An Excess Credit Hour policy "assesses a tuition surcharge for any credits taken beyond a predetermined threshold" (Smith, 2017, para. 1). In 2009, the State of Florida implemented legislation on excess credit hours at four-year public institutions, Fla. Stat. § 1009.286 (State of Florida, 2012). Legislation found under title forty-eight (XLVIII) of the K-20 Education Code, Fla. Stat. § 1009.286, relating to "Educational Scholarships, Fees, and Financial Assistance," discussed the "intent of the Legislature to encourage each undergraduate student who enrolls in a state university to complete the student's respective baccalaureate degree program in the most efficient way possible…" (State of Florida, 2018, para. 1). Throughout the duration of the policy, various entities were deficient in monitoring or delivering an assessment of this legislation to determine its effectiveness. Minimal legislative follow up and a small number of empirical studies have tried to confirm the proficiency of this policy in the State of Florida (Carvajal, 2021; State of Florida, 2018). A lack of empirical research exists regarding the relationship between first time-in-college students (FTIC) in the mechanical and aerospace engineering disciplines at a Large Metropolitan University (LMU) and the Excess Credit Hour Surcharge policy's effect on student demographics and baccalaureate degree completion. This quantitative study will use pre-existing data to analyze the complex relationship between variables in collaboration with descriptive statistics. The data collection methods will report specific data points and demographics of students in mechanical and aerospace engineering at LMU. Findings from this study will provide further insight into the implementation of this policy and impart confirmation regarding its objective of increasing graduation rates while attempting to minimize credit hour utilization among students at State of Florida universities.

This study sought to understand the lived experiences of mathematics faculty teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic's rapid shift from on-campus instruction to online education. Faculty are the primary influencers at a college. Their perspectives on the challenges and changes to teaching practices may determine a college's response to improving teaching and learning during a crisis. At the time of the COVID-19 transition, many faculty had no experience creating and teaching an online course, and some had previously been resistant to teaching online. Using a phenomenological approach, nine participants at a large state college were interviewed using the Teacher-Centered Systemic Reform (TCSR) model (Gess-Newsome et al., 2003) as the framework. Five themes emerged from the initial layer of contextual awareness. The themes described participants' inner turmoil based on the pandemic environment and the subsequent changes. The participants described the phenomena in five overlapping themes of emotional context: a) professional emotion challenges, (b) professional learning, (c) pedagogy, (d) teacher culture, and (e) instructional values. The findings revealed a new category to the Teacher-Centered Systemic Reform (TCSR) model, emotional context. The study filled a gap in the literature regarding math faculty experiences and provided recommendations for both faculty and administrators.

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Approaching the concept of voice in the contexts of literary and composition theory and pedagogy, I design a theoretical framework for voice in text informed by the theory of Mikhail Bakhtin and the poetry and letters of Emily Dickinson. I use this framework as a means for bringing into dialogue literary and composition studies, using the concept of voice as a common ground between the fields. Ultimately, the approach to voice in text I advocate in our work as readers, writers, and teachers is centered on dialogue; this voice has qualities of both powerful presence and de-centered multiplicity; it is an engaging voice that speaks from cultural and intellectual borders. Using her letters and poems, I establish Dickinson's approaches to speech and writing as revealing an intense interest in the power of dialogic voice. This appreciation of dialogue links directly to her epistemology (which involves the active engagement of the thinker in the creation of knowledge) and to her poetic project (which involves the active engagement of the reader in the creation of the text). Dickinson's texts engage the reader through her dialogic voice, a voice that consciously reaches backward and forward in response and in question, gaining its power from her positions at intellectual and cultural borders. Between the chapters I include "InterVoicings," close readings of eight of Dickinson's poems and one letter, in which I illustrate the kind of reading my theoretical framework elicits. By describing the challenges of physically voicing Dickinson's texts ("signing" them with intonation), I uncover the dialogues within them--the ways various voices engage one another--and also their silences, silences in which we may speak. Ultimately, I examine the implications of my reading of Dickinson for literary and composition theory and pedagogy. I suggest ways that we as readers, writers and teachers might empower our voices and those of our students by identifying intellectual and cultural borders, and encouraging dialogic--not monologic--forms of discourse and pedagogy.

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of disciplinary background on the leadership styles of academic deans. The researcher conducted a nation-wide survey of academic deans from a wide range of disciplines. Specifically, the study sought to determine whether the disciplinary backgrounds of university deans are reflected in their self-reported actions, decision-making, and role perceptions. Subjects’ disciplines were categorized according to high-consensus and low-consensus fields as well as the pure/applied dichotomy. Four dimensions of organizational leadership (bureaucratic, collegial, political and symbolic) were utilized to define the subjects’ potential cognitive frames. The subjects’ use of cognitive frames were classified into predominantly single-, paired-, or multi-framed approaches. Descriptive statistics, mean comparisons, and logistic regression were utilized to analyze the behaviors and motivations of subjects in the study.

