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 …

This study was an examination of faculty and student perceptions of a campus-wide computer network at Cedarville College in Cedarville, Ohio. The most important conclusion of this study is that the computer network at Cedarville College has significantly impacted interactions between faculty and peers and faculty and students. It is recommended that a longitudinal study be conducted to explore the possibilities of the computer network and its importance to and impact on the teaching/learning process. It is also recommended that an evaluation program be set up to monitor the usefulness of the computer network to the teaching/learning process.

This study was designed to assess the difference in litigation between two courts: one mandating For Kids' Sake, a psycho-educational seminar for divorcing parents, and the other not so mandating. The level of difficulty of children's adjustment to divorce has been positively correlated with parental hostility. More hostile parents would have more contested cases, interim motions, and relitigations. This research compared final dispositions, interim motions, and relitigation between parents in two courts in Collin County, Texas. The treatment group was from the 219th District Court which mandated all divorcing parents with minor children to attend the For Kids' Sake Seminar and the control group was from the 199th District Court which did not so mandate. Archival data was collected from a computer generated list for the Total group data to assess final dispositions and directly from District Clerk files for the In-Depth group data to assess interim motions and relitigation. The Total group was comprised of 679 research subjects with 330 cases in the treatment group and 349 cases in the control group. The In-Depth group consisted of 182 cases from both courts with 84 cases in the treatment group and 98 cases in the control group. Chi square analysis …

This study examined the way in which the top 100 "most wired" colleges and universities provide online student services. Named by a national publication in May 1998, these colleges and universities were chosen because of their technological infrastructure, courses offered online, public computers on campus, and online student services, among other aspects.

This study sought to determine if different factors had influenced females and males to select engineering/science-related studies at the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science (TAMS). The data were collected in the fall semester in 1997 at TAMS located on the University of North Texas campus from a survey of factors reported in the literature that had influenced students to enroll in engineering/science-related curriculum.

This study examined international education programs in Texas 4-year colleges and universities to determine how they compare to models found in the literature. A second purpose of the study was to compare Texas 4-year colleges and universities with out-of state benchmark institutions with a history of international education programs for over a decade. Areas examined in the study were: (a) administration of international education; (b) instructional activities of international education; (c) international student support services; and (d) outreach both in the community and abroad.

Geriatric board-certified specialists (GCSs) address health care needs of the growing geriatric population. The study's purposes were to: examine career paths of GCSs, identify influencing factors, and explore implications for higher education. Twelve of 14 original 1992 GCSs participated. Data included document collection and interviews. Using a qualitative methodology, commonalities were sought among individuals and HyperRESEARCH software was used for data management. The participants were adventurous, valued education, and were enthusiastic about physical therapy (PT), geriatrics, and specialization. Their career path began with choosing PT as a career, professional education, and their first job. One GCS moved directly into geriatrics. Others went to different settings before geriatrics. As participants recognized they "fit" in geriatrics, they pursued postprofessional education to increase knowledge before choosing board certification. In choosing PT, volunteer experience and personal research were common influences. In choosing to work with elders, influences throughout life gradually built a social context supporting the decision. GCSs chose specialist certification to assist in professionalization of geriatric PT, because they were highly skilled, for career advancement, and for self professionalization. Specialist certification had few financial consequences. Participants gained friends and professional networks. They experienced improved patient care, increased educational opportunities, and/or increased professional service. …

The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of students and student affairs personnel of student affairs services at Andrews University's main campus in Berrien Springs, Michigan. A modified questionnaire, based on the work of Selgas and Blocker (1974) and Glenister (1977), was developed for this study. Eleven student services found in the Council for the Advancement of Standards for Student Services/Development Program's guidelines were included. A random sample of 280 students at Andrews University received surveys, with 165 (59%) responding. The 30 full-time student affairs personnel also received surveys, with 20 (67%) responding. Students and student affairs personnel rated their perceptions of student services, using 77 statements associated with these services. Services were rated on a 6-point scale in the categories of status of knowledge, relative importance, and effectiveness. Respondents were asked to include additional comments concerning the services and to provide biographical data. The following are some of the main findings: Significant differences between students' and student affairs personnel's status of knowledge of student services were found in career planning/employment, commuter programs/services, counseling services/substance abuse education, religious programs/services, student activities, and wellness/health. Significant differences between the two groups' perceptions of relative importance of student services were …

