Highlights For:
Student Research
Penn GSE has long been known for strength in ethnographic research and qualitative methods, studies of language and literacy and practitioner inquiry. In recent decades, we've also developed world-class capacity in quantitative methods, policy and evaluation, higher education management, and professional psychology.
Students as well as faculty are engaged in innovative and interesting research. Recent research has included
- A look at HIV/AIDS prevention efforts in Africa. Western countries and agencies have been bringing HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment programs to Africa for years. But do they really work? How effective are these programs, and how do we know? Read more >>
- The use of Spanish and Guarani in Paraguay. How are Spanish and Guarani (an indigenous language) languages used, and mixed, and in what contexts? Has the national program of bilingual education changed these rules? What ethnographic or social conclusions can we draw from Guarani/Spanish language use patterns? Read more >>
- African-American women applying to graduate school. How do undergraduate institutions influence African-American women's decisions to consider, apply, and matriculate into graduate school? What role do environmental conditions, institutional structures, educational experiences, and access to social networks play? Read more >>
- Reconciling Catholic and secular academic values. Leaders at Catholic colleges and universities are faced with the challenge of reconciling values that emerge from the Catholic identity of their institutions with the values of the academy that influence every American institution of higher education. Read more >>
- Central banks and university financial governance. The effective management of resources enables university's leaders to underwrite strategies necessary to compete for outstanding faculty and students, while advancing the institution's academic mission. To do so, however, institutions must be strategic and creative managers of resources. Read more >>
- Fund-raising success at Drexel University. While all colleges and universities in the United States now raise money, some do so with greater competence than others. How did the university with the greatest improvement in fundraising performance from 1997 to 2007 produce these results? What lessons can other institutions learn from this example? Read more >>
- Beyond Student Backgrounds. Although access to a postsecondary education has increased exponentially since 1970, access to a bachelor's degree has not grown as swiftly. Data from 2003 suggest that on average, only 56 percent of entering freshmen graduate from their first institution within six years. Read more >>
- The stressful life of the college president. The college president's life is widely depicted in the higher education literature as one of relentless stress. However, very few studies actually document presidents' perceptions of stress in their own positions, and little research exists exploring college and university presidents' health promoting behaviors. Read more >>
- Autonomy policy in U.S. higher education. The relationship between states and their public institutions is at its foundation about degrees of control, institutional autonomy, and accountability. Policymakers, academics, and advocates of higher education reform have long debated university autonomy, especially the balance of state control and public interest with institutional priorities. Read more >>
- Faculty's role in helping mentally ill students. Several recent recommendations call for training faculty as gatekeepers to help them identify students with mental health problems so that they can make timely and appropriate interventions and referrals. But do the faculty see themselves as having a place in this process? Read more >>
- Catalysts for Fund Raising Performance. Have institutional strategic planning and communication influenced fund raising performance over the past decade in private research universities that are members of the Association of American Universities (AAU)? Read more >>
- The academic library building in the digital age. Fewer libraries are being built, and significantly more learning space is being included in new academic libraries. Multiuse is also becoming more common, as is the library's role as a center of campus cultural and social activity. Read more >>
Socialization Theory and the Transition to Graduate School: Experiences of African American Women in an Historically Black and an Historically White Institution
Carol E. Bonner
Ed.D. Candidate in Higher Education Management
This qualitative study examines the role of the undergraduate institutions in influencing African American women’s decisions to consider, apply and matriculate into graduate school. The study explores institutional similarities and differences in the socialization process and the people, organizations, and cultural factors that facilitate the graduate school transition. Eight African American graduate students, recent alumnae of two women’s colleges, one historically Black (HBCU), and the other historically White (HWI), participated in semi-structured individual interviews. These women shared their perspectives on the institutional factors, educational experiences, individuals and networks that influenced their graduate school matriculation.
Socialization theory (Taylor and Antony, 2000; Weidman, 1989; Weidman, Twale and Stein, 2001) is the conceptual framework for this study. The findings illuminate the experiences, for graduates of the HBCU and graduates of the HWI, that influenced their socialization to the role of graduate student. The similarities were : 1) relationships with faculty, staff, peers and alumnae who were supportive and encouraging, 2) enriching experiences and programs internal and external to their respective colleges, and 3) factors that engendered feelings of preparedness for graduate school. Findings of difference were noted in: 1) The messages about graduate school received in each institution, 2) access to mentors and role models who are the same race as these women, and 3) affective dispositions toward their alma maters.
