The purpose of the study was to investigate the associations between first-time full-time freshmen's attributes and fall-to-fall retention at Northeast State Technical Community College. The 15 attributes included age, first-generation student status, gender, high school classification, race, the student's application date to the institution relative to the start of the semester, the 4 ACT test sub-scores, remedial/developmental course placement, major program of study, financial aid status, first-semester grade point average, and end-of-first-semester credit hour enrollment status. In addition to collecting the variables under study, each first-time full-time freshman's entry term and enrollment status for the subsequent fall semester was ascertained. This information was used to categorize individuals into persister and non-persister classifications for the subsequent fall. The data for this longitudinal study were housed in Northeast State's student records database, Student Information System. A preliminary analysis of the data was conducted to ascertain descriptive statistics. Chi Square and independent samples t tests were used to determine if there was an association between each variable and fall-to-fall retention. A multiple linear regression model was used to estimate the effect of the predictor variables upon the criterion variable, fall-to-fall retention. The results indicated that the variables of age, first-generation student status, gender, and race were not significantly related to fall-to-fall retention, while high school classification, application date, the 4 ACT sub-scores, remedial/developmental course placement, major program of study, financial aid award, first-semester grade point average, and end-of-semester credit hour enrollment status were significantly related to fall-to-fall retention. A multiple linear regression model indicated that the greatest influences upon fall-to-fall retention when researching the collective predictor variables were first-semester grade point average,the number of remedial/developmental courses required,the number of hours in which the student was formally enrolled in at the end of the first semester,an application date greater than or equal to 61 days prior to the start of the fall semester,receipt of financial aid in the form of Pell Grant funds only (negative association),associate of applied science student status (negative association), andGED graduate (negative association).

According to the Center for American Progress, women make up 52% of all professional-level jobs, however, they only make up 14.6% of executive officers, 8.1% of top salary earners, and only 4.6% of Fortune 500 CEOs. Considering this disparity in leadership, it brings to question if women are generally taking on leadership throughout their lives. The purpose of this study was to examine how mentorship affects first-time female freshmen’s willingness to take on leadership opportunities. Data were collected from three mentees and three mentors through an initial interest survey, semi-structured personal interviews, and the 3D Wisdom Scale Assessment. Data were analyzed using a ground theory approach which consisted of open, axial, and selective coding; leading to a discursive set of theoretical propositions. Interviews focused on the mentee’s experience through the mentorship program, and the mentor’s perspective of the mentorship program on their mentees. Additionally, the 3D Wisdom Scale developed was utilized to evaluate growth in wisdom dimensions which directly correlated to personal construct corollaries. The findings of the study included: 1) The mentees and mentors expressed growth in their self-esteem and self-confidence. This increase in self-awareness led to a willingness to take risk and face potential failure; 2) Leadership development took place on several levels; 3) The mentees had a realization of the impact of their gender; 4) Two-thirds of the mentees showed a substantial understanding and practice in all three of respective corollaries; and 5) The mentees and mentors displayed general development and growth. The substantive theory that emerged from this grounded theory study was: ‘Through proper mentorship, a first-time female freshman’s’ self-esteem and willingness to take on leadership opportunities will increase.’ Unlike the majority of upperclassmen who have had a mentor, all of the freshmen participating never had a mentor prior to their participation in the program. Mentors played a substantial role in the development of these freshmen and their willingness to take on leadership opportunities. Recommendations for further research include a longitudinal study examining if these freshmen continue to involve themselves in leadership opportunities throughout their college career.

First-year community college students are often from underrepresented groups who are unaccustomed to voicing their needs or to being recognized for having more and varied needs than other groups. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to gain an understanding of the factors that may engender or prevent success through listening to what first-year community college students have to say. Research questions addressed what students identified as challenges and successes during their first year and how first person accounts can contribute to the information college personnel need to understand. Human development theories and models of student persistence informed this study. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 12 18 to 24 year-old first-year community college students from a midatlantic state in the United States. Data were analyzed for themes related to challenges of time management, academic expectations, and balancing the demands of school, life, and work. Students who were interviewed remained attached to their families, worked full or part time, may have had less than optimal learning skills for college material, and did not ask for help regarding academic or financial matters. This study contributes to positive social change by adding qualitative findings to the understanding of the multiple and complicated challenges that traditionally-aged community college students face in persisting in postsecondary education. Using this information, college personnel can design programs to introduce incoming students to services that will promote success.