The problem of this study was to develop a model for the administration of auxiliary enterprises in Texas higher education as a cooperative effort of administrators and input from other sources. The purposes were to determine which administrators currently have the responsibility for the management of auxiliary services, to evaluate the correlation between the type of administrator and the concern for fiscal and student needs, to identify problems and opportunities for useful administration, and to develop a model integrating the strengths of each administrator and the implementation of new ideas to improve auxiliary enterprise management. A survey instrument consisting of three types of questions was mailed to both Vice Presidents of Fiscal Affairs and Student Affairs at all 26 four-year public institutions in Texas. Part I questions were informational, designed to determine who administers auxiliary services. Part II consisted of 20 questions on a Likert scale to obtain both opinions on the theories of the research, and specialized knowledge of the administrators. Part III was free response to solicit ideas from the administrators for the construction of the model. Paired t-tests were performed to determine knowledge strengths of the administrators. All other information was presented in frequency tables or narrative …

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.

Within the last decade, continuous quality improvement (CQI) has been embraced by higher education management. An important component of the quality philosophy is to institute training for everyone: faculty, administrators, staff and students—in order to achieve a cultural transformation. The purpose of this study was to identify and describe the implementation characteristics of CQI training programs and to determine whether or not and to what degree relationships exist between these characteristics and training program effectiveness, as perceived by selected individuals at two- and four-year colleges in the United States. A survey instrument was designed to elicit the perceptions of both the chief administrators and those quality professionals who are charged with the training process as they relate to specific implementation characteristics such as training content needed to convey the appropriate philosophy, program implementation processes, and the perceived effectiveness of the respondents' quality training program. A 21-item questionnaire was used to gather the data from a sample of 524 individuals at two- and four-year colleges in the United States. The dependent variables in the study related to items addressing program effectiveness based on four types of program evaluation, and the independent variables related to specific implementation characteristics. Spearman correlation matrices were …

Members of the Instructional Teleconference Consortium (ITC) were mailed a survey instrument. A total list of 375 teleconference coordinators generated 137 usable responses. The purposes of this study of faculty and staff development presentations by teleconferencing were to determine the amount of usage; which subject areas are utilized; what delivery methods (live, interactive, prerecorded, multimedia, etc.) are utilized; barriers (size or location of college, size of teleconference or travel budget, etc.) to implementing teleconferences; and the sources of presentations utilized in teleconferences. Larger community colleges are the greater users of teleconferencing and even produce some for distribution to other community colleges, whereas smaller community colleges have just begun to receive equipment that enables them to receive telecasts for this purpose. No clear subject area has yet been defined that dominates these teleconferences, and the trend is toward two-way audio and one-way video as the delivery media as communication costs decline. Barriers of money for staff, equipment, and programming appear to be the principal objections to the use of teleconferencing for faculty and staff development presentations. There appear to be few sources of presentations except for the Public Broadcasting System (PBS).

Increasing globalization and transnational trends in business have resulted in greater contact with people from different cultures. However, in any cross-cultural encounter, miscommunication and misunderstandings are likely to occur. In a workplace setting, these can seriously undermine job performance and employee relations. The Intercultural Sensitizer is a cross-cultural training tool that is designed to increase the likelihood that trained individuals will make accurate interpretations concerning behavior observed in individuals from other cultural groups (Albert, 1983) . The purpose of this study was two-fold: (1) to identify cultural differences between Americans and Japanese that can lead to misunderstandings in the workplace and hinder communication, and (2) to construct an intercultural sensitizer that will enable the two cultural groups to interact more effectively with each other. The study's five-phase research design was based on Albert's (1983) delineation of the construction of an intercultural sensitizer. Twenty-four episodes were constructed and statistically analyzed to determine if there was a difference in the way the two cultural groups responded to a given situation. Nine episodes yielded critical values significant at the .05 level. The study concluded that there while there are differences in the cultural perspectives of American and Japanese business professionals, the two groups …