Collegial Environment Research Articles

Cultural Transferability of Socially Responsible Leadership: Findings From the United States and Mexico

The purpose of this study was to examine similarities and differences in students' capacities for socially responsible leadership as well as significant predictors of its development at a higher education institution in Mexico as compared with US schools. Results revealed that Mexican students both entered and left college with significantly higher capacities than their US peers. The collegiate environment contributed significantly to explaining student capacity in both cultural contexts, and leadership efficacy explained a greater amount of the variance in scores among students at the Mexican institution than those at US institutions.

Right-Sizing and Replacing the Right Equipment at the Right Time

Right-Sizing and Replacing the Right Equipment at the Right Time

Commonalities and Differences Among Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual College Students: Considerations for Research and Practice

This study explores the appropriateness of collapsing lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) college students into a single category in quantitative research designs as well as the nature of their engagement with the collegiate environment. Data were collected as part of a national study and represent a total of 980 LGB self-identified college students from 52 colleges and universities. Results suggest that LGB students are more similar than they are different across 13 dimensions of the collegiate experience.

Variables that Encourage Students to Persist in Community Colleges

Estimating the persistence of first-time students from the first year to the second year of college is a growing social and financial concern. Studying how socioeconomic status affects year-to-year persistence may help to identify and assist those students who have socioeconomic profiles most likely to indicate challenges to year-to-year persistence. This study used data from the Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:96/98), a nationally representative survey, to provide additional information about the patterns of educational attainment and persistence for a subset of the more than 51,000 students included in the NPSAS:96 survey. The study used all students enrolled as first-time beginning students at two-year institutions. The purpose of the study was to develop and test a theoretical framework for describing the persistence of students at two-year institutions. The preliminary model included 39 literature-based variables grouped into seven factors: background, high school, college-entry, financial, social integration, academic integration, and college performance. The data were tested using descriptive statistics and logistic regression to determine the predictive value of the models for the students. Social capital variables, particularly student integration to the collegiate environment, were strongly associated with persistence of students. Contact between students and faculty outside of the classroom environment is critical to persistence.

Development of online learning activities to enhance student knowledge of animal behaviour prior to engaging in live animal handling practical sessions

Learning activities were developed to increase the awareness of animal behaviour among first year students enrolled in animal-associated degrees prior to students engaging in hands-on live animal practical sessions. Learning activities were developed in an easy to use collegial online environment and to encourage student engagement in learning activities. One hundred and one students were given a preliminary and post learning activity survey to assess their initial knowledge and experience of animal behaviour, as well as to determine if the learning activities increased the students’ knowledge of animal behaviour after engaging in the learning activities. Of the students surveyed, most currently owned pets or have had pets (91.1%), some had animal-related qualifications (22.8%) and currently worked in an animal-related position (24.8%). There was a significant difference (70.3% increase) in student responses after engaging in the learning activities with the major change occurring in the students’ understanding of the term ‘ethology’, regardless of the level of qualifications or animal-related career experience. In addition, after engaging in the learning activities, most students believed that they could better articulate and interpret animal behaviors based on their observations. Overall, the inclusion of learning activities successfully increased the ability of students to understand behavioral traits of animals, which will increase safety in live animal practical sessions. The learning activities also encouraged a collegial learning environment that enhanced new knowledge construction amongst the students.

Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine

Number of Activities: 145 Number of Hours of Instruction: 1,964 Number of Physician Participants: 29,136 Number of Other Learners: 17,094 Received Commercial Support: Yes Received Income from Advertising or Exhibits: Yes Participated in Joint Providership: Yes Offered Courses: Yes Offered Enduring Materials: Yes Offered Internet Enduring Materials: Yes Offered Performance Improvement: Yes Offered RSS: Yes Offered Test Item Writing: Yes

The importance of collegiality and reciprocal learning in the professional development of beginning teachers

This paper discusses factors that enhance induction experiences for beginning teachers. It reports the findings from case studies that explore the impact of new entrants to the teaching profession in Scotland. The data suggest that the most supportive induction processes mix both formal and informal elements, but that the informal elements such as collegiality, good communication and a welcoming workplace environment should not be underestimated. The study also highlights the potential benefits of a more collegiate environment for teachers across the career phases. Experienced teachers and new entrants had a range of experience to offer each other, thus creating more cohesive professional working which was supportive of early career teachers while encouraging reflection on practice among the more experienced professionals.

