Dissertations / Theses: 'Student activities – United States – Management' – Grafiati (2024)

Abstract:

The problem of this study was career goals of student activities mid-managers and their perceptions of attaining these career goals. An introduction and the purposes of the study are included in Chapter 1. Chapter 2 includes a review of selected literature on professional development and mobility. The methodology used to conduct this study is described in Chapter 3. The findings are presented in Chapter 4, and the summary, discussion, conclusions, and recommendations are contained in Chapter 5. The 455 student activities mid-managers employed at institutions holding membership in the National Association for Campus Activities were mailed a questionnaire composed of demographic items and questions seeking information relevant to the purposes of this study. A total of 296 (65%) usable surveys were returned. The results of the study indicate that the positions of chief student affairs officer and dean of students were career goals of the subjects. The dean of students position was the only position that was perceived as attainable by the subjects. When looked at by gender, males desired and believed that the positions of chief student affairs officer and dean of students were reachable. Women desired both positions, but believed that only the position of dean of students was attainable. A t-test revealed a significant difference between the desire of males and females regarding the position of chief student affairs officer. Fourteen items were presented to the subjects to assess their perceptions of institutional support for professional growth. The sample identified 8 of the 14 items as present in their organizations. A t-test revealed no significant difference between the perceptions of males and females regarding institutional support on any of the 14 items.

Abstract:

The purpose of this study was to examine parent preferences for school counselor professional activities. The primary focus of research was to determine if any relationship exists between (1) parents' demographic factors - gender, age, socioeconomic status, ethnicity - and their preferences for school counselors' professional activities; (2) educational factors - parents' level of education and grade level of their student (9-12) - and parents' preferences for professional activities; and (3) parents' experience parenting high school students and their preferences for school counselors' professional activities. I utilized a 7-item demographic questionnaire and an adapted version of the School Counselor Activity Rating Scale (SCARS; Scarborough, 2005). The SCARS is a 48-item standardized instrument that measures how school counselors actually spend their time engaged in professional activities compared to how they would prefer to spend that time. The format was adapted from a verbal frequency scale to a 5-point Likert-type scale. In the current study, parents indicated their preference for school counselors to enact certain tasks, with higher scores indicating greater endorsem*nt of the task. Cronbach's alpha for each of the SCARS subscales indicated good internal consistency: Counseling .879; Consultation .831; Curriculum .933; Coordination .867; and "other" .828. The sample was composed of 250 parents from a school district in the southwestern United States. The study population consisted of 198 female and 52 male participants ranging in age from 31 to 66 years old and included 6.4% African American, 1.6% Asian/Pacific Islander, 8.0% Hispanic, 4% Native American, and 83.6% White. Results indicated that parents overall preferred counselors to engage, from most to least, in Coordination, Counseling, "other," Curriculum, and Consultation activities and that they most strongly endorsed counselors providing students with academic advising and counseling for school related behavior. Regarding the primary focus of this study, the Pearson product moment correlation coefficient was utilized to ascertain potential relationship between variables. Results indicated a small statistically significant correlation between gender and the Counseling subscale score, r = .178, p < .01. Compared to male parents, female parents' scored higher on the Counseling subscale. Results also indicated a small statistically significant negative correlation between parents' eligibility for their children to receive free or reduced-price lunch and Coordination subscale scores, r = -.126, p < .05. Parents eligible to participate in the government's free or reduced-price meals under the National School Lunch and Child Nutrition Program were more likely than non-eligible parents to indicate a preference for counselors to coordinate student referral to school-related programs and services. Respondents' reports of their age, ethnicity, parents' educational attainment, student grade level, and parents' experience parenting high school students did not correlate significantly with their SCARS scores. Parents' preferences based on responses to the SCARS are discussed, as are implications for school counselors, directors of guidance, and counselor education faculties.

