Most institutions maintain institutional guidelines based on specific professional beliefs in order to establish social order within the setting and accomplish their institutional goals (Heritage, 2005; Heritage & Clayman, 2010). Therefore, a key research issue in institutional Conversation Analysis (CA) is to examine how institutional…

This research study has been designed to be an evergreen project to help higher education institutions define their external partnerships. The action research model has been used to create and test a model of external engagement, which was later redefined as the Reaney Model of External Engagement with the intent for continuous improvement.…

The research aimed to address the confusion and diverse interpretations surrounding the integration of faith with learning (IFL) in Christian higher education institutions. The study focused on the inception of the IFL movement by its founder, Frank Gaebelein. The research posited that while Gaebelein presented a foundational model for IFL, his…

Nationally, deep divisiveness around issues of sociopolitical identity, particularly race and ethnicity, has increased the urgency for systemic organizational change around diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in higher education (Chun & Evans, 2018). Overt and covert acts of race-based oppression directly impact the morale, safety,…

This exploratory study aimed to understand the experience of mothers in higher education both during the COVID-19 pandemic and toward the end of restrictions. The population included academic mothers with children at home during the pandemic. Data was analyzed thematically by a team of researchers. The results generated six themes: (a) life…

Over the last two decades, there has been a dramatic increase in natural and manmade disasters. While no community is immune to the risks posed by these large-scale emergencies, colleges, and universities, which are home to numerous vulnerable populations, could be counted among those most at risk. In their current state of overall community…

On April 11th, 2022, Governor Glenn Youngkin signed an anti-hazing bill in honor of Virginia Commonwealth University freshman, Adam Oakes. Oakes was pledging the Delta Chi fraternity when he died from alcohol poisoning after a fraternity hazing event in February of 2021. Adam's law requires all Virginia universities to implement a hazing…

Learning about antiracism can be an emotional and isolating process for white people. With most research focusing on the experiences of undergraduates (Schooley, Lee, & Spanierman, 2019), the experiences of adults committed to this lifestyle are often ignored. This study uses narrative inquiry to examine the experiences of four white women in…

This three-study dissertation explored: "How are higher education stakeholders radically (re)imagining liberatory, abolitionist, decolonizing, and queering futures within U.S. higher education and beyond?" With diverse cohorts of Collaborators, I examined this question through a bricolage methodology (Hammersley, 2008), which blended the…

This dissertation is positioned as asynchronous educator professional development and is designed and written to be an "experience" (spotlighting the rhetorical potentials of text-based asynchronous engagement). It attempts to call attention to, through its design, the very things it discusses. In this way, this dissertation is…

This study examines how leaders of career services units manage organizational change to meet the evolving needs of their internal and external stakeholders. These leaders are increasingly required to spearhead significant changes within their teams and across their institutions to adapt to rapid changes in the higher education sector and the…

Institutions of higher education (IHE) are increasingly prioritizing diversity, necessitating the recruitment of more faculty and staff leaders from marginalized populations to better support the university and underrepresented minority student groups. However, Muslim women leaders, as a religious minority group, have been largely overlooked in…

This dissertation surveys the development of the Hawaiian higher educational system in the 19th century Hawaiian Kingdom as a strategy of Hawaiian leadership in promoting and protecting Hawaiian independence. This analysis revisits a Hawaiian educational history canon that overwhelmingly credits missionaries and foreigners as imposing an…

Millennials, those born between 1981 and 1996, constituted the largest demographic in the United States (U.S.) workforce in the early 2020s. The higher education industry noticed an increase in millennial-aged employee attrition, particularly during and after the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Through the semi-structured interviews of 22 current…

As scrutiny increases on higher education to verify the value of a degree from a variety of constituents including parents, students and legislators, institutions of higher education must ensure students are receiving a sound education that meets their goals. Those primarily charged with doing so are faculty who may be content experts, but lack…