Thesis (Ph. D.)--Illinois State University, 1983. / Title from title page screen, viewed May 13, 2005. Dissertation Committee: Edward Hines (chair), John McCarthy, G. Alan Hickrod, Ronald Halinski, David Franklin. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 251-258) and abstract. Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Ohio University, June, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 180-191)

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Ohio University, June, 2004. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references (p. 176-180)

Thesis (Ed.D.)--University of West Florida, 2002. / Title from title page of source document. Document formatted into pages; contains 199 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of changes in nonresident tuition on nonresident enrollment and tuition revenue in American public four-year colleges and universities. The economic framework used to examine this relationship was the human capital investment model, which assumed a two-stage model of student choice. The analysis calculated a price elasticity coefficient and a student price response coefficient for nonresident first-time freshmen in three institutional classifications (i.e., doctoral-granting universities, comprehensive universities, and baccalaureate institutions) and for all institutions combined. Nine institutional, economic, and demographic variables were regressed on the dependent variable--a ratio of probabilities of nonresident enrollment to resident enrollment. The regression equations were estimated in double-log functional form utilizing ordinary least squares procedures. The student data used in the study were Fall 1986 first-time freshmen enrolled in 435 public four-year institutions. The major findings of the study include: (1) The price elasticity of demand with respect to nonresident tuition for all institutions in the study was estimated to be -0.60. The student price response coefficient (SPRC) for a $100 change in tuition was calculated to be -1.69 percent. (2) The price elasticity of demand for baccalaureate institutions was estimated to be negative unitary elastic (i.e., -1.00). The baccalaureate SPRC was calculated to be -3.2 percent. (3) Nonresident enrollment demand was positively associated with migration patterns of the nonstudent population, employment rate in the destination state, and home state per capita income. In summary, nonresident students in the average public four-year college or university are only moderately sensitive to changes in price. Nonresident tuition increases in the public sector will cause relatively small declines in enrollment and will be accompanied by increased tuition revenue. Students at baccalaureate institutions are more sensitive to changes in price; tuition increases in these institutions will result in larger declines in enrollment and will have no impact on tuition revenue. Institutional officials and state policy makers should be aware of these results when considering the impact of changes in tuition on nonresident enrollment and institutional revenues.

The purpose of this study was to determine differences in online student perception of the quality of instruction between online instructors who did and did not complete faculty training for online instruction. There has been very little research identifying the factors influencing online students perception on quality of instruction, specifically at Florida public institutions. This research is important in establishing if public universities should require some level of training before an instructor can teach online. Experiencing poor quality of instruction can negatively impact an online student academically, which can, in turn, be detrimental to a university’s student retention and graduation rates. This study adds to the current body of research regarding improvement of the quality of instruction in online courses based on the online students perception of faculty and the completion of faculty training for online instruction. The results of this study demonstrated no significant difference overall in student perception of quality of instruction between online instructors who did and did not complete faculty training as measured in courses with five or more student respondents. Additional results revealed that multiple academic colleges demonstrated a significant difference in student perception of quality of instruction. This study also discovered a slight negative effect of online faculty training on other areas of student satisfaction that did not include quality of instruction. Recommendations for future research are provided, including those for the improvement of online faculty training, university policy, and faculty and student preparation for online teaching and learning, respectively. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2018. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Public Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are facing many challenges including state funding, competition, and maintaining the best possible graduation rate. This study: (1) examined the strategic plans and strategic planning processes to explore how, and to what extent, these tool are being used to address these challenges; and (2) explored the extent to which continuous process improvement is included in strategic planning efforts. A qualitative research design employing a grounded theory approach was used in this study. The researcher reviewed the perceptions of the participants at each of four selected public institutions regarding strategic planning processes, including their beliefs with regard to process improvement as a component of the strategic planning process. Perceived facilitators and detractors of strategic planning and its implementation were also examined. Finally, the researcher sought to design an improved model for strategic planning in higher education that takes continuous process improvement into consideration as a basic component of the approach to planning. The dominant theme that emerged from the data analysis concerned state funding, as performance-based funding offers an opportunity to acquire additional funds. Graduation rate was identified as a core component of student success. Competition from emerging sectors was not a specific topic of discussion during the strategic planning processes. Forty-one percent of participants indicated that some form of process improvement structure exists at their institution, often related to accreditation reviews and was outside of the strategic planning process. 53% of the responses to the question, “What do you believe would be the impact of having process improvement as an integral component in the strategic planning process?” replied that it would be good or beneficial if it were carried out in a meaningful manner. Twenty-nine percent of the 53% stated that process improvement efforts are often performed for it’s own sake, and that including process improvement in the strategic planning process should be done in a manner that adds value to the strategic planning process and the institution. Through the analysis of the approaches to strategic planning examined in this study, the researcher offers a new strategic planning model for HEIs grounded in the findings. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2018. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

