Much research has shown that regular physical activity influences both physiological and psychological health. More specifically, physical activity positively impacts wellbeing, across physical, emotional and social wellness. Furthermore, group-based physical activity has been linked to increasing adherence to an exercise protocol as well as improving social connectedness. For college students, collegiate recreation facilities are the main providers of physical activity services and programming for the campus population to utilize. In the collegiate recreation literature, several university studies have pointed out that students who participate in their recreational facilities and programs have benefited from positive feelings of wellbeing. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact that Virginia Tech Recreational Sports' group-based fitness programming has on Virginia Tech students' overall wellbeing. Wellbeing was defined by six dimensions: career (or sense of purpose), social, financial, community, physical and emotional. This study used a concurrent explanatory mixed methods design, composed of a brief cross-sectional survey and focus groups. This work simultaneously contributes to collegiate recreation by providing evidence that students who utilize facilities and programs have higher perceptions of wellbeing as well as highlighting suggested strategies for improvement including resource limitations and communication barriers. Finally, in terms of group fitness and wellbeing, this thesis provides preliminary evidence that those who participate in collegiate group exercise programs have higher perceptions of physical and social wellbeing. / Master of Science / Regular physical activity influences both physical and mental health. More specifically, physical activity positively impacts wellbeing, across physical, emotional and social wellness. Furthermore, group-based physical activity has been linked to increasing adherence to an exercise protocol as well as improving social connectedness. For college students, collegiate recreation facilities are the main providers of physical activity services and programming for the campus population to utilize. In the collegiate recreation literature, several university studies have pointed out that students who participate in their recreational facilities and programs have benefited from positive feelings of wellbeing. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact that Virginia Tech Recreational Sports' group-based fitness programming has on Virginia Tech students' overall wellbeing. Wellbeing was defined by six dimensions: career (or sense of purpose), social, financial, community, physical and emotional. This study used a concurrent explanatory mixed methods design, composed of a brief cross-sectional survey and focus groups. This work simultaneously contributes to collegiate recreation by providing evidence that students who utilize facilities and programs have high perceptions of wellbeing as well as highlighting suggested strategies for improvement related to access, programs, variety and communication. Finally, in terms of group fitness and wellbeing, this thesis provides preliminary evidence that those who participate in collegiate group exercise programs have higher perceptions of physical and social wellbeing.

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand entry-level, live-in residence life professionals' experiences of resilience in the workplace. Resilience is a multilevel, biopsychosocial construct that broadly refers one's ability to maintain or improve positive function in response to adversity (Cicchetti, 2010; Masten and Wright, 2010). Workplace resilience is specifically concerned with such adaptive processes and outcomes in response to job stress. Resilience research has been conducted primarily from a post-positivist, diagnostic perspective that has failed to give attention to the diverse experiences of resilience in different contexts. This study was conducted using a constructivist perspective to develop an understanding of workplace resilience in the unique context of live-in residence life work in institutions of higher education where job stress, burnout, and attrition occur at high rates. Ten participants were purposefully selected through expert referral for two 90-minute, in-depth interviews to discuss their history, experiences, and reflections regarding adversity and resilience in the workplace. Data were analyzed inductively to discover themes regarding resilience for residence life professionals. Findings illuminated participant experiences of workplace adversity and resilience, as well as participant beliefs about themselves and the nature and role of resilience in the workplace context. Discussion of findings resulted in four primary conclusions: (a) adversity and resilience coexist in balance with each other; (b) resilience can be learned, as well as lost; (c) resilience is personal and experienced uniquely by individuals; and (d) resilience is a systems issue that is promoted through partnership. Implications for future policy, practice, and research were discussed. / Ph. D. / Entry-level residence life professionals living where they work experience high rates of job stress, burnout, and attrition. These individual concerns also create challenges for organizational effectiveness. Many studies have uncovered factors related to these issues, but few have considered what promotes perseverance in the face of such adversity. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand entry-level, live-in residence life professionals’ experiences of workplace resilience, a construct that broadly refers one’s ability to maintain or improve positive function in response to adversity in the workplace. This study was conducted with a constructivist approach to understand the individual experiences of diverse participants. Ten participants engaged in two individual 90-minute, indepth interviews to discuss their history, experiences, and reflections regarding adversity and resilience in the workplace. Data were analyzed inductively to discover themes regarding resilience for residence life professionals. Findings illuminated participant experiences of workplace adversity and resilience, as well as participant beliefs about themselves and the nature and role of resilience in the workplace context. Discussion of findings resulted in four primary conclusions: (a) adversity and resilience coexist in balance with each other; (b) resilience can be learned, as well as lost; (c) resilience is personal and experienced uniquely by individuals; and (d) resilience is a systems issue that is promoted through partnership. Implications of these findings suggest that individual and organizational outcomes of adversity and resilience are intertwined, and further understanding and promotion of workplace resilience in this setting could be mutually beneficial by contributing to improved employee wellbeing and performance.