This study confirms findings from previous research about African American students in HBCUs and HWIs, suggests strategies for helping African American women to matriculate into graduate education, and identifies areas for further study. The findings add to the limited published literature on African American women and graduate education and focuses on a gap in the literature on the undergraduate to graduate educational transition with important implications for administrators, faculty, and staff at HBCUs and HWIs.
Reconciling Values During General Education Revision at Three Catholic Universities
Scott Flanagan
Ed.D. Candidate in Higher Education Management
Leaders at Catholic colleges and universities are faced with the unique challenge of reconciling values that emerge from the Catholic identity of their institutions with the values of the academy that influence every American institution of higher education. This multiple site study focuses on the process of general education revision, a process strongly influenced by both sets of values, at three Catholic universities with different founding organizations. While media attention is often focused upon conflict between Catholic and academic values, this study found that the most common form of conflict during general education revision was among values emerging from the academy. In fact, values of the academy and values of the sponsoring organization often aligned. Curricular revision at Catholic colleges and universities seems to be influenced by an institution's answers to five central questions, pertaining to the role of the values of the sponsoring organization, what it means to be collegial, the importance of the liberal arts relative to advanced study in the major, the centrality of the disciplinary perspective, and receptiveness to change. These questions are often implicit — they do not emerge sequentially and may not emerge explicitly until difficulties arise — reflecting how deeply held the assumptions that give rise to them can be. This study suggests that curricular revision can be expedited through value clarification in advance of the process but that further clarification occurs during the process of revision itself — clarification by itself is insufficient, but waiting for value clarification to occur within a process is likely to cause delay. Chief academic officers play a unique and important role in the process. In particular, this study suggests that these leaders contribute to successful revision through applying institutional history, cultivating a shared understanding around the values of the sponsoring organization, designing and overseeing a process that is appropriately collegial in the context of the institution, and intervening when the success of the revision effort is threatened.
Central Banks and University Financial Governance: How Institutions are Managing Institutional Resources and Creating Monetary Policy for Mission Attainment
David Winthrop Hanson
Ed.D. Candidate in Higher Education Management
The effective management of resources enables university's leaders to underwrite strategies necessary to compete for outstanding faculty and students, while constantly advancing the institution's academic mission. To do so, however, institutions must be strategic, holistic and less transactional in developing creative mechanisms to manage their resources in an effective manner.
This dissertation will evaluate the use of Central Banks as one such financial mechanism through which management and Boards of Trustees can advance mission-critical goals and attain financial flexibility to meet the needs of multiple constituents. Central Banks, however, may require a level of centralization that institutional actors may disfavor; thus, a cultural shift and/or high levels of trust across an institution may be required. Further, Central Banks often reserve resource control and decision-making to a small group of leaders, which may raise concerns about risk, transparency, governance, and accountability. Central Banks also require managers, senior leaders and Board members to understand in much greater depth than ever before (and as a whole) their institution's balance sheet and operating statements.
The factors leading to the establishment of a Central Bank and the manner in which they are governed are the foci of this dissertation. Using governance principles borrowed from federal Central Banks, the researcher explored process, outcome, human factors and culture. To better understand the phenomena, the researcher applied several conceptual frameworks by noted scholars from industry and academe. Taken together, these frameworks provide a conceptual landscape for the in-depth, comparative case study involving 12 institutions (with one primary site). The researcher examined: (1) what factors trigger an institution to form a Bank; (2) whether institutions change governance structures post-formation; and, (3) what lessons may be learned from the process.
During the course of this study, which was completed in the fall 2008, the United States suffered a major financial crisis and all universities, even the wealthiest, were severely impacted (Ashburn et al., 2008; Blumenstyk, 2008a, 2008b; Blumenstyk & Field, 2008; Breneman, 2008; Field & Wiedeman, 2008). This crisis affected the data collection, research questions and findings. Significant time is spent in Chapter 4 discussing these impacts.
