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One segment of the academic community that is overlooked in most research is the large cadre of professionals who deliver a multitude of services to students outside of the classroom. From the perspective of students, the student affairs professionals they encounter in the residence halls, advising offices, and within other aspects of the campus life fabric, are the face of the university. This case study of student affairs professionals within four departments at one large, public, Research-I University seeks to define the core values of the work, understand perspectives on the individuals they work with, how practice unfolds within the organization context of the campus, and what values guide practice. The literatures drawn upon include; student affairs ideology, service delivery patterns and techniques, institutional theory, professional specialization, and trends in higher education. The findings from this study illustrate that the work experiences of student affairs professionals are dominated by brief encounters with students that occur within a work environment that is frequently overwhelming. High volumes of students seeking service and limited opportunities to develop ongoing relationships create challenging work expectations for student affairs professionals. The core values of the profession are in transition as institutional priorities that focus on efficiency and competitive advantage become further established within academe. Policy recommendations for the student affairs profession and institutional decision makers are made in the final chapter.

Bridges (2004) defines a transition as “a natural process of disorientation or re-orientation” marking the turning points of life (p. 3). One such turning point that has recently attracted the attention of higher education is the shift from university to life-after-study. Some universities, especially in the U.S., have developed programmes and courses to help prepare and support students for this transition. However, most of these educational initiatives have been developed without empirical research that explores graduates’ needs. In this research, therefore, I have sought to understand the experiences and perspectives of recent graduates in the post-university transition with the hope that this may inform potential institutional practices. Twenty young, recent graduates, who were broadly representative of their (U.S.) university’s student population in terms of degree, gender, and ethnicity, were selected to participate in this research. They engaged in recorded, semi-structured interviews and email interviews over a six-month period. Transcripts of interviews were analysed using typical qualitative procedures informed by interpretivism, symbolic interactionism, naturalistic inquiry, and narrativity. Results indicated that despite individual variability, participants shared some common perspectives. Four main themes emerged from the data. Three illustrated the difficulty of the post-university transition (shifting identities, searching, and unmet expectations), but the fourth illustrated how participants used people and resources (stabilisers) to foster support and balance in their transition. Furthermore, participants offered a range of suggestions about ways their institution might help graduating students better prepare for this transition and life-after-university. Recommendations based on these suggestions provide ideas for career preparation, emotional support, and practical life skills that institutions might choose to implement.

In a time of upheaval in American higher education, student retention continues to be a chief concern on most campuses. Peer tutoring, like other peer-based programming, is asked to serve multiple functions as a low-cost, high-impact model. This study explored the cultures of these semi-structured, co-curricular, academic-social spaces and sought to understand what happens in a group peer tutoring context that impacts students. Data was generated with students on two campuses during the spring 2014 semester using a two-phase qualitative approach. Data generating activities included observation of students and peer tutors in the tutoring spaces on each campus. The second phase of data generation included focus groups with more than 30 students on each campus. Findings suggest that the student participants on these two campuses conceive of tutoring spaces as unique, that they engage with their peers in such contexts differently than they do in other places, and that programmatic structures may influence the outcomes they achieve. Implications range from contributions to more nuanced understanding of social learning theory to the critical importance of vulnerability in student help-seeking behavior.

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.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2007. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 267-276).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Western Sydney, Nepean, 1998. / Bibliography: p. 363-389.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Michigan State University. Dept. of Higher, Adult, and Lifelong Education, 2008. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Mar. 30, 2009) Includes bibliographical references (p. 125-138). Also issued in print.

Thesis (EdD)--Montana State University--Bozeman, 2009. / Typescript. Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Marilyn Lockhart. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 156-165).