Although master's institutions enroll a substantial student population in the United States, a large percentage of which are minorities, relatively little has been written with regard to how master's institutions approach enrollment management. This mixed methods study examines the enrollment priorities and recruitment strategies of master's institutions to reveal how master's institutions are prioritizing their commitments to institutional quality, access, and financial stability, the types of recruitment strategies these institutions are utilizing to uphold their commitments, and the impact of these recruitment strategies, particularly upon issues of access. The study also makes use of a theoretical framework informed by academic capitalism theory, game theory, and institutional theory to explain why master's institutions may be prioritizing certain enrollment goals and adopting particular recruitment strategies. Findings from this study suggest master's institutions may be embracing market-oriented enrollment behaviors that prioritize revenue maximization, consequently reinforcing the advantages of the privileged and serving as vehicles for social reproduction.

Institutionalization of curricular or pedagogical innovation or reform occurs at three different levels in an organization, the regulative institutionalization which occurs as compliance by expediency, normative institutionalization which occurs as compliance by moral or legal appropriateness and cognitive institutionalization which occurs as compliance by conceptual correctness. The cognitive level is most the desirable because at that level the values and norms of the organization are manifested in the beliefs and behaviors of individuals in the organization.This research study examined the patterns of institutionalization of integration of faith and learning as a curricular and pedagogical model among faculty members at a private Christian liberal arts university in Nigeria, West Africa. Five patterns of integration of faith and learning emerged from the study compared to eight patterns of institutionalization that emerged in a similar study of four religious research universities in the United States by the team of Ream, Beaty and Lyon (2004). The findings suggest that the level of institutionalization manifested and perceivable in the Nigerian study is at the regulative institutionalization level due to the fact that the beliefs and the behaviors of the faculty members are non-congruent to the expected beliefs and behaviors compatible with the institutionalization of the integration of faith and learning curricular and pedagogical model. Even though the 'fear of God' emerged as one of the dominant themes articulated by some of the faculty members in the study, four other emergent themes articulated the need to find a balance between religious integration and academic excellence. The findings suggest Seventh-day Adventists faculty members struggle between the need to subscribe to the fear of God as a measure for integration and the need to maintain a separation between faith and learning for objectivity in the academy. Being a Seventh-day Adventist male lecturer over the lecturer II rank was found to be a dominant factor in the institutionalization of the integration of faith and learning curricular model at a regulative level at the institution in the study.

The purpose of this quantitative study was to identify and explore the relationship between state appropriations and freshman to sophomore retention at public, four year institutions of higher education. Additional questions concerning the users of retention programming learning centers, summer bridge programs, and freshman seminars emerged during the analysis of the initial question. Data sources included the College Board annual survey of institutions, WebCASPAR, Barron's Profiles of American Colleges, and email surveying of the 271 institutions included in the sample for the years 1991 and 1996. The data was used in a series of multiple regressions and fixed effects regressions. The fixed effects method was viable since the same institutions provided observations for two points in time. The choice of independent variables was informed by retention theory and prior quantitative research into the retention question, as well as by the small body of literature addressing the efficacy of retention interventions. The new independent variable was the state dollars allocated per FTE student at each institution in 1991 and 1996.The multiple regression analyses confirmed that state dollars have a statistical impact on freshman to sophomore retention. In addition, the analyses suggested that summer bridge programming is the most effective of the three retention interventions considered, despite the small size of these programs relative to learning centers and freshman seminars. However, learning centers were the most numerous of the three programs and freshman seminars were the fastest growing. Descriptive statistics suggested that institutions using these three programs have higher populations of students of color and also were more selective than those institutions not using the programs.The fixed effects regressions, however, returned very different results, with freshman seminars showing a strong, negative effect on retention rates and state appropriations no apparent effect. Data limitations may have resulted in these disparate results. Implications of this work include a stronger case for institutions to lobby the states and the suggestion to implement summer bridge programming prior to the other two interventions while additional research should employ a more robust data set and focus on disaggregating state money into its primary beneficiaries.

