Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Christian higher education'

This study examined the extent to which a relationship exists between Christian spirituality and the intercultural effectiveness of academic leaders in Christian higher education. The study utilized a sequential mixed methods approach, with two quantitative surveys administered first, followed by a qualitative open-ended e-mail survey in order to delve deeper into the quantitative findings and answer the research questions. Thirty-four academic leaders responded to the quantitative surveys for a response rate of 51.5%, and eight academic leaders were purposefully selected for the subsequent qualitative survey. No statistically strong relationships between Christian spirituality and intercultural effectiveness were found in this investigation. The quantitative research found Awareness of God to have a slight moderate relationship with interpersonal engagement, and instability was found to have a slight negative moderate relationship with hardiness. Subsequently, eight academic leaders participated in the qualitative research that further explained some relationship between Christian spirituality and intercultural effectiveness in the context of Christian higher education.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between cultural intelligence, transformational leadership, and team performance in one private Christian higher education institution in Southern California. The study further conducted initial exploration of how student leaders’ Christian worldview (humility) influences their cultural intelligence, transformational leadership, and team performance. A quantitative research design was used to carry out this study. Data were collected from 174 student leaders from four departments including Resident Life, Spiritual Development, Global Students Development and Student Enrichment and Intercultural Development. The quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistic and correlational analysis on SPSS software.

The finding of this study revealed that there was no significant relationship between overall cultural intelligence and overall team cohesion of student leaders. Analysis on the subscale level revealed that there was a very weak negative relationship between cognitive CQ and task cohesion. In addition, a significant weak relationship was found between transformational leadership and team cohesion. The social cohesion subscale was significantly correlated to all of the five subscales of transformational leadership scale. The individual attraction subscale was significantly correlated with four of the subscales of transformational leadership except for intellectual stimulation. The task cohesion subscale was not related to any of the subscales of transformational leadership.

An initial exploration of student leaders’ understanding of humility was conducted using six survey questions developed by the researcher based on five key elements of humility stated by Tangany (2000). Based on the results of the survey data analysis, participants appeared to exhibit certain aspects of cultural intelligence, transformational leadership behaviors and team cohesion. This survey was intended to serve as an initial step for future research to fully explore how student leader’s Christian worldview (humility) contributes to their leadership effectiveness and team performance.

In summary, overall cultural intelligence was not related to overall team cohesion. There was a significant very weak relationship between overall transformational leadership and overall team cohesion. These findings suggest that there are still more underlying factors that influence overall team cohesion of student leaders in a Christian higher education context.

Colleges and universities, to remain viable social institutions, will need to serve a more diverse population of students and do this well (Bierda & Chait, 2011). First, they must respond to the changing demographics of the nation. The minority population will most likely be in the majority by the next U.S. census (Humes, Jones, & Ramirez, 2011). According to information from the U.S. Census in 2010, 308.7 million people reside in the United States (Humes et al., 2011). This is an increase of 9.7% since 2000, and this increase is attributed to the growing population of those who do not identify as White (Humes et al., 2011). With this change, there will be an increase in diverse students in our schools and postsecondary institutions.

While Christian colleges should have made more progress on diversity-related efforts, such as enrolling more diverse students and increasing faculty diversity, the fact is that most have not—many have failed to recognize how diversity benefits students and the institution. This starts with an awareness of diversity and diversity objectives. The problems are many, but one key element may be that they do not have a ready-made roadmap to follow to make diversity an explicit part of their mission and focus. This study will highlight two institutions within the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities that have made an explicit commitment to diversity. The study will focus on the processes employed and challenges faced by two universities that have been successful in establishing a commitment to diversity.

The study followed a qualitative approach, and interviews were conducted with participants from two different institutions. The focus of the interviews was on the diversity statement, the roles of leaders in the change process, and the obstacles the institutions faced in becoming a more diverse community. Impacts of the diversity statement on faculty, curriculum, and leadership were also analyzed.

The major themes in the findings of the study included: (a) the link between institutional mission and values in diversity efforts, (b) the roles leaders played in the change process, and (c) the role of diversity champions in creating change. The results offer recommendations to college presidents and chief diversity officers for how to create change in diversity efforts on campus.

This dissertation analyzes and compares the curricula within and across the eight Eastern Orthodox Christian seminaries in the United States of America through the lens of Theological or Pastoral orientation of the seminaries. This dissertation aims to address this deficiency in the literature on religious higher education in the United States of America.

This comparison of Orthodox seminary curricula is guided by three questions: What are the curricula in use at the eight Orthodox Christian seminaries in the United States of America? What distinctions arise from an analysis of these seminaries’ course descriptions and curricula? How do these curricula achieve the Assembly of Bishops’ goals for unity?

I employed an emergent design methodology to code, analyze, and compare over 400 course descriptions obtained from bulletins and course catalogs of the eight Orthodox Christian seminaries. The course descriptions were compared with other courses of the same institution, other courses offered by comparable institutions, and other courses I designated as similar based upon coding outcomes.

