Authors:Christiana Olaleye et al. Abstract: This study examined the grief effects college students experience when losing a loved one and whether grief effects vary based on gender. Grief effects were outlined by the Holistic Impact of Bereavement and included emotional, cognitive, physical, behavioral, interpersonal, and spiritual effects. The researchers hypothesized that college students would experience all six grief effects, primarily emotional and cognitive effects. The researchers also hypothesized that female students would experience statistically significantly greater grief effects than male students, specifically emotional and cognitive effects. Results indicated a statistically significant difference in the emotional, physical, cognitive, and behavioral grief effects experienced between female and male students with female students experiencing greater effects than male students. Implications for these findings are addressed. Future research recommendations are also provided. PubDate: Tue, 17 May 2022 09:06:10 PDT
Authors:Graham F. Hunter Abstract: Graduate preparation programs serve as a primary site for training new student affairs practitioners. However, scholars perennially raise concerns about the effectiveness of such graduate training and the readiness of new student affairs practitioners for the field. Whereas existing graduate preparation scholarship relies almost exclusively on a socialization framework, alternative theoretical frameworks oriented toward student learning can offer new insight into training individuals to do student affairs work. Utilizing existing literature on student affairs graduate preparation and cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT), this article offers a conceptual model of student affairs graduate preparation as sociocultural activity systems. This model maps dimensions of the coursework and fieldwork environments that graduate student navigate during their training and highlights the sociocultural contradictions that emerge within and between each of these environments. Finally, the article provides discussion of how the conceptual model can guide future research on graduate training and strengthen student learning and development within training programs. PubDate: Tue, 17 May 2022 09:06:01 PDT
Authors:Ginny J. Boss et al. Abstract: The purpose of this study was to provide more insight into the skills and support systems needed to encourage scholarship among student affairs practitioners. We used topical life history to examine the scholarly lives of eight student affairs practitioners. To guide that examination, we leveraged the questions posed by Jablonski et al. (2006) as our research questions: “What skills and knowledge [did] practitioners need to develop a scholarship agenda'" and "What support, coaching, and job modifications create[d] environments for practitioners to be successful” (p. 197). Participant life histories revealed a variety of direct and indirect influences, such as institutional context, mentorship, personal characteristics, and significant others on the participants' work as student affairs practitioners. The findings highlighted the following as major influences on the professionals’ decision to engage and sustain scholarship: community, intrinsic motivation, and cultural change. What these findings also suggest is practitioners are willing and desirous to make an impact on the broader field through scholarly engagement; they just need support and compelling reasons to do so. PubDate: Tue, 09 Nov 2021 14:27:47 PST
Authors:Michelle L. Boettcher Abstract: As student affairs graduate students finish their academic work and begin their job searches, they must navigate a number of competing priorities including position, title, work responsibilities, functional area, salary, benefits and other aspects of the position. For some graduates, the most important consideration is geographical location – they want to be close to family, partners, or located in specific communities. As a result, they often have to be very flexible on other work considerations. They also sometimes feel isolated in their searches and get messages from peers that they are not doing their searches in the “right” way. This study examined the experiences of these students as they engaged in their job searches. While there is a vast amount of anecdotal information on the role of location in the student affairs job search, there is limited scholarship on the topic until now. This study begins to fill the scholarly gap on the role of location in the student affairs job search process. PubDate: Tue, 09 Nov 2021 14:27:40 PST
Authors:Darren E. Pierre et al. Abstract: Development occurs over the lifespan, and student affairs educators are not exempt from that life-long process. This article examined the coming out experiences of gay men within student affairs master’s preparation programs. The study was comprised of 11 participants representing seven different higher education/student affairs administration programs. The findings of this study offer the following: first, the study offers insight on the coming out experiences of gay men in graduate preparation programs. Second, the findings showcase the role that student affairs programs, curriculum, and instruction play in the identity exploration process for gay men. Finally, findings from this study offer implications for pedagogical approaches and frameworks within student affairs/higher education administration programs. PubDate: Tue, 09 Nov 2021 14:27:33 PST