New Century, New Identities: Building on a Typology of Nonheterosexual College Men

Drawing on recent ethnographic studies of nonheterosexual youth, nonheterosexual identity development, and online collegiate identity management, this article outlines an extension of prior typological work concerning nonheterosexual male college students proposed by the author. Two new types (“Twitter Twinks” and “Lads Without Labels)” are proffered and explained, along with a social contextualization of how these two concepts have recently developed. The article concludes with a call for new ways to conceptualize, study, understand, and support nonheterosexual identities in collegiate environments.

Improving Effectiveness, Academic Growth and Collegiality Among Faculty

Research shows that faculty at most institutions are becoming increasingly isolated, resulting in low effectiveness, academic dissatisfaction, ultimately leading to high faculty turnover. This case study presents two experiments conducted at an online institution to provide an inclusive, collegial and stimulating work environment to its globally dispersed and culturally diverse faculty. The initial findings suggest that on-call faculty can be induced to engage in organisational activities, thus feeling more connected and included in the team and progress of the institution. Efforts are required, though, on the part of the institution to provide faculty with opportunities to join in a connected dialog with each other and the broader university staff.

An Evaluation of the Sustenance of the Primary School Management Development Project in Botswana

An Evaluation of the Sustenance of the Primary School Management Development Project in Botswana

Siamon Gordon on the challenges of retirement

Siamon Gordon on the challenges of retirement

Healthy Nursing Academic Work Environments

Healthy work environments in the nursing academic setting are essential for the recruitment and retention of faculty; they also serve to promote excellence in nursing education. Although the early efforts addressing healthy work environments focused on the clinical practice setting, more recent efforts have also considered the work environment in academic settings. The National League for Nursing has focused on work environments in academia and has published the Healthful Work Environment Tool Kit© that can be used by applicants for faculty positions, current faculty members, and nurse administrators to assess an academic work environment. The tool kit addresses the following nine work-related areas: salaries, benefits, workload, collegial environment, role preparation and professional development, scholarship, institutional support, marketing and recognition, and leadership. These areas are used to frame the discussion of how nursing faculty and administrators can work together to assess and enhance the health of nursing academic workplaces.

A List of Best Practices That May Improve the Use of Telephone Interviews During the Recruitment Process

A Review of:
 Engel, Debra, and Sarah Robbins. "Telephone Interviewing Practices within Academic Libraries." Journal of Academic Librarianship 35.2 (2009): 143-51.
 
 Objective – To investigate the use of telephone interviews in academic libraries and identify best practices when conducting telephone interviews.
 
 Design – Survey and open-ended questions.
 
 Setting – Academic libraries in the United States.
 
 Subjects – Academic institutional members of the Association of Research Libraries.
 
 Methods – A fifteen-item survey (Appendix A, 150) concerning telephone interviewing practice was sent to 112 institutional members of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL). The survey contained multiple choice-type questions as well as open-ended questions.
 
 Main Results – The response rate was 66% (74 of 112 research libraries; 56 public institutions and 17 private). Of the respondents, 90% used telephone interviews to screen applicants for professional positions (ranging from occasionally to always) and only 10% never used telephone interviews. The main reason for holding telephone interviews was to “screen candidates in order to narrow the pool of applicants who will be invited for in-person interviews” (146). Other reasons given included minimizing expenses involved in interviewing out-of-town candidates (39% respondents), shortening the length of time to complete the search process (27%) and meeting library or campus hiring requirements (3%).
 
 On average, the majority of libraries (51%) hired between 2-4 professional positions each year. For each open professional position, the number of candidates telephone-interviewed varied from less than 3 to 9 depending on library and position.
 
 Interviews typically lasted between 16 and 45 minutes (77% respondents) with all the search committee members (staff involved in the recruitment process) being present (75%) and taking turns to ask questions to the candidates (90%). Questions were most often the same for all candidates applying for a particular position (91%) and candidates were nearly always allowed in return to ask questions of the committee (96%).
 
 In answer to the open-ended question, “In your opinion, what best creates a collegial and effective environment for conducting telephone interviews?”, the dominating responses included: all search committee members being present and participating actively, using a script and taking notes, introducing all interview participants, and giving candidates adequate notification and documentation.
 
 The majority of respondents “would not change anything about their institution’s current (telephone interview) practice” (147). Some thought that “training and/or a need for consistency in procedure for all interviews conducted” (147) would be relevant changes in practice. 
 
