Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2023, History

Between 1820 and 1860, dozens of new denominational colleges opened throughout the United States. Nowhere was this growth as dramatic as in the Old Northwest in general and in Ohio specifically. Through the mid-twentieth century, most historians saw these colleges as steps backward in the development of higher education in the United States, with faculty overly focused on theological minutiae. These denominational colleges served as the dismal backdrop against which educational reformers launched research universities, where academic inquiry was unimpeded by religious dogmatism. Since the late 1960s, however, historians have generally stressed the positive aspects of these colleges, praising them for anticipating later developments in higher education. Still, many of these newer histories neglected other aspects of antebellum colleges, such as their many non-classical programs. The college's preparatory departments and ancillary courses provided interested students with at least some level of higher education beyond the common school. These programs helped expand the reach of these institutions far beyond the relative handful of students who graduated from their collegiate programs. Other histories also convey a limited view of campus life. While literary societies were certainly popular, students also played sports and games, staged picnics, went on nature excursions, and socialized with young townswomen. Some also cheated on exams, played pranks, tormented tutors, stole food, drank alcohol, and smoked tobacco. Contrary to both the traditional view that students attended these schools almost solely to become ministers and the revisionist view that many students left campus for modern careers in business and science, young men evidently flocked to antebellum Ohio's denominational colleges in hopes of pursuing careers in one of the four traditional learned professions. Indeed, the vast majority of students who graduated from these schools became clergy (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Daniel A. Cohen (Advisor); Timothy Beal (Committee Member); John Grabowski (Committee Member); David Hammack (Committee Member) Subjects: American History

Doctor of Education, Miami University, 2020, Educational Leadership

In a State of Access is a historical study about the way public higher education in Ohio became both generally accessible to nearly every citizen while also offering elite undergraduate and graduate programs. This project grapples with the question of how national, state and regional factors - from the mid-1940s through the end of the 20th century - influenced the way Ohio's leaders viewed the purpose of public higher education and influenced whether Ohio's leaders chose to focus on making public higher education more selective or accessible. State leaders initially balked at the idea of funding public higher education. When they did decide to make the investment, ideological battles, economic stagnation and the state's budget deficit continually influenced how state leaders viewed the purpose of public higher education. As a result, state leaders never succeeded in building a system of public higher education that reflected a clearly defined, well-organized purpose. This dissertation is the first full-length study about contemporary public higher education in Ohio and one of the few case studies of any state's system of higher education. As the public and politicians at the state and national level pay more attention to the accessibility of higher education, and the role of a college degree in a globalized, service economy, a case study of Ohio helps us to better understand why public higher education is still struggling with problems over access.

Committee: Kate Rousmaniere Dr. (Committee Chair); Joel Malin Dr. (Committee Member); Kathleen Knight-Abowitz Dr. (Committee Member); Michael Todd Edwards Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: American History; Education History; Education Policy; Educational Leadership; Higher Education; History

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1981, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Education

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1981, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Education

Master of Science (MS), Bowling Green State University, 1950, Higher Education Administration

Committee: John E. Gee (Advisor) Subjects: Higher Education

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2018, Higher Education (Education)

Launched in 2009, the college completion agenda aims to significantly increase the number of community college graduates by 2020. While the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) (2012) believes that the goals of the completion agenda can be achieved without institutions sacrificing their mission or reducing student services, little is yet known about the impact this effort has had or is having on rural community colleges. The proliferation of performance-based funding models and the application of Resource Dependency Theory suggests that the potential impact is significant. Through collective case study and document analysis, the goal of this research was to understand the impact of the completion agenda on rural community colleges in Ohio.

Committee: Peter Mather (Committee Chair); Michael Williford (Committee Member); Lijing Yang (Committee Member); Sara Helfrich (Committee Member) Subjects: Community Colleges; Education Policy; Higher Education; Higher Education Administration

Honors Theses, Ohio Dominican University, 2018, Honors Theses

Ohio has a major issue to combat: an under-prepared workforce. Future jobs coming to the Buckeye State will require post-secondary education, yet most working age Ohioans lack this prerequisite. To combat this problem, the state government has developed higher education policies to ensure Ohio's students receive timely, cost-effective educational opportunities. Ohio's private higher education institutions have already consistently provided such opportunities. Through their histories of excellence and adaptability as well as their current work, Ohio's private colleges and universities demonstrate that they provide for the common good by educating tomorrow's leaders and citizens. Therefore, private higher education institutions in Ohio must promote themselves and specific policies—such as student aid funding—that will support them in continuing their mission.

