Are state universities and state scholarship programs perpetuating income inequality in the United States? Using data from Florida on the number of students from each public high school in the state who attended a State University System (SUS) university and the number who received a Florida Bright Futures (FBF) scholarship, this paper attempts to…

In the United States, postsecondary educational attainment positively correlates to the probability of a person being employed and the amount of money they earn (U.S. Department of Labor, 2018). Financial aid programs attempt to help students afford, remain in, and finish their postsecondary pursuits, but Levin (1989) asserted some forms of…

The purpose of this dissertation in practice was to explore the experiences of Gulf Coast State College faculty in the wake of Hurricane Michael, in an effort to better understand how both the storm and the institution's response shaped instruction and student success. The intent of this study was to determine if the policies and practices…

This study addressed gaps in research on understanding the preparedness status of emergency management programs within Florida College System (FCS) and State University System (SUS) institutions. The quantitative assessment involved 21 institutions (51% response rate). A survey instrument was developed from prior studies and measured programmatic…

This dissertation examines the role of reflective practice in the development of teacher candidates during their final internship in a teacher preparation program at a state college in Southwest Florida. Grounded in Dewey's and Schon's theories on reflective practice as well as Vygotsky's social learning theories, this mixed methods explanatory…

The following describes a journey of collaboration across disciplines to support Universal Design for Learning (UDL) curriculum and assessment enhancements in an Elementary Education teacher preparation program within a college of education (COE). As a collaborative partner with a public university in Florida, a public state college in Florida…

Following a major statewide developmental education reform in Florida, we explored institutional transformation among Florida College System institutions. We used statewide survey data to examine lead administrators' perceptions of challenges encountered during the planning process, ways in which colleges engaged in sensemaking (i.e., social…

Following a major statewide developmental education reform in Florida, we explored institutional transformation among Florida College System institutions. We used statewide survey data to examine lead administrators' perceptions of challenges encountered during the planning process, ways in which colleges engaged in sensemaking (i.e., social…

Through no fault of our own, higher education and the world writ large were metaphorically without vision and clarity of sight for the initial few months of the COVID-19 global health crisis as we all tried to stand up protocols, processes, and systems to better identify how our institutions could continue forward safely -- supporting both our…

With the developmental education (DE) reform movement at postsecondary still apace, this qualitative study seeks to understand the policy impacts of Florida Senate Bill 1720, major legislation mandating developmental education reform in the state of Florida. The body of literature thus far has focused on quantitative analyses of secondary data…

Wing (2010) says computational thinking (CT) is the "new literacy of the 21st century" (p. 3), but yet computational thinking does not have a widely accepted definition making it difficult to know what are its associated skills. Understanding what these skills are is important to be able to teach this new literacy. Various populations…

167 final writing projects from bachelor level Leadership courses were analyzed to find a correlation of success rates between pre-completed business and professional communication courses. The test statistic was close to an outlier on a one-tail test with a probability of 5.318948%, which meant the outcome of this study was quite close to null…

The purpose of this study was to examine the association between Navigate, a technology-aided advisement platform to support student success, and the retention of full-time, First Time in College-Direct Entry students in the fall 2018 and 2019 cohorts, as measured by the number of credits attempted during their first year at public college in the…

US colleges and universities have operated on the belief that academics need the freedom to question received wisdom, test new pedagogical methods, and produce knowledge that can be transparently shared for the public good. However, the same institutions are increasingly engaged in competition for resources through externally imposed…

Cybersecurity faculty do not have the time to respond to the rapid and pervasive cybersecurity academic landscape. For faculty to respond to this challenge, they are expected to continuously adapt to remain competitive. The purpose of this descriptive phenomenological study was to explore the cybersecurity faculty's perceptions of their need to…