Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, 2020, Higher Education

This basic interpretive qualitative study examines the ways in which experienced community college faculty from different disciplines view their pedagogical perspectives after having worked with an increasing number of nontraditional students in their mixed-age college classrooms. Using a semi-structured question technique guided by Robertson's (1999) professor-as-teacher developmental model, the researcher interviewed 20 faculty from a single, associate's-degree-granting institution in Michigan. The participants in this study represented 18 different disciplines and all had at least 8 years of teaching experience at the community-college level. During this 8-year period, community college enrollment in Michigan shifted drastically from adult, nontraditional students looking for new career options in the wake of The Great Recession to an enrollment that actively pursues adolescent, dual-enrollment students looking to decrease future higher education costs. After analyzing the codes and themes in the data, this study concluded community college faculty in aliocentric (learner-centered) or systemocentric (teacher/learner-centered) teaching positions, as defined by Robertson (1999), are well suited for teaching dual-enrollment students. This suitability was found to be the case, regardless of discipline or employment status. However, despite this disposition, faculty were worried about the amount of dual enrollment expansion happening in their classrooms. The practical implications of this study are relevant to any teaching and learning initiative focused on strengthening community college faculty's abilities to work with adolescent, dual-enrollment learners.

Committee: Ronald Opp Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Penny Poplin Gosetti Ph.D. (Committee Member); Ellen Fischer Ph.D. (Committee Member); Steve Robinson Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Education Policy; Higher Education; Higher Education Administration

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

The purpose of this critical constructivist research study was to explore the intersectional experiences of Women of Color community college faculty. Employing testimonios as the methodology (Latina Feminist Group, 2001) and intersectionality as the theoretical framework (Crenshaw, 1989; Nunez, 2014), this study examined systems of oppression and how oppression was enacted within Women of Color community college faculty's lives on campus. Moreover, I investigated how Women of Color faculty found and engaged in counterspaces within and outside of their community colleges. Therefore, I sought to understand the ways in which Women of Color community college faculty members located or cultivated these supportive environments within the academy. The research questions guiding this study were: (1) What are the intersectional experiences of Women of Color community college faculty members? (2) How do interlocking systems of oppression influence Women of Color community college faculty members' experiences on campus? (3) How do Women of Color community college faculty members locate or cultivate counterspaces within the academy? Ten testimonialistas participated in this study and represented a variety of racial or ethnic backgrounds, sexualities, academic departments, and faculty type. Most of the testimonialistas, are employed at community colleges on the West Coast, and one is employed at a community college in the Midwest. Data were collected through one one-on-one semi-structured interview, a written reflection, and a focus group. I employed a thematic analysis of the testimonios (Perez Huber, 2009) and highlighted findings that aligned with Nunez's (2014) multilevel model of intersectionality. The seven major themes I identified included: Interconnections across Social Identities, Apprehension towards Challenging Institutional Power, Depictions of Women of Color Community College Faculty, Interpersonal Aggressions with Colleagues and Students, Strong Sense of Self-Ef (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Marc Johnston-Guerrero (Advisor); Kristen Mills (Committee Member); Stephen Quaye (Committee Member) Subjects: Community College Education; Community Colleges; Education; Higher Education; Higher Education Administration

PHD, Kent State University, 2024, College of Education, Health and Human Services / School of Foundations, Leadership and Administration

This basic qualitative study explored the experiences of 12 higher education and/or student affairs (HESA) faculty members to understand how their equity, diversity, and inclusion-related courses prepared emerging HESA professionals to support first-generation college students from an anti-deficit perspective. Eligible participants taught in full-time HESA master's programs and were leaders in diversity work based on their equity, diversity, and inclusion-related grant funding, professional awards, and/or diversity-related publications. This research was guided by Perez et al.'s (2017) anti-deficit achievement framework. Data were collected from prescreening questionnaires, pre-interview journals, semistructured interviews, course syllabi, and other participant-shared resources. Generational status was not found to be an independent factor in anti-deficit course content as participants talked about their experiences with intersecting identities, such as first-generation plus Students of Color. Data analysis led to themes about participants' course content which established a foundation of respect and for lifelong learning, integrated anti-deficit pedagogy and empowered advocacy. Themes formed a student development process that promotes emerging HESA professionals' anti-deficit understanding. This study holds important implications for researchers to focus on anti-deficit systems-based approaches to college success. Stakeholders should ask questions with anti-deficit-minded prompts to institutional leadership and as part of institutional self-assessment; encourage syllabus audits and offer anti-deficit-focused faculty development; and prioritize equity, diversity, and inclusion-related teaching as an advantage to tenure, promotion, and course load. Future research should consider the sociological and K–12 educational literature, a case study approach, invite early career HESA professionals as participants, or explore the impact of policies on HESA programs.