To the Next Level: How Drexel University Improved Its Fundraising Performance from 1997 to 2007
Patrick F. Leahy
Ed.D. Candidate in Higher Education Management
The Voluntary Support of Education (VSE) survey indicated that colleges and universities across the United States raised collectively over $29.7 billion in 2007, a new record of higher education philanthropy. These data suggest that effective fundraising is becoming increasingly essential to the growth, and in some cases the survival, of higher education institutions — both private and public. While all colleges and universities in the United States now raise money, some do so with greater competence than others. My specific research questions are: How did the university with the greatest improvement in fundraising performance from 1997 to 2007 produce these results? And, what lessons can other institutions learn about improving their fundraising performance from this example?
I conducted a qualitative, in-depth case study of the university that, according to the 2007 VSE survey, had achieved the greatest fundraising improvement, as measured by the percentage increase in total annual giving from 1997 to 2007. That institution was Drexel University. My primary method of data collection was a series of 20 interviews with key stakeholders at the institution, including various academic and non-academic administrators and board members.
My findings show that Drexel University took an already efficient fundraising operation and made it significantly better through a broad-based change effort. In describing the components of this effort and comparing them against the existing literature, numerous lessons emerged, many of which may be relevant to other institutions throughout American higher education.
Beyond Student Backgrounds: Examining the Role Institutional Characteristics Play in Promoting Four-Year Degree Completion Across Ethnicity/Race and Gender Groups
Valerie Lundy-Wagner
Ph.D. Candidate in Higher Education
Although access to a postsecondary education has increased exponentially since 1970, access to a bachelor's degree has not grown as swiftly. Data from 2003 suggest that on average, only 56 percent of entering freshmen graduate from their first institution within six years. Moreover, these data mask the inequality in bachelor's degree attainment across student ethnicity/race, gender, and socioeconomic status groups. Until recently, conceptual frameworks and accompanying research on bachelor's degree completion have focused primarily on student-level characteristics. However, while there are significant disparities in completion across ethnicity/race and gender groups, the intersection of these characteristics are often not considered. Furthermore, there is increasing evidence that institution-level characteristics explain a significant proportion of the variance in bachelor's degree completion across groups.
The purpose of this dissertation is to examine disparities in 4-year degree attainment across ethnicity/race and gender groups testing a conceptual framework and statistical model that acknowledge the contribution of both student- and institution-level characteristics. This study uses hierarchical generalized linear modeling (HGLM) to analyze the Beginning Postsecondary Students and 1995 Integrated Postsecondary Data System surveys for enrollment, completions, and institutional finance. The findings will provide recommendations for institutions to develop and improve admissions and retention policies. In addition, this research is poised to empower institutions to identify institution-centered solutions that can address disparities in access to a bachelor's degree across their increasingly diverse college-going populations.
This dissertation won a 2009 Ford Foundation Diversity Fellowship Award.
The Phenomenon of Stress and Health Promoting Behaviors among College and University Presidents: A Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis
Paul Mittman
Ed.D. Candidate in Higher Education Management
Often compared with other high profile leaders, the college or university president's life is widely depicted in the higher education literature as one of relentless stress. The position's many roles, as academic leader, fundraiser, spokesperson, vision shaper and strategic planner, problem solver, and government and community-relations person, certainly demand an extraordinary commitment of time, energy and personal devotion. The popular consensus on the position's stressful nature notwithstanding, very few studies actually document presidents' perceptions of stress in their own positions. Similarly little research exists exploring college and university presidents' health promoting behaviors. To date, researchers studying the impact of stress, health and lifestyle on presidents, limited their work to community colleges.
This mixed methods study measured perceived stress among college and university presidents, profiled their health behaviors, and assessed the correlation between health promoting behaviors and perceived stress levels. Of the invitations sent to 1,017 schools affiliated with the Higher Learning Commission, 439 presidents representing a range of institutions completed the survey. The survey combined two widely validated instruments — the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and the Health Promoting Life Profile II (HPLPII) — to measure presidents' perception of stress and profiletheir health behaviors. The findings demonstrated a negative correlation (R= -.46, p<.001) between health behaviors and perceived stress. All six subscales: spiritual growth, interpersonal relations, stress management, nutrition, health responsibility and physical activity negatively correlated with perceived stress, albeit at different levels. Interviews with a group of twenty diverse presidents further explored the phenomenon of the personal experience of leading a college or university. Presidents provided detailed descriptions of the most fulfilling aspects of the job, their personal experience of stress, internal and external stressors, and a range of coping mechanisms.
