Demands for increasingly more responsive education systems have caused some higher education institutions to reconsider their original missions and envision new futures. This is particularly true with land grant institutions whose mandate it is to be the people's university. The purpose of this study was to explore the first year of a change project at a land grant institution to determine first attempts to prepare for and catalyze systemic change. The literature review supported the position that change was seldom enduring in higher education organizations, and to effect systemic change an organization needed to embrace the concept of learning. This study sought to make sense of organizational change through the experience of an innovative vision-driven, participant-centered change process. Data were analyzed using multiple sources including interviews, fieldnotes, project documents and participant observation. Three themes emerged from the analysis representative of participant experience: Learning How to Change; Developing a Change Design; and Collaboration and the Paradox of Partnership. The themes represented primary areas of learning for participants in the first year of the project. Stories of participant learning were expressed through key events experienced during the 12-month inquiry. Outcomes of this study reflected the centrality of learning in the beginning months of the change project. Change agents needed opportunities to learn how to change before enlisting others in the process. Active learning, reflection, and the value discovered through an expanded capacity for change created deeper ownership in the project for many participants. These aspects of the change process were also identified as attributes of a learning organization. Another significant research outcome addressed partnering efforts in the project's initial months. First attempts to build collaborative relationships with the State's community colleges were ineffective due to low levels of trust and highly competitive cultures. / Graduation date: 1997

Although the literature is replete with techniques to assist the researcher with the evaluation task, very few techniques regarding an effective process for evaluating developmental education programs have emerged. Those techniques that have emerged have been criticized for not producing useful results. The central purpose of this research was to develop a process for evaluating the instructional component of developmental education programs. The Educational Opportunities Program at Oregon State University was used as a case study. The review of literature established a theoretical basis for the model that was developed. A detailed description of the program is provided, as well as interviews with instructional staff. An instrument for eliciting program participants' views and opinions is included. The entire evaluation process was then evaluated for effectiveness. The evaluation process proved to be effective as a means for evaluating the instructional component of developmental education programs considering the original purpose of the evaluation. Although the focus was originally on the product, the process proved to be the most powerful catalyst for change. Future evaluators are cautioned to consider carefully the purpose, audience and intended outcome before proceeding further in the evaluation of the instructional components of developmental education programs. / Graduation date: 1992

An evaluative research survey involving 694 faculty members with an academic appointment in Oregon's 4-year unionized institutions of higher education was undertaken to determine whether or not collective bargaining has supported faculty rights for participation in institutional governance. Four hypotheses were formulated to study the relationship between the independent variable of collective bargaining and the dependent variable of institutional governance, specific to: (1) professional interest, (2) economic interest, (3) educational policy, and (4) academic and personnel policy. Data received from 486 respondents' questionnaires were used for the Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance to test the four hypotheses. The four hypotheses of the study were rejected. However, findings of the study suggest that the collective bargaining process is perceived by the respondents in all three unionized institutions as having (1) facilitated their participation in the formal structure and process for institutional decision making and (2) provided for just cause in dismissal and grievance decisions.

Why do some master's level students feel confident in completing their programs and some do not? Why do some feel connected to their department and some do not? Why do some feel legitimate as graduate students and some do not? This research proposes that there may be differences in how master's students understand the graduate student role based on whether they went directly from high-school through their bachelor's to their master's, or if they took time off between their bachelor's and master's program. This thesis used in-depth interviews with twelve second-year master's students at Portland State University to explore these questions: six with students who had a linear trajectory through higher education and six with students who had a break after completing their bachelor's and before returning for their master's (broken trajectory students). Students from both groups began their programs with questions about their ability to perform at a master's level. Broken trajectory students were more likely to have thought through their chances of success and entered their programs 'knowing' that they would successfully co~plete the programs even when they questioned their academic abilities. Students from both groups overall felt a progressive increase in feelings of connection to their departments. The linear trajectory students entered their programs with some established feelings of connection with other graduate students. The broken trajectory students did not have these established connections, but desired connection with other serious students. Overall, students from both groups experienced increased feelings of legitimacy as graduate students, but the criteria by which they judged their legitimacy differed between groups. Linear trajectory students used academic ability as a primary measure of legitimacy, where broken trajectory students used having a clear understanding of why they were in graduate school as the standard to determine whether they "belonged in college." The two groups also differed in the source of their student role standard: broken trajectory students used professors as their role reference group, whereas the linear trajectory students used peers and undergraduate students. This thesis closes with a discussion of the implications of this research for theory, programs, and current models of persistence.

