Career development is a component of the work of both school counselors and counselor educators. A review of the literature found no existing comparison of between-rural differences in career self-efficacy and college outcome expectation when considering students from rural fringe, rural distant, and rural remote communities. Utilizing Social Cognitive Career Theory and Critical Pedagogy of Place as guiding theoretical frameworks, this study sought to examine between-rural differences in self-efficacy and outcome expectation. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to analyze data collected from rural college students attending a large Appalachian research university. Regression and path analysis were used to make causal inferences from the data. The mixed-method exploratory study utilized a convergent design where qualitative data was concurrently collected and analyzed to provide context to the quantitative findings. The findings show that while no statistically significant between-group differences existed with outcome expectation, rural remote students had lower self-efficacy scores than other rural students, particularly relating to social skills. Large group social skills and social adjustment to college could be valuable areas of intervention for school counselors and higher education administrators looking to improve college outcomes for rural remote students. / Doctor of Philosophy / Career and college preparation are key components to the work of school counselors and higher education administrators. While a review of the literature shows that the career development needs of rural students are different than their non-rural peers, there has been no examination of the differences that exist between rural groups. This study looked at differences in career development among rural students who had grown up in various levels of remoteness. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used to determine if any differences exist and what those differences are. The results showed that students from more remote areas had lower levels of confidence in their ability to succeed academically in college. Additionally, social skills were a common theme when exploring what areas of transition were difficult for rural students.

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Master of Science / Special Education, Counseling, and Student Affairs / Christy D. Moran / With increased attention related to internationalization and intercultural learning within higher education, increasing numbers of college students are participating in international cross-cultural activities. Participants in short-term international Christian mission experiences are increasing dramatically. These students frequently participate in such activities during the course of their college career and subsequently experience reentry issues during their readjustment back into college life. This report reviews literature and student comments related to the reentry experiences of the growing college population of short-term international Christian mission participants. What follows is a review of various explanations of the reentry phenomenon related to socio-psychological, expectation, systems, identity formation, and grief theories. College adjustment and support literature, as it relates to student retention, is explored along with reentry services and practices associated with student affairs, international program offices, and collegiate Christian campus ministries or colleges. Student affairs professionals have a strategic role to play by intervening with students returning from short-term international experiences. By providing personal and programmatic support for students readjusting to American culture, we have the opportunity to assist students integrate what they have learned from their global experience into the development of individual identities, values, and behaviors. There are substantive educational, spiritual, social, and psychological reasons given from the literature to justify a level of intervention, unique and appropriate for each individual institution, from student life professionals directed towards supporting college students as they return from short-term international Christian mission experiences. This review highlights the need for more extensive in depth studies seeking to understand the relationship between interpersonal and programmatic support and the learning process of college students as they go through the reentry experience.

The purpose of this study was to analyze the organizational structures and staffing patterns in campus activities offices or operations within selected institutions. These institutions were selected from the membership of the National Association of Campus Activities (NACA) during the 1994-95 academic year which are also public, Master's (Comprehensive) Universities and Colleges I and II institutions. Focus was placed on identifying the sizes and types of the campus activities departments at the institutions surveyed. A survey was developed and administered to a population of 355 institutions. The data from 269 (76%) responses were then carefully analyzed. Frequency analysis produced a number of revelations about dominant staffing patterns, titles, and size. Analysis indicated that there is a relationship between organizational structure and its staffing pattern in small institutions. A direct relationship was identified between the size and type of the staff and use of technology. There was no relationship between the funding base and staffing patterns or between organizational departmental structures and the size of the departmental budgets. Further, no relationships between organizational structure and funding bases or between the size and type of staff and the organizational structure. Conclusions were drawn concerning organization and staffing patterns. These included the fact that most institutions have campus activities departments with a director as the head, reporting to a vice president or dean. Activity fees are a primary source of funding in nearly all institutions. Few institutions have more than 9 professional staff and 12 clerical staff. Currently there is little faculty involvement in campus activities offices. Basic, mainstream technology is used to support the efforts of the offices. It is hoped that the study will be useful as a proactive management tool for those administrators in higher education who are structuring or restructuring administrative offices supporting the campus activities functions at institutions of higher education.

According to Inkelas et al. (2008), Living Learning Programs (LLPs) that are collaboratively led by academic affairs and student affairs units tend to have a significant impact on student learning, when compared to students who participate in LLPs that are operated by one unit (Inkelas et al., 2008). Despite evidence that co-authored LLPs are beneficial to enhancing the LLP student experience, there is little to no research that explores how administrators facilitate collaboration between the units used to co-author the LLP student experience. For this reason, the focus of this study was to explore how administrators facilitate collaboration between academic affairs and students affairs units in the context of LLPs. A sequential explanatory mixed methods approach revealed that collaboration between both units is facilitated through a series of four factors; (a) Mutually supportive relationships, (b) LLP coordinators, (c) collaborative networks and (d) mechanisms for collaboration. In addition, LLP administrators throughout the study demonstrated a high effort of collaboration on co-curricular programming and slightly less of an effort to collaborate on items related to curricular or judicial engagement of LLP students.