Abstract:

The purpose of this study was to investigate the attitudes of college athletic department administrators (athletic directors, faculty representatives, football coaches, and basketball coaches) toward the athletic and academic achievement of student athletes and to compare administrators' perceptions with those of student athletes (NCAA, 1988). The review of literature discussed the history and development of the NCAA, college admission predictors, standardized tests, involvement of high schools in academic preparation of student athletes, and the NCAA legislation of Propositions 48 and 42. Additionally, programs which satisfy the needs and validate the credibility of student athletes and educational institutions are suggested. A questionnaire was designed to measure the attitudes of college athletic department administrators toward the academic and athletic accomplishments of student athletes. The results were then compared to a similar study completed by the NCAA (1988) on student athletes' attitudes toward these issues. The findings revealed significant group differences among athletic directors, faculty representatives, football coaches, and basketball coaches and significant comparative differences between the two studies. The data indicated that the responses of athletic directors and faculty representatives were often similar, as were those of football and basketball coaches. On questions that supported academics, athletic directors and faculty representatives were much more sympathetic than coaches. When the question promoted athletic concepts, coaches were more supportive than athletic directors or faculty representatives. When an issue involved both academics and athletics, the gap was reduced but athletic directors and faculty representatives showed stronger support than coaches. Comparison of the two studies confirmed strong opposition by athletes to questions on athletic eligibility. Student athletes were consistently negative on any issue threatening their eligibility, whereas athletic department administrators were generally supportive. When academic questions were addressed, student athletes were supportive though not as positive in their responses as athletic department administrators. Many of the responses and comparisons were anticipated and emulated recent research.

Abstract:

This study investigated enrollment management practices found in higher education. The research identified enrollment management and retention practices described in the higher education literature. These suggested practices were incorporated into a sixty-six question survey that was distributed to a random sample of colleges and universities taken from the 1999 US News and World Report of college rankings. The survey data were used to identify which of the suggested enrollment management practices were of greatest utility. First, the sixty-six items were grouped into 14 categories of enrollment management strategies. Second, the institutional responses for each category were averaged and then correlated with each institution's graduation rate. Finally, each institution's "yes" responses for the entire survey were totaled and correlated with each institution's graduation rate. This study developed a list of the 26 most frequently used enrollment management practices in higher education, and as well, identified the 10 least used enrollment management practices. Given the results of this study graduation rate is not a sufficient criterion to assess enrollment management practices at a college or university. Enrollment management strategies contribute to many institutional and student outcomes; thus, multiple indicators are required to accurately evaluate enrollment management practices.

Abstract:

Service-learning continues to gain in popularity across the higher education landscape and can be found in most educational institutions. Although more often found in student affairs programming, it is also viewed as a viable pedagogy. Most studies show that service-learning impacts students in various ways: academically, socially and vocationally. The research study employed quantitative methods. It analyzed prediction of participation in community service/service-learning with students' self-assessment on five outcomes: academic skills, social integration, community integration/alumni expectations, connection with the campus community and change in opinions, values and attitudes. A canonical correlation analysis was conducted on data collected on the Profile of Today's College Student administered by NASPA-Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education. The data represent a random sample (N = 374) of undergraduate students enrolled at a mid-sized, private four-year university located in the south central United States. The study looked for statistical significance as well as employed effect size measures. The study found participation in community service/service-learning predicts on all five factors in the model. Additional analysis incorporated effect size measures to further strengthen the results. The results were both statistically (p < .001) and practically significant (Rc2 = .101). Connection with the campus community and social integration were best predicted by participation in community service/service-learning. Surprisingly, change in opinions, values and attitudes was found to be least predictive, but correlated at significant levels. Research on service-learning has focused on service-learning related to academic performance, often neglecting the co-curricular experiences and development. Since service-learning can be found in co-curricular and academic programming, more research on community service/service-learning should focus on co-curricular service experiences.

Abstract:

The purposes of this study were to determine whether directors and the senior student affairs officers who supervise them perceive the formal performance evaluation process to be accurate, fair, and meaningful, and whether they perceive the process to be influenced by the politics involved in the position.