Authors:Carlie L. Cooper Abstract: In 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed. It prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities. Institutions of higher education are included under Title III of the ADA, and as such are required to provide the same access to services and education to qualified individuals with disabilities as individuals without. A review of the literature of accessibility of online programs and courses in higher education shows that compliance to the ADA is sporadic due to several challenges. In Spring 2020, all institutions of higher education transitioned to some form of online instruction due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This created even more challenges in complying to the law. This paper reviews the challenges to compliance to the ADA in online courses both in normal operations and during the COVID-19 pandemic, and offers recommendations and resources for improving compliance. PubDate: Tue, 09 Nov 2021 14:27:24 PST
Authors:Maria R. Sarmiento et al. Abstract: As special-mission institutions, Catholic higher education institutions pursue similar goals of American higher education to develop graduates who are civically engaged and ready to address contemporary challenges. However, these institutions are often challenged to integrate their religious mission within the classroom through faculty pedagogy, which buttresses academic freedom and student consumerism issues. This descriptive phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of Catholic university faculty members as they described their pedagogical experiences and Catholic identity perspectives. Findings from this study suggested a connection with Catholic identity, but that their relationship with institutional mission related to teaching was ambiguous. Participants had little professional development and called for their institutional leaders to better help them integrate Catholic mission and identity into their teaching approaches. Implications for practice include new ways of thinking to better support faculty teaching connection to institutional Catholic mission and identity. PubDate: Tue, 09 Nov 2021 14:27:18 PST
Authors:Damon Andrews et al. Abstract: The purpose of this study was to determine predictors of community college student academic success in corequisite English and mathematics courses. Academic success was defined dichotomously on a pass or fail basis. The population included 1,934 students enrolled in at least one corequisite English and/or mathematics course at a community college between the fall semester of 2015 and summer semester of 2018. Binary logistic regression was used to examine the fol- lowing predictors: a student’s sex, race, age at time of enrollment, Pell Grant recipient status, first-generation college student status, high school grade point average (HSGPA), placement test scores, academic major, time spent receiving academic tutoring; and corequisite course faculty employment status. The two strongest predictors of student academic success in corequisite English courses were: (1) HSGPA and (2) being female. The three strongest predictors of student academic success in corequisite mathematics courses were: (1) HSGPA, (2) corequisite course faculty employment status, and (3) mathematics course based on major. The strongest predictor in both logistic regression analyses was HSGPA. It is recommended that educational leaders use HSGPA as a metric for placing students in the corequisite model. Additionally, it is recommended that institutions continue to invest in faculty professional development opportunities as it relates to teaching students who are non-female, minority, economically-disadvantaged, or first-generation. PubDate: Tue, 09 Nov 2021 14:27:12 PST
Authors:Sarah E. Jones et al. Abstract: Though most youth in the foster care system aspire to attend college, few have the opportunity to do so. For myriad reasons, including lack of historical representation on college campuses, sub- par Pk-12 education, and postsecondary barriers to admissions, enrollment, and financial aid, most college students who experienced foster care depart college without earning a degree. As the barriers to college for this population of students emerges, postsecondary institutions are pre- paring their campuses for students with unique needs. This qualitative study explores how student affairs professionals in one university system support college students previously in foster care. Professionals and teams of professionals working at six different institutions across the university system participated in interviews that emphasized the ways campuses used resources to meet students’ hierarchy of needs. Based on the results of this research, student affairs professionals support students’ foundational physiological and safety needs in myriad ways. In doing so, student affair professionals add to the motivation necessary for students to move towards belonging, esteem, and actualization. PubDate: Tue, 09 Nov 2021 14:27:02 PST
Authors:Georgia College Personnel Association (GCPA Abstract: Complete issue of Georgia Journal of College Student Affairs, v.37, iss. 2 PubDate: Tue, 09 Nov 2021 14:26:56 PST
Authors:Rebecca Cofer Abstract: Book review of The Mind of the Leader .Hougaard. R. & Carter, J. (2018). The Mind of the Leader: How to Lead Yourself, Your People, And Your Organization for Extraordinary Results. Harvard Business Review Press. 224pp. ISBN 9781633693425. $25.20 suggested retail price. PubDate: Tue, 09 Mar 2021 10:41:29 PST
Authors:Michelle Lea Boettcher et al. Abstract: Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover is the story of a first generation college student navigating a transition from a rural and conservative community and family into and through higher education including graduate education. As Westover shares her struggles and is transparent with her vulnerability, she highlights a number of struggles students often face in college. The book explores the tensions between family / home and college. It also highlights the importance of individual connections and actions in the persistence and success of students. It is compelling and directly transferable to the work of student affairs practitioners as highlighted in the review. PubDate: Tue, 09 Mar 2021 10:41:26 PST
