Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Availability

Open Access Dissertation

Keywords

Student affairs administrators--Training of--United States; Student affairs administrators--United States--Public opinion; Academic theses;

Abstract

Much research suggests there is a disconnect between how student affairs graduate preparation programs prepare students and what new professionals need. Recent studies indicate the skills, knowledge, and dispositions emphasized in student affairs graduate preparation programs are not necessarily the ones most needed by student affairs professionals.

The framing question of this inquiry is: What are the perceptions of graduates, supervisors, and program coordinators about the preparation of new student affairs professionals? The following supporting questions were asked: 1. What basic competencies do graduates, supervisors, and program coordinators perceive as important for new professionals? 2. How do graduates, supervisors, and program coordinators perceive the effectiveness of the graduate preparation program in preparing new professionals in these basic competency areas? 3. What findings, if any, may account for the disconnect?

This collective case study utilized multiple methods of data collection including semi-structured interviews, questionnaire data, document analysis, and follow-up phone or email communications. The analysis and interpretation of the data supported the existence of a disconnect between how student affairs preparation programs prepare new professionals and what graduates and supervisors perceive are the skills, knowledge, and dispositions new professionals need on the job. The primary disconnects found were in Advising and Helping, Human and Organizational Resources, and Student Learning and Development.

Year of Submission

2013

Degree Name

Doctor of Education

Department

Department of Educational Psychology, Foundations, and Leadership Studies

Department

Department of Educational Leadership, Counseling, and Postsecondary Education

First Advisor

Michael D. Waggoner

Comments

If you are the rightful copyright holder of this dissertation and wish to have it removed from the Open Access Collection, please submit a request to scholarworks@uni.edu and include clear identification of the work, preferably with URL.

Date Original

2013

Object Description

1 PDF file (228 pages)

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

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Lindell,TyAnn_dissertation.pdf (2466 kB)
Non-redacted version containing signatures

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