This dissertation examined the relationship between the three year academic success of transfer students and the variables of race, gender, age, number of transfer credit hours, and place of residence. The study was conducted at Midwestern State University, a public, regional four-year institution and followed the incoming transfer classes of the fall 2005 (N = 292), 2006 (N = 323), and 2007 (N = 286) semesters. The subjects included in this study were all new transfer students who met the university.s requirement to live on campus. The dependent variable, three year academic success, was defined as whether or not the student was still persisting or had graduated within three years from the date of initial enrollment. The independent variables were housing status during the first semester after transfer, age at time of transfer, gender, race, and the number of credit hours at the time of transfer. The first research question aimed to determine if housing status impacted the three year academic success in the population. Chi-square analysis found that there were no significant distributions of the students who lived on-campus and the students who lived off-campus during their first semester after transfer. The second research question aimed to determine if …

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 study examined differences between adult first-generation (AFG) and adult-continuing generation (ACG) students’ academic self-efficacy with regard to the online courses in which they were currently enrolled. The study used an online survey methodology to collect self-reported quantitative data from 1,768 undergraduate students enrolled in an online course at a mid-sized, four-year public university in the southwestern United States; 325 cases were usable for the study. The t-tests revealed no statistically significant differences between the academic self-efficacy of the AFG and ACG students. Parents’ level of educational attainment was unrelated to adult students’ academic self-efficacy with online courses. Ordinary least-squares analysis was used to evaluate student characteristics that might be associated with academic self-efficacy in the online environment. A combination of gender, GPA, age, race/ethnicity (White, Black, Hispanic, and other), and number of previous online courses predicted a statistically significant 12% of the variance in academic self-efficacy in an online environment (p < .001). Age (p < .001) and self-efficacy were positively correlated, meaning that adult students reported greater academic self-efficacy than did younger students; and number of previous online courses (p < .001) was also positively correlated to academic self-efficacy, indicating that students with greater experience with online courses …

In Texas, Hispanic populations (people of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race) have increased from 6.7 million in 2000 to 7.4 million in 2005, or by approximately 10.5%. This growth trend is expected to continue with estimates that Hispanics will represent approximately 37% of the state's population by 2015. The problem this research addressed is that participation in higher education by Texas Hispanics is not keeping pace with the growth in the Texas Hispanic population. If allowed to continue, the state could be in danger of realizing devastating economic and societal consequences. The present study utilized regression analysis to determine how well four institutional characteristics explained the variance in Hispanic enrollment and graduation percentages of students attending public 4-year institutions in states with prevalent Hispanic populations. Findings indicate that while local Hispanic population is a strong, positive predictor of Hispanic enrollments, it has a negative impact on Hispanic graduation rates. The independent variables of average cost of attendance and average financial aid package are the strongest predictors of Hispanic graduation percentages. Implications for the state of Texas include stress on public 4-year institutions in coping with Hispanic population increases, …

The purpose of this non-experimental, quantitative study was to determine how well selected institutional characteristics explain the variance in Hispanic community college students’ transfer rates to 4-year institutions. Due to the rapidly growing Texas Hispanic population, understanding challenges to their educational attainment has become critical. Hispanic community college enrollment in Texas continues to rise, yet these students are not transferring to 4-year institutions at the same rate as other groups. This study analyzed data from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board of 50 Texas community colleges to determine how well the independent variables (Hispanic population of each community college campus locale, Hispanic community college student college readiness as indicated by Texas Success Indicator scores, and the percent of Hispanic faculty at each community college) accounted for the variance on the dependent variable (Hispanic community college student transfer rate). Multiple regression was used to determine the magnitude of the relationships between the dependent variable and the combination of all the independent variables. Commonality analysis was then utilized to identify proportions of variance in the dependent variable from combinations of the independent variables. The independent variables together generated a statistically significant regression model on the dependent variable, F(4, 64) = 3.067, p …

Academic capital is composed of social processes that result in family knowledge of educational expectations, and strategies that result in a successful college experience. Often underrepresented and first-generation students lack a wealth of academic capital. This lack of knowledge may affect their college success. I used the Academic Capital Scale to research differences in academic capital in students attending a 2-year and a 4-year institution. To address differences in these two groups, I performed an independent samples t-test. The analysis was done with and without transformations (transformations were unsuccessful.) and both procedures yielded no statistical significance in mean academic capital scores. In addition, a Mann-Whitney U test was completed which also resulted in no statistically significant difference in mean rank of scores. I performed a logistic regression to determine whether academic capital could predict students' enrollment status (full time vs. part time). The model accounted for 2% of the variance in the enrollment status and the academic capital scores did not contribute significantly to the model, meaning they did not predict enrollment status. Finally, I ran a multiple regression to investigate if low socioeconomic status, gender identity, first-generation status, enrollment status, or race/ethnicity could predict students' academic capital score. The …

In 2009 the Texas legislature created the National Research University Fund (NRUF), intended to encourage a select group of public doctoral universities in the state, known as emerging research universities (ERUs), to increase their institutional status related to academic research by awarding supplemental financial support for meeting specific policy metrics. Efforts to increase the research status of these universities occurred at a time when public financial support remained stagnate and overall institutional costs increased within the higher education sector. This study utilizes a theoretical approach grounded in strategic action fields and employs panel data and a difference in differences statistical technique to analyze the impact that NRUF policy has in assisting ERUs in achieving R1 status, and how this organizational change impacted access to, and the quality of, undergraduate education. Results indicate that the NRUF policy intervention was not statistically significant for any part of the study. These findings suggest that policy interventions do not matter as much as specific institutional characteristics and the overall policy environment. Enrollment and tuition revenue predicted institutional performance related to academic research and graduate education, while also assisting these institutions in maintaining undergraduate academic quality and access. These cultural and material resources at the …