Parasocial Relationships can mirror social relationships, particularly to individuals in isolation. Student Affairs practitioners were enormously impacted by the conditions of the Great Distress Era (the period that included the COVID-19 restrictions, racial violence and protests in response, political unrest). Many engaged in parasocial…

A student's sense of belonging can affect many aspects of their achievements, and their academic and social life (Freeman et al., 2007; Hausman et al., 2007; Hoffman et al., 2002; Strayhorn, 2012). Vaccaro and Newman (2022) contended only by understanding the process of belonging development, one can develop a sense of being as students navigate…

Behavioral activation (BA) has significant and long-lasting effects on depression in adults, and a growing body of evidence supports its efficacy with adolescents. It remains unclear, however, whether BA reduces systematically-observed depressive behavior in addition to subjective report of depressive symptoms. In this single-case study, three…

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive design study was to understand how graduate-level students enrolled in online classes at a small Christian university in the Midwest described their social presence experience as operationalized in the various components of Whiteside's social presence model (affective association, community cohesion,…

Nearly half of the undergraduate student population in the United States attends community colleges (Bailey, Jaggars, & Jenkins, 2015), and in serving these students, community colleges rely heavily on part-time faculty (Jaeger & Egan, 2009). The reliance on part-time faculty is typically cost-motivated and a symptom of the neoliberal…

This dissertation examined compliance resistance to highlight the active role of message receivers or persuasion targets in compliance interactions. Through the data gathered from an online survey, eight research questions and four hypotheses were addressed. Among the three demographic variables tested, only gender had a significant impact on…

Consensual Non-Monogamy (CNM) is an umbrella term for relationships in which all partners explicitly consent to engage in romantic, intimate, or sexual relationships with multiple people. In a recent study on polyamory, one form of CNM, data from a nationally representative sample of 3,438 single adults in the U.S. from a range of backgrounds…

First-generation college student success is a matter of significance to college leaders across the United States. According to a recent study, over half of all undergraduate students are first-generation (RTI International, 2019). The problem, however, is that first-generation college students are more likely than continuing-generation students to…

Research has shown high levels of instructor social presence creates a social-emotional rich online climate giving students a sense a belonging and their instructor being real and being present. Hence, this study sought to examine how instructors use instructional actions, communication strategies, and immediacy behaviors to establish, introduce…

One of the defining features of callous-unemotional (CU) traits is a lack of distress or care about performance in important activities or the negative effects of one's behavior on others. However, recent research has found a significant relationship between CU traits and loneliness, suggesting individuals with elevated CU traits may be aware of…

With the increase in technology, virtual learning programs continue to grow in popularity within the United States. Before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the kindergarten through fifth grade (K-5) virtual learning population has increased each year slowly since the late 1900s. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic millions of K-5 students…

The beginning of college campus life is one of the most exciting phases of student life. However, for some students, it might pose a threat in the form of sexual violence. In the United States, sexual violence is highly pervasive, placing college students at a greater risk of victimization. Currently, there is a lack of data on sexual crimes…

College students who identify on the queer- and trans-spectrum (LGBTQ+) perceive and experience their campuses differently from their cisgender and straight peers. The differing experiences have resulted in LGBTQ+ students reporting a lower sense of belonging to their campuses. Researchers have found positive correlations between sense of…

At North Middle School--a Northeastern public school with a large African immigrant population--Black males were overrepresented in disciplinary referral by a factor of three in 2017-2018. A literature review framed by network theory (Neal, J. W. & Neal, 2013) and the concept of the serial stream of discipline (Irvin, Tobin, Sprague, Sugai,…

The general public harbors misconceptions about mental illnesses; particularly, auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs). Misconceptions about the causes, dangerousness, and treatment of mental illnesses constitute barriers for treatment. The purpose of this study was to examine whether a neurobiological refutation text was more effective than a…