In 2013, the U.S. Department of Education published revised guidelines for emergency response planning for colleges and universities in the United States. These guidelines reflect the collective work of numerous government intelligence, law enforcement, and preparedness agencies that have taken into account the past successes and failures of schools in response to natural disasters and man-made disasters such as cyber hacking and targeted violent incidents on campuses. With a collective enrollment of over 20 million students annually and valuable physical resources such as libraries, stadiums, and medical centers at institutions of higher education (IHE), an effort to identify the current safety personnel, practices, and services was conducted. The purpose of this research was to identify areas of IHE compliance with the government guidelines and to identify differences, if any, by school enrollment size and region of the country. A cross-sectional design was used to describe compliance with the government guidelines and examine the differences based on a random sample drawn from all accredited 4- year public colleges and universities (n=708) in the United States. A sample of 17% of all eligible institutions was selected (n=120), and a 70.8% response rate was obtained (n=85). Directors of public safety were interviewed by telephone and reported information regarding their school’s availability of mental health counseling, crime prevention programs, emergency communications plans, emergency operations plans, and personnel training. The major findings of this study revealed that only 64 (75%) schools offered disaster response presentations to new students and staff, while 9 (11%) reported that their written emergency operations plans were not available to their communities, and that only 53 (62.4%) offered presentations regarding cyber-security and safeguarding online information. This study also revealed that 40 (47%) of the respondents either did not have or did not know if their school had an emergency operations plan for dealing with database theft, and 55 (64.7%) either did not have or did not know if there was a plan in place to safeguard the private contact information used in their emergency communications systems. With an estimated 300,000+ college students annually studying abroad, only 44 (51.3%) respondents reported offering travel safety presentations to their communities. Few differences were identified based on enrollment or regional location. The implications are discussed within the context of increasing national trends of gun violence, armed civilians and officers on campuses, cyber hacking, and increased participation by students and researchers traveling abroad.

Public higher education increasingly relies on performance-based funding (PBF) policies to enhance accountability. These policies attempt to steer institutions towards successful outcomes via performance indicators, such as graduation rates. Nationally, PBF policies continue to grow in popularity despite limited evidence that they are effective (Hillman, Tandberg, and Gross, 2014). Motivated by the apparent conflict between the widespread adoption of PBF policies and the lack of evidence that they actually improve outcomes in higher education, this dissertation investigates the perceived impacts of PBF policies. Florida’s public university system serves as the setting for the study due to its uniquely punitive PBF policy design and the model’s non-standardized performance indicators. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2019. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

The world of today's higher education organizations is characterized by complexities brought about as a result of rapid change, economic and political turbulence, and increasing global interdependence. The complexity of the environment in which colleges and universities operate is also due in part to a need to serve multiple internal and external constituencies. In order to be more responsive to the demands of its numerous constituencies and at the same time preserve their intrinsic values, colleges and universities need to know how effective they are in what they do. This research asked: To what degree does institutional effectiveness allow public colleges and universities to operate in a sustained manner over a long period of time while meeting the needs of their constituencies? The lack of criteria about what constitutes effectiveness in higher education contributes to the lack of research in this area of organizational theory. This research examined organizational effectiveness and its measurement in higher education environment using a survey of multiple internal and external constituencies. The purpose of the survey was to gather information regarding participants' perceptions about educational outcomes, processes, and environment in higher education organizations. In addition, given the changes in how higher education institutions are financed and the potential implications of these changes for effectiveness, this research explored the degree to which resource dependence, primarily dependence on public funding, influences the effectiveness of public colleges and universities. To address these questions the research tested the applicability of the sustainability framework as a model of effectiveness in higher education. The study suggests modification of the elements of the sustainability and extends the use of the concept of environment as it is defined in the sustainability framework to the concept of environment as defined in organizational theory. The sustainability framework has not been tested in this way before. The results indicate that there is promise in using the sustainability framework in this modified form and suggest that this concept is worthy of further exploration. Additionally, the study examined the role of multiple constituencies in defining effectiveness in higher education. The findings indicate that there are significant differences in perceptions of effectiveness among the groups of constituencies examined in the study. Finally, the results suggest that sources of public funding and the amount of money institutions spend per student have an influence on some aspects of effectiveness. To examine this further, the study explores the role of the political and fiscal environment in which institutions of higher education operate and offers institutional theory as a basis to explain resource dependence in public higher education. The findings of this study contribute to the field of organizational effectiveness, aid in understanding the role that public funding plays in higher education effectiveness, and contribute to the field of organizational theory more generally.