I found that the seminaries exhibited one of two innate foci: Theological orientation or Pastoral orientation. I compared the seeming orientations with the schools’ mission statements. I then solicited course syllabi to explore the courses in more depth to determine whether the course descriptions were accurate reflections of what was taught in the courses.

I surveyed seminary administrators and professors about the Theological or Pastoral orientation of their schools, and the preparedness of their seminary’s graduates to fulfill priestly duties. This allowed triangulation of data with the syllabi and course descriptions.

This dissertation engages the field of comparative and international education, providing a comparative analysis of internationally and ethnically affiliated schools. It aims to explore in more detail the variations in how future religious leaders are educated within one faith group. This dissertation also explores the international and historic diversity of Orthodox Christian groups in the United States of America. These analyses will enrich the field of religious higher education studies by revealing the inner workings of an entire religious community in the United States; a religious community little studied and little understood.

Recent empirical research and literature in higher educational leadership posited a sharp increase in the vacancies of college and university presidencies in the near future. To complicate this problem further, the literature also indicated a significant shortfall in the number of qualified candidates to fill this leadership vacuum. The purpose of this research study was to consider the X factors for presidential leadership of member institutions of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) compared to the presidents of public universities and other private colleges in the U.S. The primary research question sought to understand the characteristics and differences of the presidents of CCCU member institutions compared to the presidents of public universities and other private colleges, and focused on seven facets of college and university presidents including: (a) demographics; (b) career paths; (c) educational background; (d) search and hiring processes; (e) duties; (f) characteristics of long-serving presidents; and (g) job satisfaction. The dataset provided by the American Council on Education's The American College President 2012 research study was used to determine if statistically significant differences exist between the presidents of CCCU member institutions and the presidents of public and other private colleges and universities. The results from this research study indicated there were statistically significant differences between the presidents of CCCU member institutions compared to the presidents of public universities and other private colleges with regard to demographics, career paths, search and hiring processes, duties and characteristics of long-serving presidents.

Since equipping students for service to God and others is either an implicit or explicit element of the mission statement of every Christ-centered college and university, academic officers at such institutions should give serious consideration to making service-learning one of their regular pedagogical strategies. This paper presents the philosophical, pedagogical, and theological framework upon which a Christian higher education institution could build a shared rationale for a service-learning program. The author discusses a case study of a Christian liberal arts college that is taking steps to develop a campus-wide commitment to service-learning, including the implementation of a pilot program in order to better accomplish their service-oriented mission. The work provides a number of research-based guidelines to assist faculty members who want to learn how to embed a service-learning component into one of their academic courses. These guidelines are organized by use of a mnemonic device developed by Saint Mary's College of California to outline five basic components involved in such a process. The letters O.P.E.R.A. represent outcomes, partnerships, engagement, reflection, and assessment. The author describes each element in some detail, including examples of practice at a number of colleges and universities, and lists a summary of key points for each one. Readers will also find a discussion of an eight-step process, based on a review of best practices, by which the case study institution sought to develop an effective service-learning program within its curriculum. First, the researcher helped lead the college community in a discussion of the alignment of service-learning with its mission in order to develop a shared vision for the program. The provost appointed a service-learning advisory team, which worked with the faculty to develop an institutional definition of service-learning, select instructors to participate in a pilot program, determine the most appropriate means by which to train faculty members in service-learning practice, and assist the initial instructors in the process of developing community partnerships. The writer discusses the implementation of the pilot program in three courses in a single semester and presents the results of the various means of assessment employed at the course and program level. A factor analysis of student survey items provides the basis for a discussion of statistical analyses comparing responses across the three courses and across demographic categories. Although the pilot program did not achieve the specific criteria for success established by the advisory team for the student, faculty, and community partner groups, most participants reported positive impact in many outcome areas. The results confirm the importance of following best practice guidelines in assuring a high quality experience for all participants. The work concludes with an examination of a number of issues that service-learning practitioners suggest a campus community must consider if it desires to institutionalize service-learning and collaboratively integrate it into both the curriculum and co-curriculum. The author also provides recommendations based on the results of the case study institution's pilot program to improve its practice of service-learning as it prepares to expand the use of this strategy into additional courses—recommendations that could also help other colleges strengthen the implementation of their first pilot programs. Finally, the writer presents topics for further research that could contribute to a program's continuous quality improvement and to the larger body of scholarship on service-learning.

As Christian faith-based institutions of higher education strive to uphold Christian values, there is a need to be intentional in identifying and developing future leaders. This study was viewed through the lens that women are underrepresented in senior-level positions in Christian institutions, they have unique leadership attributes to offer, and learning more from their lived experiences might increase the number of women in senior-level roles in Christian institutions of higher education.

