Four-year Public University Research Articles

Leveraging Library Expertise in Support of Institutional Goals: A Case Study of an Open Educational Resources Initiative

Incentivizing faculty adoption of Open Educational Resources (OER) as a method for reducing textbook costs to increase access and affordability of higher education has been an area of development in academic libraries. This study describes the experience at Lehman College, CUNY, the only four-year public college in the Bronx, NY and the alignment of OER with institutional goals. The OER initiative involves the creation of a new program, which includes librarians assisting faculty with adopting and adapting OER, as well as training and discussion around issues pertinent to OER, such as finding and evaluating OER. The case study explains local conditions and provides an overview of the financial implications of textbook costs as well as pedagogical benefits. The repositioning of the Library through this initiative is also discussed.

“Backwards and in High Heels”: The Invisibility and Underrepresentation of Femme(inist) Administrative Labor in Academia

This article examines the ways in which embodiments of femme within administrative academic settings intervene in dominant discourses that (incorrectly) frame us as being “in service” of male-identified colleagues, supervisors, and institutionalized heteropatriarchies. We posit femme as an important and complex counternarrative to the heterocentric, cissexist, and masculinist discourses that are ubiquitous within academic administration in both historical and present-day contexts. Additionally, we consider femme as a site of resistance to feminized discourses of nurturance and of (re)productivity. In this collaborative project, we study the labor involved in administering an English Department and a Writing Program at a four-year public college, interrogating, through autoethnographic reflections and analyses, the ways in which this service labor often falls to/gets thrust upon those of us who identify as femme faculty members. Our article illustrates how we resist the imposition of care work and assert our own agency while conducting administrative work on our own, femme, terms. We offer a list of usable interventions to common, predictable, yet sometimes disorienting situations, and although we do not advance these responses as easy conclusions to problematic interactions, we consider how this list might aid femme administrators in managing quotidian, misguided, at times hostile scenarios. Our work calls allies and comrades to identify systemic asymmetries and generate collaborative solutions within a paradigm of affirmation: One that places a commitment to “femme witnessing” at its center.

On the Margins of College Life: The Experiences of Racial and Ethnic Minority Men in the Extracurriculum

Today, racial and ethnic minority (REM) men complete college at lower rates and perceive a less welcoming campus climate than their white and female peers. Although these disparities in perceptions and outcomes are well-documented, we know less about how they are produced. Drawing on an ethnographic study at a four-year public university, I examine the experiences of REM men in the extracurricular realm of college. Findings illuminate how students become locked into narrow identity strategies in order to distance themselves from controlling images and conform to the demands of peers. These styles of self-presentation offer limited emotional dividends, making it difficult to feel a durable sense of belonging. Further, social class intersects with race and gender, shaping the capacity of REM men to navigate mistreatment and marginalization in the broader extracurricular landscape. This research has implications for scholarship and for efforts to support REM men in higher education.

Technology Use in Developmental Education: Experiences, Challenges, and Rationales

ABSTRACT As community colleges increasingly integrate technology into developmental education, it becomes important to understand how technology is used in these programs, what challenges institutions have encountered relating to technology, and what considerations institutional leaders take into account when deciding whether and how to integrate technology in developmental education. This study explores these questions drawing from semi-structured interviews with key personnel from 31 open-access two-year public colleges, 11 broad-access four-year public colleges, and 41 state-level organizations overseeing such colleges. We find that institutions are integrating a variety of instructional, course management, and student support technologies into developmental education. In doing so, institutions have encountered a number of challenges, particularly with regard to end-user difficulties with technology. We also find that evidence of effectiveness of technology for improving educational outcomes was considered by a number of organizations in our sample when making decisions about technology use in developmental education; however, other considerations – particularly those based on costs and resources – were also quite influential. Indeed, such economic considerations were described to us more often than evidence of effectiveness by respondents discussing reasons for using technology in developmental education.

Raising the Bar for College Admission: North Carolina's Increase in Minimum Math Course Requirements

We explore the effects of a statewide policy change that increased the number of high school math courses required for admission to four-year public universities in North Carolina. Using data on cohorts of eighth-grade students from 1999 to 2006, we exploit variation by district over time in the math course-taking environment encountered by students. Purely as a result of a student's year of birth and location, students faced different probabilities of encountering a sequence of math courses sufficient to qualify for admission. Within an instrumental variables setup, we examine effects of this policy shift. We find that students took more math courses in high school following the state's announcement, with relatively larger increases for students in the middle and bottom quintiles of their eighth-grade math test scores. Our results suggest this increased math course-taking led to higher high school graduation rates. It also led to increases in enrollment rates at universities in the University of North Carolina system, with the largest increases being in the quintiles of student achievement from which universities were already drawing the bulk of their enrollees. Finally, we find scant evidence of boosts in post-enrollment college performance due to increased math course-taking in high school.

