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This qualitative phenomenological case study examined the intersection of organizational structures and gender, as well as perceptions of climate, and their collective impact on professional advancement opportunities of women working in lower-level positions in higher education, namely classified and professional staff (Acker, 1990; Allan, 2011; Kanter, 1977). Kanter's (1977) theory of the role of structure in organizations posits that position in the organizational hierarchy and work role influence the amount of access an employee has to information, resources, promotional opportunities, and support. In gendered organizations (Acker, 1990, 2006), women face barriers in advancement. While Kanter (1977) argued that structure not gender creates an imbalance of power within organizations, this study found that both structure and gender bias (Acker, 1990) act as intersecting promotional barriers for women, in particular for women located at the bottom of the hierarchy. Confidential interviews were conducted at two case sites with 10 female professional staff and 10 female classified staff. Findings showed that women in lower-level positions perceive a hostile work climate which perpetuates an us vs. them atmosphere; supervisors hold much power over the perceptions of climate and seem to be the key to access; the sticky-floor is alive and well for women in higher education; and the intersection of gender and position significantly impact women's ability to advance professionally. Methods of improving policy and practice are discussed to include investing in people, shifting values, breaking down the caste system, supervisory training, communication, and career progression plans.

An exploratory case study of three institutions of higher education in the State of Florida and performance-based funding was conducted. The study examined the metrics that determined funding over the years 2014-2020. The study was grounded in Neoliberal Theory and Resource Dependency Theory. Significant findings in this study included: (a) the decline in the percentage of bachelor graduates employed (employment was measured by $25,000 wages after graduation), or continuing their education across all three universities, (b) Student-to-Faculty Ratios (CDS) were a statistically significant predictor of Bachelor's Degrees Awarded (Key Performance Metric), F (1, 13) = 37.76, p < .001., (c) the increase of non-tenure earning over tenure-earning and tenured faculty at all three institutions during the fiscal years 2016-17 to 2020-21, and (d) fewer graduate degrees were awarded in the STEM disciplines over the time investigated. The study affirms the tenets of both Neoliberal Theory and Resource Dependency Theory. The study provided useful information for national performance-based funding programs, the Florida Board of Governors, the Boards of Trustees, and institutional stakeholders. Implications for practice include the need for more transparency and parity in reporting data across databases. Future research should conduct this same study including all of the institutions in the State of Florida.

Digital humanities study applies technological tools to the study of humanities topics and allows for the exploration of new questions in ways that were not possible using traditional research models. Librarians have been active participants of the field since its inception, as they explore new ways to critically engage with information organization and information literacy instruction, and most research that focuses on the intersection between these fields takes place within research universities . In contrast, there is very little research examining digital humanities work at the community college, which primarily offers associate degrees, vocational certificates, and other workforce based training. This dissertation details the results of a nationwide survey of community college librarians and their perception and current engagement of digital humanities. The results indicate that while community college librarians are often knowledgeable about digital humanities subjects, many do not actively participate in digital humanities projects at their institutions because of barriers such as limited staffing, burnout, and the perception of the community college and its students, among others . While digital humanities practice presents multiple opportunities for the community college, practitioners must be mindful of how (and why) they engage in this work to create sustainable and relevant projects.

Enhancing achievement in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) is a long-standing national concern. The current national agenda, to instill an "all hands on deck" approach to creating a STEM literate citizenry, calls for broadening the scope of inclusion in STEM efforts. A critical population, higher education administrators, faculty, and staff are a valuable resource to advancing this agenda. Under the proposed Agenda Setting Communication Theory (ASCT) model developed for this study, their level of exposure to needed information is an important indicator of their potential participation in this agenda. As the leading news medium for the higher education community, the Chronicle of Higher Education was examined, through Content Analysis, to identify the frequency of reporting on STEM education from January 2001 to December 2015, to discern the themes in STEM education which appear in the Chronicle of Higher Education from January 2001 to December 2015, and to determine the frequency of reporting on the need for collaboration in STEM education in the Chronicle of Higher Education during that same period. The results of the Content Analysis indicate that there has been a significant increase in the Chronicle's reporting on STEM education in the past five years. Also, matters relating to the recruitment and retention of underrepresented populations were reported on most frequently. Further, reporting on the need for collaboration did not emerge as a primary theme. These results indicate that while the Chronicle is somewhat participating in reflecting aspects of the national STEM education agenda, it is not yet functioning to advance the breadth of that agenda within the higher education community.

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Through the centuries, institutions of higher education, and the people who labor in those institutions, have helped countless millions to learn—to stretch their boundaries, to think creatively, to find joy in discovery, and to create new knowledge that benefits the world in a myriad of ways. Yet while the knowledge produced through our educational process has transformed the world, the process of teaching and learning within these institutions has remained largely unexplored and unchanged over the centuries (Bass, 2009; Duderstadt, Atkins, & Van Houweling, 2002; Woolsey, 2008). In recent years, the advent and rapid development of information technology has provided us with a previously unimaginable opportunity to rethink how teaching and learning take place in higher education. In order to make the most of potential gains in teaching and learning, academic technology initiatives require both technological and pedagogical expertise. However, while the need for effective collaborations between the groups responsible for these two areas, the Offices of Academic Computing and Centers for Teaching at institutions of higher education has been articulated (Albright & Nworie, 2008; Allison & DeBlois, 2008; Woolsey, 2008), the mechanisms for developing and maintaining such collaborations are not clearly understood (Albright & Nworie, 2008; Ives & Steinbrenner, 2005). In an effort to fill this gap in knowledge, this study focuses on generating a portrait of successful collaborative efforts between academic technology professionals and pedagogical specialists. Using multiple case studies as a methodological approach, this study examines the characteristics of collaboration at three universities, including their history; factors that lead to the successful establishment of collaborations; challenges and barriers and how these are approached; and whether there is evidence that collaborations result in better outcomes in the implementation of academic technology. The study is particularly timely given that information technology is playing an increasingly central role in every aspect of higher education. A better understanding of the characteristics of inter-group collaborations around academic technology, including the barriers to creating effective collaborative relationships, will help institutions respond to the challenge of harnessing technology’s potential to positively transform the process of teaching and learning in contemporary higher education.