Committee: Tara Hudson (Committee Chair); Cassandra Storlie (Committee Member); Erica Eckert (Committee Member) Subjects: Curriculum Development; Education; Educational Leadership; Higher Education; Higher Education Administration; Inservice Training; Pedagogy; Systems Design

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2023, Leadership Studies

This case study aimed to provide a lens within a technical college's approach to a societal challenge, namely the COVID-19 pandemic. The study examined how a small Midwestern technical college's full-time faculty and deans adapted and discussed its strategies and processes toward faculty development, instructional and course management practice, and student learning during the pandemic and how the lessons learned from the disruption match the characteristics of a learning organization. The case was written for those in educational leadership in higher education, from the faculty ranks to the highest administrator. Learning organizations have been described as more resilient and adaptive to external pressure, and the idea of the learning organization is fitting for institutions devoted to education and advancing knowledge. The two-year college setting and the content provided a study for campus leaders to consider the development of their faculty, change management, and those leading from the middle during a societal challenge. The case site participants completed the Learning Organization Survey (LOS) and engaged in an interview protocol, a reflective setting focused on the pandemic's specific challenge, delivering greater context to the challenge and the learning organization building blocks' distinguishing characteristics. The participants identified their need to practice as a learning organization in a volatile environment. Based on the interview responses, the participants perceived their institution to be aligned with a learning organization.

Committee: Patrick Pauken J.D., Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Pascal Bizzaro Ph.D. (Other); Christine Galletta-Horner Ph.D. (Committee Member); Robyn King-VanDyne Ph.D. (Committee Member); Kristina LaVenia Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Educational Leadership

Master of Education (MEd), Bowling Green State University, 2015, Business Education

The purpose of this qualitative within-site case study was to better understand the perceived professional development needs of community college business faculty. The study was important, because few studies had described the professional development needs of community college business faculty, which annually serve more than 7.2 million students. Because the teachers provide timely and relevant instruction, they need professional development to stay abreast of changes within their professional disciplines (e.g., accounting, business communications, office administration technology). The findings in this study reveal that community college business faculty need professional development focused on meeting the needs of students from across the lifespan, from diverse family and socioeconomic backgrounds, technology, the selection and implementation of teaching methods, and understanding theory and its application to classroom settings. Further study is recommended to determine the extent to which findings in this study may be applicable to the larger population of community college teachers of business and recommendations for practice include designing and delivering professional development that coheres with the perceptions of target participants.

Committee: Frederick Polkinghorne Dr. (Advisor); Vera Lux (Committee Member) Subjects: Adult Education; Business Education; Education; Education Policy; Educational Evaluation; Educational Leadership; Educational Technology; Educational Theory

Doctor of Professional Studies (D.P.S.) in Instructional Design Leadership, Franklin University, 2024, International Institute for Innovative Instruction

Many universities in the United States are experiencing a decline in student enrollment and struggling with poor retention rates. Student attrition has long been recognized as a critical issue for institutions of higher learning globally. The consequences of students failing to complete degree programs include reduced university revenues, which, in turn, can negatively impact the local economy. Given the broader issue of declining enrollment and retention across universities, it was particularly important to examine these trends within specific fields of study, such as music business programs. Understanding the unique challenges and opportunities within this niche can provide valuable insights for addressing retention issues more effectively. The research questions of this study were: (a) What are the positive and negative factors that music business program faculty, staff, and administrators perceive to impact student retention in music business programs?; and (b) What instructional design and curricular practices do music business program faculty, staff, and administrators perceive to impact student retention in music business programs? Participants were purposefully selected, including faculty, staff, and administrators. Data were gathered through semistructured interviews and analyzed using a six-step thematic analysis. Themes were developed inductively, relying on the raw data rather than any predetermined coding scheme. The findings revealed that emphasizing experiential learning, fostering engagement, and creating supportive educational environments are critical for improving retention rates. External influences, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and unpreparedness for college, negatively impact student retention. The findings also revealed that instructional design and curricular practices that positively impact student retention include experiential learning and diverse teaching approaches characterized by teaching various subjects and providing options.