Examining Student Wellness for the Development of Campus-Based Wellness Programs

Background: Despite the many campus-based wellness programs and services offered through entities such as student services, many U.S. students lack the strategies, skills, or support systems to manage stress or change pre-existing behaviors, resulting in unhealthy behaviors and poor overall wellness. Since patterns developed during this time can form a solid foundation for future health behaviors, there is a need to develop and design wellness programs that stimulate positive health-behavior change.Aim: The purpose of this study was to assess student wellness of college students at a four-year public university to inform campus-based health programs, events, and services.Methods: An anonymous, single-structured survey was administered at an on-campus event (N = 225). The instrument covered six dimensions of wellness: physical wellness, social wellness, intellectual wellness, emotional wellness, spiritual wellness, and environmental wellness.Results: Significant differences for gender were found in the dimensions of social wellness, emotional wellness, and physical wellness. Females reported higher levels of social and emotional wellness, while males reported higher levels of physical wellness. Differences in age for emotional wellness, and year of study for physical wellness were also found.Conclusions: Findings provide insight to direct interventions and programs that would enhance students' wellness knowledge and behaviors.

Assimilation in Online Course Design

ABSTRACT As online education continues to grow, instructors from traditional classrooms are being asked to design online courses. In this study, data from interviews with thirty-three public four-year college and university instructors, who had experience designing online courses, were used to understand the instructor’s perspective on online course design. Using grounded theory, data were analyzed, sorted, and coded to uncover the strategies instructors use to design online courses. Results revealed instructors adapt to the online environment by using strategies to mimic elements of face-to-face courses: in essence, adaption comes through assimilation. Instructors expressed interest in helping students navigate online to encourage active participation in courses. They described using technology and learning management system (LMS) features (e.g., videos, discussion forums) to “hear” and “see” students, as a way to increase interaction and presence, familiar elements from face-to-face education. They spoke of creating authentic assignments to increase student engagement. The implications of this study include effective design and instructional strategies for online courses, as well as understanding the motivation of instructors who design online courses. The study results are relevant to a broad audience including online instructors, instructional designers, LMS organizations, and administrators.

Do Nonresident Students Affect Prices for In-State Students at Public Colleges?

Background/Context Public colleges and universities have sought to recruit and enroll more students from outside their home state in an effort to both enhance institutional prestige and generate additional revenue from the higher tuition rates than nonresident students generally pay. A body of research has shown that nonresident students tend to be more economically advantaged and less racially diverse than in-state students and that increases in out-of-state students crowd out lower income and minority state residents from more selective public colleges. Purpose/Research Questions Although research has shown some adverse effects of additional nonresident enrollment, no prior research has examined whether the additional money generated from out-of-state students’ higher tuition rates is used to help make college more affordable for state residents. In this article, I examined whether increased percentages of nonresident students were associated with changes in the sticker or net prices of attendance at four-year public colleges and whether any relationships were different between broad-access and selective public colleges. Research Design I used data on college pricing and nonresident enrollment from the U.S. Department of Education's Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System from the 2000– 01 through 2013–14 academic years from 505 public four-year colleges in this analysis. I used panel regressions with controls for other state-level factors that could have affected nonresident enrollment. In my preferred specifications, I used Arellano–Bond estimators to account for autoregressive processes in the data and used a one-year lag between nonresident enrollment and when prices paid by in-state students were measured. Results and Conclusions There was no systematic relationship between changes in the percentage of nonresident students and the sticker or net prices faced by in-state students. This suggests that although state residents do not appear to be subsidizing an amenities arms race to attract students from other states, the additional tuition revenue coming from nonresident students is not being used to help subsidize in-state students. Future research should investigate how public colleges are using the additional revenue if it is not being used for student financial aid.

When religion meets academia: Millennial Christians becoming cultural Others on a minority-serving campus in the United States

ABSTRACTGiven that religion is an understudied yet important topic, this exploratory research investigates how millennial Christians negotiate their intersecting cultural identities on college campuses. Specifically, this research took place on a Hispanic-serving, four-year public university in the Southwestern United States. The research team analyzed interview transcripts with student leaders and members of religious organizations. Following analytical steps of thematic analysis, we interrogated three themes: becoming Christian Others on a “liberal” college campus; avowing and ascribed as raced/sexualized/immigrant Christian “outsiders within;” and negotiating contradictions in avowing a faithful college life. The authors conclude by discussing implications for inter-belief communication.

