When students are academically qualified to attend a four-year college or university but instead enroll at a community college, they are considered academically undermatched. Research suggests that Latinx students are more likely to academically undermatch than their peers yet they remain the least likely to complete an upward transfer to a university and earn a baccalaureate degree. The purpose of this study was to explore the enrollment decisions of, and familial influences on, Latinx students who were admitted to a university but who initially enrolled at a community college. Using community cultural wealth and funds of knowledge as theoretical frameworks, I examined the narratives of 13 Latinx students and the parents of five of those students. Nine student participants were female and four were male, ranging from 19 to 31 years old. Parent participants were four females and two males, ranging from 43 to 52 years old. Findings from this study are divided into two parts. Student findings revealed navigating the pathway to college was fraught with limited information, even though students acknowledged they had access to resources and their high school counselors and teachers helped in the college search process. However, students still did not feel that crucial information …

This research describes what motivates Vietnamese students to come to the U.S. to study for a degree, what outcomes they expect, and what they experience academically and culturally while studying in the U.S. Currently the surge of international students from Vietnam has reached an all time high of 13,112 students to the U.S. This moves the relatively small South East Asian nation to the ranking of ninth among all nations for the number of international students sent to the U.S. in depth interviews were conducted fall semester 2011 with 11 students enrolled in two large public universities in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Denton Metro area. the participants were students from Vietnam holding J-1 or F-1 visas who were in their sophomore year or beyond. Interviews were conducted with these undergraduate and graduate students on the campus where each was enrolled. Interview transcripts were provided to participants for their review and comments. Ethnograph qualitative research software was used to analyze and code the data. These students reported that the increased number of students coming to study in the U.S. is because of the reputation of higher education in the U.S., relatives living in the U.S. who create a support system, and economic growth …

This study aimed to take asset-based approach and identify Latino male students who were persisting in college, and to identify what strategies made them successful. This qualitative study consulted Tinto's revised student departure model, Bourdieu's theory of cultural capital, as well as Yosso's theory of community cultural wealth. A phenomenological design was utilized to identify the shared experience of first-generation Latino male college students who had persisted in college and maintained a 3.0 grade point average. Findings revealed that Latino students entered college with goals to provide better opportunities for the next generation. They encountered unfamiliarity, culture shock, and marginalization, all obstacles centered not on academic preparedness, but on unfamiliarity with the environment. They used their linguistic, navigational, and aspirational capital to navigate their two worlds. Their cultural upbringing stressed a strong commitment to family and community, i.e. familismo. They found community among in-group peers and college staff. This support network provided what Laura Rendon refers to as validating experiences. Once familismo was obtained they gained a sense of belonging and grew their cultural capital to become familiar with the college going culture. The learned the rules of the game which enabled students to focus on their goal of earning …

This study was the first to examine the impact of immigrant-focused public policy on the educational outcomes of Latinx students in professional nursing. Between 2001-2020, 34 states adopted policies that either provided or prohibited in-state resident tuition (ISRT) and/or state financial aid (SFA) to undocumented students. Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Act (DACA) passed in 2012 gave a new group of largely Latinx, college-age immigrants unprecedented access to public higher education and employment. A rapid increase in the proportion of nursing degrees earned by all Latinx students, not just those who were undocumented, occurred concurrently with these federal and state-level policy changes. This study utilized fixed-effects panel analysis to estimate the relationship between DACA, ISRT, and SFA policies for undocumented students on the percent of nursing degrees earned by Latinx students between 2005-2020. None of the policies analyzed in this study were significant predictors of Latinx nursing degree completions. Broad cohesion among all models instead pointed toward the importance of gains in overall degree production among all Latinx college students, underscoring the important role of higher education in the creation of environments that support the success of students from this target population.

Religion/spirituality is a salient facet of identity for many college students, yet addressing issues related to spirituality/religion is contentious in many higher education institutions. Prior research has shown that various other facets of identity, including race/ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation, affect a student’s perception of campus climate, but religious/spiritual identity has not been examined in the same manner. Using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling, this study empirically tests the addition of religion/spirituality to the campus climate theory developed by Hurtado et al. (1999). Data came from the 2010 College Senior Survey administered by the Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles. Results indicate that religious and spiritual identity have significant direct effects on the perception and other aspects of campus climate. Future research is needed to extend the understanding between religious and spiritual identity and the perception of campus climate.

