Kuh and colleagues (2008) use the term "high-impact practices" (HIPs) to describe co-curricular programs that are particularly effective in advancing student learning. The original list of HIPs does not include campus employment, which McClellan et al. (2018) argued should be added. According to the results from the 2019 NASPA survey…

Health organizations recommend children get 60 minutes of daily physical activity. Research has shown that children in the United States of America are coming up well short of this number and are struggling with a variety of mental health and physical health issues while their academics are decreasing. These issues have been magnified by the…

The study evaluated the relationship between female sophomore students' participation in campus recreational sports, retention at the university, and graduation rates. The purpose is to identify the potential influence of participation in recreational activities on persistence toward graduation. Alexander Astin's Theory of Student Involvement and…

The current study looked to understand the lived experience of special education teachers who work with children and young adults with disabilities in a non-academic setting (NAS). The study explored relationships between the learning experience and the teachers' self-efficacy in the setting. The experience of pre-service and in-service special…

The purpose of this study is to understand the professional skill development of student employees in a leadership position through a theoretical lens and applied lens. Research suggests that a deficit of professional skills exist in today's college graduates. In higher education, many colleges and universities use a student employment model to…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore how females enrolled at a four-year institution of higher education in a northern state described how participation in leisure and campus-sponsored physical activity helped manage their academic stress. Recent research suggests that females often experience academic stress at higher levels than…

Research indicates that students are more likely to persist when they are involved in extracurricular programs such as campus recreation. Because institutional funding is predicated upon graduation rates, ascertaining persistence impact of these programs is crucial. The purpose of this qualitative study was to gain an understanding of the…

The purpose of this qualitative case study research was to explore how structured programs such as recreation, sport, and leisure activities can help elementary school at-risk youth in an afterschool program at a K-5 elementary school in central North Carolina. The central research questions for this study include the following: What are the…

The purpose of this study was two-fold: (1) to investigate if the leadership skills learned during their time as student employees in recreation are being used after they have left the UHM within their current work setting, and (2) contribute to the growing knowledge of the direct benefits of campus recreation on campus recreation student…

This three-paper format dissertation explored the impact of service-learning on three key constituents: the university, university students conducting the service, and the community receiving the service. Paper one quantitatively explored the impact of service-learning on university students' perspective through the use of end of year…