The purpose of this study was to examine the factors that influence the use of institutional assessment in support of student outcomes at four-year public institutions of higher education. This study focused on small institutions, defined as having enrollment below that of the median value, across the nation. An electronic survey was sent to chief…

Due to the unequal geographical distribution of HE institutions in many national HE systems, living in a rural or remote area and attending HE can be mutually exclusive. The implication is that those who remain in a rural area beyond school age do not study at the undergraduate level. In discussions of rural stayers, HE is therefore understood as…

The Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) received a grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation in 2020 to explore the potential of open educational resources (OER) to reduce textbook costs for students at smaller and mid-sized independent colleges and universities, especially Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and other…

Online course instruction remains one of the fastest growing sectors in the higher education industry but has been historically stigmatized with poor quality and low standards. Early distance education programs were heavily teacher-centric in design and were used as a means to disseminate information to students at a distance. However,…

Children of teachers follow their parents into the profession at lower rates than those whose parents come from professions that are perceived to be more prestigious such as physicians, lawyers, and engineers. Teaching often suffers from a lack of prestige, low pay, potential danger, lack of autonomy, and other factors that contribute to negative…

Enrollment and retention in higher education can be challenging under normal circumstances, but combined with a global pandemic, institutions will need to look at strategies to help navigate these uncertain times. This dissertation provided the needed research on the processes of decision-making related to enrollment, retention, institutional…

This study explored master's students' perceptions of student services as it relates to their satisfaction at a small, private liberal arts institution in Louisiana. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 master's students who were enrolled in both on-campus and online master's degree programs. A qualitative phenomenological research…

Founded in 1888 as Miss Wheelock's Kindergarten Training School, Wheelock College's mission was to prepare students to work in the helping professions, including teaching and social work. But in 2018, struggling with growing debt and declining admissions, the 130-year-old institution officially closed and merged with Boston University, creating…

This study examines how Chief Student Affairs Officers (CSAO) make sense of their role engaging with fundraising at small, private, liberal arts institutions with endowments below the median endowment size of $140.2 million. Specifically examining how they make sense of engaging with fundraising and how they have gained knowledge or experience in…

This study explores faculty beliefs about teaching and learning in different institutional settings and over time. This study surveyed faculty at two Canadian universities, one research-intensive, the other teaching-intensive, using a conceptual replication of a survey originally administered in 1976. Some results differ from the original survey,…

Writing centers and writing programs, as well as the role of their administrators, are shaped by historical and disciplinary factors that have been closely examined by scholars over the last half century. However, the role of institutionality in writing center and writing program administration (WPA) studies has been ignored in much of the…

Many colleges and universities utilize faculty advisors for academic advising. In this model, faculty advise students in their discipline on curriculum requirements, as well as career and academic goals. Faculty often report feeling that they have had little training or support for their role as an academic advisor. Faculty advisors in the field…

Student affairs practitioners in higher education have been leaving the field at an alarming rate (National Association of Student Personnel Administrators, 2022). As personnel working on the front lines in efforts related to student success and retention, early-career incumbents in these positions experiencing such high rates of attrition…

Small institutions are in a unique and perhaps necessary position to innovate as the field changes, resources falter, and the needs of the next generation of students and families become apparent and quite different from those supported by our historical structures and service modalities. This article examines the literature surrounding historical…

Tuition resets decrease an institution's published tuition price to more closely align it with the actual net price most students pay. The strategy is employed to increase the institution's applicant pool, yielding more admits with the ultimate goal of increasing enrollment and net revenue for the institution. The research project examined…