Abstract:

This study is to investigate the influence of entrepreneurial activities on teaching at universities. Specifically, the study focuses on entrepreneurial activities' effect on professors' time allocation. The dataset analyzed was constructed from the survey conducted by University of Illinois at Chicago in 1998. The sample was drawn from American academic professional associations' members of the four fields: experimental biology, physics, mathematics, and sociology.Based on the data of 133 professors, the study shows that professors with paid consulting work tend to spend less time in teaching when research activities are controlled. Insignificant are the other variables about entrepreneurial activities: patent application, industry funding, and research collaboration with industry. Also, more research time is likely to result in less teaching time. Insignificant are the other research-related variables: research funding at large and collaborative research in general.In terms of personal and institutional conditions, assistant professors tend to invest more time in teaching than senior professors, but they are likely to reduce more time on teaching than their senior counterparts for increasing research time. Finally, biology and sociology professors tend to allocate less time to teaching than physics and mathematics professors. In a word, entrepreneurial activities and research tend to conflict with teaching at the level of individual professors' time allocation.

Abstract:

Little is known about the mechanisms by which extracurricular participation in high school influences educational attainment in young adulthood. Also limited is an understanding of the different types of extracurricular participation and how various activities may manifest within the relationship. The purpose of this study was to examine the link between high school extracurricular participation and educational attainment, with social capital, parental expectations, and academic achievement presented as mediators. Additionally, the present study will explore socioeconomic differences in the proposed relationships. The sample consisted of 5,239 ninth through twelfth graders from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). Structural equation modeling (SEM) and multiple-group SEM were used to test pathways.Extracurricular participation was categorized into sports participation, non-sport participation, mixed participation (including both sport and non-sport), and no participation. Social capital, a latent factor, was measured by the latent variables of family and school capital. Various indicators of family closeness and inclusion of school culture from survey items operationalize social capital. Parental expectations, another latent factor, was measured by one survey indicator using the question of how disappointed would your resident father and mother be if you did not graduate from college. Academic achievement was measured by grade point average and calculated by the average of self-reported grades in four subjects: English, math, social studies, and science. Educational level attained used seven levels ranging from less than 8th grade to beyond a Bachelor degree. Gender, race, and parent education were also included as covariates.Social capital, parental expectations, and high school academic achievement were all shown to be mediators between high school extracurricular participation and educational attainment. However, social capital's impact on educational attainment was indirect through GPA rather than direct. Sport showed better capacity to strengthen social capital than non-sport. However, non-sport participants achieved higher high school GPA than sport participants. On average, students involved in both sport and non-sport activities had more positive effects on all model variables than students involved in sports only. Results for socioeconomic comparison showed some evidence for the benefit of sport participation directly on educational level for low-income students. Practically speaking, the conclusion of the study is that students need to participate in a combination of activities that include both sport and non-sport to improve their chances of educational attainment.

Abstract:

Launch activities are increasingly performed by private entities and launch participants deal with a complex legal environment. The Space Treaties provide a framework placing liability for non-governmental activities on the launching State and the duty to authorize and supervise them on the appropriate State. Launch participants are subject to specific regulation in certain States or are under institutional State control in others. They also have to comply with general domestic law of liability. Limited insurance availability led to the development of contractual risk allocation techniques, the inter-participants waivers of liability and claims, inspired by NASA practice.
This thesis offers a contribution with the synthesis of information, so far scattered, on today's legal environment, providing an overview of the norms at play in this field to allow the grasp of their relative weight and interactions in the assessment of liability risk attached to launch activities.
This synthesis reveals a legal framework presently lacking the predictability necessary for an efficient liability risk management: (1) inter-participants waivers of liability suffer the weaknesses of all limitation of liability clauses; they also lack uniformity and implementation rigor; (2) the Space Treaties contain ambiguous terms preventing predictable determination of the State liable for damage and the State obliged to authorize and supervise launch activities, and do not reflect the de facto primary liability of launch operators.
This thesis offers a contribution to the advancement of legal work on these problems by suggesting new approaches emphasizing the need for: (1) harmonization of inter-participants waivers of liability to improve their consistency and validity and ensure identical flow-down by all participants; (2) improvements of the Outer Space Treaty, Liability Convention and Registration Convention for their implementation to non-governmental launch activities.
Although the launch community is small and the need for lawmaking is not as compelling as in fields such as aviation. Nevertheless, tailored adjustments to the present legal framework are required and proposed in this thesis through model clauses and an international instrument, both of which are submitted for further thinking and contribution by those sharing the opinion that creative lawmaking is now necessary to prepare for tomorrow's endeavors.