Committee: Kathleen Riley Ph.D. (Advisor); R. W. Carstens Ph.D. (Other); John Marazita Ph.D. (Other) Subjects: Education Policy; History; Political Science

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), University of Dayton, 2008, Educational Leadership

This case study of the Ohio Private College Libraries (OPAL) consortium, 1998-2007, explored how OPAL participants interpreted the concept of organizational agility through the collaborative leadership activities of structuring and agenda setting. As a complete insider, I combined the qualitative research strategies of personal journaling, participant observation, document analysis, and participant interviews in a process of heuristic inquiry to discover why OPAL had not expanded its agenda beyond its shared integrated library system (ILS). OPAL was formed by OHIONET so that small college libraries could afford a high-quality ILS for the purposes of library management, resource sharing, and related activities. Research findings showed that participants shared leadership power through decision-making on structure and a complementary agenda to shape OPAL incrementally from an informal roundtable to a formal hierarchy of large committees. The consortium participants also transformed from a group eager to add many shared services to a group focused intensely on the ILS as one clear and strongly supported group purpose. Their shared decisions about structuring had the leadership effect of a close interpretation of the OPAL mission statement in the context of a complex library environment. I concluded that OPAL demonstrated organizational agility primarily through changes in structure that sharpened participant focus on the processes of sharing the ILS. Implications of the research were as follows: (a) Although well-organized, strongly supported, and agile, OPAL remained temporary, given its dependence on voluntary member support in an environment of unpredictable change. The lifespan of OPAL depended on sustaining participants' agreement that the OPAL collaboration was providing their local libraries with unique and high priority advantages that justified ongoing investment of local funds and human resources. The broader and very advantageous environment was an importan (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Darla J. Twale Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Theodore J. Kowalski Ph.D. (Committee Member); Timothy J. Ilg Ph.D. (Committee Member); Edward D. Garten Ph.D. (Committee Member); Thomas J. II Lasley Ph.D. (Other) Subjects: Educational Leadership; Higher Education; Higher Education Administration; Library Science; Organizational Behavior

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1981, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Education

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1980, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Education

Doctor of Education, Ashland University, 2015, College of Education

Technology has become ubiquitous at all levels of education. The purpose of this exploratory study was to determine what technology is currently being used in Ohio's community college ESL programs and at what level of the substitution, augmentation, modification, redefinition (SAMR) model the technology is being used or integrated. This study was conducted using mixed methods methodology and a cross-sectional survey design. Survey and interview data were collected and analyzed for common themes. Data suggest that Ohio's community college ESL instructors are just beginning to realize the potential of using technology in their ESL courses. Although few community college ESL instructors are using technology in their ESL courses, those who are use a variety of educational technology mainly at the substitution and augmentation levels of the SAMR model.

Committee: Harold E. Wilson PhD (Committee Chair); Constance M. Savage PhD (Committee Co-Chair); Susan Lohwater PhD (Committee Member); Deanna Romano EdD (Committee Member) Subjects: Community College Education; Educational Technology; English As A Second Language

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, 2014, Higher Education

The purpose of this study was (a) to provide an analysis of the levels of college self-efficacy and of the campus environmental perceptions of African American males at rural, urban, and suburban two- year community colleges in the state of Ohio and (b) to determine whether there was a statistically significant relationship between college self-efficacy, campus environmental perceptions, and academic achievement at these types of community colleges (rural, urban, and suburban) in Ohio. Further, the study examined whether academic achievement could be predicted from academic self-efficacy and campus environmental perceptions at community colleges in the state of Ohio. Descriptive statistics and a chi-squared analysis were employed in this study to determine that respondents were representative of the entire population or sample. A correlational analysis revealed a statistically significant positive correlation between college self-efficacy and campus environment. This correlation suggests that students who perceive a more positive environment tend to have higher college self-efficacy. A statistically significant positive correlation also was found between college environment and two specific dimensions of college efficacy: course efficacy and social efficacy. Multiple regression analysis revealed that college self-efficacy is a significant predictor of expected GPA among African American males in two- year community colleges, but college environment was not a statistically significant predictor. Results of the regression analysis also indicated that course self-efficacy and social self-efficacy (the two components of college self-efficacy) were statistically significant predictors of expected GPA, but college environment was not. Results of the regression analysis revealed that college self-efficacy was a statistically significant predictor of past-term GPA, but college environment was not. Neither course self-efficacy nor college environment predicted past-te (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Snejana Slantcheva-Durst (Committee Chair); Tyrone Bledsoe (Committee Member); Sunday Griffith (Committee Member); Revathy Kumar (Committee Member) Subjects: African Americans; African Studies; Black History; Community College Education; Community Colleges; Higher Education; Higher Education Administration; Minority and Ethnic Groups