This study will benefit new, prospective and current presidents by describing the challenges of leading a college or university as well as setting out a series of best practices. The study will give governing boards an insight into the demands and rewards of the presidency. Professional associations will be able to incorporate new information and insights from experienced leaders into their "new president" programs.
Autonomy Policy in U.S. Public Higher Education: A Comparative Case Study of Oregon and Virginia
Michael Warren Redding
Ed.D. Candidate in Higher Education Management
The relationship between states and their public institutions is at its foundation about degrees of control, institutional autonomy, and accountability. Policymakers, academics, and advocates of higher education reform have engaged in long-standing debates over the merits of university autonomy, particularly the balancing of state control and the public interest with institutional priorities. The purpose of this study was to understand the factors that shaped the adoption of autonomy policies in Oregon and Virginia and the impact of these policies on three public institutions in the two states — the University of Virginia, the College of William and Mary, and Oregon Health and Sciences University.
To guide the inquiry, the study employed a conceptual model derived from two theories: the multiple-streams policy process theory (Kingdon, 1984) and the entrepreneurial university model (Clark, 1998). Case studies were conducted involving in-depth interviews with 31 informants including senior academic leaders, and members of the higher education policy community in the two states. Through comparative case study analysis, the study examined the process of state policy changes, the role of key actors in the process, the conditions that caused the two states to adopt policies that changed the balance of institutional autonomy and accountability, and how the campus-state relationship changed in the context of the three campus settings.
This study found that institutional interest in controlling self-generated revenue and capitalizing on prevailing market trends, changes in the financing structure of public higher education, and more emphasis by state policy makers on institutional autonomy are key factors that prompted Oregon and Virginia to adopt policies that realigned governance and control. The findings suggest that the distinctively different policy approaches in Oregon and Virginia had a significant impact on the institutions' capacity to respond to important public and community needs, influenced the institutions' vulnerability to market pressures, and affected the states' capacity to achieve essential public policy goals. The case analysis suggests state efforts to restructure public higher education systems must incorporate accountability measures tied to public policy needs in order to balance the dominant economic environment with the important societal mission of public higher education.
Understanding Faculty Members' Perception of their Role in Dealing with Students with Mental Health Problems: A Phenomenological Study
Roger Jullian Ward
Ed.D. Candidate in Higher Education Management
Several recent recommendations call for training faculty as gatekeepers to help them identify students with mental health problems so that they can make timely and appropriate interventions and referrals. These recommendations are premised on the assumption that faculty members see themselves as having a role in identifying and assisting students with mental health problems, and thus would be open to the idea of being trained.
This qualitative single-site phenomenological study used a loosely structured interview protocol to explore how faculty members perceive their role and responsibility in identifying and assisting students with mental health problems, how faculty members' attitude regarding student success and persistence influence their engagement with students with mental health problems, and how an understanding of role perception can inform the strategy used to develop and implement an effective support system for students. This study used a holistic approach to retention and student success as the conceptual framework for collecting and analyzing the research data.
The findings indicate that: (1) a majority of faculty members view their teaching role as more important than their other roles; (2) many faculty members perceive themselves as having a role in engaging student mental health issues while others believe that the mental health of a student is none of their business; and (3) a majority of faculty members express an interest and willingness to being trained but place limits on what they should be trained to do.
The conclusions drawn from this study will provide decision makers at the research site with a sound understanding of the role faculty members perceive for themselves in helping the institution address the student mental health issue. In addition, this study will add to the limited body of knowledge on how faculty members perceive their role, responsibility, and relationship with this generation's mental health problems. This study will also provide a research framework through which other colleges and universities can examine its own faculty perceptions on this important issue.