This paper explores the developmental process associated with developing a disability identity and the major societal, political, and environmental influences on disability identity development. This phenomenological study employs in-depth interviews to explore the interplay between the personal experiences of physically disabled college students with their social and physical environments to better understand the disability identity development process. Framing this study are the concepts that disability is a sociopolitical construct and that identity is formed through the interplay of individual and environment.The multidimensional model for disability identity is presented to inform the formation of disability identity. Currently, no model exists solely dedicated to disability identity. This model introduces the term "negotiated identity" to reflect the interaction between individual and environment that is critical to the disability experience. This model sees a departure from its essentialist predecessors by allowing for a vast interpretation of disability identity and straying from the one-directional, stage progression of traditional models. Institutional, practical and research-oriented implications are presented to inform the work of higher education professionals.

Over the past ten years institutions of higher education throughout the country have begun to expand their educational offerings to the online environment. While the benefits of online education have been touted by administrators and institutions across the country, the actual impact on students' education is unclear (Distance learning student services: An interview with CTDLC executive director Ed Klonoski.2004; Planning reaps variety of benefits for distance programs.2006; Restauri, 2004; Yang & Cornelius, 2004). Many authors including Cox (2005) and Vail (2006) have found that in their rush to take advantage of the online market, many schools have failed to adequately prepare and develop both the educational and student services foundation needed for a successful online education program. This dissertation seeks to provide insight into the development of the online educational student services environment within the community college setting. Based on the work of Orlikowski and Gash (1994), an examination of the technological frames of institutional stakeholders was performed. Through this analysis a clearer picture of the online services development process was achieved. Furthermore, the theory of technological frames was examined to proved a framework from which organizations may examine their own institutional structures Using a multifaceted qualitative case study approach, this dissertation explored both the level of satisfaction students are receiving from the online student services environment and the technological frames of stakeholders that contributed to the current state of service. The findings of this research provided insight into current practices as well as contributed to the literature through the expansion of the theory of technological frames.

The overall goal of the research was to deepen our understanding of the culture of college access work through the views of practitioners who design and staff college access programs. This study sought to explore the values, standards, philosophical foundations, career patterns, and networks that influence and guide the work of college access professionals. The study was based primarily upon interviews with twenty college and university professionals who work in the state of Arizona and an analysis of the professional associations in which they participate. The study was modeled after Becher's analysis of the culture of academic disciplines and interview questions fell in the following categories: 1) characteristics of the field, 2) epistemological issues, 3) career patterns, 4) reputations and rewards, 5) professional activity, and 6) value systems. Results indicate that college access professionals tend to describe their work in terms of programs and services to students, family engagement, and developing capacity in the schools. The use of research varies amongst practitioners. The change in the scope of college access work and the growth in the field have also led to the creation of new professional associations. Implications of the study include the need for practioners and professional associations to collaborate, and the need for practitioners to build their knowledge base of the research supporting their work.

AbstractStudents come to community colleges with different levels of personal development, academic preparedness, and learning needs. Success programs that focus on the holistic development of nontraditional students provide an important pathway into college for students who might not otherwise attend or succeed. These programs face increased accountability to demonstrate student outcomes. In assessing outcomes, are the successes experienced by these students fully captured with traditional student success measures?Constituent groups may differ with regard to expected outcomes and conceptualizations of success. To examine this possibility, a community college program designed to promote goal attainment for at-risk, nontraditional re-entry students was chosen for a case study to determine what success means to the students who participate in the program, the instructional counselors who teach the course for the program, and the administrators who make resource allocation decisions that impact the viability of the program.The case study was organized around four propositions that hypothesize how different participants construct their perceptions of success:1) Students who complete the program course will come to search for and define success in terms of finding their voice and developing cultural capital;2) Instructors who teach the course will conceive of success outcomes in differing ways depending on the extent of their professionalization - locals will support a more traditional, academic oriented preparation whereas cosmopolitans and intermediates, to varying degrees, will embrace a more holistically developmental approach to the course;3) Administrators will evaluate and allocate resources to the program primarily in terms of traditional institutional measures of student success - student credit production and student completion; and3a) Perspectives of success based on students finding their voice, cultural capital, and holistic developmental outcomes are not considered nor valued independently by administrators in their decision-making.Knowing the differing perspectives of what is valued by those involved allows for strategically informed decisions about what to assess and how to present data that best supports the benefits of this program to the students, the college, and the community. The importance of aligning various participant perspectives of success for ultimate program efficiency and effectiveness is demonstrated.

