Over the years, the academic dean position has evolved from mainly focusing on student matters to an emphasis on promoting quality teaching and academic programs. The dean’s role is comprised of academic and administrative duties and responsibilities, requiring working with various stakeholders. The complexities associated with reduced budgets, increased enrollment demands, guarantee of quality education, and expectations from the private and public sectors create a perennial need for strong, competent leaders. Attributes for those in the dean’s position have been described as being able to keep peace among various groups with competing priorities. Other abilities address the many internal and external pressures confronting the position, and the need to motivate, plan, and establish a shared vision for the college. Research has found academic deans traditionally advance from faculty to administration with few opportunities to train for the administrative leadership aspect, having trained and oriented predominately for academic careers in scholarship and teaching. In the absence of administrative training, academic deans have found they lack the breadth and depth of administrative leadership practices. This research study examined the essential administrative competencies and preferred professional development method for academic deans responsible for discipline-specific colleges within the California State University (CSU) system. The study employed a mixed methods research design for the collection and analysis of quantitative and qualitative data. The findings from the surveys and interviews revealed significant results for identifying essential administrative competencies, and preferred professional development methods for effective academic deans. A common theme that emerged was that their prior academic training and experience did not provide a significant amount of transferable skills. Interview results described serving on committees, working with mentors, training with immediate supervisors, and attending professional development programs as the methods selected for administrative development. Survey results identified hands-on experience, and attending seminars as the most preferred professional development methods for the majority of administrative competencies.

Qualified student enrollment to nurse education program is limited by admission criteria predetermined by faculty; however, little is known regarding the development and consistency of selection criteria. The purpose of this study was to examine the admission requirements of nursing programs to better understand the philosophical underpinnings and complexity of selection criteria. The conceptual frameworks of teaching philosophy, complexity, and gatekeeping guided this research. This descriptive correlational study used a cross-sectional design to survey a purposeful sample of full-time faculty teaching in nurse education programs in a southeastern state. Descriptive analyses, independent t test, and a Lambda analyses were employed on self-reported program practices, teaching philosophy, and demographic data. Descriptive analysis documented that nurse education was a limited access major with 73% reporting either very or extremely competitive admission. Descriptive analysis identified 35 distinct admission criteria that were usually combined into a weighted scoring system that favored empirical evidence aligned to accreditation and licensure requirements. Independent t test revealed that associate degree programs employed significantly more criteria than did baccalaureate programs to select students. Lambda analysis found no association linking faculty teaching philosophy to the complexity of admissions criteria. This study demonstrated that competitive admission processes exist but vary significantly across programs, and suggests that more research is required since this variability in criteria may impact diversity within nursing education. Positive social change can be achieved by a critical review of admission requirements to ensure a more diverse nursing workforce able to deliver culturally competent care.

The 1st-year retention rate of the Structured Education Program (SEP) is 90%, yet the 6-year graduation rate of SEP students is 29%. The gap between SEP 1st-year retention and graduation rates is the problem that this study addressed. The low graduation rate of SEP students is an important issue because graduation rates are used to measure the quality of higher education institutions. The purpose of this study was to understand the low graduation rates of SEP students. Tinto's retention theory, which seeks to explain dropouts from higher education institutions, was the main framework of the study. The study's research questions focused on former SEP students' experiences with required and optional support services that were first introduced to students while enrolled in the SEP. This study used a qualitative, intrinsic case study research design. Data were collected through 12 semistructured interviews with participants who met the criteria of former SEP students who have completed the program within the last 5 years. Interviews were transcribed, member checked by interviewees, and then coded to identify 6 themes that focus on participants' commitment to support services. The findings revealed that required exposure to support services in SEP students' 1st year had a meaningful influence on each student's journey toward graduation. An outcome of this study was a policy recommendation paper designed to increase the study site's graduation rates through increased support service requirements for 1st-year students. This study may provide positive local social change through more student commitments to support services and increased retention and graduation rates.

