This study was a case study to explore the interventions being offered at one institution to support students from low-income backgrounds. The institution experienced higher than average graduation rates compared to low-income serving institutions with similar characteristics. The purpose of this study was to discover the institutional…

Existing research into the creation of articulation agreements focused solely on the functional aspects of these documents, such as maximizing transfer credit. However, little is known about the experiences of faculty and administrators at the community colleges and universities who create articulation agreements and how their experiences affect…

Research focused on first-generation college students has developed considerably in recent years, yet an area that remains relatively unexplored is students' perceptions of the academic library as place. Exploring such perceptions is important for deepening understanding of how the library, as a central academic resource on campus, can best serve…

Policymakers in small and midsize communities (populations under 200,000) throughout the Rust Belt are searching for ways to reinvent their region to be competitive in the global, knowledge-based economy. Universities can play an increasingly important role in a region's economic development approach if they can effectively engage with their…

This research explored how leaders from a mid-range university, industry, and government described collaborative efforts to enhance regional economic development. This study found that a mid-range university can effectively collaborate with industry and government to advance regional economic development. The collaboration of…

Mergers and consolidations within the higher education sector are "relatively rare occurrences and each merger has a distinct set of circumstances, actors, and characteristics" (Etschmaier, 2010, p. 1). Institutional mergers and consolidations require well-planned and strategic organizational change and include an examination of…

The purpose of this research study was to discover what leadership traits and factors led to the formation and support of a multi-university partnership between three faith-based, higher education institutions. Data was collected using interviews, documents analysis, and leadership surveys. Fifteen leaders, five from each institution, were invited…

The general problem observed is that even though PPhPs [public-philanthropic partnerships] are a way of relieving the fiscal burden of higher education, a lack of formal policies, standards or guidelines governing the inter-organizational relationship between philanthropic foundations and public educational institutions has led to governance…

Situated within the context of globalization, the purpose of this historical policy analysis study was to identify and describe the ways in which multiple actors shaped national higher education internationalization policy within the U.S., and to capture the emerging direction in higher education internationalization policy at the national level…

Collaboration among institutions is deeply engrained in the culture of higher education, but little is known about how leaders of institutions engaged in inter-institutional collaborations gain understanding about the effectiveness of their collaborations. Most research about higher education collaboration focuses on either understanding why…

International collaborations in social work education are increasing without an adequate understanding of what motivates them, and what sorts of outcomes they produce. The existing research on such collaborations has often focused on examining collaborations only from the perspective of those in Europe and North America. This study presents the…

The purpose of this dissertation is to understand the role of governance in successful information technology-intensive interorganizational relationships (IT-IORs). The importance of "IT" in IT-IORs means that in addition to the challenges associated with managing organizational relationships there are also challenges that come with IT…

Higher education resources are dwindling yet postsecondary institutions are expected to do more with less. As a result, institutions of higher learning are having to reimagine and reorganize standard operating procedures to identify solutions for the future. One of the options is to consider interinstitutional collaborations. A primary challenge…

This dissertation comprises of three essays examining the interplay of information technology with various social processes that typically inhabit the organizational space. The first essay presents the concept of a Relationship Memory System (RMS). This study uses grounded theory methodology and interview data collected at a global…

The purpose of this research was to analyze North Carolina traditional public school principals' perspectives about and experiences with charter schools. A history of school choice in America was explored, as well as the changing role of public school principals. This dissertation presented a thorough review of the literature on school choice and…