Committee: Joel Gardner (Committee Chair); David Ni (Committee Member); David McCurry (Committee Member) Subjects: Curricula; Education; Higher Education; Instructional Design

Doctor of Education , University of Dayton, 2023, Educational Administration

The foundation of a prosperous society calls for educated citizens to promote social equity in the community and positively contribute to the economy, yet persons with disabilities are often excluded from having the opportunity to engage in society, including the pursuit of education (Lindsay et al., 2018; Procknow et al., 2017). Most community college students come from academic, economic, and socially disadvantaged backgrounds (Rosenbaum, 2018). Thus, community colleges are a fundamental resource for marginalized communities, including students with disabilities (SWD), to access education and training. Community colleges must consider that supporting SWD is more than maintaining compliance. Students with a disability have a sense of identity capable of influencing diversity in the college experience for all college community members (Meeks & Jain, 2016). Understanding faculty and staff perceptions of SWD will create opportunities to identify social stigma and implicit biases that can shape the introduction of more inclusive institutional practices. This practical action research study employed qualitative methods to examine faculty and staff perceptions of SWD at Metropolitan Community College (MCC) related to student persistence in the STEM disciplines through an equity-oriented lens of inclusion. The study applied a qualitative approach to analyze how accessibility services staff award accommodations and collect feedback from community college STEM faculty on their perception of students with disabilities to recommend more inclusive practices at MCC. As a result of the findings from this study, I propose developing and enhancing professional development (PD) opportunities at MCC for STEM faculty and staff who support college programming. The PD would focus on increasing awareness of disability policy and knowledge of best practices for teaching students with disabilities in a postsecondary environment. Three significant outcomes are to be expected from t (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Elizabeth Essex Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Michael Kenney Ph.D. (Committee Member); Wesley Henry Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Community Colleges

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Akron, 2022, Secondary Education

Higher education continues to evolve to serve students, communities and employers. Faculty members are an integral part of the service to these stakeholder groups. Existing research in higher education focuses on a variety of topics from both students' and faculty members' perspectives. Job satisfaction for faculty members is an area that has been researched from both qualitative and quantitative research perspectives. However, a limitation of the existing research is the lack of a first-hand understanding of the job satisfaction phenomenon from faculty members' perspectives. This research study adds to the current body of research and contributes an enhanced understanding of the job satisfaction phenomenon through interviews conducted with University of Akron faculty members. The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the experience of job satisfaction are also addressed.

Committee: Gary Holliday (Committee Co-Chair); Renee Mudrey (Committee Chair); I-Chun Tsai (Committee Member); Wondimu Ahmed (Committee Member); Judith Juvancic-Heltzel (Committee Member) Subjects: Education

