State policymakers and the public at large have a vested interest in the successful governance of their higher education institutions. The citizens who are appointed or elected to serve as board members of a state's colleges and universities oversee valuable public assets that they hold in trust for the state and for current and future…

This study was conducted to investigate two factors that affect the processing of the outcomes of intentional actions. Participants read three-sentence stories that varied the presence of an explicit goal and the semantic association between the outcome and its situational context (i.e., physical or virtual location). The ease of processing…

This is an era of transformation in the preparation, induction, and assessment of prospective teachers. The tension between local and state control is at the heart of the debate. States should be responsible for establishing performance standards that ensure that new teachers are well-prepared, competent, and ready to teach. This is why the…

Outdoor orientation programming as a means for orientating students to college has experienced significant growth and expanded use over the past decade. An increase in rigorous research has accompanied this growth as colleges and universities seek to understand and meet the needs of young adults in transition. In this study, two research questions…

Community college students who arrive on campus knowing exactly what they want to do and how to do it are more likely to succeed. However, many students need help to choose which educational goal to pursue. Typically, colleges refer undecided students to campus advisors and websites, but these resources are underfunded and poorly organized to help…

Several factors create a challenging environment for individuals seeking financial support to complete a postsecondary degree program. In recognition of the challenges of paying for higher education, decision-makers at the federal and state levels support college-going with public policy. Through direct institutional allocations, need and…

Several seconds of adaptation to a flickered stimulus causes a subsequent brief static stimulus to appear longer in duration. Nonsensory factors, such as increased arousal and attention, have been thought to mediate this flicker-based temporal-dilation aftereffect. In this study, we provide evidence that adaptation of low-level cortical visual…

Achieving goals often requires the completion of sequential actions, such as finishing a series of assignments to pass a class. In the course of pursuing such goals, people can decide how closely to follow their personal standards for each action. We propose that actions at the beginning and end of a sequence appear more diagnostic of the…

This mixed methods sequential explanatory study was designed to investigate students' persistence in an online Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) Program by researching the implications of goal orientation and other academic, institutional, and student-related factors of non-traditional students enrolled in such a program at the University of St.…

The Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE) sought to evaluate the implementation of the Early Childhood Educator Preparation Program Innovation (EPPI) grant. The grantees consisted of partnerships that included community colleges, four-year institutions, and in some cases community-based entities or schools, such as Head Start programs. The…

Preparation for college and careers begins when students are young, yet, it can be difficult for middle grade educators to know how best to prepare these students for future success. Middle grade practitioners need to know what to pay attention to and who needs additional support. Without knowing how to identify students who are on-track for high…

Part-time faculty teach approximately 58% of U.S. community college classes and thus manage learning experiences for more than half (53%) of students enrolled in community colleges (JBL Associates, 2008). Often referred to as "contingent faculty," their work is conditional; the college typically has no obligation to them beyond the…

The purpose of this study was to examine institution-based leadership development programs in rural community colleges in Illinois, and the impact of these programs in supporting and preparing future community college leaders. The study also explored the efficacy of these programs and whether their implementation aligns with the institutions'…

This research tested for counteractive optimism: a self-control strategy of generating optimistic predictions of future goal attainment in order to overcome anticipated obstacles in goal pursuit. In support of the counteractive optimism model, participants in 5 studies predicted better performance, more time invested in goal activities, and lower…

This article addresses what factors best motivate individuals to work toward shared goals. We propose that when individuals do not identify highly with a group, their contributions will mimic others': An emphasis on things done will increase their contributions toward achieving a goal, because such emphasis suggests the goal is worth pursuing.…