Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in Organizational Leadership , Franklin University, 2024, International Institute for Innovative Instruction

Research shows that the at-risk population entering college dropout or land on probation within their first year in college. Through a longitudinal comparative research design, this study examines at-risk students' academic standing, retention, graduation, and tutoring usage within a cohort program compared to a non-cohort initiative at a community college. The analysis focuses on the at-risk population, exploring community college attendance, online education, student involvement, and social and academic integration. The study yielded several insights relevant to the impact of cohort design on a comprehensive approach that includes educational and non-academic support contributing to the development of evidence-based practices to improve outcomes for at-risk students. The findings can assist in enhancing the academic success, retention, and graduation rates of at-risk students. The study results can also help policymakers and higher education institutions make informed decisions about the effectiveness and potential benefits of cohort and non-cohort programs for at-risk students.

Committee: Valerie Storey (Committee Chair); Tracy Greene (Committee Member); Amiee Wagner (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Education Policy; Educational Evaluation; Educational Leadership; Educational Theory; Higher Education; Higher Education Administration

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2009, Education : Educational Studies

The purpose of this study was to examine how social interactions influenced the effects of Learning Communities (LCs) on college students' academic success. Previous research has shown that LC students are more socially integrated and perform better academically than non-LC students (Stassen, 2003). An ANCOVA and logistic regression on 946 first-year students found no group differences in GPA and that LC enrollment was not predictive of retention. The analyses controlled for demographic and entering academic characteristics. Results of analyzing interview transcripts revealed that students from both groups report the influence of social interactions on academic success in remarkably similar ways. Most interestingly, non-LC students often create social and study groups similar to LCs. Implications of the results and direction for future research are discussed.

Committee: Lanthan Camblin PhD (Committee Chair); Wei Pan PhD (Committee Co-Chair); Collins Roger PhD (Committee Member); Hall Wayne PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Adult Education; Educational Psychology; Educational Sociology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2023, Educational Studies

Social and academic integration positively affects student retention and graduation from college. This is especially so for minority students in STEM who are faced with challenges that are likely to affect their integration into their institutions of study. The Ohio Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (OH LSAMP) seeks to increase the number of graduating racial/ethnic underrepresented minority students in STEM (referred to as students). To achieve this objective, the program implements activities aimed at supporting the academic and social integration of students, among others. Two subscales in the Annual Survey of the OH LSAMP are used to determine whether students who participate in the program are academically and socially integrated compared to their colleagues who do not. The aim of this study was to assess the quality of items used to measure students' academic and social integration. Data collected by an external evaluator for the OH LSAMP was used for this study. Responses from 597 and 468 students on the academic integration and social integration scales respectively were used in the analysis. Factor analytic (FA) approach was used to first examine the structure/dimension of the two scales. Both scales were found to be multidimensional - a bifactor model with one specific group factor for academic integration and two group factors for social integration The bifactor models for the two scales suggest that both scales measure a general construct. However, some of the items share a common variance that is not accounted for by the general factor. Item response theory (IRT) approaches were then used to examine differential item function (DIF) across gender, institution type, and first-generation status in the two scales. No substantial DIF was found across gender, institution type, and first-generation status for the academic integration scale. This suggests that given equal values of academic integration the scale can be used to compare scores ac (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Dorinda Gallant (Advisor) Subjects: Education; Educational Evaluation

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2021, Agricultural and Extension Education