PHD, Kent State University, 2022, College of Public Health

Internationally, human trafficking is a growing, $150 billion industry. It is estimated that 40 million people are being trafficked at any one time. Human trafficking is often referred to as modern-day slavery. Because of the hidden nature of the crime, definitions, estimates, and data about it are lacking. All human trafficking definitions include a victim being involuntarily forced into labor or sex acts through force, fraud, or coercion. At least 99% of victims have health problems, making victims one of the least healthy groups of people in the world. In addition to a host of individual health concerns and untreated chronic conditions, victims are disease vectors. They have alarmingly high rates of communicable infections (including sexually transmitted infections, tuberculosis, HIV/ AIDS, and may share needles used for drugs). They frequently live in close quarters and in unsanitary conditions, causing public health concerns among other victims and nearby communities. According to the literature, 88% of victims of human trafficking are seen by a healthcare provider. However, victims are too infrequently identified. These are missed opportunities. As the healthcare system's first line of defense, nurses have a unique opportunity to identify victims and provide essential interventions. Education, though, is key to recognizing and assessing red flags, identifying victims, and providing interventions. Teaching large numbers of nurses is a huge undertaking, which creates challenges in developing the best approach to reach those nurses. Nursing faculty are in a position to teach huge numbers of new nurses about human trafficking and the role of the nurse in assessing, identifying, and providing victims for victims. This study examines this group of nurse educators. In this study, a modified version of the previously developed PROTECT questionnaire was used to measure nursing faculty members' actual knowledge, perceived knowledge, and confidence about teaching h (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Sonia Alemagno (Committee Chair); Lynette Phillips (Committee Member); Eric Jefferis (Other); Timothy Meyers (Committee Member); Jonathan VanGeest (Committee Member) Subjects: Behavioral Sciences; Education; Gynecology; Health; Health Care; Health Care Management; Health Education; Health Sciences; Medicine; Nursing; Obstetrics; Public Health; Public Health Education; Public Policy; Social Work; Womens Studies

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), University of Dayton, 2022, Educational Leadership

This study used a survey conducted from September 2021 November 2021 to examine the perceptions of College Credit Plus (CCP) educator credentialing for college in high school programs known as dual enrollment. Over 400 responses were received representing educators from southwest Ohio. Respondents spanned roles in public schools of superintendent, principal, high school teacher, and school counselor. The findings showed that educators generally agreed on knowing the requirements for educators to become qualified to teach College Credit Plus courses at the high school location. The respondents with the most knowledge of CCP credentialing requirement were superintendents, school counselors, and educators with higher levels of education were more aware of credentialing requirements. The findings also revealed that educators generally agree with the perceived barriers to meeting the qualifications to meet the faculty credentialing requirements. The perceived barriers of financial and time costs of obtaining graduate coursework were the biggest barriers to meeting the CCP credentialing requirements for respondents who work in districts classified as an urban setting and with 16-20 years of experience. Recommendations for removing barriers to meet CCP educator credentialing requirements were made in the conclusions.

Committee: Thomas Lasley II (Committee Chair); Pamela Cross Young (Committee Member); Kathryn Kinnucan-Welsch (Committee Member); Richard Stock (Committee Member) Subjects: Higher Education; Secondary Education

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2022, Anatomy

Under ideal circumstances, surgical skills training should emulate live surgical conditions as closely as possible. While new anatomically accurate models and virtual/augmented reality simulators make surgical anatomical knowledge acquisition more accessible, research shows that these resources are limited in their ability to fully reflect the live human anatomy. As such, the animal and human body donor models have remained the gold standards for surgical simulation. And while there have been studies comparing the porcine and human body donor models, very little is known about Imperial College of London – Soft Preservation (alcohol-preserved) human body donors in the context of surgical training and education. The objective of our study was to examine the alcohol-preservation technique and to further elucidate its utility in general surgery resident education. Utilizing questionnaire-based feedback and semi-structured interviews, we analyzed quantitative and qualitative data obtained from the accounts of general surgery residents and surgical faculty instructors who experienced both the porcine and alcohol-preserved models at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. Results indicated that the porcine and alcohol-preserved human body donor models were preferred for different aspects of surgical training. While the porcine model was preferred for its ability to teach tissue-handling and to simulate live blood flow, the alcohol-preserved human body donor model was unanimously preferred for its anatomical relevance, colon suturing/stapling, and reflection of live operating conditions. Surgical faculty specifically noted that while there is anatomical overlap between the two models with the anatomy of the rectum, “the small bowel and colon are dramatically different, which does not give the full breadth of colon resection needed for the human model.” In addition, the alcohol-preserved model was regarded as superior to the formalin-fixed human body dono (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Joy Balta (Advisor); Aslam Ejaz (Committee Member); Melissa Quinn (Committee Member) Subjects: Anatomy and Physiology

Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.), Franklin University, 2021, Business Administration