This study investigated the relationship between community college institutional expenditures and student success in reaching momentum points. The 3 years of student cohorts of a large community college district in Texas formed the population. Student characteristics and institutional context characteristics served as control variables. Institutional financial data functioned as the independent variables. Student success variables (milestones and momentum points) served as dependent variables. Because each of the three cohorts contained over 10,000 students and displayed equivalent characteristics, the random sample of 7,634 students was drawn from the combined cohorts. Institutional financial variables predicted the milestones of reading readiness (χ2 = 315.10, df = 17, n = 3,495, p < .001) and writing readiness (χ2 = 296.64, df = 17, n = 3,149, p < .001). Financial variables contributed to the completion of English-1301 (χ2 = 1004.14, df = 17, n = 7,634, p < .001), college-level math (χ2 = 615.24, df = 17, n = 7,634, p < .001), 30 college-level credit hours (χ2 = 833.85, df = 17, n = 7,634, p < .001), and reenrollment the second fall semester (χ2 = 375.41, df = 17, n = 7,634, p < .001). Student services expenditures provided high odds for …

Undocumented students in the United States continue to face unique barriers to postsecondary success. One way that community colleges and 4-year institutions are providing support for undocumented students is establishing undocumented student resource centers (USRCs). These emerging identity-based centers are dedicated spaces of support and provide customized, comprehensive resources for undocumented college students. A multipronged theoretical framework that included undocu-competence, the institutionalization process, and critical theory, was used as a lens to examine how USRC professionals and affiliates understand the development, role, and function of a USRC on a California community college campus. Qualitative single case study methods, including in-depth semistructured interviews, observations, and document analysis, were utilized to meet the purpose of the study. The findings revealed three primary themes. First, the institutionalization process of the USRC at the center of this study was complex, imperfect, and ongoing. Second, there are strengths and limitations respective to the USRC's capacity to operationalize support and safety. Finally, the compounded impact of the current socio-political moment cannot be evaded with respect to the USRC's function. Subsequently, three primary points of discussion are explored, including critiquing the process of USRC institutionalization, complicating the notion of safe spaces on campuses, and calling for inside-outside …

The American democracy is experiencing strain from the erosion of democratic norms and its political, judicial, social, and economic institutions. In short, the American democracy shows signs of democratic deconsolidation. Community colleges are higher education institutions that help consolidate the U.S. democracy by representing democratic values such as equality and opportunity. The purpose of my study was to explore how selected community college presidents understand and articulate the responsibility of their institutions to prepare students for a meaningful role in the American democracy. Qualitative narrative inquiry methods, including in-depth semistructured interviews and document analysis, were used to collect data for the study. Three primary themes emerged from the data that addressed the purpose of this study: 1) community college philosophy: blueprint for a vision, 2) consolidating local democracies, and 3) citizens as students, students as citizens. These three themes supported further interpretation of the data that was organized under these headings, 1) the community college democratic mission, 2) community colleges help deepen democracy, and 3) the role of community colleges in the American democracy: public goods, private goods. In summary, my research found that first, my participants believed that community colleges have a responsibility to the American democracy and this …

The focus of the study was the University of Dallas’ Rome Program, a mid-length study abroad program on the university’s campus in Rome, Italy. The program is designed to provide participants with the opportunity to encounter firsthand Western tradition by integrating the core curriculum through classroom teachings and class excursions, thus solidifying the foundation of the participants’ undergraduate education. Beyond this purpose, the Rome Program does not operate from established goals and objectives for student experience. I consulted relevant research literature to construct a schema of domains of development appropriate to this qualitative study. These domains were intellectual development, global perspective, career development, and spiritual development. I interviewed 20 University of Dallas seniors who participated in the mid-length study abroad program between fall 2009 and spring 2011, using an extended, semi-structured interview protocol. The participants included 11 females and 9 males; 19 White and 1 Hispanic. The findings were supported by subsequent review by 4 of the interviewed students. I found generally strong but inconsistent support for student development in each of the domains. A number of sub-themes are reported. Through the interviews, an additional theme of personal development emerged and is reported. Although the findings generally support the conclusion …

For the past 40 years, one southwestern US university counseling program has sponsored two mental health training clinics in which master's and doctoral level students have learned to provide child parent relationship therapy (CPRT) services to community parents. In their training, students learn about the positive effects of CPRT, particularly on parental stress. To date, however, no program evaluation has been conducted at these clinics focusing specifically on parental stress outcomes after the completion of CPRT or to determine the demographics and characteristics of parents who pursue CPRT. The purpose of this study was to conduct such an evaluation of archival data spanning 7 years. Participants were 129 parents (70% female, 30% male; 80% Caucasian, 35% Hispanic/ Latino, 6% African American, and 4% Asian; 62% married, 9% separated, 16% divorced). Results from a t-test indicated a statistically significant decrease in self-reported parental stress, with a moderate effect size. Multiple regression revealed that women and those who attended with a co-parent reported greater stress reduction. This study confirmed the benefit of CPRT, provided by counselors-in-training, on reducing parental stress and indicated clientele for which and conditions in which those benefits might be optimized.

