Benefits for soldiers follow the formation of ancient and present day armies raised for the purpose of extending the national or state will. Veterans' benefits for defenders of the U.S. emerged during the American colonial period. College benefits began after WWII with the GI Bill of Rights. This study examines the variations in purpose for nationally established educational benefits for veterans and the singular value to the veterans of these 5educational benefits. The study begins with an overview of the history of veterans' benefits. Primary emphasis is then placed on the educational portion of the World War II Servicemen's Readjustment Act and the current educational benefit, the Montgomery GI Bill. As the purpose of awarding educational benefits changed from World War II to the latest U.S. war, the Gulf War of 1990-1991, the economic value to the individual veteran also changed. The WWII GI Bill featured an educational provision intended to keep returning veterans out of the changing economy whereas current GI Bills is intended as a recruiting incentive for an all-volunteer force. Correspondingly, the economic value to the individual veteran has changed. Data supporting this study were extracted from historical documents in primary and secondary scholarly studies and writings, …

This study is an historical and institutional analysis of The Lutheran Theological Seminary (LTS) in Hong Kong. The study first traces the seminary's theological and missiological roots and its history from 1913 to 1948, from its founding in Hubei Province, China to its move to Hong Kong because of civil war. Next, it describes major events of the early years in Hong Kong and the factors which contributed to an institutional crisis in the late 1960's. The study then analyzes the modern development of the institution, specifically the years 1971 to 1993. During this period several regional church groups joined together to create a collaborative educational effort through LTS, the school gained regional accreditation, expanded the ranks of its Chinese faculty, developed Asian financial support, and constructed a new campus. The modern development of the institution cannot be understood apart from a comprehension of the twenty-two year administration of Andrew Hsiao, the first Chinese president of the school. A chapter is therefore included on Andrew Hsiao's personal and academic background, the distinctives of his administration, and the strengths and weaknesses of his presidency. A current profile of the school is provided including its purposes, theology, organizational structure, faculty, student body, …

Significant passages in Alice Walker's writings give evidence of archetypal patterns from Carl Jung and feminine archetypal patterns from Annis Pratt. Since a knowledge of archetypal patterns can influence the total understanding of aspects of Walker's writings, a study of these patterns in the undergraduate classroom benefits the student and opens up another system of analyzing writings, particularly writings by African-American women.

The problem of this study concerns the role and functions of diversity affairs centers' chief personnel officers at public universities in Texas. Because of the political and evolving nature of diversity affairs offices, it is important to understand the functions and types of services these centers provide with respect to institutional goals, missions, and student retention at public universities in Texas.

This study is a historical and philosophical analysis of significant educational concepts John Wesley espoused during his lifetime from 1703-1791. Specifically this document examines Wesley's use of pedagogical and andragogical principles through the educational undertakings of the early Methodist movement.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of an intensive version of the Landreth (2002) 10-week filial therapy model as a method of intervention for children of Israeli parents living in Israel. This study was designed to determine the effectiveness of intensive filial therapy training in (a) reducing internalizing behavior problems of Israeli children; (b) reducing externalizing behavior problems of Israeli children; and (c) reducing overall behavior problems of Israeli children. A second purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of intensive filial therapy training with Israeli parents in increasing the parents' (a) empathic responsiveness with their children; (b) communication of acceptance to their children; (c) allowance of self-direction by their children; (d) involvement in their children's play activities; (e) feelings of efficacy as parents; and (f) reduction of parental stress. The experimental group consisted of fourteen Israeli children who their parents received nine intensive Filial Therapy training sessions within a five week period and had seven parent-child play sessions. The non-treatment comparison group consisted of thirteen Israeli children whose parents received no treatment. Parents in the study completed the Hebrew version of the Child Behavior Checklist, the Parenting Stress Index, and conducted pre-test and …

The objective of this research project was to evaluate the effectiveness of the M.Div. program of Alliance Bible Seminary, Hong Kong. The research was designed for evaluation based solely upon the perceptions of the participant (graduate). The research identified and described the graduates enrolled, assessed perceived career development and attainment, and measured the degree of satisfaction experienced by the graduates who have matriculated from the degree program. A questionnaire was mailed to obtain the necessary data from the graduates of the M.Div. program of Alliance Bible Seminary. The questionnaire which was used was adapted from a previously used one used in the study of graduate educational programs. It has been tested in two other previous studies and was deemed effective. In order to verify its effectiveness in the Eastern context, a pilot test was conducted before the formal research, and the adapted questionnaire was found effective. Responses to the questionnaire were coded and the SPSS system was used to analyze the data. Tables and figures were constructed showing frequencies and significant differences where they occurred. Generally, the graduates at Alliance Bible Seminary were very satisfied with their educational experiences. Both males and females indicated that they would choose the same …

