University students with increased rates of reported perfectionism, anxiety, and depression, are vulnerable to non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI). However, not all students with psychological distress engage in NSSI, suggesting protective factors may help to mitigate this risk. The present study examined the relation between perfectionism and NSSI,…

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…

The problem addressed through this study is the lack of understanding of the instructional faculty members' perspectives at southeastern university (SEU, pseudonym) on the strengths and professional activities for improvement of professional development program. The purpose of this study was to investigate how instructional faculty members at SEU…

Economists have long recognized the importance of human capital in economic growth. In this series of papers, I study how various institutions of human capital formation affected economic development in a variety of contexts prior to 1900. These include both formal institutions of human capital formation such as universities and informal…

This dissertation lays out conceptual foundations for building a public digital writing program archive, engages in conceptual modeling atop these foundations, then describes a tripartite platform structure for creating a digital resource that can make use of a writing program's everyday materials. This dissertation does not view its objects of…

This project is a study of the role interpretation has played during a few key moments in a culture war over the role of the university in society. It argues that in these key moments in which a political reflection has been undertaken regarding the way knowledge is produced and distributed, the nature and function of interpretation as such has…

This dissertation explores the transregional impacts of the 1949 Chinese communist revolution on diasporic Chinese students and scholars in Cold War Asia and Asian America. It argues that higher education was a key site of contestation in the U.S.-China Cold War tensions of the 1950s, where American efforts to contain and isolate communist China…

The demand for flexible online learning models, fueled by technological advancements and exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, has necessitated creative solutions to support millions of students enrolled in online programs. Higher Education leaders, faced with this growing demand and lacking expertise in online learning, have turned to outsourced…

Obtaining a college degree has long been considered the key to achieving the American Dream, yet for many it has become increasingly difficult to afford college, as funding for federal financial aid has failed to keep pace with rising tuition costs. Prior research in this area has relied heavily on quantitative data analysis, with limited access…

International students experience adaptation difficulties that have the potential to affect their psychological well-being. Qatar has a growing yet understudied population of international students. The problem addressed in this study is that little is known about the role that cultural distance, psychological well-being, and selected demographic…

Universities are engaging with communities on projects for many reasons, including funding, research, ecosystem building, technology advancement, and others. There is a variety of research on the university's engagement with the community and how to be effective. However, the research on what the community needs for a university-community…

This study addressed a critical gap in the literature by investigating the relationship between organizational culture and mission drift within Christian higher education. While mission drift has been widely discussed in popular press, limited academic research has explored the factors influencing it, particularly organizational culture. Utilizing…

This dissertation study examines the ways that a large, public flagship university uses automatic-consideration merit scholarships to meet the goals of the institution, particularly as they relate to enrollment, university prestige, nonresident-to-resident balancing, and funding. Employing a mixed-methods design, the author uses qualitative and…

Overlapping and entangled crises that comprise and propel society require near constant (re)orientation in order to understand, explain, and address the workings of a multiplicitous world. For those invested in education, this means confronting complexity through the prism of teaching and learning. Educational scholars across fields and…

Building a successful University fundraising program starts by creating a strong pipeline of major gift donors. This action research project aims to improve the qualification process effectiveness and efficiency by understanding the most valuable indicators and internal perspectives within the data to implement innovative changes. A quantitative…