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While the number of individuals in the United States between the ages of 25-44 with a bachelor’s degree has been increasing, so too has the number of individuals who have started college and dropped out. Higher education has numerous societal and individual benefits that are not being actualized because there are simply not enough individuals with bachelor’s degrees in this country. Nontraditional students (NTS) are entering higher education at increasing rates but at higher risk for drop-out; therefore, it is essential to learn more about this population to improve their rates of persistence. This study examines the life experiences of 35 NTS accepted to a bachelor’s degree program in a college of continuing education. This is a bounded case study of a specific group of students that utilized a content analysis of their application essays to understand their sentiments when (re)entering higher education. Themes stemming from the research questions, essay prompt, and theoretical lens were explored but allowed for others to emerge as well. Applicants shared many personal life experiences that contributed to their goals and motivations for achieving a bachelor's degree. Ambitions for earning a bachelor’s degree were spread across the personal and professional realms, including both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations. Most applicants had previously attended college prior to applying to CCE while two were applying to college for the first time. Twenty-one of the 35 applicants demonstrated a clear progression to self-authorship. This study has numerous implications for practice for admissions and various student support departments on campus. Through the collaboration of these offices, institutions can create a continuity of care surrounding these students and champion them to a degree. / Educational Administration

The objectives of this study were to measure and describe the overall satisfaction of Hispanics/Latinos with services they receive from Chesterfield County's Health Department and compare it to that of African Americans and Caucasians. Also, the objectives were to analyze reasons for different levels of satisfaction, assess the nature and degree of satisfaction with particular services, and suggest implications of the Hispanic/Latino opinions for public policy. While the empirical literature revealed that Hispanics/Latinos experience lower levels of satisfaction with health care services, this study did not provide evidence to support this theory.This is a multi-method non-experimental research design combining a cross-sectional design and qualitative interviews. Quantitative data was collected through a patient satisfaction survey, in both English and Spanish, incorporating both closed and open-ended questions. Qualitative data was collected through taped in-depth interviews conducted with each subject to obtain their perspective on the services provided by the Health Department.The Spanish and English research instrument (Appendix C and D) was a self-designed survey to provide a more comprehensive approach to assess customer satisfaction of health services, collect demographic information, and determine how to better deliver these services. The survey consisted of 46 questions (and several follow-up questions) with 23 questions pertaining to the six satisfaction dimensions. These dimensions were measured by a Likert-type response scale ranging from strongly agrees to strongly disagree.Item identification was based on suggestions offered by staff of Chesterfield County's Health Department, theoretical concepts introduced in the literature review and miscellaneous information adapted from the following surveys: The Connecticut Surgical Group - Patient Satisfaction Survey (2004); SERVQUAL--an instrument for measuring quality service (1990); and The Patient's View on Health Care by RAND and UMQC (1994). Authors of these surveys suggest satisfaction be assessed across the following dimensions: reliability, responsiveness, competence, access, courtesy, communication, credibility, security, understanding/knowledge of the customer, and tangibles (appearance of physical facilities). Data were collected from 166 non-Hispanic/Latino and 90 Hispanic/Latino patients that were 18 years of age or older and receive services, at Chesterfield County, Virginia's Health Department. The independent variables were sex, age, level of school completed, income, marital status, children, ethnic background, ability to speak English, modes of transportation, and length of residency in Chesterfield County, Virginia. Dependent variables in the analyses included the six dimensions of satisfaction--staff reliability, staff responsiveness, staff courtesy, staff communication, access to Health Department services, and Health Department Facilities. The data were analyzed through several inferential statistical techniques--univariate, bivariate, multivariate, and nonparametric.Results of the tests indicated that overall, ethnic background only influenced satisfaction with services across two dimensions--staff responsiveness and staff courtesy. However, there were noted differences in the measured levels of satisfaction across the racial/ethnic groups. This study also found that valid comparisons can be made among Hispanics/Latinos, African Americans, and Caucasians on their levels of satisfaction using the 23 measures. Population characteristics had no influence on the differences in satisfaction among the racial ethnic/groups. Results of the in-depth interview revealed that respondents were satisfied with the services as well as the quality of the services provided by the Health Department.

The purpose of this research study was to investigate the phenomenon of the conflicting roles, such as parent, spouse, employee, caregiver, and community member/volunteer, associated with the lives of nontraditional college students and to reveal how these conflicting role obligations influence these students' persistence toward the attainment of an undergraduate degree. This study provides a brief history of adult education in the United States as well as the study context, a continuing studies division of a privately endowed research institution located in the southern United States. The participants in this study were nontraditional students who were also recent graduates of this continuing studies unit. This study drew upon the literature of nontraditional students in higher education, as well as literature on role theory, adult development theory, adult learning theory, and student persistence theory. This study used a phenomenological qualitative approach as a means of discovering the lived experiences of nontraditional students as these experiences relate to the conflicting roles of nontraditional students and their decision to persist toward the attainment of a bachelor's degree. Several important findings were discovered. In order to negotiate their conflicting roles, these students used several strategies as a means of helping them to balance their roles. This study also found several motivational factors that prompted nontraditional students to pursue a bachelor's degree at this time in their lives. The obstacles and challenges that these students confronted were also revealed, and in order to overcome these obstacles and challenges these students relied on several support systems. The reputation and prestige of this university was also found to be an important factor in the students' decision to attend college at this stage in their lives. Additionally, the various forms of assistance that this continuing studies unit provided encouraged students to persist.