Higher education had been one of the highest funding priorities in most states, however, in recent years, governors and state legislators have focused their efforts in higher education on cutting budgets to deal with historic gaps in revenue. As a result, university administrators have been challenged to modify their institutions’ academic programs, administrative units, and student affairs operations to contain costs and increase revenue. This study examined the extent of financial challenges faced in student affairs divisions at four-year, state-supported institutions during the period between 2008 and 2012 and the strategies utilized by senior student affairs officers to manage them. A researcher-developed online survey instrument was used to collect data from senior student affairs officers at four-year, public institutions of higher education which were members of Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education (NASPA). The questionnaire was designed to gather information regarding the impact of institutional financial constraints on student affairs units and the resulting student service area changes, funding shifts, and leadership engagement and knowledge in budgeting. Descriptive statistics and a thematic analysis were used to examine the data which showed that, while student affairs units had experienced decreases in institutional support during the timeframe investigated, university financial constraints did not have a significant impact on eliminating or creating student affairs services. The student affairs services most often reduced were career development, college or student unions, and dean of students. Findings also indicated counseling and psychological services, recreation and fitness programs, residence life and housing, and disability support services were most frequently increased. The most frequent shift in student affairs funding to mitigate fiscal stress was through internal reallocation followed by establishing or increasing a mandatory or user fee. Counseling and psychological services, health services, college or student unions, and recreation and fitness programs were services most frequently identified as experiencing a funding change. The results encourage senior student affairs officers to find a balance of new funding opportunities while also being effective and efficient with reductions to programs and services.

In higher education, the field of student affairs, as demonstrated in previous research, suffers from high turnover, and often, the choice to leave the student affairs field seems to coincide with starting a family and simultaneously taking care of elder family members. Previous research has demonstrated that care-giving commitments hinder women in the advancement of their career and given the changing culture of shared care-giving responsibilities, the previous findings may now be true for men as well. This study focused on Caucasian male middle managers’ perceptions of the student affairs work environment in relation to their families and workplace supportiveness and advancement. I interviewed eight Caucasian, male student affairs middle managers about their perceptions about workplace supportiveness of family obligations in the student affairs field. The participants placed high importance on family and were no longer willing to risk family life for career success. All eight men talked fondly of their family obligations and were willing to change career paths to demonstrate how much they valued their families. In addition, these men frequently commented on the desire to represent cultural change. Therefore, student affairs divisions should implement supportive informal benefits across the board to all professional full time employees for increasing long term stability in the field of student affairs.

The purpose of this collective case study was to discover the decision-making processes used by senior student affairs officers when making wicked decisions related to the retention of specialized, at-risk student populations. Wicked decisions are complex, resistant to resolutions, lead to other problems, and are essentially unique. In this study, decisions related to retention of Black males; students with mental health issues; and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer student retention fall within the wicked problem category and were the focus of this study. These decisions are usually the responsibility of divisions of student affairs in higher education settings and the senior student affairs officer. Hence, the senior student affairs officer is tasked with making responsible and effective decisions that foster the success of all students. This dissertation focused on the decision-making processes, practices, and procedures student affairs officers use to support the retention of select special populations served in higher education. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2017. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

The purpose of this study is to compare the perceptions of two groups of student personnel administrators (chief student affairs officers or deans of students and directors of student activities) with respect to current and expected student activity fee policies and procedures in four-year public institutions of higher education in the United States. The comparison is based on the demographic variables of position held, number of years experience in student personnel administration, and geographical location of the institutions by region.

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In the contemporary landscape of fraternity and sorority life (SFL), where National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) organizations operate alongside Panhellenic and Interfraternity Council (IFC) groups, Black sorority and fraternity life professionals have become essential to the field. However, Black student affairs professionals in sorority and fraternity life encounter incidents of racism’s permanence, embedded into the foundations of the sorority and fraternity life system. Therein lies a struggle for Black SFL professionals who are regularly and systematically harmed by the institutions they are charged with sustaining. This study’s purpose was to examine Black student affairs professionals’ experiences and narratives with racialized incidents and how this informs their perceptions of sorority and fraternity life. The research question that guided this study was: How have Black student affairs professionals’ in sorority and fraternity life experiences and narratives with racialized incidents informed their perceptions of sorority and fraternity life? The literature review focuses on Black student affairs professionals' experiences with racialized incidents and the history of sorority and fraternity life. Critical Race Theory served as this study's theoretical framework, focusing on counter narrative as a theory. The use of a counter narrative amplified the voice of 12 participants to share their narratives of and experiences with racialized incidents in sorority and fraternity life and their perceptions of the field. Four themes presented in this study made participants question a) the disillusionment of trust in a system built to harm; b) the white and racist legacy of sorority and fraternity life; c) the significance of #BlackLivesMatter and the Trump presidency on racialized incidents in sorority and fraternity life; and d) recognition that Black students need Black SFL professionals, and their faith keeps them. Additional research is necessary to address racialized incidents in sorority and fraternity life and find ways to put procedures and policies in place in the aftermath of racialized incidents that harm Black SFL professionals. Black student affairs professionals in sorority and fraternity life did not create this broken system. They should not be the ones expected to fix it on their own.