Lower retention and graduation rates continue to persist among urban and Appalachian student cohorts. However, these two groups have historically been viewed as different and needing different supports to persist in their educational pursuits. Thus, the purpose of this study is to examine the experiences of, and integrational supports utilized by college graduates from Ohio's urban and Appalachian regions. Specifically, this study explores the differences and similarities in institutional support services/resources and experiences urban and Appalachian graduates identify as having been instrumental in their collegiate success. Using a qualitative research multiple case study approach, the researcher examined the academic and social experiences of urban and Appalachian college graduates from Ohio's Urban Eight and Appalachian regions. The methodology for this study includes a qualitative approach where the researcher conducted in-depth interviews were conducted with 15 college graduates from a large, land-grant institution. Data gathered from this study yielded several similarities in experience and institutional integration across the urban and Appalachian groups. A strong reliance on support systems, such as campus organizations, peers, and faculty/staff, in addition to their yearning for identity-based support services was salient among both groups. Due to the relatively small sample size of this study, n=15, the findings cannot be generalized to the entire urban and Appalachian population. Overall, the findings of this study revealed substantial similarities and a few very critical differences in the academic and social experiences of urban and Appalachian graduates. These experiences support the critical role of student integration efforts and specialized support services for students from minority and underrepresented identities. The findings of this research may ultimately have the potential to reexamine and reframe how higher education institution (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Mary Rodriguez PhD (Advisor); Emily Buck PhD (Committee Co-Chair); James Moore PhD (Committee Member); L. Brian Raison PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Agricultural Education; Education; Educational Sociology; Higher Education; Higher Education Administration

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, 2021, Higher Education

The purpose of this study was to identify the factors that influence international students' sense of belonging. An in-depth review of existing research on sense of belonging helped me identify 18 factors closely connected to the sense of belonging of international students. I categorized these factors into four groups: (a) academic integration, (b) social integration, (c) campus climate, and (d) transition factors, and developed a 41-item questionnaire for students. I administered the questionnaire to international students attending higher education institutions in the Great Lakes region, which consists of the states of Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Ten variables connected to each of the four groups of factors emerged as statistically significant predictors of international students' sense of belonging: (a) academic involvement, (b) relationship with faculty, (c) friends/peer support, (d) learning community, (e) nationalism in host country, (f) on campus services (support staff), (g) diversity on campus, (h) dietary restrictions, (i) language ability, and (j) racism/discrimination. The results of the study suggest that the academic environment, campus services and resources, the racial climate of the campus in regard to diversity or lack of it, and the nationalism in a country play a role in an international student's sense of belonging. These results show that institutions must pay attention to a complex set of factors when trying to recruit and retain their international students.

Committee: Snejana Slantcheva-Durst Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Ling LeBeau Ph.D. (Committee Member); Ron Opp Ph.D. (Committee Member); Sammy Spann Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Higher Education

Doctor of Education (EdD), Ohio University, 2020, Educational Administration (Education)

Student persistence, which is student's progress towards graduation through achieving or meeting educational goals, is widely studied. The focus of a majority of the studies on student persistence is on students at the K-12 and undergraduate levels. Furthermore, while persistence of graduate student population was studied, such studies focused on domestic student, and not international students. International graduate students are important for educational institutions. The pedagogical and financial impact of international graduate students on educational institutions is significant, yet their retention and persistence is understudied. The current study was an attempt to enhance our understanding surrounding student retention and persistence. Research on student retention and persistence is greatly influenced by the works of Vincent Tinto, one of the earliest researchers to incorporate sociological research into their work on student persistence and, who in the early 1970s, developed what is probably the very first predictive model of student persistence. Tinto's (1993) model of student persistence, known as Tinto's Institutional Departure Model (TIDM), suggests that a student's integration into the academic and social fabric of the educational institution (i.e., academic integration and social integration) predicts their persistence. Subsequent research, across different student populations and at different levels of education, has shown that academic integration and social integration play an important role in determining persistence of students, validating the core finding of Tinto's model. Student persistence decisions are complex and are influenced by a variety of factors. For example, finance plays an important role in not only access to education but also influences academic integration and social integration. This was highlighted by the works of Pascarella and Terenzini (2005), and Cabrera and colleagues (Cabrera, Nora, & Castaneda, 1992; Nora, Cabrera, Hage (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Emmanuel Jean-Francois (Advisor) Subjects: Education; Education Finance; Education Policy; Educational Leadership; Higher Education; Higher Education Administration