The persistence rates of Native American students in higher education are lower than other underrepresented groups. Research suggests that the discrepancy could result from factors outside of students' academic knowledge. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore how Cherokee students perceive their tribal culture affects their ability to persist at institutions of higher education with a primarily Whitestreamed campus culture. Tharp's cultural compatibility theory and Astin's student involvement theory guided the development of the research questions. The research questions explored potential differences between Cherokee students' tribal culture and the culture these students percieve exists on their college campus, how those differences could influence their ability to persist, and the educational changes Cherokee students suggest are made to increase persistence rates. Interviews with 8 Cherokee students from 2 institutions in the Midwest region of the United States were analyzed using open coding. The resulting themes suggested that participants perceived cultural incongruence with the campus culture, which often led to feelings of isolation and a lower sense of belonging. Involvement in campus activities and groups and encouragement from family and community helped participants persist. Suggested changes to the learning environment included incorporating indigenous instructional methods, creating dedicated spaces for Cherokee students, and increasing mentor relationships. A positive social change implication of this study is the increased knowledge and understanding of the factors that may contribute to low persistence rates of Native American students.

Male college students' attrition has been a concern for higher education for 3 decades. This study focused on why young male college students leave postsecondary education before graduating. The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences former male college students that led to their decision to leave a community college in the Southcentral United States. Research questions in this generic qualitative study were: How do men describe their experiences leading to the decision to discontinue their community college education and what supports do men perceive colleges could offer to support their decision to continue postsecondary education. Astin's theory of student involvement, Bean's industrial model of student learning, and Tinto's theory of integration served as the conceptual framework for the study. Open coding of interviews with 8 college-age men revealed 5 themes: a sense of not belonging, financial concerns, challenging timeframes in college life, personal demands and challenges, and desired campus supports. Findings and recommendations may result in positive social change by informing educators and school leaders about reasons men leave college, thereby potentially leading to targeted retention efforts. Positive social change may result from offering more support to male students, particularly focused on time management for those with off-campus jobs, creating more means to instill a sense of belonging, offering early and substantive academic advising and additional financial aid advice and resources, supporting faculty to design more engaging teaching methods, and offering exit interviews.

The use of community service to promote learning and civic responsibility in higher education has blossomed since the 1980s. The problem addressed in this study was that although the X University initiated the required community service program in 2004, it had not assessed the effectiveness of the program from students' perspectives. Using Kolb and Kolb's conceptual framework on experiential learning, a qualitative case study was used to evaluate the perceptions of 13 4th-year students who had participated in the required community service program during their 1st-year of study. The research questions were focused on students' perceptions on how community service influenced their attitudes towards philanthropy. Data were coded and themes developed using key words from the interviews. Findings from 1-on-1 interviews revealed 4 themes: support for effective community service programs, students' personal growth and development, giving back to society with gratitude, and students' self-awareness in attitude towards the needy. The study results indicated that, the required community service program made a change in participants' lives and influenced their attitudes towards being sensitive to people with need. It is also likely to make them more philanthropic and affect positive social change. The resulting project consisted of an evaluation report recommending the reassessment of how the program is introduced to 1st-year students. Potential social change impacts include improved student experiences, as well as helping other universities in Kenya to learn from X University's experience to introduce similar community service programs.

Thesis (MPA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / Bibliography. Also available via the Internet.