Adult educators are a growing part of American higher education. Because of their increasing prominence in adult education, it is essential to understand what roles these educators play and what motivates them to remain in the profession despite poor work prospects and conditions. Research to date, however, focuses primarily on the adult learner and not the adult educator. The purpose of this qualitative, multiple-case study was to explore the role and motivation for teaching of adult educators employed as adjunct faculty in an accelerated degree program at a small, liberal arts college in the northwest United States. Purposeful sampling was used to select the five participants for the study. All participants taught in the program for more than five years and were considered to be successful in their positions by peers, students, and administrators. The study employed a preliminary demographic survey to solicit initial background data on the instructors. Other data collection included in-depth, open-ended, face-to-face interviews, document analysis, and classroom observation. The results showed that all five participants identified the following roles and assumed them in the classroom: (a) facilitator, (b) listener, (c) specialist, (d) guide, (e) adviser, and (f) co-learner or colleague. Further results showed that all five …

This qualitative research, specifically a content analysis of 31 tribal colleges' mission statements and curricula, examined how the colleges' curricula aligned with the five educational concepts suggested in the colleges' mission statements. Cajete's (1994) seven foundations to indigenous thinking proved to be a major theoretical framework which provided a worldview for tribal learning. The study concluded that whereas the five educational concepts aligned between mission statements and curricula, the curricula emphasized culture, tribal community, and academic success at a greater level than mission statements indicated. Further, tribal colleges' curricula did not emphasize economic concepts as the mission statements indicated. A particular finding suggests that tribal colleges' are investing in environmental studies programs, thus increasing their intellectual capacity to protect their environmental interests while promoting indigenous thinking and community learning across all academic disciplines. Considerable implications include that an increase of American Indian environmental studies graduates may have a positive impact on environmental justice matters as well as the ability to promote new agricultural technologies. Additional implications include how mainstream universities will adapt to an increase of native students studying the sciences rather than liberal arts.

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are a certain set of abuse household dysfunction experiences that many children in the United States experience. Children who experience multiple ACEs are more likely to have negative mental and physical health issues as they grow older. These outcomes include ADHD, depression, cancer, heart disease, and early death. In this study, I examined the effectiveness of child centered play therapy (CCPT), a developmentally appropriate treatment modality, with children who have experienced two or more ACEs and who are also demonstrating inattention and impulsivity symptoms. Participants were 34 students from five Title 1 elementary schools in the southwest United States (28 males and 6 females; age range 5-8 years old with a mean age of 6.12). In the sample, participants were comprised of 29.4% African American (n = 10), 38.2% Caucasian (n = 13), 17.6% Hispanic/Latino (n = 6), and 14.7% identified as biracial (n = 5). Participants were randomly assigned to a treatment group that received 16 CCPT 30-minute sessions twice a week (n = 17) or a waitlist control group (n = 17) that received treatment at the conclusion of the study. Using a factorial ANOVA, results indicated statistically significant improvement of CCPT treatment group …

The Liberia Baptist Theological Seminary (LBTS), opened on March 4, 1976, exists to train men and women for Christian ministry. It offers four-year degree programs leading to bachelor of arts in theology, bachelor of arts in religious education, and bachelor of divinity. Three major periods characterized its growth and development. the first, from 1976 to 1989, was a period of growth and prosperity. the second, from 1990-2003, was a time of immense challenge for the seminary because of the Liberian Civil War. the final period, from 2003 to the present, shows the seminary attempting to re-position itself for the future as a premier Christian higher education institution in Liberia. One of the challenges remaining, however, is the lack of historical documentation on factors impacting the growth of the seminary. This historical case study research sought to provide a comprehensive overview of the LBTS within the context of theological higher education in Liberia and the Liberian Civil War. the four major purposes guiding this research were: 1. Historical—to document and evaluate the rise, survival, developments and achievements of LBTS; 2. Institutional—to gain insight into how the seminary operates; 3. to document the effects of the 13-year civil war on the seminary; …

