Background: The purposes of this study were to (1) longitudinally examine US college and university COVID-19 dashboard content and (2) explore county-level population health and COVID-19 community indicators where colleges with large undergraduate enrollments were located. Methods: We identified 10 colleges with the largest undergraduate…

This research study focuses on female executives at two-year and four-year public Hispanic-Serving Institutions in the U.S. Southwest Border States by examining their lived experiences and career paths that helped them become successful senior administrators. Although most college students are female, women in leadership positions in academia are…

Teaching is a complex activity that demands paying attention to diverse components and relationships that affect the learning process, and acting with intentionality to build and nurture those connections. In this qualitative research study, we proposed and used an intentional-relational framework to explore differences in the relationships that…

The purpose of this quantitative causal-comparative study was to determine if and to what extent a difference exists between graduate students enrolled in a distance education master's degree within an Arizona university's nursing and healthcare department who have more career experience in this field versus those with no or less career experience…

The most recent data on tuition, appropriations, and state grant aid present an economic outlook that appears favorable in the West. Tuition rates remained relatively flat for the past decade, total state funding to higher education increased across the region in the past year, and state grant aid continued to increase since 2010-11. Despite these…

Public universities are intent on increasing degree completion for many reasons. A stronger policy focus on completion and interest in removing students' financial hurdles has led to a rapid proliferation of completion grant programs. This paper reports on a mixed-method implementation study of completion grant programs at seven broad- and…

The Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) annual survey of tuition and fees collects the resident and nonresident tuition and fees at public two- and four-year institutions in the WICHE region for undergraduate and graduate students. WICHE administered the most recent survey to state higher education executive offices, system…

This study examines the effect of responsibility center management (RCM), a decentralized budget model, on total operating costs at the University of New Hampshire (UNH) and the University of Arizona (UofA). Both universities in the study implemented RCM with the primary goal of controlling costs, among other goals. To address the research…

This study investigates the associations between statewide affirmative action bans and the racial composition of undergraduate students at public 4-year colleges and universities in five states, that is, Arizona, Michigan, Nebraska, New Hampshire, and Oklahoma. I use the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System data from 1999 to 2017, and…

Purpose: Public universities are intent on increasing degree completion for many reasons. A stronger policy focus on completion and interest in removing students' financial hurdles has led to a rapid proliferation of completion grant programs. This paper reports on a mixed method implementation study of completion grant programs at seven broad-…

Performance funding policies for higher education allocate appropriations to public institutions based on student outcomes such as degree completions. This study investigates whether a special science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) incentive in 13 state performance funding policies leads to greater undergraduate degree…

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to explore how students experience the New Student Orientation Experience (NSOE) and how they perceived it prepared them for their 1st semester of college at a large public university in the United States, Arizona State University (ASU). Institutions of higher education are under pressure to operate more…

This report surveys the political and legal background for Arizona's civics instruction in public higher education. It then examines in detail how the three major public universities under the jurisdiction of Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR)--the University of Arizona, Arizona State University, and Northern Arizona University--teach civics and…

Employee turnover is a challenge for all organizations, including higher education. Public universities are losing staff members who are critical to the successful operation of these universities. High employee turnover translates to costly operations. Past research has shown that leaders and their leadership styles have been determined to be one…

This report provides comprehensive data about the tuition and fee prices published by public higher education institutions in the West for academic year 2022-23, including changes in tuition and fee rates over the past one-, five-, and 10-academic year periods. Tuition and fee rates in the region appear to have stabilized over the past decade…