Student Understanding of a Simple Heating Curve: Scientific Interpretations and Consistency of Responses

This work seeks to elucidate undergraduate science students' basic knowledge of concepts related to the energy changes for a simple heating curve and their ability to integrate related concepts. The participants were drawn from first and second semester General Chemistry classes, as well as junior/senior level Physical Chemistry classes at a four-year public university in the United States. The research instrument for this study was developed and tested over an 18-month period from preliminary data from students at the same university. The data were analyzed for students' basic knowledge and the ability to make connections between related concepts. A definite lack of demonstrated skill in integrating multiple concepts was revealed at all student levels with respondents often giving inconsistent answers to related questions. It is suggested that these critical thinking skills can be cultivated in students through various active learning pedagogies based on explicit multi-concept problem solving exercises, rather than the usual simple ones that test concepts individually.

Exploring Best Practices for Online STEM Courses: Active Learning, Interaction & Assessment Design

The purpose of this study was to examine effective design practices for online courses in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields at a large four-year public university in southeastern United States. Our research questions addressed the influence of online design practices on students’ perception of learning and learning satisfaction. An online survey was completed by 537 students from 15 online STEM courses in spring 2016. The survey results indicated that effective online STEM courses integrated active learning activities, interactive engagement strategies, and robust assessments. In particular, assessment design significantly impacted students’ self-perceived learning and learning satisfaction for students of all populations. The findings inform instructors and instructional designers on how to design effective, inclusive, and engaging online STEM curriculum. Online STEM instructors are strongly encouraged to utilize the Universal Design for Learning principles in course design, which benefit all students including students with disabilities.

Academic Engagement and Student Success: Do High-Impact Practices Mean Higher Graduation Rates?

ABSTRACTThis study examined the relationship between 10 high-impact practices and graduation rates at four-year public colleges and universities in the United States. The Association of American Colleges and Universities defined high-impact practices as especially effective for student learning, engagement, and career preparation in the 21st century. While advocacy for these practices and their inclusion in undergraduate curricula is growing, little research has examined their relationship to institutional outcomes. Based on data from 101 participating institutions, this study used both primary and secondary data to investigate whether offering high-impact practices as required for all students, required for some students, or optional was related to an institution’s four or six-year graduation rate. The findings suggest that high-impact practices are in widespread use across different institutional types but have limited relationships with graduation rates. This study contributes to the body of literature on college completion. Findings suggest that offering high-impact practices may not lead to increased graduation rates at public institutions.

Analyzing Four-Year Public University and Two-Year College Graduation Rates

This paper examines the graduation rates between 2000 and 2015 of United States colleges and universities at the national, state, and institutional levels. This research focuses on two-year and four-year programs. Rates are investigated longitudinally along with variables that distinguish between public/private institutions, percentages of full-time and part-time enrollments, a variety of completion times, and levels of academic achievement at entry that include SAT scores and high school GPAs. The paper uses a logistic growth function that has been used by other researchers to model four-, five-, and six-year graduation rates of individuals and selected cohort groups; graduation rate trajectories for students of differing academic achievement backgrounds are projected into the future to demonstrate maximum graduation rates expected for entering cohorts. Included is the analysis of national, state, and institutional graduation-rate results in four-year institutions of the 50 states; examples from 14 public colleges and universities in Indiana and several surrounding states are also considered. In addition to fitting their graduation rates to the logistic function and extracting associated growth variables, we use percentages of part-time students to predict two- and four-year graduation rates at the national, state, and institutional levels in the 50 states. The analysis examined the graduation rates between 2000 and 2015 of United States colleges and universities and showed no correlation between a state’s two-year and four-year cohort graduation rates; verified an inverse mathematical relationship between graduation rates and percentage of part-time students; confirmed that for median SAT scores of 800 or lower one expects very low on-time graduation rates.

Do Performance-Based Funding Policies Affect Underrepresented Student Enrollment?

ABSTRACTMore states are using performance-based funding (PBF) systems in an effort to incentivize public colleges to operate more effectively. Responding to concerns about equity, states are also adopting provisions that encourage colleges to serve more students who at risk of not completing college. In this paper, I examine whether PBF policies in general—and more specifically policies that have provisions designed to incentivize colleges to enroll underrepresented students—are associated with the number of lower-income, underrepresented minority, and adult students enrolled at four-year public colleges. Using a generalized difference-in-difference framework, I find little evidence that PBF systems as a whole meaningfully affect underrepresented student enrollment. However, the presence of bonuses for serving at-risk students appears to help mitigate any efforts to enroll a more advantaged student body that may be present in other PBF systems.