Economic, social, and technological pressures for higher education have resulted in disruption to traditional methods of educational delivery. Competency-based education (CBE), one such disruption, is characterized by a transition in focus on seat time to flexible methods of curriculum delivery and mastery of learning. CBE provides students personalized classroom experiences, and typically involves diverse and customized instructional methods. The purpose of this grounded theory study was to examine views and experiences of community college faculty in transition to competency-based education (CBE) teaching. Faculty support and buy-in to CBE is a known critical element in successful adoption, and the study assessed faculty views and experiences to better understand resistance or acceptance. A total of 96 faculty at a Midwestern U.S. community college participated in an open-ended survey assessing background, motivations to teach, and progression from traditional to digital forms of teaching, including CBE. Findings revealed a critical relationship between fulfillment in teaching and human interaction and reciprocity in classroom settings. While faculty overwhelmingly support the concept of CBE, personal transition typically introduced conflict in teaching experience, and absent new measures of fulfillment, faculty were less likely to support CBE teaching. The study produced the Theory of Fulfillment Dependency (TFD), which states that professional fulfillment is linked to resistance to workplace change. When a new fulfillment naturally occurs in the new changing environment, resistance seems to diminish. If built-up dissatisfaction emerges or incrementally increases, so too does resistance to change.

Committee: Bora Pajo (Committee Chair); Michelle Geiman (Committee Member); Jeffrey Ferezan (Committee Member) Subjects: Business Administration; Community College Education; Community Colleges

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2021, Educational Studies

The purpose of this narrative study was to explore the racial literacy of white faculty members at a predominantly white higher education institution. This study employed a narrative methodological approach (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000) anchored in critical epistemology (Tierney, 1993) with the use of Critical Race Theory (DeCuir & Dixson, 2004; Delgado & Stefancic, 2001). This study was guided by the following two research questions: (1) How do white faculty describe how they learned about race, racism, and whiteness? and (2) What does racial literacy look like for white faculty at a predominantly white institution? Additionally, two sub research questions also informed this study: (a) How do white faculty speak about and interpret racialized incidents involving Black people, on and off campus? and (b) What role do white faculty have in ensuring a positive racial climate for Black students? Seven white participants with varying social identities served as the sample for this study. Data were collected through two semi-structured interviews. Four themes emerged from the participant interviews that helped identify the ways faculty learned about race, racism and whiteness throughout their lives. These themes include: Entryways to Making Meaning of Difference, Earliest Experiences Navigating Race, The Failures of K-12 Education for Racial Literacy Development and Learning Race in Adulthood. Additionally, the way participants applied their knowledge of racial literacy varied. This application was categorized in three ways: Ignorant, Emergent and Critical.

Committee: Marc Johnston Guerrero (Committee Chair); Susan Jones (Committee Member); Cynthia Tyson (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Higher Education

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2020, Higher Education (Education)

The last two decades witnessed a significant increase in higher education enrollment in Latin America and the Caribbean (Ferreyra, Avitabile, Alvarez, Haimovich Paz, & Urzua, 2017). A global shift towards massification prompted developing countries, such as those in Latin America and the Caribbean, to introduce alternative pathways to higher education (Chisholm & Kennedy, 2014). Trinidad and Tobago, a twin-island country in the Caribbean, was one such country. Over an 11-year period, from 2004 to 2015, the country's higher education participation rate increased by 45%. This was due to government-led access initiatives that created opportunities for previously underserved students. Guided by Laurie Schreiner's (2010) theory, thriving, this study explores the college experiences of 10 former academically underprepared students who entered college during that period. They accessed college through the developmental education program at a public undergraduate college in Trinidad and Tobago. Through their own narratives, they give insight into their pre-college experiences, their college journey, the factors that contributed to thriving in college, and their progress since leaving college. The findings of the study reveal that these students displayed high levels of persistence, determination, and grit, resulting in most of them successfully earning undergraduate degrees. To succeed at college, they relied heavily on the support of faculty, a factor which proved to be a dominant pathway to thriving. Their ability to thrive and persist in college was also influenced significantly by spirituality and the bonds that they formed within the wider college community. As they overcame barriers to academic success, they experienced a heightened sense of self-efficacy and their locus of control shifted inwardly. This newfound self-confidence led many of them to explore enriching paths after completing college. Given the findings that emerged from this study, recommendations are (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Laura Harrison (Committee Chair); Peter Mather (Committee Member); David Nguyen (Committee Member); Dwan Robinson (Committee Member) Subjects: Adult Education; Community College Education; Education; Higher Education