<p>Theoretically, the role of higher education in national development has become clearer than before, while empirically the evidence is overwhelming. Elsewhere in the world, countries that have made tremendous strides in both social and economic development invested heavily and strategically in higher education. In Malawi, the role of higher education in national development has always been recognised by development policies since independence in 1964 <span style="mso-bidi-font-style:italic">However, with the exception of the first 15 years of independence, Malawi&rsquo / s development path has registered abysmal results both on the social and the economic fronts despite undergoing significant socio-economic and political reforms. Malawi remains one of the most underdeveloped countries whether judged by Gross National Product (GNP) per capita, the UNDP&rsquo / s Human Development Index (HDI) or the Human Poverty Index (HPI). One of the factors that is considered as having contributed to low levels of development is the performance of education systems (primary, secondary and higher education) (World Bank, 2009).</span>It is against this background that this study sought to examine how Malawi&rsquo / s higher education institutions (HEIs) have responded to their roles as prescribed by the national development policies with a focus on the period between 2000 and 2010. Four questions guided the study: i) what specific roles do national development policies define for HEIs to ensure that higher education contributes to national development? ii) To what extent are these roles performed by HEIs in Malawi? iii) What factors determine the performance of HEIs in their expected roles? iv) What pattern of response to their (HEIs&rsquo / ) expected roles can be identified? Theoretically and analytically, the study was informed by the two perspectives of the open systems theory, namely the resource-dependency approach and neo-institutional approach. These two approaches contend that actions by organisations are limited and influenced by various pressures and demands emanating from their internal and external environments and that organisations often respond accordingly in order to survive. Methodologically, the study employed a mixed-method design (of qualitative and quantitative) with a dominant usage of qualitative methods. A multiple case study approach was used in which data were collected through unstructured interviews, semi-structured interviews and documentary review. For qualitative data, the analysis was done using a text method while quantitative data were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and Microsoft Excel to provide simple descriptive analysis through charts, tables and graphs.<span style="mso-fareast-font-family:TimesNewRoman"> Overall, the study found that Malawi development policies expect HEIs to enhance access, equity, relevance, efficiency and quality of higher education as a way of ensuring that higher education contributes to the national development project. However, the study identified several patterns of response by HEIs (towards these expected roles) that tentatively explain the sub-optimal contribution of higher education in national development. These patterns of response include: inclination towards responding to the politically sensitive crises in the higher education system (for public HEIs) and profit-compatible roles (for private HEI) / use of sub-standard resources and methods antithetical to genuine teaching and learning / duplication by private HEIs of the &ldquo / soft&rdquo / roles being undertaken by public HEI / the abandonment of some of the HEIs&rsquo / original ideals and founding pledges, which are compatible with national development roles / and substitution of long-term coherent academic planning by short-term survival strategies. </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:18.0pt / mso-fareast-font-family:TimesNewRoman / mso-bidi-font-family:Arial / color:black / mso-fareast-language:EN-US / mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">The study presents a number of implications, lessons and recommendations in the area of higher education and development. These include: the need for the government to recognise the importance and impact of intra-sectoral linkages in the entire education system on the performance of HEIs / the need to enforce the effective participation of private and public HEIs in national developmental project by establishing a proper regulatory framework / the need to enhance regional and internal collaboration among universities if they are to effectively respond to national roles / the need to reduce marginalisation of HEIs by maximising efforts that create linkages with the productive sector / the need to devise a robust public financing mechanism that broadly deals with issues of equity, relevance, quality and access of higher education / and the need to match education investment priorities and sequencing with development policies</span></p> <p>&nbsp / </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify">&nbsp / </p> <p>&nbsp / </p>

This thesis is an exploratory study focusing on the tension between managerialism and collegiality experience by mid-level academic administrators in Canadian higher education. The study is a constructivist analysis of the every day, lived experiences of the participants working in a single, large university. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 6 academic administrators that report directly to a Vice-President Academic. The analysis of these detailed interviews suggests that collegiality appears to be alive and well at the university included in this study. Administrators described consultative, collegial processes with shared decision making. However, the activity of developing and managing budgets was described by participants as the responsibility of the dean and these processes were neither collegial nor consultative. There is a need for further research on the experience and work of academic administrators in Canadian higher education.

This thesis is an exploratory study focusing on the tension between managerialism and collegiality experience by mid-level academic administrators in Canadian higher education. The study is a constructivist analysis of the every day, lived experiences of the participants working in a single, large university. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 6 academic administrators that report directly to a Vice-President Academic. The analysis of these detailed interviews suggests that collegiality appears to be alive and well at the university included in this study. Administrators described consultative, collegial processes with shared decision making. However, the activity of developing and managing budgets was described by participants as the responsibility of the dean and these processes were neither collegial nor consultative. There is a need for further research on the experience and work of academic administrators in Canadian higher education.