The purpose of this study is to attempt to determine and evaluate the swimming abilities of the male freshman students of the Utah State Agricultural College. A method of classification will be used to determine and evaluate the swimming abilities of these students. It is assumed that a check list can be used to determine swimming abilities. The method of determining the swimming abilities will be of value as a quick way of classifying entering students. The classifications will be valuable as bases for swimming instruction.

The purpose of the present investigation was to determine the relationship between worldview, student academic confidence, and satisfaction with advising. More specifically, this study examines the relationship among level of advising satisfaction, worldviews of students, and the student's perceived style of advising received. The findings of this study indicate that a positive relationship exists between developmental advising and advising satisfaction. The results suggest that overall student characteristics such as gender and self-confidence are not as relevant to advising satisfaction as the style of advising used by the faculty or advisor. Furthermore, this study supports findings by Coll and Zalaquett (in press) and Coll and Draves (in press) who suggest that overall student worldviews are not a function of gender or age but may be more closely related to individual experiences.

This thesis investigates first-year students� challenges in making sense of the learning and teaching environment during their first semester at university. The aims for the research are threefold. Firstly, mapping the range of challenges students at one university faced in their learning and teaching environments in the first semester. Secondly, developing a greater understanding of those challenges. Thirdly, identifying what educational initiatives the university could consider that might assist students to meet those challenges. The challenges were examined in the context of changes in higher education. My interest and motivation for this research project concerns improved practices in the first-year teaching and learning environment, rather than improved students. This means that I did not look for deficits within students, but for indications of what helps or does not help students� introduction to the new environment of academia. By mapping students� challenges in the first semester, I hope to contribute to the understanding of academic staff of the range of challenges students have to deal with. The interpretation of the results and my line of argument are partly influenced and shaped by the theoretical framework of academic literacies, and the notion of de-familiarisation. For this project, two data sources were used. The first source was data from a survey carried out in May 2004 amongst students enrolled in 100-level courses. The second source was data from interviews conducted with first-year students in the same year. In considering the analysis as a whole, a number of key issues could be discerned. These related to communication, academic skills, access to resources and help, and engagement and connection. The results showed that some of these issues had less to do with educational practices, and more to do with contested understandings of the nature of university education, and the nature of students now entering university. I argue that underlying these issues there are contentious questions of who should adjust or adapt to whom: students to the university, or the university to students? Students� reported experiences further suggest that some teachers seemed more aware than others that first-year students face particular challenges. Students did not consider their experiences as reflective of the university as a whole. The university was experienced as an institution with divergent ways of organising courses, of valuing aspects of university learning, and of interpreting seemingly similar things. This suggests that where students experienced challenges, these were not necessarily a function of students� characteristics, or students� attitudes to studying, but of particular course environments. The overall picture that presents itself, then, is that there are challenges that could be considered unnecessary. Whereas few students would experience all of the challenges identified in the results chapters, I argue that there are some aspects that warrant improvement. Improvement initiatives in first-year education, however, are not necessarily considered important by all academic staff. This is another contested issue in universities. A more explicit introduction of first-year students to academia as a range of heterogeneous communities would respond to first-year students� needs for familiarisation and clarity, as well as reflect some of the values that universities could be said to espouse. Successful interventions in first-year education, however, will also depend on ongoing dialogue with staff about various contested issues, the changed and changing context of higher education, and related challenges and opportunities.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of two models, namely an adaptable wellness programming model and an action research model, when creating and administering a stress management initiative for campus recreation settings that will have a positive effect on freshmen participants at the University of Tennessee. Eight freshmen from the University of Tennessee (6 females, 2 males) volunteered to complete a five week stress management initiative entitled the FROSH! (FResh Out of Stress, & Healthy!) Program which was based upon action research methodology. Program participants completed an exit interview and exit interview questionnaire after the program to determine if their levels of perceived stress had changed and to measure the effect that the program had on each individual. The Perceived Stress Scale was also administered before and after the program to detect any changes in perceived stress levels that participants experienced, but the sample size was too small to detect any significant changes in perceived stress levels. E. T. Stringer’s Categorizing and Coding procedure was used to decode responses from all meetings as well as from the exit interviews. Results indicate that the FROSH! Program was rewarding in various ways for participants, and 86% of participants said that their stress levels had lowered by the conclusion of the program. All participants thought that setting weekly goals was helpful in lowering their stress levels. Furthermore, the revised adaptable program model was perceived to be successful in creating the stress management initiative. It is recommended to increase the number of participants for future programs, and also to test the success of such action research-based wellness programs in campus recreation centers.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2005. / Bibliography: leaves 67-72.