Colleges and universities have become increasingly diverse since Brown .v Board of Education requiring that institutions figure out how to manage a more racially diverse student body. Unfortunately, many predominantly White institutions (PWIs) continue to fall short in attending to the specific needs for students of color to feel included and supported. The primary purpose of this study is to learn more about how students of color experience and make meaning of cross-racial relationships in designated multicultural program. I intend to specifically focus on the experiences of students of color who have self-selected to live in a designated multicultural community. To capture individual student stories and realities that illuminate the complexities of how students of color make meaning at a PWI, group and individual interviews will be facilitated during the academic year. Observation/field notes of the community and the use of a group interview will be used to triangulate the data. Qualitative research will provide the greatest opportunity for an in-depth understanding of individual student experiences.

As distance education continues to increase, it is vital that postsecondary institutions contribute time and resources towards upholding inclusive teaching practices that decrease barriers and increase opportunities for diverse student populations. This study examined faculty attitudes and actions surrounding online accommodations and inclusive teaching practices that were based on Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles using the Inclusive Teaching Strategies Inventory (ITSI), which was adapted into the Inclusive Teaching Strategies Inventory-Distance Education (ITSI-DE) to focus on faculty teaching fully online courses. The ITSI-DE measured the following seven constructs: (a) Accommodations, (b) Accessible Course Materials, (c) Course Modifications, (d) Inclusive Lecture Strategies, (e) Inclusive Classroom, (f) Inclusive Assessment, and (g) Disability Law and Concepts (Lombardi et al., 2015). Exploratory factor analyses (EFA) affirmed a five-factor structure for action subscales, and seven-factor structure for attitudinal subscales for the ITSI-DE. The internal consistency calculated for the ITSI-DE was consistent with prior values reported for the ITSI, which ranged from .70 to .85 (Lombardi et al., 2013). A Pearson product moment correlation was performed, which confirmed a statistically significant correlation between faculty attitudes and actions. Next, a multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVA) was performed to examine if significant differences existed between faculty attitudes and actions based on instructional rank, college, age, or gender. Results affirmed statistically significant differences between faculty attitudes and actions based on gender. Lastly, no significant findings were associated with the three chi square test of association that were performed to identify if college, age, or gender influenced preferred methods of training on inclusive teaching practices. Descriptive statistics indicated the largest percentage of faculty preferred to receive information and training on inclusive teaching practices via online methods (46.8%) versus face-to-face methods (34.3%) and hard copy print methods (18.9%).

The purpose of this descriptive research study was to analyze the student recruitment processes employed by The College of William and Mary, one of the Commonwealth of Virginia's foremost public institutions of higher education, to recruit African-American undergraduates. This analysis was completed using Kotler & andreasen's (1991) Systematic Marketing Audit Model--a six-part conceptual framework of marketing for non-profit organizations--to determine the marketing effectiveness of current strategies implemented for the successful recruitment of African-American undergraduates and provide useful guidance to assist admission and financial aid personnel in improving their interpersonal relations with African-American prospects/applicants and their parent(s).;Data were collected from admission/financial aid administrators, financial aid counselors, admission representatives, African-American students, and parents using qualitative research methods that included 114 in-depth interviews and an analysis of historical documents.;Findings revealed that multicultural recruitment processes at The College of William and Mary were generally the same as its competition with campus visitation programs being the most successful method of attracting African-American undergraduates while national college fairs and college search tapes were the least effective. The study also revealed that students relied heavily upon the input of their parent(s) rather than upon the advice of high school guidance counselors and teachers in making a college choice decision. The social climate on campus for students of color, the general financial aid application process, and the availability of support services for students of color were the primary issues and concerns of African-American students and their parent(s). In addition, admission/financial aid representatives of African-American heritage were more desirable for parents than students.;Further, it was the finding of this case study that the African-American undergraduate recruitment strategies of a selective, state-supported four-year university (The College of William and Mary) were not "optimally adapted to the current and forecasted marketing environment" as prescribed by Kotler & andreasen's (1991) Systematic Marketing Audit Model. This first research hypothesis was supported by several weaknesses uncovered that included: (1) little in the way of measuring overall marketing achievement of the current African-American undergraduate recruitment plan to attribute success to the elements that are effective and identifying strategies that do not produce admission results; (2) lack of recruitment objectives that were defined in specific, measurable terms to better enable The College of William and Mary in evaluating its African-American undergraduate recruitment program; and (3) limited research conducted to determine if the marketing effort is "optimally structured to meet the demands" of a changing student market environment.;Consequently, the results of the case study did support the second hypothesis--if Kotler & andreasen's (1991) Systematic Marketing Audit Model reveals main marketing problem areas facing The College of William and Mary, then it will be possible to recommend various initiatives to improve the institution's overall efforts to attract African-American undergraduates.;The case study offers several recommendations for improving the current African-American undergraduate recruitment program and suggestions for future research.