The system of higher education in the United States of America has retained some of its original character yet it has also grown in many ways. Among the contemporary priorities of colleges and universities are undergraduate student learning outcomes and success along with a growing focus on diversity. As a result, there has been a growing focus on ways to achieve compositional diversity and a greater sense of inclusion with meaningful advances through better access and resources for individuals from non-dominant populations. The clearest result of these advances for sexual and gender diversity has been a normalization of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) identities through positive visibility and greater acceptance on campus. However, it appears that relatively few institutions have focused on improving academic diversity and students’ cognitive growth around LGBTQ issues. Through historical inquiry and a qualitative approach, this study explored the fundamental aspects of formal LGBTQ studies academic programs at some of the leading American research universities, including Cornell University, the University of Maryland, College Park, and the University of Texas at Austin – a purposeful sample chosen from the Association of American Universities (AAU) member institutions with organized curricula focused on the study of sexual …

The purpose of this study was to provide a historical overview of the development of the College of the Bahamas, and to examine the development of the College of the Bahamas in light of the College of the Bahamas Act of 1974 and the subsequent Act of 1995. The research was qualitative in nature using historical analysis. The primary means of investigation were analyses of both primary and secondary documents and interviews with key individuals who were important to the development of the College of the Bahamas since the 1960s. The methods of triangulation of data and findings were complemented by member checks to affirm the basic findings of the study. The study was limited in scope to the College of the Bahamas to the exclusion of other tertiary institutions within the country. The College of the Bahamas has advanced greatly and has largely fulfilled the directives and goals of the Act of 1974 and is currently engaged in efforts to meet the goals of the Act of 1995.

Ethical codes and laws provide counselors with guidance for how to approach confidentiality, but there is a gap in the literature surrounding counselors' process of decision-making when managing confidentiality with adolescent clients. This study explored the decision-making process of master therapists concerning adolescent clients. I conducted semi-structured interviews with peer identified master therapist (N=10), all of whom were licensed professional counselors with 15 or more years of counseling experience and whose case load contained 25% or more adolescent clients. Participants included seven females and three males; nine participants identified as Caucasian, and one participant identified as Hispanic. Participants ages ranged from 39-61. I analyzed the data, along with two research partner, according to Grounded Theory (GT) methodology. Through constant comparative analysis, a grounded theory emerged from the data in which participants converged understanding of client safety, relationships, clinical intuition in a process of integrated experience and consultation. With the exception of mandated reported and mortal danger, ethical guidelines and laws did not seem to factor into participants' decision making. Implications for counseling practice, preparation, and research are provided.

The focus of this case study was a study abroad program for student-athletes at a high academically achieving, small liberal arts college in the mid-west region of the United States. The program is designed to maintain a culture of internationalism and multiculturalism by exposing as many student-athletes as possible to study abroad. I reviewed literature to extract an appropriate theoretical framework along with variables that aligned with the purpose of the study; structural and organizational characteristics of the institution, student's background and pre-college traits, interaction with agents of socialization and institutional environment, and quality of effort. I used the semi-structured interview process to interview 9 senior student-athletes (3 female, 6 male; 7 White, 1 African American/White, 1 Chilean/White) who participated in study abroad during the 2015-2016 academic school year at the researched institution and to interview 5 administrators who facilitate the athletic department at the institution. I found that certain critical elements emerged as necessary to create and maintain a study abroad program geared specifically to the needs of the student-athlete population. I also found strong implications for adaptable elements that could generate opportunities for student-athletes to study abroad at a higher rate. These elements serve as a recommended framework …

This research synthesizes data and presents it using mapping software to help to identify potential site locations for community-centered higher education alternatives and more traditional junior-level colleges in Uganda. What factors can be used to quantify one site over another for the location of such an institution and if these factors can be isolated; why should they be used by local authorities? the variables are secured from the Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality (SACMEQ), Afrobarometer, census data, as well as technology reports and surveys. These variables are reduced, grouped and mapped to help determine the best location for a junior-level college. the use of local expert opinion on geopolitical, economic, and educational situations can be interfaced with the database data to identify potential sites for junior-level colleges with the potential to reduce the failure rate of such post-secondary school ventures. These data are analyzed in the context of reported higher education policies and outcomes from the national ministries, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), quality assurances agencies in the region, the World Bank, and national datasets. the final product is a model and tool that can be used by local experts to better select …

