Institutions are meant to be a tool for social transformation, and as more nontraditional students move towards higher education, they are proving that lifelong learning is an essential aspect of human development not only for personal goals, but also for social, cultural, and economic purposes (Baptista, 2013). Institutions need to promote success for all students by continuously adjusting themselves to an always emergent and ever changing reality. Colleges will need to find and use best practices to guide nontraditional students in their academic and social success. Although their needs, motivations, and level of engagement may vary from traditional students, the overall mission of an institution is to create successful, well rounded, holistically developed citizens. Institutions would greatly benefit from creating a space that helps develop these students through the use of a center. A nontraditional center would allow practitioners to combine many of the best practices that can aid students in their college experience. Nontraditional student enrollment trends are unlikely to change in the future and investing in a space that addresses the factors and barriers that can inhibit degree attainment will be necessary for success. This master’s report will include the current enrollment trends of higher education, the differing characteristics of nontraditional and traditional students, history of nontraditional student enrollment, barriers and challenges to success, motivations to attend higher education, theoretical frameworks outlining success of nontraditional students and their adult identity development, how to promote nontraditional student success, and best practices that outline the characteristics of an ideal center.

This mixed methods study, a concurrent triangulation design, explored Tinto's integration theory as it relates to nontraditional students. The study explored the relationship of academic and social integration, defined by classroom active learning strategies and sense of belonging, with persistence. The study also expanded upon the idea of socio-academic integrative moments which might occur when social and academic integration converge or overlap. Consistent with Tinto's model, factors including initial institutional commitment, initial goal commitment, and subsequent institutional commitment were also analyzed. Multiple regression analysis of data obtained from a 38-question survey (n=299) revealed one common predictor of persistence among the three research questions: initial commitment to the educational goal. Qualitative data, interpreted from a diverse group of 10 nontraditional students, confirmed the quantitative findings and revealed that, in relation to persistence, initial commitment to the educational goal seemed to transcend all other theoretical factors including institutional commitment, social integration, academic integration, and student entry characteristics such as race, gender, parents' educational attainment, first-generation status, and high school GPA. In addition, focus group findings indicated the presence of socio-academic integrative described as academically-focused social integration. Recommendations for further exploration into the integrational convergence or non-linearity of Tinto's model are included. Recommendations for practice and future research prompt additional exploration into nontraditional student persistence including suggestions to identify factors related to meaningful integration for nontraditional students and how those factors might influence persistence.

The original goal of this project was to build a peer e-mentoring program for parents and measure the effect of the program on persistence. In spite of strong mentor participation, two terms of focused recruiting did not attract mentees. This sparked the question of why those who had successfully navigated the higher education system thought a peer e-mentoring program was needed but those in the process did not. A focused ethnography was designed to try to understand why students with children were resistant to peer e-mentoring. Students with children used technology to integrate the various roles of life. They used smart phones to organize, schedule, and research. They used them to schedule rides or childcare for children, communicated with professors and classmates, reviewed course resources, and whatever else they needed to communicate about. They solved problems by taking them one at time and planning for emergencies with contingencies. These students considered planning their best defense against failing to reach to graduation. They realized establishing and keeping communication lines open was critical. The turned most often to family for help but would reach out to professors and even staff if needed. They looked for professors who were known to go above and beyond for their students just in case they needed to reschedule exams or assignments. The overwhelming consensus about participation was that they just can’t see how it is possible make another commitment. Two mentor participants agreed to be interviewed and shared thoughts about privacy concerns but were willing to take the chance to help ease the way for another student parent. The students with children interviewed expressed the need to find solutions to constantly changing requirements but were not comfortable sharing their problems in a one to one mentoring program. Previous studies have suggested that implementing solutions for non-traditional students required a focused needs assessment. Many programs designed to increase retention for non-traditional students have resulted in exactly the results this one originally faced, a lack of participants or low results. Ultimately these students need just in time solutions for a changing myriad of road blocks to graduation.

An examination of the recent literature revealed there are no established standards for orienting online doctoral students. To address this problem, the relevant literature was examined and suggested that doctoral students can be effectively oriented to their academic environment when provided with the requisite programmatic and institutional information, and factors that support socialization and self-efficacy. A literature-based orientation was developed to examine its impact on students’ first semester success in terms of rates of retention and grade point averages (GPA). This was accomplished using a developmental study approach that included three primary phases: 1) development of a literature-based orientation; 2) implementation of a synchronous online orientation; and 3) evaluation of the impact of the orientation on students’ programmatic knowledge and their perceptions of the factors of self-efficacy and socialization. A survey instrument was developed to evaluate the impact of the orientation on participants and administered to the fall 2017 online doctoral cohort in the criminal justice doctoral (DCJ) program at Nova Southeastern University. Survey results showed that student levels of knowledge increased significantly and those students placed a great deal of value on the socialization factors related to academic relationships with other students and faculty. Students entered the doctoral program with relative high levels of self-efficacy although their confidence level dropped slightly when asked about their ability to persist when encountering personal, financial, or familial difficulties. Included in the evaluation phase were comparisons of archival GPA and retention data from the 2014 DCJ cohort, who did not have the option of participating in a synchronous orientation compared with the 2017 cohort who did participate in the orientation. Additional comparisons were made within the 2017 cohort between those that participated in the orientation and those that did not. The results of the quantitative analyses revealed an 8% increase in retention rates for the 2017 cohort students that participated over the 2014 cohort. The 2017 cohort students that participated in the orientation showed a slight decrease (7%) in overall GPA when compared to the 2014 cohort. Further comparisons made within the 2017 cohort showed that students who participated in the orientation had better rates of retention and GPAs than the students who did not participate. The findings of study provided the following recommendations regarding the minimum standards to include in an orientation including the programmatic factors associated with curriculum requirements, deadline to obtain degree, and location of important program documents such as academic calendars, handbooks/catalogs, and dissertation guidelines. Institutional components included the registration process, academic advisor information, learning management system introduction, research library introduction, financial aid and military veteran specific information. Additionally, the factors that supported socialization and self-efficacy were recommended to be included in a set of orientation standards. Those factors should support student-to-faculty-to-student academic relationships and students who encounter personal, financial, or familial barriers respectively.