PHD, Kent State University, 2019, College of Education, Health and Human Services / School of Foundations, Leadership and Administration

Institutions have invested considerably in resources and staff to increase student success and persistence. However, retention rates have remained fairly steady over time. The purpose of this study was to synthesize undergraduate student persistence models into a singular parsimonious model using meta-analytic structural equation modeling to test the accuracy of the model across diverse studies. The analysis was successful in supporting many aspects of the major theoretical models proposed about college student persistence from a wide breadth of research on this subject. It was concluded that academic integration, social integration, institutional commitment, and organizational factors of the college/university all significantly contribute to student persistence. Student background characteristics and student external factors were not significantly related to college student persistence. The conclusions of this analysis suggest that all types of institutions invest in programs and services related to academic and social integration, institutional commitment, and organizational factors of the university environment. Recent statistical methods published by Cheung in 2015 made it possible to apply structural equation modeling techniques to meta-analytic research, which allowed for a more robust and complex analysis. Therefore, the contribution of this work is notable because it applies rigorous statistical methods and analysis to substantiate and/or question common theoretical constructs related to college student persistence over a period of 40 years.

Committee: Jian Li (Committee Chair); Jason Schenker (Committee Member); Susan Stocker (Committee Member); Cynthia Osborn (Other) Subjects: Education; Educational Evaluation; Higher Education; Statistics

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2009, Psychology

Drawing on Tinto's (1975, 1987, 1993) interactionalist model of student attrition, this survey study examined students' cultural differences from dominant graduate communities, integration in graduate programs, and attitudes towards educational persistence. Cultural differences were assessed by a measure of cumulative diversity, which summed students' number of memberships across traditionally underrepresented demographic groups. Integration was assessed by measures of advisor/mentor satisfaction and sense of community in the graduate program. Data from 330 doctoral students in APA-accredited clinical psychology programs showed that cumulative diversity had different effects by sex. Whereas cumulative diversity was unrelated to integration or persistence-related attitudes for women, it was related to less favorable integration and persistence-related attitudes for men. Integration, particularly sense of program community, was an important predictor of persistence-related attitudes for both genders. Sense of program community mediated the relationship between cumulative diversity and persistence-related attitudes for men only. Implications for student retention are discussed.

Committee: William Stiles Ph.D. (Advisor); Margaret O’Dougherty Wright Ph.D. (Committee Member); Elisa Abes Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Health Education; Minority and Ethnic Groups; Psychology

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2011, Higher Education Administration

This qualitative study used focus groups to explore and understand the experiences of 13 self-identified Latina students who were attending a predominantly White university in the Midwest. The use of Chicana feminist theory and academic and social integration theory helped frame the study. Similarities and differences among Latinas, as well as an exploration of the intersections of gender, race, ethnicity, and culture in relation to the experiences of Latinas while attending college at a predominantly White university in the Midwest were highlighted. Through the exploration of their lived experiences, participants identified the factors and conditions affecting their experiences in college, how family and culture shaped their experiences, and how their perceptions of the campus environment shaped their experiences while in college. The results of this study suggest that maintaining close ties to family members, having a space on campus to practice and enjoy Latino culture, being resilient, and finding their niche in the campus environment through programs focused on underrepresented students were the keys to their persistence in college. Another major finding of this study, that requires further study, is the undesirable change in the relationship between Latina mothers and daughters as the daughter furthers her education. Many participants' close relationships with their mothers were instrumental to their enrolling in college yet tension arose between mother and daughter as the daughter progressed toward graduation.

Committee: Ellen Broido PhD (Committee Chair); Ruben Viramontez Anguiano PhD (Committee Member); Patricia Kubow PhD (Committee Member); Carolyn Palmer PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Ethnic Studies; Gender; Higher Education; Hispanic American Studies; Hispanic Americans