Since the early 1980s, exposure to digital technologies/devices has occurred on a wide cultural/societal level. Numerous writers have posited their impressions of these encounters often times suggesting an ease, comfort, and acceptance on the part of the users, especially those born in 1980 or later. This study examined the ongoing relationship…

Many small colleges are struggling and should remember that denial is not prevention. Technology is providing new ways for students to get degrees without being a resident on a campus, accrediting agencies are increasing their demands for evidence that students are learning, and the costs for operating an institution (such as utilities and…

This study examines the factors that influence the creation, purchase, and selection of free instructional technology. Specifically, this study uses the RIPPLES Model to examine the perceptions and reflections of instructional technology directors and staff members with regard to the Resources, Infrastructure, People, Policies, Learning,…

First-year seminar courses have been used by colleges and universities as a means to improve retention rates among college freshmen. While there has been a great deal of research on the impact of the first-year seminar course on retention rates from freshman to sophomore year, there has not been much attention given to the type of instructor…

No group of college students persists at a rate lower than freshmen students to their sophomore year. In 2011, those rates varied from 55.4% at two-year public colleges to 80.3% at private schools offering a PhD program. This study investigated the impact of five pre-matriculation variables on the retention of freshmen students to their sophomore…

Wellness is something that needs to be taught, encouraged, and valued within a community for it to be obtainable. Preventable health disparities attributed to lack of physical activity continue to be a burden in predominantly African-American communities. Preventative wellness programming has been shown to be successful for students, as well as…

The purpose of this study was to identify the factors that contributed to the persistence of first-time full-time student athletes at a small private college affiliated with National Association Intercollegiate Athletics. The study used focus groups to determine the factors related to the persistence of student athletes. The participants in the…

This ethnographic project explored the extent to which the campus culture at a small liberal arts college was open to student experiences and expressions of the spiritual and the religious. The authors found that despite the college's reputation for valuing diversity and a commitment to social justice, students shared a narrative of religious…

Bridging the gap between theory and practice has been a priority with universities and colleges of nursing. A mechanism for bridging this gap has been the establishment of faculty practices. Faculty practices have provided nurse practitioner faculty opportunities to mentor students, augment income, implement evidence-based research, provide…

It is gratifying to see that the two Modern Languages Association (MLA) reports, "Foreign Language and Higher Education: New Structures for a Changed World" and "Report to the Teagle Foundation on the Undergraduate Major in Language and Literature," address important issues regarding the improvement of language teaching in the…

This mixed methods study was designed to determine the type and quality of pre-college career guidance experiences of college freshmen and the impact of those experiences on student performance and retention. This study was limited to first time freshmen at a small private university in Tennessee. The population was 46% male and 54% female from 6…

The purpose of this study is to determine the effectiveness of the learning community program at a small liberal arts college on educational outcomes as measured by differences in semester GPA between learning community participants and non-participants, as well as differences between types of learning communities, time of participation in…

Scarcely a week goes by without a headline about the unsustainability of higher education as we know it, under threat from new models, for-profits, or online education. Most threatened are small liberal arts colleges--with commentators predicting the demise of colleges with fewer than 1,000, or even 1,500 students. Are these trends inevitable, or…

First-generation college students, students whose parents have not earned a four-year degree, are not new to higher education, but their increasing presence at private, four-year institutions requires careful attention from administration and faculty. The rising costs of higher education combined with the nation's recent economic decline have made…

This article describes a qualitative study that involved two small private universities, examining their process of transformation from institutions headed toward closure to institutions that underwent a successful turnaround. The primary questions that guided the study included the issues and circumstances that led to the need for a turnaround,…