Undocumented, unafraid, and unapologetic is how our students should be able to communicate to us; yet this is not the reality for many. There are an estimated 65,000 undocumented students who graduate from high schools every year in the United States, and another 7,000 to 13,000 enrolled in colleges and universities. As of September 2017, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program has granted about 800,000 individuals deferment from deportation. DREAMers are those brought to this country, are out of status, and likely also qualify for the DREAM Act if it were passed. Many undocumented students in general are prone to experiencing stress that exists as a result of their immigration status. Fear and concerns about physical safety cause many students to keep their status a secret from peers, school personnel, and even close friends. Their fears are rooted in a system that separates families, imprisons migrants without due process, and incites violence against those who are undocumented or are perceived to be, in this country. Thus, navigating life in the shadows for them is understandable; but doing so also comes with real consequences, negatively impacting them academically, socially, and psychologically. The purpose of this study is to seek to understand the experiences of Latinx undocumented college students in the current political climate and under the current administration in terms of how their student experiences and overall wellness as Latinx undocumented students are being impacted. The study was guided by several questions: a) How do Latinx undocumented students talk about their experiences on the college campus? b) How do Latinx undocumented students perceive how the institution responds to issues they face due to their undocumented status? c) What incidents in particular have most impacted them as college students? And, d) How do students describe their own sense of efficacy and self-care as they navigate college within this current climate? Through the lens of Latino/a Critical Race Theory and semi-structured interviews with college students in New England and California, coupled with reflections from field experiences, analysis of multiple forms of data, and the researcher’s personal connections to immigration via family history—findings of this study illuminate the lived experiences, challenges, and trauma faced by these students within the ongoing political divisiveness around matters of immigration. It is important that we as higher education and student affairs personnel understand the lived experiences of these students so that we can more compassionately and competently serve the community while also enabling their success and wellness. It is intended that the findings from this study will illuminate the experiences of undocumented students and provide new ways to support and guide these students.

The purpose of this dissertation study was to describe how students who provide care for a person with a disability or chronic illness cope with the demands of both roles. The way students cope with stress has a direct impact on overall health, which has an impact on learning, development, and retention. Student caregivers are considered nontraditional students; nontraditional students are more likely to drop out of higher education because of obstacles in their non-academic life. Historically, student affairs professionals have developed programs and services to meet the challenges of underrepresented students in higher education. More than half of family caregivers are between the ages of 18-49, due to the aging population. The number of student caregivers enrolled in higher education will continue to increase and they are not adequately represented in student affairs literature. Data for this qualitative study was collected through a combination of individual interviews and a focus group to understand: who student caregivers were caring for, how they coped with their dual roles, and how the institution they attended supported them. While each student caregiving experience is unique, the fundamentals of student caregiving are consistent; student caregivers must often choose between completing academic tasks and caring for a human being. The participants represented a variety of disciplines, which highlights the need for student affairs professionals, faculty, and administrators across the academy to understand the specific challenges they face.

College campuses are becoming more diverse now than ever before. Campuses, however, are not as prepared as they should be for the new students that are arriving. Changes need to be made to status quo processes and procedures, event planning, and classroom education in order to best serve current students. In order for changes to happen, professionals need to participate in diversity related professional development to examine their own biases and assumptions, to learn more about people different from themselves, and to become equipped with tools that will enable a more inclusive campus climate. A mixed methods study was utilized to participants of a single-campus-based diversity summit to capture participants' learning and perceived tools and knowledge with which to return to campus. Findings suggest that there needs to be a community in which participants can grow through relationships, both individually and as a collective; participants of the summit had personal growth of knowledge and understanding in diverse areas, and participants desired to create change in departments, organizations, and in the campus at large. / Graduation date: 2012

While African American women have been participating in American higher education for more than a century, they remain significantly underrepresented among college and university administrators. Researchers have noted that when these women are able to secure administrative positions, many of them contend with intense isolation and marginalization, which compromises their personal well-being and jeopardizes their professional success. Black feminist scholars have suggested that African American women may be assisted by involving themselves in supportive networks that provide them the opportunity to connect with other African American women. Further, these scholars contend that these activities should be facilitated by African American women. The African American Women's Summit (AAWS) is a national professional development program that has been developed by and for African American women student affairs professionals. The AAWS is offered during the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators' (NASPA) Annual Conference and provides a venue for African American women student affairs administrators to connect with one another and exchange information related to the successes and struggles they face on their respective campuses. The purpose of the present study was to explore and describe how the AAWS assisted African American women student affairs professionals employed at predominantly White institutions resist challenges related to the underrepresentation, isolation, and marginalization they face as higher education administrators, and contributed to their personal well-being and professional success. This purpose was accomplished by conducting a qualitative case study, which included an analysis of AAWS participant interview data. In addition to themes relevant to the purpose of the study, an in-depth description of the case of interest (i.e., the AAWS) was also constructed, which included the history philosophy, and curriculum of the AAWS as well as 2006-2011 participant demographic data. The demographic profile of the African American women student affairs professionals who participated in the study closely resembled that of the African American women student affairs professionals who participated in the AAWS between 2006-2011. Findings revealed that there were common ways in which participating in the AAWS assisted the African American women student affairs professionals in this study to resist challenges related to the oppressions they face as higher education administrators at PWIs. Themes related to this research question included the identification and validation of oppressive experiences, the dissemination of strategies to resist oppressions, and the fortification of African American women's standpoint. The three themes that emerged relative to how the AAWS contributed to the personal well-being of the participants (research question #2), focused on the centrality of the participants' own physical, spiritual and interpersonal wellness. Participants' responses in regards to how the AAWS had contributed to their professional success (research question #3) were centered on mentoring and networking opportunities created by the AAWS, as well as encouragement to engage in professional development initiatives. The findings of this study seem to suggest that African American women student affairs professionals may be able to derive tremendous strength from culturally affirming environments that are created when they assemble in intentionally-designed spaces created by and for themselves. Thus, these women are encouraged to pursue opportunities to develop and participate in professional development opportunities similar to the AAWS. Higher education institutions, as well as student affairs professional associations, that are committed to promoting and facilitating the personal well-being and professional success of African American women student affairs professionals should look to these women to define the types of support they need and then facilitate the creation of programs that have been developed by and for us.