Institutional Strategic Planning and Communications as Catalysts for Fund Raising Performance in Private Research Universities
Joel Richard Seligman
Ed.D. Candidate in Higher Education Management
This dissertation explores whether institutional strategic planning and communication have influenced fund raising performance over the past decade in private research universities that are members of the Association of American Universities (AAU). After an initial analysis of the full set of universities to determine relative performance in fund raising within this peer group based upon five different variables, a subset of five universities was studied in greater depth through a series of structured interviews with executive leadership of each of the three relevant managerial functions on five campuses. These interviews illuminated how tightly or loosely coupled the functions of institutional strategy, communication, and fund raising are within each institution. Further, the research explores how influential the leaders of these functions believe each function is upon one another. The research explores variations among the institutions to determine if there are more favorable models that are likely to lead to higher fund raising performance. This work is founded upon the theoretical framework of strategic planning, communication, and fund raising, with particular emphases on the research in which these fields intersect.
The Academic Library Building in the Digital Age: A Study of Design, Planning, and Use of New Academic Library Space
Christopher Stewart
Ed.D. Candidate in Higher Education Management
This quantitative study investigated recent academic library construction across U.S. colleges and universities. The first section of this study, the study of the population, identified 85 stand alone library buildings or significant additions completed between 2003 and 2008. Statistical procedures were used to identify relationships between institutional and project variables to determine trends in library building activity across different types of institutions. The second section of the study, the survey of the population, investigated planning factors motivating new library projects; specific attributes and characteristics of the space; and usage. This study in part extended two previous studies that investigated academic library building projects primarily from the last decade.
Results of the study of the population revealed the highest construction of new libraries were built at private, residential institutions. Also, there was a slightly higher percentage of library construction at undergraduate institutions than in previous periods. Results also illustrate significantly higher building costs per student and greater square footage per student for libraries at private institutions. While results of this study indicate a general decline in new academic library construction over the past 12 years, the buildings that were completed illustrate several trends in library design. Shift in emphasis from space for physical collections to the changing needs of students as well as information technology were identified as the strongest motivators for planning new facilities. In addition, the majority of respondents indicated that their libraries were either maintaining static levels or reducing the amount of print material purchased for the collection. Results also show that significantly more learning space is being included in new academic libraries. Multiuse is also becoming more common, as is the library's role as a center of campus cultural and social activity. Finally, results also indicate significant current as well as anticipated increases in use of these new libraries compared to the old facilities.
Conclusions from this study will support decision making by providing university leaders, library planners, and practitioners with comprehensive information on academic library construction activity as well as emerging and important recent trends in library planning, design, and use.
The Launch of the Big Ten Network: How 11 Universities Created Their Own Television Network and Changed the Landscape of College Sports
Karen Weaver
Ed.D. Candidate in Higher Education Management
The creation of the Big Ten Network, a television and broadband endeavor devoted to the 11 Universities that comprise the Big Ten Conference, sent a ripple throughout higher education. This study traces a brief history of collegiate broadcasting, with particular focus on the pivotal role played by the Big Ten Conference. An examination of the marketplace opportunities that existed as the idea was constructed gives the reader insight as to the complexities that college presidents and conference commissioners' face when negotiating with television and cable networks. Instead of receiving broadcast rights fees for the televising of selected football and basketball games, the Presidents in the Conference decided to start their own broadcast venture. While many assume this project was just about money and sports, through a series of interviews with the key individuals involved, and a review of memorandums and meeting minutes, there is more to the story.
The Network became a means to deliver the message about the values and brand of the Big Ten Conference. No longer satisfied with having the broadcast networks "control the message" about their schools, the new channel addresses some of the social issues that impact today's campuses. The Network decided not to permit any alcohol or gambling commercials, and decided that by 2010, 50% of all programming would be devoted to women's sports. Throughout the process, it was evident that the Presidents had numerous opportunities to change direction and seek more money, yet decided that their values were more important.
The Network also presents the opportunity to showcase the student athletes, the faculty and with 660 hours per year devoted to campus wide programming, the wider range of life on a Big Ten campus.
This study provides a roadmap for college commissioners and presidents seeking to use the explosion of digital television and new media technology to promote and enhance their campus identity. The study concludes with recommendations for the senior leadership teams as to how to redirect some of the substantial dollars that the Network will generate to uses that resonate with the land grant mission of many of the campuses.
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