This study explored the legal parameters of sovereign immunity and its waivers for employees of public institutions of higher education in the state of Texas. This empirical study examined the decisions of the Texas Judiciary concerning public university litigation in the area of sovereign immunity, with a review of major state court decisions. Legal research methodology was used in this study. The data for this study included case study review of six cases decided by the Texas judiciary. Information about each of the cases and the important legal inferences from the cases was discussed. A review of the history of sovereign immunity and the current status of the application of the Texas Tort Claims Act was also included. Based on the review of the relevant case law and scholarly commentary, the study findings suggest that a) Texas courts recognize and apply the doctrine of sovereign immunity, unless the application of the doctrine is restricted by the Texas Tort Claims Act; b) the Texas Tort Claims Act establishes limited waivers to sovereign immunity applicable only under specified circumstances and subjects; c) Texas courts were consistent in applying the circumstances by which an institution or its actors waived sovereign immunity. Practice recommendations …

This pilot study investigated the impact of group activity play therapy (GAPT) on displaced orphans aged 10 to 12 years living in a large children.s village in Uganda. Teachers and housemothers identified 60 preadolescents exhibiting clinical levels of internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. The participants ethnicity was African and included an equal number of females and males. Participants were randomly assigned to GAPT (n = 30) or reading mentoring (RM; n = 30), which served as an active control. Preadolescents in both treatment groups participated in an average of 16 sessions, twice weekly with each session lasting 50 minutes. Sessions were held in the school located within the village complex. A two (group) by two (repeated measures) split plot ANOVA was used to analyze the data. According to teacher reports using the Teacher Report Form (TRF) and housemother reports using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), children receiving the GAPT intervention demonstrated statistically significant decreases (p < .025) in internalizing behaviors (TRF: p < .001; CBCL: p < .001 ) and externalizing behaviors (TRF: p = .006; CBCL: p < .001) from pretest to posttest compared to children who received RM. The GAPT intervention demonstrated a large treatment effect on reducing …

Counselors and other mental health professionals lack training on healthy sexuality and sexual identity development (SID). To begin to construct a comprehensive model of SID that can be used in counseling and counselor education, I conducted an exploratory study utilizing a grounded theory approach to collect and analyze SID stories from a purposive sample of eight adults from the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas area: four male and four female; seven White Caucasian-American and one Asian American; and self-identified as two gay, one lesbian, three heterosexual, and two sexually fluid. Participants elucidated a process model of the sexual-self that incorporated biological, psychological, social, cultural, and spiritual factors. Emergent themes included discovering, distinguishing, placing boundaries around, differentiating, and integrating the sexual-self. This preliminary model advanced a more holistic understanding of SID that counselors and other mental health professionals, educators, and researchers may find useful within their respective disciplines.

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of ABC on adaptive functioning in high school males. Specifically, a pretest/posttest, experimental design (N = 46; Caucasian = 26, Hispanic = 20) was used to examine the changes in adaptive and maladaptive functioning in ABC participants (n = 21) compared to those in a control/waitlist group (n = 25) as measured by the Behavior Assessment System for Children, second edition (BASC-2). Participants randomly assigned to the treatment group engaged in 10 ABC sessions. In order to better understand group process in ABC, I had experimental group participants complete the Group Climate Question Short form (GCQ-S) three times during the intervention. A mixed between/within subjects ANOVA of the BASC-2 scores revealed a statistically significant increase in adaptive functioning for both groups, F(1, 33) = 8.58, p < .01, with a partial eta squared of .21 indicating a large effect. There was no statistically significant difference between the experimental and control/waitlist groups, F(1, 33) = .064, p = .80, and a very small effect size (partial eta squared < .01). A repeated measures ANOVA of the GCQ-S scores revealed a statistically significant increase in engagement, F(2, 38) = 4.067, p = …

For individuals with schizophrenia and their caregivers, psychosocial interventions have been shown to significantly improve recovery and reduce relapse rates. Although this population is underserved and stigmatized, counselors have been excluded from most research into attitudes toward and interventions for these families. Using a stratified random sample survey design, researchers explored the relationships between participating U.S. Licensed Professional Counselors’ attitudes towards, recovery beliefs regarding, familiarity with, desire for social distance from, and interest in providing services to individuals with schizophrenia and their caregivers. Most of the 111 participants (11.1% response rate) identified themselves as female (83.8%) and Caucasian (86.5%). A few participants described themselves as Hispanic (6.3%) or Black or African-American (5.4%). Respondents ranged in age in years from 20’s to 60’s with the largest group in their 40’s. Descriptive statistics indicated that the majority of LPC participants reported low to moderate stigmatizing attitudes, strong beliefs in recovery, and moderate to high interest in providing interventions for people with schizophrenia and their caregivers. Furthermore, almost half of participating LPCs reported already working with individuals with schizophrenia. Bivariate correlations and hierarchical regressions indicated that high interest in providing interventions for this population was significantly correlated (p < .01) with high frequency …