This research attempted to provide a comprehensive overview of the Eastern Cuba Baptist Theological Seminary within the context of theological education in Cuba and the Cuban Revolution. Three major purposes directed this research. The first one was historical: to document and evaluate the rise, survival and achievements of the Eastern Cuba Baptist Theological Seminary, which has continued its mission through extraordinary political opposition and economical difficulties. The second major purpose was institutional: to gain insight into Cuban seminary modus operandi. The third purpose of the study was to identify perceived needs of the seminary. This study sought to provide information that can facilitate a better understanding of Cuban Christian theological higher education. The Eastern Cuba Baptist Theological Seminary was founded in the city of Santiago the Cuba on October 10, 1949 by the Eastern Baptist Convention. This seminary exists for the purpose of training pastors for the Eastern Baptist Convention. The school offers a four-year program leading to a bachelor in theology degree. The Eastern Cuba Baptist Convention experienced the same oppression from the communist revolution as the rest of the evangelical denominations during the sixties and seventies. The worst period for the convention and the Eastern Cuba Baptist Theological …

This study was designed to determine the effectiveness of the 10-week filial therapy model as an intervention for Native American parents and their children residing on the Flathead Reservation in Montana. Filial therapy is an approach used by play therapists to train parents to be therapeutic agents with their own children. Parents are taught basic child-centered play therapy skills and practice those skills during weekly play sessions with their children. The purpose of this study was to determine if filial therapy is effective in: 1) increasing parental acceptance of Native Americans residing on the Flathead Reservation of their children; 2) reducing the stress level of those parents; 3) improving empathic behaviors of those parents toward their children; 4) changing the play behaviors of children with their parents who participated in the training; and, 5) enhancing the self-concept of those children. The experimental group parents (N=11) received 10 weekly 2-hour filial therapy training sessions and participated in weekly 30-minute play sessions with one of their children. The control group (N=10) received no treatment during the 10 weeks. All adult participants completed the Porter Parental Acceptance Scale and the Parenting Stress Index. Child participants completed the Joseph Pre-school and Primary Self Concept …

The purpose of the study was to investigate the impact of maternal stress as it relates to the mothers' perceived social behaviors of their preschool children in both immigrant Korean families in the US and Korean families in Korea. The subjects included 49 immigrant Korean mothers in the US and 52 Korean mothers in Seoul, Korea. This study is relevant to current research because of the dramatically increasing Korean immigrants in the US and needed information concerning unique cultural and psychosocial needs of Korean-Americans. All mothers completed the Demographic Survey, Parenting Stress Index (PSI), and Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scales-2 (PKBS-2). Statistical analyses of the data used for the study were multiple regressions, independent t-tests, and Pearson correlation coefficients. Data analysis revealed that (a) there were different demographic variables affecting maternal stress between immigrant Korean mothers in the US and Korean mothers in Korea; (b) there was no significant difference in maternal stress and mothers' perceptions of their preschool children's social skills in the areas of social cooperation, social interaction, and social independence between both groups; (c) there was a significant difference in preschool children's behavioral problems in the areas of externalizing and internalizing social-emotional behaviors between both groups; (d) …

Recent studies reveal that a considerable number of U.S. community college leaders will be retiring in the next several years. The concern is that with the large turnover, history, culture, and important lessons of leadership will be lost. The current research on the lives of presidents, their career paths, and experiences in community college leadership centers on approaches to the study of leadership at the macro level. Limited research exists in the published literature that reports and analyzes the development of individuals as community college leaders at the micro level. This results in a gap regarding understanding leadership development and strategies to prepare leaders. This study addresses this gap by providing a critical description of the leadership development of one individual who became a community college chancellor and who the literature on the community context indicates contributed to the local and national context for community colleges. Biography is gaining prominence as a legitimate and viable tool in the study of leadership. Few biographical studies currently exist which focus on leadership development in context at the micro level. This dissertation is a biographical, qualitative study of the leadership path and legacy of R. Jan LeCroy, a community college leader. The study …

This study used qualitative research, particularly life history analysis, to determine the personal pathways of success for Latino students who chose to enter a health science center for graduate study and who graduated. By giving voice to individual success stories of Latino students, some of the influences on the life pathways of these graduates were determined. For the purposes of this study, success was defined as graduation from a health science center with either a doctor of philosophy, doctor of public health or doctor of osteopathic medicine degree. Four research subjects agreed to participate in this study from a possible 11 students from the graduating class of 2004-2005 at this health science center. Data were gathered through multiple in-depth interviews of the students themselves over a period of no more than one month for each participant. Data were analyzed using the mind mapping technique and Padilla's unfolding matrix. Findings indicate that each participant traveled a different pathway to achieve educational success although similarities did exist across participants. The influences of family background, cultural background, educational background and personal perceptions and goals did affect the pathways of these four Latino graduates. While three of four participants indicated that family was the …

The purpose of this study is to examine historically the presidential administration of John Christopher Stevens at Abilene Christian University from 1969 to 1981. During this time the institution grew in enrollment, faculty, facilities, endowment, and quality of educational opportunity. Limited to selected experiences and accomplishments, this dissertation examines Stevens' personal and administrative characteristics through interviews with him and those who worked with him. Materials were also used from Stevens' Presidential Archives in the Callie Faye Milliken Special Collections of the Herman and Margaret Brown Library at Abilene Christian University.