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore how STEM identity development influences the experiences of women STEM faculty who obtained federal grant funding. Data was collected from semi-structured interviews conducted with ten full-time women faculty in STEM employed at U.S. postsecondary institutions who were or were previously lead investigator on a federal grant. Herlihy and Campbell's (2018) socio-cultural-STEM identity theoretical framework informed the data analysis. Findings from the study revealed four primary ways in which participants were positively influenced in STEM including: (a) having supportive interactions with others; (b) being encouraged by others; (c) finding connections with others; and (d) being recognized by others. Participants described navigating challenging experiences, including (a) having negative interactions with others and (b) developing ways to push through challenging experiences to persist in STEM. Results of this study further revealed that participants' grant seeking experiences were influenced by their personal values, with most participants indicating they sought grants for intrinsic reasons. Implications of the results of this study are made for higher education administrators and stakeholders along with recommendations for future research.

This qualitative research study explored the recollections of work-life balance and fatherhood through the reported experiences and reflections of select college presidents. The researcher used a basic narrative research practice which allowed individuals to share their experiences while shedding light on how the individuals see themselves. Six college presidents participated in one-on-one semi structured interviews. The researcher incorporated Clark's Work-family border theory as the framework for this study, which recognized that a working individual largely functions in two separate domains: work and family. The presidents' experiences were examined within this construct and addressed the research question that guided the study: How do male college presidents balance their work and life domains? This study represents a significant addition to the scholarly literature concerning work-life balance experienced by male college presidents as little scholarship exists in this area. The results led to recommendations and implications for college Boards of Trustees, professional development associations, spouses, and partners.

"There are wounds that never show on the body that are deeper and more hurtful than anything that bleeds." -Laurell K. Hamilton, Due to the proximity of working with and engaging students, residence life staff members, have a unique work experience. This functional area of student affairs is responding to myriad student needs. Staff are responding to varying levels of campus emergencies, student illness, and assault (physical or sexual) on a given workday or workweek (Ojo & Thomas, 2012). One study found college students' on-campus lifestyle and routine activities can create opportunities for victimization (Fisher, Sloan, Cullen, Lu, & 1998). What cumulative impact does responding to these victimizations have on residence life staff members? This study will investigate the relationship between the exposures to vicarious trauma, considering emotional intelligence as a mitigating factor to explain job satisfaction of residence life staff members. Taking a closer look at how the continued exposure to victimization of others (in this case students), the individual's job satisfaction provides context to burnout and attrition, specifically in residence life professionals. Understanding how secondary exposure can impact a professional is a concern that has been studied in other professions such as nursing, social work, and mental health counseling. The findings have provided invaluable insight to the professional's experience. This study will attempt to do the same by exploring how these three variables interact with each other, through the use of three scales, Vicarious Trauma Scale (VTS), Genos-Emotional Intelligence Inventory (Genos-I), and Job Satisfaction Scale (JSS).

Women with military experience are attending colleges and universities across the United States. It is important to understand how they describe their experiences as students and how their help-seeking behaviors impact their success (DiRamio & Jarvis, 2011; Baechtold & Da Sawal, 2009). Using Schlossberg's Adult Transition Theory (1981, 1984) as a framework, this qualitative phenomenological study explored the help-seeking behaviors of women student veterans. In addition, the events that caused them to seek help and the resources they utilized are described. The research questions were: (1) Does the prior military experience of women student veterans influence their willingness to seek help? (2) What are the events that cause women student veterans to seek help? And (3) What are the resources that women student veterans utilize? Using Smith, Flowers and Larkin's (2009) Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), this two-phase mixed method design employed a sequential descriptive strategy employing a profile questionnaire and individual semi-structured interviews (N=9). The research identified six themes using Schlossberg's framework (1981, 1984). These six themes were: military influence, transitions, times of distress, tailored support, traditional support and support 'from my own'. The findings of this study provide researchers, student personnel professionals, and military educational constituencies with a foundation for policy and programming that account for the help seeking behaviors women student veterans' exhibit as they transition from the military to college.

Collegiate athletics plays an important role in higher education. As a result of this importance student athletes also play a significant role in higher education. However, due to their athletic responsibilities they face a number of challenges while enrolled in a college or university. An academic advisor for student athletes is responsible for not only helping the student athletes with their academics, they also play an important role in ensuring the eligibility of college student athletes so they are able to compete. As a result, academic advisors for student athletes use a number of tools and resources that help ensure the academic success of the student athletes. This study examined the use of these tools and resources from three institutions in the American Athletic Conference by 14 participants and how they related to the Graduation Success Rate of each institution. In addition, this study highlighted and examined the learning styles of not only the student athlete but also the academic advisor using Kolb's Learning Style Inventory (LSI). The study was quantitative in nature using survey research to answer five research questions. A Chi-Square analysis revealed there was significance between the number of tools and resources used and the Graduation Success Rate. A second Chi-Square revealed there was no significance between the student athletes learning style and the tools and resources used by academic advisors and learning specialists. The study also identified that of Kolb's four learning styles, the student athletes were mainly Accommodators and Divergers. The results of this study suggest that academic advisors and learning specialists should use more tools and resources when working with student athletes to ensure a higher Graduation Success Rate. This study was one of the first to examine the tools and resources used by academic advisors and learning specialist, as well as, the learning styles of student athletes. Future research should continue to investigate the tools and resources used by academic advisors use and the role of the academic level of the student athlete.