Authors:Donald L. Ariail et al. Abstract: The University System of Georgia (USG) has a state-wide initiative aimed at increasing the well-being of faculty and staff by deincentivizing the use of tobacco products by employees who are covered by a USG healthcare plan. This incentive is positive in that aid in stopping tobacco product usage is offered to each member; and negative in that each member who is a tobacco product user is penalized. A healthcare surcharge is added to the monthly health insurance premium paid by each faculty/staff member for themselves and covered dependents over 18 years of age who are tobacco product users. The current policy considers covered employees and their applicable dependents to be users of tobacco products unless they annually opt-out. This paper includes summaries of the incidence of cigarette and tobacco product usage in the U.S., a summary of USG’s policies related to the current tobacco initiative, a brief literature review regarding opt-in and opt-out programs, and a discussion of the possible negative impact of the current USG tobacco use policy. Support is provided for the present tobacco surcharge penalty being either eliminated or its implementation changed, and for the current opt-out default being changed to an opt-in program. PubDate: Tue, 09 Mar 2021 10:41:23 PST
Authors:Misty G. Smith et al. Abstract: As the generational context of higher education shifts, a rise of Emotional Support Animals (ESA) and mental health concerns are present for students on college campuses. While previous studies have aimed to address the relevancy and controversy of ESAs in higher education as well as their effectiveness in supporting individuals, less research has explored underlying factors that contribute to the use of an ESA. The purpose of this study was to explore the parenting behaviors of parents/caregivers of students with ESAs in comparison to parents/caregivers of students without ESAs. An embedded mixed methods design was used. Participants completed the Parenting Behaviors Questionnaire (PBQ) assessment scale and an embedded qualitative question. Findings revealed differences in the PBQ subscales of responsiveness and explaining. Students with ESAs also disclosed higher incidents of unexpected life events and caregiver instability than their non-ESA counterparts. The data provides essential assessment and intervention information for college counseling centers. PubDate: Tue, 09 Mar 2021 10:41:19 PST
Authors:Sherolyn Hopkins et al. Abstract: This article is the result of research conducted with first-generation upper-class college students enrolled at a comprehensive university in Georgia. The researcher sought to answer the following research question: How do first-generation college students perceive the impact of out-of-classroom engagement experiences on persistence'Participants were selected based on a purposeful sampling technique. The researcher utilized a qualitative interpretive approach and collected data via individual interviews and a focus group. The researcher was able to organize the rich data into themes. The article concludes with implications for student affairs professionals and future research on first-generation college students.Keywords: first-generation college students, engagement, persistence PubDate: Tue, 09 Mar 2021 10:41:16 PST
Authors:Meagan C. Arrastia-Chisholm et al. Abstract: Using self-determination theory, the academic motivation of college students from deployed military families was examined. Implementing a case study methodology, interviews with 14 college students were transcribed and coded using a theory-driven rubric to identify their needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Each case was analyzed for one’s self-determination regulatory style (external, introjected, integrated, or identified). The need for relatedness was the most prevalent in the data and the majority of cases exhibited regulatory styles consistent with introjected motivation. PubDate: Tue, 09 Mar 2021 10:41:13 PST
Authors:Georgia College Personnel Association (GCPA Abstract: Complete issue of Georgia Journal of College Student Affairs, v.37, iss. 1 PubDate: Tue, 09 Mar 2021 10:41:05 PST
Authors:Carlie L. Cooper Abstract: Violence has existed on college campuses throughout the history of higher education in America. In the Colonial Era of higher education, tension between faculty and students often led to riots and revolts led by disgruntled students (Thelin, 2011). During the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Era, demonstrations on campuses were occasionally met by violent overreactions of law enforcement (Cohen and Kisker, 2010). In recent decades, violence on college campuses has been marked by the use of guns, leading to casualties, like in the tragic case of the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007. College in the Crosshairs: An Administrative Perspective on Prevention of Gun Violence examines gun violence on campus and seeks to provide suggestions to limit such violence. In the following sections, I will summarize the contents and argument of the book, and provide an analysis of its strengths and weaknesses. PubDate: Mon, 06 Jul 2020 08:22:05 PDT
Authors:Lucero A. Aradillas Abstract: In the book The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups, Daniel Coyle discusses how people work together as part of a group that achieves excellent results. As opposed to this being a book on how individuals lead, the author focuses on how people interact successfully and productively with each other; thereby, giving leaders three skills that can help hone successful teams. His research identified three skills that propel effective teamwork: Build Safety, Share Vulnerability, and Establish Purpose. This book review will briefly describe these skills and how the book provides a solid base for leaders seeking to lead teams. PubDate: Mon, 06 Jul 2020 08:21:56 PDT