Varied student perception of e-text use among student populations in biology courses

The faculty in a biology department at a four-year public comprehensive university adopted e-texts for all 100 and 200 level biology courses with the primary motivation of reducing textbook costs to students. This study examines the students’ perceptions of the e-texts adopted for these 100 and 200 level biology courses. An online questionnaire was developed and administered in multiple sections of six 100 and 200 level biology courses during the spring and fall semesters of 2014 to measure student perceptions of the e-texts used in these courses. Results suggest a bimodal distribution among our sample (N = 2,152) of student participants. However, there are statistically significant and noteworthy exceptions to this general pattern. Black students reported a significantly higher satisfaction with e-texts compared to white students, and students repeating one of these courses reported significantly higher levels of satisfaction with the e-text compared to students taking the for the first time. Additionally, students with lower grade point averages (GPAs) preferred the e-text significantly more compared to those with higher GPAs. Further analyses reveal that the majority of student participants perceived the use of value-added technologies, such as e-homework, favorably.

Digital Preservation Practices among Midwestern Four-year Public Colleges and Universities

This article is the result of a study to survey the landscape of digital preservation practices and infrastructure at midwestern four-year public colleges and universities. It summarizes the staffing, tools, policy, and procedural characteristics of the survey population, compares these results to previous studies, and questions if a model for a successful program has emerged. The article concludes by arguing that instead of measuring digital preservation program development to existing ideal models, resource-strapped archives will better assess progress using a matrix linking reasonably achievable infrastructure and workflows with corresponding, categorized levels of financial, technical, and human resources.

Propelled: The Effects of Grants on Graduation, Earnings, and Welfare

We estimate the effect of grant aid on poor college students’ attainment and earnings using student-level administrative data from four-year public colleges in Texas. To identify these effects, we exploit a discontinuity in grant generosity as a function of family income. Eligibility for the maximum Pell Grant significantly increases degree receipt and earnings beginning four years after entry. Within 10 years, imputed taxes on eligible students’ earnings gains fully recoup total government expenditures generated by initial eligibility. To clarify how these estimates relate to social welfare, we develop a general theoretical model and derive sufficient statistics for the welfare implications of changes in the price of college. Whether additional grant aid increases welfare depends on (1) net externalities from recipients’ behavioral responses and (2) a direct effect of mitigating credit constraints or other frictions that inflate students’ in-school marginal utility. Calibrating our model using nationally representative consumption data suggests that increasing grant aid for the average college student by $1 could generate negative externalities as high as $0.50 and still improve welfare. Applying our welfare formula and estimated direct effects to our setting and others suggests considerable welfare gains from grants that target low-income students.

A Bridging Approach to Boost Doctoral Enrollment in a HBCU: An Exploratory Qualitative Study

A declining enrollment in doctoral social work programs not only affects the sustainability of the programs, but also impacts the knowledge-based economy in the long run. The shortage of doctoral-prepared faculty, interwoven with the current national shortage of social workers, will limit effective service delivery, and generation of knowledge base for direct practice and policy advocates. Little is known about the barriers and strategies in Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU). Two focus groups with in-depth interviews were conducted among Master of Social Work (MSW) students at a four-year public university. The study resulted in a wide range of identifiable strategies to boost the doctoral enrollment in the social work program, including more summer courses, more online courses, more flexible class time, higher integration of technology in the classroom and better curriculum structure. Findings suggest that non-traditional becomes the new traditional. With the advancement in smartphone and wireless technology, the University can reposition the program, seek for ways to serve the new traditional student population, and improve the infrastructure to accommodate students’ digital needs.

Student Loan Nudges: Experimental Evidence on Borrowing and Educational Attainment

We provide the first experimental evidence on the effect of student loans on educational attainment. Loan amounts listed in financial aid award letters (“offers”) do not alter students’ choice sets but significantly affect borrowing. Students randomly receiving a nonzero offer were 40 percent more likely to borrow than those who received a $0 offer. Per additional borrower, loans increased by $4,000, GPA and completed credits increased by 30 percent, and transfers to four-year public colleges increased by 11 percentage points. Cost-benefit and theoretical analyses suggest nonzero offers enhance welfare, yet over five million students are not currently offered loans. (JEL D14, D91, I22, I23)

A Failure to Communicate: Are University Websites Readable?

The readability of university-authored websites is an area wholly unexplored by higher education research and constitutes a crucial gap in the literature. The purpose of this study was to examine the readability of university-sponsored webpages of 30 four-year public American universities (n = 300), comprising three of the largest university systems in the country. The results suggest that the vast majority of university-authored webpages are unreadable by prospective postsecondary students, and institutions in the same university system wildly vary the readability of their documents. Implications for policy, practice, and future research are addressed.