This study utilized a qualitative phenomenological research design. The researcher interviewed 8 Christian women leaders who serve as Deans in institutions that are full members of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities. The interviews were conducted face-to- face and virtually using a semi-structured interview protocol comprising of 11 questions. The questions explored the lived experiences and perceptions of these Christian women leaders.

Three conclusions resulted from this study. First, prayer, study, and meditation were the most influential of the 12 spiritual disciplines. Second, spiritual disciplines may have a transformative effect on the character and leadership practices of women leaders in Christian higher education. Third, faith was integrated into the identity and daily practices of these Christian women leaders.

The researcher recommended that Christian women leaders in higher education must prioritize, or “make time,” for regular practice of the spiritual disciplines, particularly prayer, study, and meditation. The practice of spiritual disciplines, or the Christian way of life, should be incorporated into professional development and mentorship opportunities for Christian women leaders.

Student retention is considered a complex human behavior. Adding to the complex nature of student retention is the ever changing landscape of higher education due in large part to the growth of Hispanic undergraduate student enrollment on college campuses. While notable gains have been made increasing the number of Hispanic students graduating from high school and going on to college, little progress has been made in increasing the college graduation rate of this group. Narrative inquiry and autoethnography methods were used in this study to explore the family background and lived experiences of the researcher along with those of a sample population of 19 current and former Hispanic undergraduate students of a private Christian university. Tinto’s Theory of Student Departure (1993) served as a theoretical framework for this study because it was well suited for exploring student persistence as longitudinal process impacted by a multitude of institutional factors, external influences, family background characteristics, and student attributes. Primary data was collected using demographic questionnaires, individual interviews, focus groups, and reflective journaling. Several common themes emerged from data analysis and interpretation which shed light on the topic of Hispanic undergraduate retention at a private Christian university. The emerging themes from this study were comprised of: family, family support, motivation, religion, transition, institutional support, and supportive relationships. These themes point toward a connection between a student’s family background, individual skills and abilities, and pre-college academic readiness to the development of initial academic goals and commitments to earn a college degree. This study provided evidence that the cultural beliefs, values, and language reflected in the emerging themes converge with the cultural elements of the university in a way indicating connections between students and institutions were important determinates of student success. The findings revealed that a university’s ability to effectively engage and retain Hispanic students may be a function of a broad and supportive network of persons dedicated to the success of minority students throughout the university. This study provided evidence that supportive relations provided by agents of the institution and sources external to the university played a major role in a participant’s educational journey.

This study explored and sought to understand the factors that lead to students’ spiritual development at a secular institution. I focused on examining the perceptions of the students in determining the factors that facilitated individual spiritual growth. The rationale behind conducting this research was that colleges and universities desire for students to have a transformative and holistic experience. Knowing the factors that facilitate growth might enable university officials to intentionally create environments that stimulate growth for all students. Using a qualitative research design, I utilized methods for establishing a grounded theory because I sought to explain how students use their social, spiritual, and emotional experiences to impact their spiritual development. I interviewed 18 upper-division, Christian students of two regional secular state-assisted universities. All interviewed students were involved with local chapters of the nationally established parachurch college student organization. The data displayed a distinct difference between the first year of a student’s academic career and subsequent years. The students detailed the first year being a time of confusion and turmoil while the upper-division years were calmer for them a period in which context is important during a time of disruption. Choices consisted of the themes of involvement and authenticity, or aligning behaviors, because of opportunities for reflection. Finally, the change category provided rich data about triggers or internal dialogue that followed from students’ experiences with disruptions to their routine thinking. Relationships, mentoring, or reading created disruptions in routine thinking. The data suggested that for students to experience growth in their spiritual identity, they must undergo a trigger that disrupts their normal thinking patterns. The reflective disruption model emerged from the vertical structure that was built from the bottom to the top with the themes of context, choice, and change. The four areas comprising the matrix’s four concept horizontal matrix are relationships, authenticity, involvement, and spiritual actions. The reflective disruption model provides a foundation upon which future research may be built.

Christian college environments remain connected to Biblical doctrine that can create a challenge for student affairs practitioners responsible for supporting all students but then instructed to take “corrective” (e.g., disciplinary) action against LGBTQ students. This study examined experiences of ten student affairs staff at Christian campuses negotiating institutional context, professional relationships, and personal values when interacting with LGBTQ students. Interview data was organized along three themes: campus culture, tensions, and strategies to manage tension. Participants perceived campus culture as familial, but also as silent, fearful, and confusing on LGBTQ issues. Consequently, they experienced tensions between personal beliefs in serving students versus supporting institutional values about LGBTQ identity and behavior. Participants employed cognitive, interpersonal, and intrapersonal strategies to negotiate these tensions and balance service to their institution with advocacy for LGBTQ students. Recommendations provided relate to staff development, graduate level training, and sustainability of the Christian college approach to human sexuality.