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2019, Management

Identity development is a key part of flourishing, but how an at-risk emerging adult student shapes a life project meant for a flourishing life has been understudied. There is a notable gap in current literature examining the effects of capital negotiation (social capital and identity capital) on life project design, and informal educator behaviors on emerging adult student employability and identity capital, which we argue are critical, missing elements of a flourishing life project. Previous research on informal student-faculty interactions has addressed academic/educational outcomes of those interactions, leaving void the potential identity capital development and negotiation also resulting from those same interactions. In the same vein, much research has addressed counseling life designing, some even for vulnerable youth, but little attention has been devoted to informal edu-mentor behaviors regarding the planning of a life project for at-risk emerging adult students across educational settings. This work borrows from othering and literature on under-resourced students to begin to define at-risk, but we concentrate its definition by specifying Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE). This dissertation's intensive interviews and structural equation modeling investigated behaviors of faculty that foster bonding with students, the consequences of which resulted in student identity capital development. The research offered herein developed from a three-part exploratory sequential mixed methods project addressing how an at-risk emerging adult student negotiates capital in shaping a life project across educational settings. The initial phase leveraged a grounded theory approach to examine the student-teacher relationship from the secondary school teacher's perspective. I investigated the particular behaviors, social and emotional intelligence competencies, and practices that made a teacher good at the facilitation of a relationship with othered students, specifically (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Paul Salipante (Committee Chair); Diana Bilimoria (Committee Member); James Gaskin (Committee Member); Kalle Lyytinen (Committee Member) Subjects: Adult Education; Community Colleges; Continuing Education; Education; Education Policy; Educational Evaluation; Educational Leadership; Higher Education; Management; Organizational Behavior; School Administration; Secondary Education; Social Psychology; Social Research; Systems Design; Teacher Education; Teaching

Master of Science in Exercise and Health Studies, Miami University, 2018, Exercise and Health Studies

This study investigated the effects of leadership style and burnout experiences on alcohol consumption behaviors among university faculty and staff members. Participants were a mixture of 400 faculty and staff members at a midsized, Midwestern university. It was hypothesized that university faculty and staff members demonstrating high involvement leadership styles, such as transformational leadership, would experience highest levels of burnout and alcohol consumption behaviors related to coping. A series of correlations examined how leadership style and experienced burnout affects drinking motives. The current project found that those with a higher tendency to drink to cope were less likely to have transformational leadership traits. Participants reporting greater levels of drinking to cope were more likely to have passive/avoidant leadership traits. Participants reporting personal, work-related, and client-related burnout were also more likely to drink to cope. Multiple regression examined how leadership style impacted burnout and alcohol consumption behaviors. Self-reported problems relating to alcohol consumption was not predicted by personal burnout, work-related burnout, client-related burnout, transformational leadership, or transactional leadership. Alcohol problems were predicted by passive/avoidant leadership traits. Findings from this study contribute to the almost nonexistent literature base of leadership and alcohol consumption behaviors in employees of higher education institutions.

Committee: Rose Marie Ward (Committee Chair); Aaron Luebbe (Committee Member); Lisa Weems (Committee Member) Subjects: Health; Higher Education

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), University of Dayton, 2018, Educational Leadership

