A terminal project report featuring the work of Margaret Shirley submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts.

This study examined the heuristic value of applying the organizational model of Jablin, Putnam, Roberts, and Porter (1987), who studied newcoming employees assimilating into an organization, to the study of newcoming students integrating into an educational institution. Three hundred and fifty-five college students were surveyed. I used an adapted version of Mowday, Porter, and Steer's (1982) Organizational Commitment Questionnaire. Two hypotheses were tested. Hypothesis One states: The higher the level of expressed commitment the more likely it is that the student will express the intention to remain. Hypothesis Two states: Within Terms One, Two, and Three, the higher the level of expressed commitment, the more likely it is that the student will express an intention to remain. A Pearson Correlation test revealed no significant correlation between commitment and intent to remain for either hypotheses. The high percentage of the subjects who reported that they were 80 to 100 percent certain that they intended to remain and receive their degree yet whose commitment levels were low, suggest that personal goal commitment to receiving their degree is stronger than commitment to the institution. Commitment to the institution was not supported. Therefore, it was determined that the organizational model had little heuristic value in leading to a clearer understanding of the integration process of college students. However, the survey was distributed to students attending an urban university. This element alone may be a mitigating factor in students' institutional commitment.

Educational research literature suggests the expectations for success in college for youth from "educationally disadvantaged" backgrounds are tragically small. Reasons offered for this have included the lack of requisite academic preparation, lack of motivation, lack of appreciation for the value of a college education. The general purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of an innovative instructional technique in promoting the development of positive attitudes about self-worth, and academic achievement, for "disadvantaged" students. Specifically, this study attempted to identify the structure of attitudes of "educationally disadvantaged" students in the Portland State University support service program (Operation PLUS) about concepts which are related to academic skills, academic achievement and self-worth, after one year of college experience.

The research effort is an outgrowth of the authors exposure to the field of drug treatment in general, and therapeutic communities in particular. Both were acquainted with people who were graduates of therapeutic communities, and had been involved in m.any discussions concerning the relative merit of therapeutic communities as opposed to other methods of drug treatment.

The use of so many different therapeutic approaches to stuttering raises frequent questions about methodology and treatment. Confidence in a methodology and treatment approach depends upon follow-up research conducted with systemic analysis of the individuals prior to treatment and following treatment. The purpose of this study was to conduct a follow-up evaluation on R.L. Casteel's Four Stage Stuttering Program at Portland State University and to examine the degree of maintained fluency in relation to entering baseline, time in program, and exit stage.

This thesis project consists of sixteen abstract sculptures. The material most often used is polyester resin. The work explores the emotive potential of the relationship between the organic forms and geometric spaces. The forms are derived from observing the environment, other current artists’ works, and the works of art history. The sculptures generally divide into three groups. The first is composed of geometric and organic forms that are altered slightly so that aspects of each form reside in its opposite. The second group maintains a purity of organic and geometric elements. Here a balance is kept by weighing the visual strength of each form. The third is like the second except that the organic forms are easily recognized as human forms. Color is used to alter the impact of a form. The whole body of work strives for an equilibrium between form and color.

A terminal project featuring the work of Jeffery C. Johnston submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts.

A thesis featuring the work of Kenneth Butler submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts in Painting.

Sixty first year students in the Portland State University School of Social Work were given the Baker--Schulberg Community Mental Health Ideology Scale. The resultant scores are reported for Community Mental Health Training Project (CMHTP) Students, Direct Service Students and Planning Students. The Scores are compared with each other and with the original norming groups for the instrument. CMHTP students were found to have a significantly stronger adherence to the community mental health ideology than other students, but all groups examined were found to be sympathetic to the ideology.

This study was designed to determine (1) the trend of anxiety level of social work students, term by term, over the academic year; (2) the cyclical trend of anxiety level of social work students within each term and (3) the effects of age and sex on level of anxiety among social work students. Anxiety was measured with the IPAT – 8 Parallel Form Anxiety Battery. This test was administered to twenty randomly selected first year students in the School of Social Work during the 1969-1970 academic year at Portland State University. Data was collected from six test administrations which took place at the beginning and the end of each term. Analysis of variance in a 2x2x2x3 factorial design simultaneously investigated all four variables. Some variation among these variables and their interactions was found, but only the “time of quarter” main effect reached statistical significance. A cyclical pattern of anxiety following a high-in-the-beginning, low-at-the-end of each term trend was observed. Anxiety, however, remained quite level over the three terms of the academic year. Nor was anxiety level related to differences in age or sex. These findings have led the authors to speculate that the uncertainty of a new situation at the beginning of each new term created more anxiety than did the final field evaluations, classroom examinations, papers or other outside influences such as the Kent State incidents etc., and that increased structuring at the beginning of each term might help to allay that anxiety. Perhaps it could be said that each individual’s role as a “social work graduate student” had a greater effect on his anxiety level than did sex, age, or important events not directly related to school expectations.