<p> The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the ways in which Black, Black biracial, and Black multiracial women experienced and navigated colorism in college. This is an important topic to explore given that colorism, or skin tone bias, has been found to impact the emotional, psychological, and social well-being of people of color. One-on-one interviews were used to gather data from 10 participants. Four themes emerged from the data analysis: (a) White colorism; (b) Colorism is ingrained in Black culture; (c) Emotional and psychological responses to colorism; and (d) Education is key. These four themes represent the participants&rsquo; experiences with colorism and provide insight into the ways they navigated encounters with colorism. This study adds to the research on colorism in higher education and offers implications for practice and directions for research.</p>

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No description available.

Thesis advisor: Eve Spangler / Palestinian access to higher education under the Israeli occupation is heavily restricted, amounting to substantial violations of international human rights laws and norms. The obstacles Palestinian university students face range from movement restriction to university closure to detention, on which this research focuses specifically. The detention of university students is often politically motivated—evidenced in the deliberate targeting of student government representatives, pending graduates, and those sitting for final exams, for example—as the Israeli occupation forces have identified the potential for empowerment inherent to university education, which poses an undeniable threat to an oppressive regime. As a result of this restricted access and in conjunction with its potential for political, social, and economic empowerment, Palestinians have attached a heightened cultural meaning to education, likening it to resistance. Accordingly, in Palestinian society, the struggle for education is linked to the wider struggle for liberation, and the former is considered to be integral to the success of the latter. This thesis will thus focus on the historical and social trends by which the connection between education and resistance developed in light of obstacles to access such as student detention. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2011. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: International Studies Honors Program. / Discipline: International Studies.

Thesis advisor: Karen D. Arnold / The purpose of this research was to identify the primary duties and responsibilities of mission officers in Catholic higher education and develop an accompanying set of core competencies for professional development purposes. Mission officers first appeared in Catholic colleges and universities in the 1980s, in response to declining numbers of priests and religious on campuses, increased secularization of the academe, and reduced course requirements in the liberal arts, particularly philosophy and theology. These changes as well as others within higher education, American society, and the Catholic Church raised concerns about the distinctive Catholic identity and mission of Catholic colleges and universities. Although 80% of Catholic colleges and universities have appointed a mission officer to galvanize campus-wide efforts to strengthen the religious character of these institutions (Gilroy, Sloma-Williams, & Galligan-Stierle, 2014), as of yet there are no established educational qualifications, professional norms, or set of competencies to guide the professional practice and development of current and future mission officers. Thirty-seven experienced mission officers participated in four rounds of data collection using a modified Delphi research method. Seventy-four percent of the 27 duties and over eighty percent of the 32 competencies identified, refined, and prioritized in this study reached consensus as critically important or very important by more than three-quarters of the study participants. The study findings indicate that mission officers interact on a regular basis with many groups and individuals at both senior and lower levels within the institution. Many mission officer duties involve efforts to galvanize the campus community, particularly faculty and student affairs professionals, in order to integrate the mission across the institution. Effective mission leadership requires both a top-down and bottom-up approach to mission integration along with leadership skills, knowledge of the Catholic intellectual tradition, collaboration and communication skills, and a demonstrated commitment to the Catholic identity and mission of the university. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2014. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

Thesis advisor: Gustavo Morello / Increasingly, Universities and Community Organizations are engaging in dynamic partnerships built on ideals of reciprocity and mutual benefit. When initiating such partnerships, organizations face the difficult task of merging distinct organizational cultures and missions; integrating different missions and organizational processes without overtaking them. This merging of organizational ideologies generates a “partnership culture” that exists outside of the individual organizations; the successful creation and maintenance of which can lead to eventual partnership success and longevity. Past research typically views these partnerships as relationships at the organizational level, between university A and organization B. However, little consideration is given to the ways in which individuals within the organizations actively create and maintain these partnerships through their personal relationships. I argue that the creation and maintenance of successful inter-organizational partnerships between universities and their community partner organizations (CPOs) hinges on the formal and informal processes between individuals as representatives of their organization. Using an in-depth qualitative methodology, grounded in concern for community voice and agency, this paper highlights university-community partnerships in the context of service-based programs at a medium-sized, faith-based university in New England (Northeast College). Through interviews with university program directors and CPO directors and volunteer coordinators responsible for these partnerships, I investigate the processes of establishing relationships and mechanisms for continued success and partnership longevity. This study shows that the formation and identification of a “partnership culture” based on perceived mission alignment, trust, respect, and mutual investment has led to the cultivation of long-standing partnerships between Northeast College and its CPOs. Additionally, through the development of personal relationships built on open communication and viewing each party as “co-educators,” it presents specific mechanisms that contribute to the successful cultivation of such a culture. By specifically highlighting the perspectives of the CPOs, this study seeks to contribute directly to the growing concern in the area for community impact, and the development of CPO agency and feedback in the partnership creation process. / Thesis (MA) — Boston College, 2018. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Sociology.