Abstract:

The purpose of this study was to examine if there is an association between effective supervision and communication competence in divisions of student affairs at Christian higher education institutions. The investigation examined chief student affairs officers (CSAOs) and their direct reports at 45 institutions across the United States using the Synergistic Supervision Scale and the Communication Competence Questionnaire. A positive significant association was found between the direct report's evaluation of the CSAO's level of synergistic supervision and the direct report's evaluation of the CSAO's level of communication competence. The findings of this study will advance the supervision and communication competence literature while informing practice for student affairs professionals. This study provides a foundation of research in the context specific field of student affairs where there has been a dearth of literature regarding effective supervision. This study can be used as a platform for future research to further the understanding of characteristics that define effective supervision.

Abstract:

In Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District, the Supreme Court ruled that students have speech rights in the school environment unless the speech causes or is likely to cause 1) a substantial disruption, or 2) interferes with the rights of others. The Supreme Court has yet to hear a case involving school officials' authority to regulate electronically-delivered derogatory student speech, and no uniform standard currently exists for determining when school authorities can discipline students for such speech when it occurs off campus without violating students' First Amendment rights. The purpose of this dissertation is to examine 19 federal and state court decisions in which school authorities were sued for disciplining students for electronically delivered, derogatory speech. Eighteen of these cases involved student speech that demeaned or defamed school teachers or administrators. Only one involved speech that demeaned another student. Each case was analyzed to identify significant factors in court holdings to provide a basis for the construction of a uniform legal standard for determining when school authorities can discipline students for this type of speech. The full application of Tinker's first and second prongs will provide school officials the authority needed to address this growing problem while still protecting legitimate off-campus student cyber expression. Predictions of future court holdings and policy recommendations are included.

Abstract:

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Naval Postgraduate School, September 2006.
Thesis Advisor(s): L. Andrew Jones, Suzanne Bosque. "September 2006." Includes bibliographical references (p. 81-82). Also available in print.

Abstract:

The purpose of the project was to design a one-semester core curriculum guidebook for middle and high schools. This curriculum will provide a tool to teach students to manage conflict in middle and high school settings. The curriculum, guidebook and materials developed will establish guidelines that can be used by middle and high school teachers to teach useful conflict management skills.

Abstract:

Imagine a world where someone’s personal information is constantly compromised, where federal government entities AKA Big Brother always knows what anyone is Googling, who an individual is texting, and their emoticons on Twitter. Government entities have been doing this for years; they never cared if they were breaking the law or their moral compass ofhuman dignity. Every day the Federal government blatantly siphons data with programs from the original ECHELON to the new series like PRISM and Xkeyscore so they can keep their tabs on issues that are none of their business; namely, the personal lives of millions. Our allies are taking note; some are learning our bad habits, from Government Communications Headquarters’ (GCHQ) mass shadowing sharing plan to America’s Russian inspiration, SORM. Some countries are following the United States’ poster child pose of a Brave New World like order of global events. Others like Germany are showing their resolve in their disdain for the rise of tyranny. Soon, these new found surveillance troubles will test the resolve of the American Constitution and its nation’s strong love and tradition of liberty. Courts are currently at work to resolve how current concepts of liberty and privacy apply to the current conditions facing the privacy of society. It remains to be determined how liberty will be affected as well; liberty for the United States of America, for the European Union, the Russian Federation and for the people of the World in regards to the extent of privacy in today’s blurred privacy expectations.
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