Over the last several years, the number of international students attending colleges and universities in the United States has increased substantially. While considerable time, effort, and university resources are often devoted to the recruitment of international students, it is unclear how well institutions are meeting the needs of these students. This growing number of international students requires foreign exchange professionals and university administrators to better understand the reasons why international students pursue higher education in the United States and the challenges they face. This exploratory case study is to examine the challenges international graduate students encounter in adjusting to their new status as graduate students. Six research questions framed this study: What difficulties do international students face in their first year in graduate school? What adjustments do they need to make in their first year in graduate school? What challenges do continuing international graduate students face? In what ways are perspectives of continuing international graduate students similar to perspectives of beginning international graduate students? What university support resources do international graduate students say are helpful? What PSU support resources are needed, but missing? The relevant literature addresses academic, social, psychological, cultural, financial, and housing adjustment challenges. The data for this research were collected by interviewing and surveying international graduate students at PSU. Data were analyzed using standard methods of qualitative data analysis. Consistent with the results from other research, this study reveals the following adjustment challenges: unsatisfactory accommodation; inadequate financial resources; lack of culturally specific programs that are intentional, flexible and accessible; unfamiliarity with the new educational system; limited English proficiency; undeveloped infrastructure for on-going orientation; insufficient health services information; and unavailability of international student mentoring programs. The findings of this study have the potential to inform both researchers and practitioners as institutions attempt to create sufficient international student support services.

Planning for foreign students in institutions of higher education takes many forms. This study set out to find out how this planning takes place within and between three particular units in five universities and colleges in Oregon. The three units chosen as the focus of this study work closely with foreign students in the initial admissions process, in the orientation, visa status and services area of their stay, and thirdly in academic coursework in English as a second language programs. The titles of the units are, the admissions office, the international student services office and the English as a second language program. This is a descriptive study and as such employed an interview format to gather current data on this topic. Interviews were held with the officers in charge of the each of the three units at each of the five institutions. The objective of the interviews was to find out the nature of planning for foreign students in each unit as well as the extent of coordination between units in planning for the enrollment of foreign students. The literature on planning for foreign students in institutions of higher education suggests that although the numbers of foreign students attending institutions in the U.S. continue to increase, there is not an indication of institutions setting policy for foreign students. In addition, planning for foreign student enrollment has not been an integral part of the admissions office planning framework, as formal enrollment planning for domestic students is still in the early stages. The results of this study reflect some consistency between the literature and the state of enrollment planning in the five institutions participating in this study. The nature of planning for foreign students in the admissions unit, the international student services unit, and the English as a second language program unit are distinctively characteristic of the individual programs and also of the university or college with which the units are affiliated.

This thesis is a rhetorical analysis of sexual harassment codes on college and university campuses. The situational model proposed by Lloyd Bitzer is used to examine representative artifacts from Rice University in Houston, Texas, and Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon, so as to determine whether they operate as "fitting" rhetorical responses to the situation generally and the exigence of sexual harassment specifically. The body of this analysis develops in eight stages: an introductory discussion of sexual harassment and research conducted thereon; examination of codes as ethical and situational constructs; explication of the rhetorical framework; the nature of the exigence as a historical and campus-specific imperfection; examination of the publics that create the rhetorical audience; the inartistic and artistic constraints operative within the rhetorical situation; an analysis of the two codes; and summary comments and recommendations. Within the last two sections the determinations are made that: 1) the codes do not currently function as a "fitting" response to the situation/exigence, and that 2) revisions can be made so as to promote a more pragmatic and "fitting" response to sexual harassment. / Graduation date: 1997

Large organizations such as Portland State University (PSU) play an important role in the environmental impact and sustainability of a city, EcoDistrict and region. Through their resource use and operations, such organizations can assist in mitigating environmental damage, as well as educate their members and community. PSU does not currently have any formal policies that support sustainable operations, and there is room to improve the sustainability of campus operations. Feedback from PSU employees was solicited through two surveys, and these data were qualitatively analyzed to identify salient organizational issues that may serve to inhibit implementation of sustainable operations at PSU. Findings revealed the following: lack of collaboration, connectivity, and information sharing between departments and levels of the organization's hierarchy, and a perceived lack of top-down support in the form of operational sustainability guidance, policies, and resources. The PSU Green Team program and Climate Action Plan Implementation Team (CAP-IT) may offer opportunities to address these shortcomings, and if supported and well-utilized, these existing structures have the potential to promote sustainable operations and EcoDistrict development at PSU.