 The results of the survey were compared to the findings in the library, personnel management and human resources literature.
 
 Conclusion – From the survey and responses to open-ended questions, a number of best practices when conducting telephone interviews emerged (148–150):
 1. Properly train the search committee (e.g., in knowing about the position, organization and protocols for conducting interviews properly)
 2. Involve the search committee throughout the recruitment process
 3. Help the interviewee be prepared (e.g., by sending institutional information packages)
 4. Maintain and use suitable technology (e.g., by choosing suitable conferencing facilities with the interviewee situation in mind)
 5. Put the candidate at ease (e.g., by explaining who will be present, how long the interview will last and how many questions there will be)
 6. Provide introductions (e.g., both in the beginning of the interview and even before individual questions)
 7. Listen and take notes during the interview
 8. Discuss the interviews immediately afterwards
 
 Engel and Robbins suggest that further research could include looking into job candidate and search committee experiences of the telephone interviewing procedure.

The Company He Keeps (review)

Reviewed by: The Company He Keeps Edward G. Whipple Nicholas L. Syrett. The Company He Keeps. Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press, 2009. 432 pp. Cloth: $30.00. ISBN-13: 978-0-8078-3253-0. In The Company He Keeps, Nicholas Syrett focused on fraternity men and their role on American college campuses since the first social fraternity was founded almost 200 years ago. More specifically, this book is about the history of gender and about how men in fraternities promote their masculinity and behave accordingly. It is also a book about power and prestige where fraternity men must rely upon their Whiteness, socio-economic status, masculinity, and heterosexuality to prove themselves to one another and to women. Syrett's research information came from archival analyses conducted at 12 different colleges and universities across the United States and from more than 20 national fraternities. He chose to focus on fraternity men in this study of gender because of their significance in higher education and society. Syrett wrote that men who join fraternities have been a force over the years primarily due to their views on masculinity. He traced the archetypes of masculinity throughout the history of the college fraternity and advanced three opinions. First, Syrett argued that fraternity men gain prestige and respect from other men by displaying excessive traits and behaviors portraying their masculinity. Second, he determined that American higher education culture promulgates a culture in which men who get the most respect on campuses are those perceived as the most masculine by their referent peer groups. And third, Syrett wrote that some men have struggled with understanding or accepting the standards which were determined to define a masculine man on college campuses. In addition, this book is about how fraternity men influence other men, how these men behave on a daily basis, and how fraternities structure men's college lives. Syrett asserts a connection between fraternity members' current flagrant misbehaviors and the exclusive, secretive, and masculine-oriented culture of White college fraternities since their beginnings. These flagrant misbehaviors centered on their mistreatment of women and their homophobic nature. In addition, Syrett emphasized that social class status and race were important determinants in the perception of the exclusivity of White fraternities. As he traced the history, Syrett posited that, by the 1900s, the changing roles of women and the emergence of homosexuality also impacted the exclusiveness of fraternities. The majority of his book actually focused on this exclusivity, the relationship of fraternity men towards women, and the critical need for fraternity members to prove their masculinity. Syrett provided caveats that not all fraternities are as bad as those portrayed in his book. He briefly commented on the masculine ideals and standards of fraternity men found in the printed materials of national organizations. He also indicated that not all fraternity life is bad or negative and that the versions of masculinity, as written about in the book were not just limited to those affiliated with fraternities. Syrett's research and subsequent findings targeted White, Protestant fraternities, not fraternities that were primarily multicultural, such as National Pan-Hellenic Conference organizations, chapters from the National Association of Latino Fraternal Organizations, or even gay fraternities. The book is arranged chronologically, beginning with the history of the American fraternity movement, and highlights their homogeneity, based on the fact that college enrollment was restricted to White men from upper-class society until after the Civil War. The initial culture of secrecy, coupled with competitive collegiate environments caused by literary debate clubs oncampus in the 1800s has continued, according to Syrett, to influence fraternity members' behaviors almost 200 years later. Throughout fraternity history, Syrett traced the development of the culture of secrecy; the rising social class system, the role of women as "objects" with which to impress others; the addition of formal membership clauses to constitutions that excluded Blacks, Catholics, and Jews; and the increasing preoccupation of fraternity men with their masculinity as proved by athletic prowess and sexual conquests. He concluded that fraternity men today distance themselves from appearing to be less masculine through behavior such as drinking to excess, hazing, and sexually abusing women—all of which allegedly connote being "a...