Geriatric Education Centers (GECs), as funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration, promote interdisciplinary geriatric education and training for more than 35 health-professions disciplines including medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, nursing, and social work. GECs are charged with becoming self-sustaining beyond the period of their funding. Sustainability in this application means that a GEC can fund itself through the generation of multiple revenue sources. This study seeks to explore changes in the structure, activities, and relationships of GECs over time in their pursuit of sustainability, and hypothesizes that GECs have shifted from the old economy, or the public good knowledge regime, to the new economy, or the academic capitalist knowledge/learning regime, and from the manufacturing to the networking economy. The theoretical framework of academic capitalism and the knowledge/learning regime will be used as a lens in this qualitative multiple case study.Sources included structured, in-depth, on-site interviews and observations, as well as documentary and virtual (website) evidence. While GECs are engaging in market-like behaviors, creating markets and circuits of knowledge, developing interstitial and intermediary organizations, and expanding managerial capacity, they have been unable to connect with related markets, as these markets lack a profit motive, and have ultimately been unsuccessful in their pursuit of sustainability. Continued federal funding for GECs is justified based on the public good argument that without public encouragement, these services would not be provided by the private sector. The study concludes with recommendations to enhance opportunity structures for GECs.

Growth in distance education programs at public postsecondary institutions has been phenomenal. Nevertheless, not all of these institutions achieved their goals that prompted the creation of a distance education program in the first place. In an effort to understand why some programs succeed in achieving goals while others do not, past research has focused on either the technology used in delivering the program or the pedagogy used in designing course content. These studies may not have uncovered the whole story for though distance education programs may be based on technology and pedagogy they are designed and implemented within a social environment which affects the program's design and ultimate achievements. This would imply a need for a better understanding of how different social groups involved in distance education program design and implementation interact during the developmental process.This study sought to understand the effect of the social environment on the design of distance education program. Using Social Construction of Technology (SCOT) theory, it examined a collaborative distance education program's development from inception to implementation. The goal in investigating the social construction of this distance education program was to determine to what extent the program's final design was shaped by social forces surrounding the technology rather than the technology itself.The study used key social groups' attributes to assess to what extent each group was able to influence the program's design. Without reference to technological or pedagogical systems this study clearly demonstrated the potential of SCOT theory to explain how social groups shaped the program's ultimate outcome.

The field of higher education offers a wealth of literature concerning part-time, adjunct faculty. While the decision to employ this category of labor is crucial to the financial exigency of many institutions this study adopts the perspective of the individual employee and to investigate the motivations and strategies that adjuncts employ in order to teach in the field of higher education. To date, the majority of the literature concerning adjuncts has been written from the perspective of the full-time, tenure track academician. This paper investigates the perspective of adjunct faculty in higher education; specifically the personal branding efforts carried out in the execution of an adjunct's day-to-day job requirements. Additionally the study examines the economic situation - what I am calling "the new economy" - in which an adjunct must function and how this has impacted their career. And finally, the study looks at how adjunct faculty fit in and transition among the multiple taxonomies in which they have been cast by researchers.The study was a qualitative analysis of twelve adjuncts who possessed varying levels of terminal education achievement. Some temporary laborers are clearly valued by the institutions that hire them because of the skill and expertise they bring to the schools, while others rely on relationships with the decision makers to formulate a career in their chosen field. The findings from this study indicate that adjuncts clearly employ a broad variety of personal branding and selling strategies in order to maintain a foothold in the field of higher education. Future directions include the opportunity for longitudinally investigating the impact that personal branding plays in educational career as well as the impact adjuncts have on students' educational experience.