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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the relative efficacies of a set of organizational support mechanisms and personality traits in predicting frontline employees' service recovery and job performances. Design/methodology/approach Data were gathered through selfadministered questionnaires. A sample of 723 frontline hotel employees in Turkey serves as the study setting. Findings The study results show that organizational support is more effective in differentiating between high and lowperforming frontline employees in the case of service recovery performance. However, job performance overall is more susceptible to the influences of personality traits. Research limitations/implications Replication studies in other regions of Turkey and other countries among frontline employees in the hotel industry as well as other service settings would broaden the database for further generalizations. Including other organizational support mechanisms (e.g. technology support) and personality traits (e.g. customer orientation) would shed further light on our understanding of the relative roles of organizational support and personality traits in predicting frontline employee performance. Practical implications In addition to providing organizational support to their employees, hotel managers should recruit individuals with the relevant personality traits for frontline service jobs. Using these strategies in tandem increases the likelihood of having highperforming employees. Social implications From a macro standpoint, implementation of the strategies discussed here will benefit the hotels in Turkey which are in stiffening competition with their counterparts. Originality/value The study adds to the body of knowledge by investigating simultaneously the relative efficacies of organizational support and personality traits in predicting service recovery and job performances of frontline hotel employees in a developing economy.

The goal of this research was to examine the effects, if any, the programs available from an Academic Support Services unit of a small, private, liberal arts college might have on the grade point averages of students admitted on probation over two major semesters. The assumption was that the students who utilized the services of the Academic Center for Excellence would demonstrate more increases in GPA than students who did not utilize the services. The literature review of this study found that, although there were many factors and student characteristics that could predict and explain student achievement in course work, GPA was a good predictor and the only real measure of a student's performance. The programs designed to offer support are demonstrated to aid students in improving their academic achievement. The results of this study suggest that GPA is a good predictor of a student's academic achievement and a primary method of assessing student academic achievement. However, there was no apparent impact of the support services unit on the grade point averages of the students admitted on probation. Suggested uses for the study included the development of freshman orientation programs that integrate the student into academic life and a retooling of counseling and advising programs.

The increased number of disabled students in Higher Education (HE) means that they have increased opportunities for study. This means that universities in many countries, including Thailand, must provide Disability Support Services (DSS) for such students. The experiences of disabled students with DSS have been the subject of international research for many years. Although DSS were founded in universities in Thailand over a decade ago, there is little research on DSS and most of this research has focused on large universities in the capital city. This thesis, therefore, seeks to address this gap in the research by investigating the experiences of disabled students in 21 universities in all of the regions of Thailand that have DSS for disabled students attending university. The aim of this study is to explore and analyse the perspectives of disabled students on their experiences with DSS in HE in Thailand. The research objectives include the examination of disabled students’ conceptualisations of DSS, the exploration of disabled students’ experiences of access to DSS, and the exploration of their views on the advantages and disadvantages of DSS. To achieve these objectives, the study uses a mixed-method research approach formed of two stages. In the first stage, a questionnaire was conducted online via a web survey for disabled students with over 203 responses. In the second stage, the study adopted a qualitative approach and data was collected by means of individual in-depth interviews with four disabled students. The research finds that disabled students know about DSS in HE. Some disabled students were familiar with DSS before commencing their studies at university and others only knew about DSS after having commenced their studies at university. In terms of disabled students’ experiences of access to DSS, the findings show that most disabled students use DSS. In particular, they use DSS for help with induction, registration, and enrolment services. In terms of the exploration of disabled students’ experiences of access to DSS, this research shows that the 2 students undertook different procedures for accessing DSS. There are also different time lines for providing services to the students. Additionally, there is dissimilarity between non-open universities and open universities in terms of the services provided by the DSS centre, the learning system, the method of providing services, and the means of the implementation of the services. Regarding the advantages and disadvantages of using DSS, disabled students identified the advantages of DSS in various ways, specifically which DSS are useful for helping them access financial support from their university and for helping them learn and enjoy university life. In addition, some of the students did not experience the advantages of DSS as they did not use the services. They are able to learn without such assistance.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology / Fred O. Bradley / The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine the impact of student support services on the engagement and satisfaction of undergraduate non-traditional students at Kansas State University. For the purposes of this study, student support services were defined as non-academic departments or offices providing support services to students. The research questions were: (1) How do the experiences of non-traditional students, when utilizing the services of university student support staff, impact their engagement and satisfaction? (2) How do non-traditional students regard their experiences with student support services at Kansas State University? (3) What types of programming do student support services at Kansas State University provide for non-traditional students? (4) What level of involvement with student support service functions do non-traditional students find as enhancing their learning experience? Following the completion of in-depth interviews of 20 non-traditional students, five student support staff members and observation of five student support staff offices, the researcher identified the emergence of six themes related to the engagement and satisfaction of non-traditional students: (1) commitment - student’s perceptions of efforts to engage and satisfy them through a commitment of university resources, (2) expectations - demonstration of investment in the students and validation of their presence on campus by communicating clear expectations, (3) support - provision and utilization of support services that promote student success (4) involvement - perceptions of the relationship between student and support staff and opportunities for academic and social integration, (5) learning - efforts to enhance the learning experiences of non-traditional students, (6) feedback – gathering of suggestions for change and improvement to the non-traditional student experience. These themes captured the experiences of non-traditional students while utilizing student support services. Students who develop or experience a positive connection with a student support staff member or faculty member reported that those experiences leave them feeling engaged in the life of the university and satisfied with their student role. Non-traditional students were confused about what student support services were available and how to utilize them. When students seek the help of support staff, the student often left feeling as though the staff do not understand their needs. Student support service offices did not differentiate between programs specifically for non-traditional and traditionally-aged students. Students could identify student support service staff as connectors as playing the role of; academic advisor, admissions representative, financial aid advisor, housing staff member, faculty member or others who take the opportunity to engage with the student.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of support provided by District-Based Support Teams (DBSTs) to learners experiencing barriers to learning in the Free State province. The study focused specifically on the implementation of the changed role of the DBSTs as proposed by the Education White Paper 6 in 2001. This was a two-phased study involving a literature study and empirical research. The first phase of this study focused on a literature study undertaken on topics such as the history of learner support in South Africa, the previous role of Education Support Services at school and school district level and different education documentation and policy documents relating to the topic. Furthermore the literature study explored the ecosystemic approach to learner support specifically focusing on Bronfenbrenner‘s ecological systems theory and Epstein‘s model of human development. The second phase of the study comprised empirical research. A quantitative approach was used to collect data with a little element of the qualitative approach just to verify some information. For the quantitative component of the research, a questionnaire consisting of both closed and open-ended questions was administered, while for the qualitative component, the researcher held some interviews with participants selected randomly at first, but with a snowball effect. The research was conducted in all the districts of the Free State Department of Education. The data collected revealed that the implementation of the proposed changes to learner support is in fact subdued due to various problems experienced by District Based Support Teams. These problems hamper the effective implementation of the changes set out in various education policy documents. The study contributes to the practice of learner support by proposing a model for the DBSTs to implement their changed roles. / PhD, Learner support, North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2012

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2001. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 178-189). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2001. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 178-189). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (MTech. degree in Public Management) -- Tshwane University of Technology, 2010.