Mothers on the tenure track: what engineering and technology faculty still confront

Despite the many changes in policy and practice that colleges and universities in the United States have instituted to help women faculty achieve work life balance, challenges persist. This article discusses the difficulties still faced by female engineering and engineering technology faculty who are trying to balance the demands of a successful academic career and motherhood. The data, both qualitative and quantitative, are derived from a survey of tenure track female faculty who are members of the Women in Engineering Division of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE). Data indicate that, despite the widespread adoption of policies intended to create a more helpful and collegial environment, almost 40% of the respondents rated the quality of the institutional support they receive as fair, poor, or very poor. This research identifies policies that appear to have succeeded, and others that appear to have made little difference, suggesting structural and cultural changes that would address the continuing problems that motherhood creates for female engineering and technology faculty. Such changes could prove helpful to female faculty generally, regardless of their disciplines.

Virtual Patient Safety Rounds

Understanding how and why errors in healthcare happen is essential to improving patient safety. Yet exposure to this learning process is usually limited to those events occurring in one's own institution. Virtual Safety Rounds expands this learning opportunity to multiple hospitals. Twice each month physicians; nurses; and quality, risk, and patient safety staff participate in a discussion about a recent safety event within the healthcare system. Within this safe collegial environment experiences, plans of correction and lessons learned are shared. Hospitals are learning from each other without having to experience the patient safety issue directly.

College Student Leaders: Meet the Alpha Female

With the emergence of a new generation of strong and empowered female student leaders on college campuses, a special type of female leader, the Alpha Female, has developed. This study examines the essence of having an Alpha Female identity for 13 undergraduate women at a Midwestern university. Extensive interviews were conducted; transcripts were generated; emergent themes were derived; horizonalization and cross-case analysis was conducted; and, constant comparative method among the researches was employed. Findings reveal that strong positive antecedent family variables are present. Each participant perceives strong advantages and a positive impact from being an Alpha Female in the collegiate environment. Suggestions for further rich, qualitative investigations and Possible educational interventions and institutional support are offered.

Mentoring novice teachers: developing a community of practice

Mentoring new teachers is critical to music education, not only for purposes of retention and attrition, but also to provide the support they need to become reflective practitioners. Researchers consistently report that novice music teachers share feelings of being overwhelmed by the duties and responsibilities of teaching. In 2004—05, a local school district (USA) employed five novice elementary general music teachers. Through the district, I offered a professional development program to these teachers to provide mentoring during the entire school year. With their consent, this program was used to collect data reflective of their experiences throughout the year, exploring the nature of their lived experience and, emergently, the growth of a community of practice. Data included the email correspondence of all participants, each teacher's end-of-year reflective journal, a personal log reflecting my perspective and an audio-recorded group discussion conducted at the end of the school year. Two key issues arose during the year that profoundly affected the professional self-confidence of these novice teachers: their struggles with classroom management, and issues that arose during their experiences with the district's process of teacher evaluation. Within the context of these common problems, the teachers seemed to value the meetings as an opportunity to give and receive support in a safe, collegial environment, in which all those present understood the parameters of their unique jobs and cared about each other as individuals and music educators. What began as a group of individuals emerged as a community of practice.

(How) Can We Be Political in Our Work in Higher Education?

As students return and our campuses again become lively with political activity, situations are certain to develop that raise questions about how professionals in a collegiate environment interact appropriately with students around political issues.

Relationship between the perceived emotional intelligence of school principals and the job satisfaction of educators in a collegial environment

This research focused on the perceived emotional intelligence (EI) of school principals and their leadership strategies affecting the job satisfaction of teachers in a collegial environment. The study found that teachers have expectations of empowerment and collaboration that will enhance their levels of job satisfaction. Teachers strongly believe that they would feel satisfied at school if their principals created the opportunity to develop their skills in a collegial environment that nurtures effective communication, healthy relationships, empathy and trust. The findings of the empirical investigation further confirmed that teachers wish to be led by school principals who are confident in their collegial leadership role and who maintain self-control, are adaptable and flexible and who face the future with optimism. Evidently, in order for a school to reach its full potential, teachers must be exposed to working in a collegial environment, be satisfied in their jobs and be nurtured by principals with an appropriate EI level.