While scholarship on faculty orientation and development is prevalent in traditional four-year universities and community colleges, the same cannot be said for for-profit (proprietary) career colleges. Given the proprietary nature of most private, career colleges and the lack of required faculty research, little research exists on the practices and effectiveness of practices at these types of colleges, although much opinion exists about the negative outlook on such types of schools. A secondary goal of this study was to add to a limited conversation on the practices at these schools, with a focus on faculty orientation and onboarding. Faculty orientation and onboarding, also referred to as organizational socialization, is a process by which a new employee acquires knowledge and skills necessary to assume a role in a new organization (Bauer, 2010; Feldman, 1981; Schein, 1968; Tierney, 1997; Van Maanen, 1978; Van Maanen & Schein, 1979). This process is important especially when an employee is a neophyte in a sector, which happens often in career colleges because many instructors teaching at these institutions have little to no preparation as instructors, having been formerly employed or being currently employed in their fields (Hentschke, Lechuga, & Tierney, 2010; Lechuga, 2006). The primary goal of this study was to help understand how career colleges approach this important process. The findings revealed that more structured and formal onboarding programs are found at multiple-site institutions, while single-site career colleges often have informal and non-structured programs. These programs were then compared to a human resources framework provided by Bauer (2010); because the institutions are often run as businesses, an HR framework was more appropriate than other frameworks used in faculty development research. The comparison to the framework showed all participating institutions focused on helping instructors understand their role, policy, and proced (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Steven Hinshaw (Committee Chair); Kathryn Kinnucan-Welsch (Committee Member); Larry Smith (Committee Member); Stephen Wilhoit (Committee Member) Subjects: Educational Leadership

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2018, Communication Studies (Communication)

This dissertation examines the differences of discourses-in-use regarding the topic of faculty diversity among faculty and administrators at Ohio University. I conducted a study of the rhetoric of faculty diversity at OU, exploring administrative statements about faculty diversity, such as the OUFSHI (Ohio University Faculty Staff Hiring Initiative) on the President's webpage, and the webpages of the Office for Institutional Equity, the Office for Diversity and Inclusion, and Human Resources. In examining these public statements of OU administration regarding faculty diversity and hiring practices, I sought to discover how administration was framing the concept of diversity, and the type of mandates in place for faculty search committees to use in screening applicants and choosing interviewees. I found that OU administration primarily conceptualized diversity as women and people of color, and these were the underrepresented groups that search committees were encouraged to target in their recruiting and hiring practices. In addition to examining the online resources, I conducted interviews with three administrators, one each from Diversity and Inclusion, Institutional Equity, and Human Resources. To examine the discourses of faculty, I conducted 25 interviews with OU faculty members, asking them to describe their ideas of how OU administration understood faculty diversity, and how they themselves understood it and engage in discourse about it. The resulting data revealed that a number of OU faculty were either unaware of how administration framed the idea of faculty diversity, or they were aware but had concerns about administration's commitment to creating a truly diverse culture at OU. Faculty expressed concerns that targeted hiring practices might not result in the hiring of the most qualified candidate, and that other contributors to diversity, besides race and sex, were being overlooked. The results of my data collection and analysis are presented as respo (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Laura Black Dr (Advisor) Subjects: Communication

Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, 2017, Educational Leadership

Literature suggests many graduate students receive inadequate, little, or no formal preparation for teaching in higher education. Most extant research on this topic shows preparation has positive outcomes for graduate students, yet few studies examine the process of graduate students' teaching preparation, which could lend important insights that yield better preparation. This study addresses this process, inquiring into how graduate students experience teaching preparation, and how interactions with peers and an instructor shape preparation, in a one-credit hour graduate pedagogy seminar. Situating graduate students taking the seminar as a collegiate subculture called prospective college teachers (PCTs), this 15-month study employed an ethnographic methodology grounded in an interpretivist paradigm. A symbolic interactionist theoretical perspective and framework guided approaches to both data collection and analysis. Data collection yielded fieldnotes from 21 seminar sessions, 18 interviews between seven graduate students (and the seminar instructor) hailing from various academic disciplines, and documents for review. Results showed the 60-minute seminar contained three sections: part one, transitional periods, and part two. Through interactions with peers and the instructor, PCTs generally experienced part one as stable, predictable, and transactional, as it primarily featured instructor lectures and notetaking by PCTs. Transitional periods, short periods of time bridging the gap between parts one and two, were less predictable and varied in terms of eventfulness. Regardless, PCTs' peer interactions in transitional periods were usually brief or planned by the instructor, making interactions somewhat rigid and scripted. PCTs' interactions with the instructor mostly related to adhering to the instructor's requests, creating a general PCT experience of compliance. In part two, PCTs had more opportunities for in-depth interactions with peers and the instructor (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Mahauganee Shaw (Committee Chair) Subjects: Educational Leadership; Higher Education; Higher Education Administration; Pedagogy

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1990, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Education