With over two thirds of high school graduates going on to pursue postsecondary options after high school and over one fourth at 4-year institutions and nearly half at 2-year schools never reaching their sophomore year, it is evident that the transition from high school to college is a broken one for many students. There has been a nationwide call to redefine the senior year of high school and rethink the transition from secondary to postsecondary education. Aligned with this plea, Walters State Community College began an initiative, the Freshman Experience program, to ease some of the strains associated with the transition process and, in 1993, began offering this course to high school seniors. The program was expanded and offered to seniors at 23 high schools in a rural 10-county service delivery area in East Tennessee. The purpose of this study was to determine whether students who completed a freshman experience course while still in high school engaged in more actions that positively impact retention than did those who had not had such a course prior to college enrollment. The study included 1,391 students, 550 who completed the course at the high school level and 841 who completed the course during their 1st semester of college enrollment. Chi-square analysis of the data was conducted to investigate 6 variables. The major findings were that high school freshman experience completers (a) made application for college earlier, (b) earned significantly more advanced studies credits, (c) had significantly fewer absences during their 1st semester of college, (d) had significantly fewer course withdrawals, (e) had significantly fewer course failures, and (f) had significantly higher cumulative GPAs at the end of the 1st semester than did the postsecondary program completers. Based on the findings of this study, the implementation of a freshman experience course or similar program serves to positively impact the transition of high school seniors to the postsecondary environment. These results confirm the need for high schools and postsecondary institutions to work together to provide students with a seamless transition in an effort to increase student retention and program completion.

Because most academic advisement programs were established to accomodate traditional student populations, it was the purpose of this study to compare the effectiveness of these systems as perceived by traditional and non-traditional undergraduate students at three of Tennessee's regional universities. Traditional and non-traditional students were also compared on the extent to which they exhibit self-directed learning. A comparison of mean scores was made for responses made to items contained in the American College Testing (ACT) Survey of Academic Advising, including the total mean score for the Oddi Continuing Learning Inventory (OCLI) between traditional/non-traditional students, full-time/part-time students, students at the three universities, males/females, students of different races, and married/unmarried students. There were no significant differences found as to the perception of overall advisement effectiveness between traditional/non-traditional students, full-time/part-time students, students at the three universities, males/females, students of different races, or married/unmarried students. However, differences were found among the groups. Part-time students were more satisfied with the performance of their advisors in relation to various questions than full-time students. Non-traditional students were generally more satisfied with their personal relationship with their advisors and also obtained a higher mean score on the OCLI than traditional students. Significant differences were found among students responding from the three universities to questions regarding advisor availability, referrals by advisors, and the initiation of meetings on the part of the advisor. It is recommended that academic advisement programs be evaluated on a continuing basis and that advisors be made available to meet the needs of various groups represented in each college, especially part-time and non-traditional students. It is also recommended that more research be conducted relative to the various groups that presently make up student populations as to possible correlation between various individual and group characteristics that might impact academic advisement. Included in those additional studies could be examination of differences of perceived advisement between students at various types and sizes of institutions as well as a comparison of perceived advisement effectiveness between institutions having various student/advisor ratios. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.)

Product placement has been intensely studied in almost every mass communications medium. One notable exception is in children's picture books where scholarship on the placement of products and brands has been severely underserved despite a steady presence in a medium integral to socialization and society. The present study recognizes the unique characteristics of the shared reading that takes place in this medium and explores its effects on memory for and attitudes toward product placements within children's picture books. Using a laboratory experiment, quantitative statistical analysis of resulting data, and qualitative exploration of themes resulting from subjects' responses, the present study demonstrates that the practice of shared reading positively affects both recollection and attitudes toward product placement in children's picture books. It also discusses the results in the context of their ethical and practical applications and implications.

An increase in nontraditional student enrollment continues in community colleges nationwide. Little is known about the interactions between mixed-age groups of students. This qualitative collective case study explored the academic and social influences of non-traditional students on their traditional peers in the community college classroom at a large, midwestern 2-year college. Tinto's interactionalist theory framed the study. Purposeful sampling was used to select 30 participants (13 traditional students, 13 non-traditional students, and 4 instructors) who represented the college population in terms of gender and racial and ethnic diversity. Interview questions were guided by the research questions, and data were also analyzed through inductive analysis. Data were hand-coded and a constant comparative method was used to categorize data into common themes. Findings indicated that non-traditional students play a positive role in community college classrooms. They serve as mentors to their traditional classmates, building relationships and sharing life and work experiences, as well as positive behaviors that contribute to traditional students' overall success. The positive influences the data revealed from interactions between nontraditional and traditional students included improvement in learning, retention, engagement, and confidence. Findings contributed to social change as nontraditional students' influence on traditional students could serve as a catalyst for practices that will benefit all community college students.

Many administrators and faculty within higher education institutions have grappled with identifying and employing effective strategies to facilitate student success and persistence. The current study focuses on assessing nontraditional students' self-efficacy beliefs and their perception of the orientation program at a 2-year continuing education program in a Caribbean nation. The study is important as the findings have the potential to increase nontraditional students' persistence and learning. Bandura's social cognitive theory and the theory of self-efficacy served as the theoretical frameworks of this sequential mixed-methods design study. The quantitative research questions examined the reported self-efficacy levels of 77 participants and nonparticipants in the orientation program. The qualitative research questions focused on 10 nontraditional students' perceptions of how the orientation program they participated in impacted their ability to complete and succeed in their course of study. A survey that combined 2 preestablished instruments was used in the quantitative phase and follow-up face-to-face interviews for the qualitative phase of the study. A ttest analysis showed no statistically significant difference between the self-efficacy of participants and nonparticipants in the focal orientation program. A pattern coding of the interviews revealed 5themes from the qualitative phase, ranging from nontraditional students' challenges to self-efficacy and persistence in the program. A policy recommendation in the form of a white paper was used to convey the findings of this study to the major stakeholders at the target institution. The recommendations from the study may contribute to positive social change as they can improve nontraditional students' performance, increase completion rates at the institution, and positively impact economic growth of the wider community.