Thesis advisor: Hans de Wit / Thesis advisor: Laura Rumbley / This study will identify to what extent the different campuses that compose the Universidad of Guadalajara (UdeG) have taken steps to internationalize uniquely and “independently,” beyond the frameworks for internationalization offered exclusively via central administration, and to identify some of the specific challenges and opportunities inherent in the internationalization processes for a multi-campus system. / Thesis (MA) — Boston College, 2018. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

Thesis advisor: Larry Ludlow / While there was a wealth of research in the 1970s and 1980s that suggests students’ on-campus college housing environment impacts student experiences and outcomes, interest has waned over the last several decades. Since then, the landscape of higher education has changed; a national focus on accountability and the rise in student-paid tuition costs has shaped higher education as a marketable good. These changes warrant a need to revisit the impact of on-campus housing environments as postsecondary institutions, often with limited financial and land resources, strategize ways to successfully meet incoming millennials’ housing needs while striving for recruitment, retention, and then students’ success during college. The present study took an exploratory approach to this understudied topic. This mixed-method study explored how residence hall location (i.e., living on the main campus or a satellite campus) and room type (i.e., living in a single, double, triple, forced triple, or quad room) impacted first-year college experiences and outcomes for traditional students. Findings show that housing conditions had an impact, particularly for those assigned less desired housing conditions (i.e., living on the satellite campus or in a forced triple room). Students in forced triple rooms did not frequently study in their room, felt crowded, had significantly lower GPAs than students who lived in double rooms, and engaged in fewer discussions with diverse others than those in triple rooms. In addition, while survey data found no differences in satisfaction by location, focus group participants who lived on the satellite campus expressed frustration with the university shuttle bus and felt removed from university-affiliated and other social activities and events. Focus group discussions suggest that entering college with clear expectations of housing conditions can prepare students to navigate housing challenges and ease the transition to college. Institutions should consider offering resources and support to students prior to matriculating and then once at college. Furthermore, institutions should be mindful of the social implications of geographically separating the first-year student cohort. Findings have practical implications for institution administrators and policy makers. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2016. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Research, Measurement and Evaluation.

<p> As the number of international students studying in the United States continues to grow, there&rsquo;s the need to know how they cope in a host country and the challenges they encounter both in the classroom and outside in order improve education and prepare students for the future. The purpose of this study is to know how international students relate with one another both inside and outside the school setting. The study findings were taken from observation and interview from both graduate and undergraduate classrooms.</p><p>

The Irish Institute of Technology (hereinafter referred to as IoT) sector is poised to undergo a period of transformation, consolidation and system reconfiguration, to be brought about through a series of institutional mergers, collaborations and alliances. This research focuses on the Irish higher education (hereinafter referred to as HE) landscape, and in particular, on the journey of three groups of IoTs (hereinafter referred to as Alliances) as they plan to merge and subsequently apply to be re-designated as technological universities (hereinafter referred to as TUs). This research provides a contemporaneous account of how the Irish IoTs are organising themselves for merger and examines the substantial challenges which lie therein. By examining and comparing three Alliances which are undergoing a similar process but with varying degrees of success, this research explores the key factors which facilitate on one hand, and/or inhibit on the other, merger negotiations and the merger process in HE, both at a system and institutional level. This knowledge will be useful to policy makers and other higher education institutions (hereinafter referred to as HEIs), particularly in Ireland’s IoT sector, which is likely to experience a wave of mergers over the coming decade. It also contributes to the relatively scant body of literature on the nature of and the factors impacting upon the merger process in higher education, and of mergers in the Irish HE context. A qualitative study, employing a multiple case study approach, was adopted. Based upon a thematic analysis of data gathered from the three cases, this research identifies and categorises the key factors that are perceived to facilitate on the one hand, or inhibit on the other, the merger process in HE, both at a system and institutional level. A framework consisting of political, strategic, operational, emotive, historic and cultural factors is proposed, examined and discussed, and recommendations for both institutional and system level actors are provided. In addition, this research proposes a micro-political model which details the various phases through which HE mergers proceed, and argues that it is the macro and micro-political and emotive factors, rather than strategic or operational factors, which have the most powerful influence on the merger process.