This research study has been designed to be an evergreen project to help higher education institutions define their external partnerships. The action research model has been used to create and test a model of external engagement, which was later redefined as the Reaney Model of External Engagement with the intent for continuous improvement.…

Community colleges in America are facing significant challenges that necessitate transformational change. Collaboration is essential to address these challenges within an environment characterized by external stakeholder interdependence, internal stakeholder interdependence through shared governance, and unique power and authority structures.…

Collaboration between rural school counselors and educational stakeholders may create opportunities to address inequities; however, there is limited research on rural school counselors' collaboration relationships. The purpose of this dissertation study is to understand the experiences of rural school counselors within the Virginia Department of…

This dissertation explores North/South partnerships in higher education, shedding light on their practices and underlying logics. Recognizing the growing importance of these collaborations in addressing global challenges, universities are actively working to strengthen these ties. However, concerns about the potential replication of imperialistic…

The fundamental social problems plaguing education are "wicked" (Rittel & Webber, 1973), for they are challenging, messy, and multifarious. Currently, very few problems of this magnitude are solved independently within one school entity. Instead, school leaders routinely find themselves cooperating with leaders across sectoral…

SA is an organization that promotes science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education. As a small organization, it continues to look for partnerships that allow the expansion and development of this educational coursework. The organization faces barriers to receiving private and public partnerships. In this professional administrative…

There is a call to action to close disparities and address inequalities throughout various institutions across the United States. There is a growing amount of research on the topic of education in relation to how schools can better serve as critical societal change agencies. This qualitative study serves to answer questions on the experiences and…

Underserved populations' access to college continues to increase across the United States; however, the number of students from underserved populations attaining college degrees is not growing at the same rate. The purpose of this single case study was to describe how the Collaborative Partners in Success (CPiS) Program supports its participants…

Faculty in higher education come from a wide variety of disciplines and settings and bring with them a wide variety of unique personal and professional knowledge, skills, and experiences. Faculty are expected to create learning experiences that are high-quality, effective, and that meet certain standards (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2023). Faculty…

Transnational education (TNE) provides an innovative approach to international education, allowing students to study in one country with a curriculum supplied by an educational institution in another. The TNE program can be delivered in multiple ways, from twinning or franchise programs to joint/double/multiple (JDM) degree programs, co-founded…

The University of Georgia is the birthplace of higher education in America. Chartered by the State in 1785, UGA became the nation's first state university. Despite being known for its academic and athletic prestige, tension between the university and the Athens community has existed since its inception. This qualitative study aimed to understand…

High-impact tutoring also known as high-dosage tutoring (HDT), is distinct from general tutoring. As a model, it consists of practice guidelines around training, frequency, and length of tutoring sessions. This approach is integrated with the school curriculum and ideally conducted during the school day. There is a resurging interest in tutoring,…

This ethnographic dissertation research project focuses on a digital storytelling workshop called Food/Stories which took place in collaboration with Black Yield Institute in Spring of 2023. The Food/Stories workshop is the case study that I used to explore the effectiveness of Collaborative Visual Storytelling, a methodological approach that…

Teacher retention is an important factor to the school context. It governs the success of students and school organizational health. Without a healthy and committed teacher population, schools begin failing to serve the very people they aim to help. School districts and research have identified several factors that aid in teacher retention. These…

This action research project explores the current university-community school-based partnerships between Paterson community organizations and WU. This study's research question is, "What current university-community school-based partnerships exist between the Paterson community organizations and WU?" This study uses only the first action…