This qualitative study used phenomenological research methods to explore the lived experiences of single parents attending community college. The phenomenological research design was used to better understand participant experiences by examining the participant’s view of their situation. Thirteen single-parent students in community colleges in the United States were selected using purposeful sampling techniques. The participants included ten female participants and three male participants. Of these participants, nine students attended full-time, and four attended part-time. Each student participated in one-on-one interviews using Zoom technology. The participants provided their perceptions of their experiences as single parents attending community college. These participants described themselves and their experiences through the lenses of motivation, challenges, needs, and support. In these interviews, key themes emerged. These themes included the recognition that single parents struggle emotionally and feel disconnected, the acknowledgment of single-parent strengths such as time management, organization, and hard work, and the need for single-parent aid such as financial, childcare, and academic assistance. Additional themes included the challenge for single parents to juggle conflicting roles, the fundamental role of internal motivation and drive, and the importance of communication, mentorship, and support. The findings of my study can be used to further institutional practice and provide insight into guidance and support for single-parent students.

This study was an exploration of the relationship of the resilience of nontraditional, African American, commuter undergraduates and their academic and social involvement at a historically Black university. The researcher used the Personal Resiliency Questionnaire (PRQ), and a Student Demographic Questionnaire (SDQ.) The PRQ that contained 75 items and measured seven characteristics linked to resilience. The seven characteristics were (a) ?Positive: The World,? (b) ?Positive: Yourself,? (c) ?Focused,? (d) ?Flexible: Thoughts,? (e) ?Flexible: Social,? and (e) ?Proactive.? The SDQ included ten academic involvement indicators and ten social involvement indicators. The researcher defined nontraditional students as those who had indicated three of the following characteristics: (a) was single or married with children; (b) married; (c) was a commuter student; (d) worked full-time; and (e) would have been 24 years of age or older at the time of graduation. Based on the responses provided by the students that completed the survey the researcher identified which students were classified as nontraditional. The researcher reported that using a computer or word processor to prepare reports or papers, asking an instructor for information related to a course you are taking, using a computer lab or center to improve study or academic skills, and taking detailed notes in class significantly predicted several academic involvement indicators. The researcher further indicated, living in an apartment or dormitory if the university provided on-campus housing, supporting classmates? fundraisers, and visiting the university center significantly predicted several social resiliency indicators. The results of this study contributed to the field of higher education as they informed faculty, student affairs administrators, and other university professionals about the impact of academic and social involvement on the resiliency of nontraditional, African American, commuter, students. The researcher recommended that historically Black universities provided resiliency training to faculty and staff, who work with nontraditional students. Administrators should have a clear understanding of their personal resiliency and be willing to share their resiliency stories with others. A universal understanding of resilience and a desire to support the development of resiliency in others would be the first step in creating a resiliency community.

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Positive psychology emphasizes growth, adaptive functioning, and human potential. The present study contributes to this literature by examining the impact of exposure to a positive psychology curriculum among nontraditional students taking foundational courses in a career college. Mixed methods were utilized to assess changes in student well-being and goal setting quantitatively through pre- and post-tests of the Authentic Happiness Survey and the Satisfaction with Life Scale as well as identifying emergent themes from qualitative analysis of student reflections and written assignments over a 9-week term. Twenty-five students participated in foundational courses, which placed an emphasis on positive psychology. Paired samples t tests, Cohen's d, thematic analysis, and a researcher-designed Likert-scale assessed changes from the beginning of the course to the end among the quantitative and qualitative measures of overall well-being and goal attainment. Some of the notable findings included significantly positive changes in students' reports of authentic happiness, and 76% of students reporting that they had attained an academic, social, and personal goal over the course of the 9-week curriculum. Change in self-reported satisfaction with life approached, but it was not statistically significant. Thus, the implementation of a positive psychology curriculum in a nontraditional student population created positive social change in this particular sector of academia and was associated with increased overall well-being and attainment of goals.

The purpose of this research study was to investigate the phenomenon of the conflicting roles, such as parent, spouse, employee, caregiver, and community member/volunteer, associated with the lives of nontraditional college students and to reveal how these conflicting role obligations influence these students' persistence toward the attainment of an undergraduate degree. This study provides a brief history of adult education in the United States as well as the study context, a continuing studies division of a privately endowed research institution located in the southern United States. The participants in this study were nontraditional students who were also recent graduates of this continuing studies unit. This study drew upon the literature of nontraditional students in higher education, as well as literature on role theory, adult development theory, adult learning theory, and student persistence theory. This study used a phenomenological qualitative approach as a means of discovering the lived experiences of nontraditional students as these experiences relate to the conflicting roles of nontraditional students and their decision to persist toward the attainment of a bachelor's degree. Several important findings were discovered. In order to negotiate their conflicting roles, these students used several strategies as a means of helping them to balance their roles. This study also found several motivational factors that prompted nontraditional students to pursue a bachelor's degree at this time in their lives. The obstacles and challenges that these students confronted were also revealed, and in order to overcome these obstacles and challenges these students relied on several support systems. The reputation and prestige of this university was also found to be an important factor in the students' decision to attend college at this stage in their lives. Additionally, the various forms of assistance that this continuing studies unit provided encouraged students to persist.