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, 2012, Higher Education

This study investigated various state policies to determine their impact on the state share of instruction (SSI) funding to community colleges in the state of Ohio. To complete the policy analysis, the researcher utilized three policy analysis tools, defined by Gill and Saunders (2010) as iterative processes, intuition and judgment, and advice and opinion. The findings identify key policies that impacted the development and state funding of community colleges. Additionally, the researcher found access was the key policy driver during the time period of this study. The state of Ohio linked its state higher education budget to the policy of access by implementing and maintaining an enrollment-driven formula throughout the years of this study during which data were examined (1962-2009). In fiscal year 1997, Ohio added the Access Challenge, which provided funding to community colleges to help them keep tuition costs low, which again reflected and emphasized the State's policy to provide access to all citizens.

Committee: David Meabon PhD (Committee Chair); Larry McDougle PhD (Committee Member); Renay Scott PhD (Committee Member); Snejana Slantcheva-Durst PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Community Colleges; Education Finance; Education Policy; Higher Education; Public Policy

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, 2012, Higher Education

Academic advising administrators, academic advising professional organization leaders, and academic advising scholars have not had access to information about how academic advising is organized in their states. The purposes of this study were (a) to describe the organization of academic advising in Ohio's two-year public colleges; (b) to explore the influences budgets, institutional policies and the Ohio Articulation and Transfer (OA&T) Policy had on academic advising; and (c) to examine the levels of influence budgets, institutional policies, and OA&T Policy had on decisions about who should deliver academic advising and where academic advising should take place. The researcher used an exploratory mixed-method design that included: (a) structured phone interviews conducted with five state-level leaders in Ohio and (b) mail questionnaires sent to academic advising administrators at Ohio's two-year public colleges. State-level leaders in Ohio reported that in general institutional budgets for academic advising would likely decrease and impact the effectiveness of academic advising. Institutional budgets remained stable over the last year, and grant budgets were rarely used. Academic advising administrators most frequently reported “no change” in institutional budgets and reported grant budgets were “not applicable” in their academic advising programs during the past year. Results indicated that institutional variables (institutional policies and institutional budgets) had more influence on academic advising than external variables (state policies and grant budgets) had on academic advising.

Committee: David Meabon PhD (Committee Chair); Larry McDougle PhD (Committee Member); Leigh Chiarelott PhD (Committee Member); Paul Unger PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Academic Guidance Counseling; Community Colleges; Higher Education; Higher Education Administration

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2010, Geography

As North America has undergone a shift from an industrial to a post-industrial society, the rural landscapes devastated by industrial activity (i.e. resource extraction) have begun a transition as well (ODNR 2010). In Southeast Ohio, an economically depressed and formerly environmentally degraded region, this transition can be seen in a gradual forest recovery, or “regreening” (Mather 1992). This regreening process and the decline of the extractive industry have led to a diversification of the Appalachian Ohio economy. Local people have taken advantage of the changing landscape, reasserted a claim on their region, and are pursuing alternative means of economic opportunity. This research focuses on one local initiative that exemplifies local people attempting to create a positive alternative future for their region, The Ohio Outback project. The Ohio Outback project is an initiative based on unifying Appalachian Ohio under a single brand in order to market the region more widely as a tourism destination. Through an analysis of the Ohio Outback project and its leaders, this thesis offers a rich narrative about rural economic development, connection to place, and the challenges of place-based initiatives. This thesis also addresses themes of local power and elitism in a rural America, a setting often not associated with those ideas. Through a study on the agency of rural people, this research presents a much more complex and conflicted situation than might be expected in the “backwards” countryside of Appalachian Ohio. This thesis tells a unique dual story, first explaining why the Outback program should likely have succeeded based on previous evidence from McSweeney and McChesney (2004) and three other major bodies of literature: innovation diffusion, political ecology, and sense of place. These three literatures, which rarely reference one another, are used in tandem to create the theoretical background of this research and explain the processes occurring in places (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Kendra McSweeney PhD (Advisor); Linda Lobao PhD (Committee Member); Edward Malecki PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Geography