The purposes of the study were to: 1) evaluate health knowledge competencies, 2) assess health skills, and 3) determine interrelationships among health knowledge, health skills, and self-reported behavioral demographic variables for Oregon entry-level college freshmen who had graduated from Oregon schools. An instrument, the "Health Education Survey," was developed with the assistance of two Delphi panels, consisting of (1) nationally known health educators and (2) recognized Oregon health educators. The first panel contributed to the health knowledge competency part of the survey, including issues of community health, consumer health, environmental health, family life, mental and emotional health, injury prevention and safety, nutrition, personal health, prevention and control of disease, and substance use and abuse. The second panel contributed to the health skills part of the survey, including safe-living, stressor/risk-taking management, physical fitness, and nutrition, as defined by the Oregon Department of Education. Based upon health information derived from the first two parts, the third survey section considered various demographic and behavioral variables, including substance use, eating habits, and physical fitness. The data derived from administration of the survey were evaluated by criterion- referenced and empirical (analysis of variance, t-test, chi-square) measurements at the .05 alpha level of significance. Data analysis disclosed that: 1) the subjects did not meet the 85% mastery standard for criterion-referenced measures for any of the health knowledge competencies or essential health skills; 2) there were significant differences among the subjects for the content areas of consumer health and the health skills of safe-living, physical fitness, and nutrition, as well as the behavioral areas of marijuana use, fitness level, and wearing auto seatbelts; and 3) gender differences existed for the content areas of family life and nutrition. From analysis of the research findings, it was recommended that there is need for additional collaboration among secondary school health educators, education and health agencies, and appropriate higher education personnel to improve the health knowledge and skill needs of Oregon students. It was suggested that cooperative efforts at the secondary and university level to form coordinated, on-going evaluation and research projects would be one means to achieve this goal. / Graduation date: 1992

The purpose of this research is to see if the peer mentors make a difference in the leadership development of students, their feelings about peer mentors, the Leadership Living Learning Community, and their acclimation to Texas A&M University. Leadership is defined as an interaction between members of a group in which individuals, in the name of the group, act as agents of change, persons whose acts affect other people more than other peoples’ actions affect them. The five leadership skills studied were working in groups, positional leadership, communication, decision-making, and understanding self. A post-then methodology was utilized with self-reporting as the process by which data was collected following completion of an academic leadership learning community. The findings from years one and two participants were computed individually and then compared to see if the addition of peer mentors during the second year yielded any significant findings. The major findings for this study were as follows: Year one participants in the learning community indicated improved leadership skills after participation in the learning community for the first semester, as measured by the Leadership Skills Inventory. In addition, year two participants in the learning community indicated a similar increase of leadership skills after the first semester. Year one participants indicated a more statistically significant increase when compared to year two on their leadership skills on the individual questions, while year two participants were found to have more statistically significant findings relating to the five leadership skills or Leadership Skills Inventory scales. Responses by year two participants indicated that the peer mentors who helped them were supportive, gave positive feedback, were good role models, were knowledgeable about Texas A&M University, were easy to communicate with, and did not use peer pressure to persuade them to do anything negative.