Dissertations and Theses @ UNI
Availability
Open Access Thesis
Keywords
University of Northern Iowa--Students; University of Northern Iowa; Students;
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to identify similarities and differences between three groups of students, the Student Senate, the Youth for a Better Society (Students for a Democratic Society when the study was initiated), and a sample of students representative of the student body at-large at the University of Northern Iowa. These groups were objectively and subjectively evaluated to identify any similarities and differences in (1) their attitudes toward the University, (2) their academic achievement and aptitude, and (3) their socio-economic background. Objective measures of these variables included the College and University Environment Scales (CUES), cumulative grade point averages, American College Test composite scores, and biographical information obtained from a ten-item questionnaire. These objective data were supplemented by subjective opinion obtained in recorded interviews with individual students. Six students (two Student Senators, two YBS members, and two students in neither group) were interviewed about the UNI campus in an "open-end" manner. The interviews were content analyzed for meanings to identify consensuses and differences in opinion. Results of the study confirmed that YBS members viewed the University to be lower in Awareness, Community, and in Scholar ship, than the general student body viewed the campus to be. The Student Senate rated UNI lower in Scholarship, but the Student Senate was not significantly lower than the representative sample on any scale other than Scholar ship. Both the Student Senate and the YBS were academically superior (on the average} to the at-large sample in both achievement and aptitude. The YBS had received significantly mor e scholar ships than the "typical" group had received. More YBS mothers had graduated from college. While most of the YBS members (two-thirds} were liberal arts majors, only about one- third of the student body and the Student Senate were in non-teaching or liberal arts programs. The content analysis showed the two non-Senate student leaders to be most critical of UNI. All three pairs of students interviewed were critical in the areas of Awareness, Community, and Scholarship. Thus there was a general parallel between the subjective and the objective results. In conclusion it was felt that the University administration, through the use of information provided by the study, would be able to make future policy decisions which are beneficial to the general student body and to special interest groups such as the Youth for a Better Society and the Student Senate.
Year of Submission
1969
Degree Name
Master of Arts in Education
Department
Department of Education
First Advisor
Jack F. Kimball
Second Advisor
Glen R. Hastings
Third Advisor
Paul C. Kelso
Date Original
1969
Object Description
1 PDF file (103 leaves)
Copyright
©1969 Oral M. Custer Jr.
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Custer, Oral M. Jr., "Differences in Campus Attitudes, Academic Achievement and Socio-Economic Background Between Student Leaders, the Students for a Democratic Society and the Student Body At-Large at the University of Northern Iowa" (1969). Dissertations and Theses @ UNI. 2417.
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/etd/2417
Comments
If you are the rightful copyright holder of this thesis 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.