Author: William Kenneth Stob Publisher: ISBN: Category : Christian universities and colleges Languages : en Pages : 0
Book Description
The purpose of this study was to investigate, compare and contrast the perceptions and expectations of second-semester freshmen in regard to several aspects of the campus environment at three church-related liberal arts colleges in western Michigan. The review of the literature traced the origins and the development of private church-related higher education and outlined some rationale for the continuation of pluralism in American higher education. The review further indicated that church-related higher education appears to be caught in a period of self-doubt and uncertainty. Some studies have been conducted to assess the condition of church related higher education in America today, but a great deal more must be done to make an adequate assessment. As a means of assessing the environments of the three colleges in this study. The College and University Environmental Scales (CUES) by C. Robert Pace (1963, 1969) were adapted to measure the responses of the students. In addition to the five scales of the CUES (Practicality, Community, Awareness, Propriety and Scholarship), a Religious scale was developed. Added to the five major scales from the CUES and the newly created Religious scale were two of Pace's subscales. Campus Morale and Quality of Teaching and Faculty-Student Relationships. Two forms of the Instrument were used. Form A was designed to measure student perceptions of the campus environment while Form B was designed to measure student expectations of the campus environment. At each of the colleges, approximately 20% of the freshmen were selected as the sample. Ten percent were asked to give their perceptions of the campus environment, using Form A, and 10% were asked to share their expectations for the campus environment, using Form B. The data generated by the study were assessed In several ways. Student perceptions and expectations regarding their campus environments were assessed. Comparative data among the colleges In the study and between the two forms of the Instrument were examined. Finally, comparative data among the three colleges in the study and similar colleges In the national reference group of Pace were discussed. The study revealed that all three schools In the study scored low on the Practicality scale. It also showed that students at all of the colleges In the study have come to expect sound scholarship at their colleges and have found It. The scores on the Community scale Indicated that a sense of community was fair to good on the three campuses In the study, while the scores on the Awareness scale were somewhat lower than those at similar schools In the national reference group. Of particular concern was the fact that expectation scores on this scale were considerably higher than perception scores. The colleges scored very similarly regarding perceptions and expectations on the Propriety scale. The religious dimension, as defined by scores on the Religious scale, was Important at two of the schools; and It would seem very Important for the moderately denominational school and the strongly denominational school to maintain their religious commitment and Identity. The religious dimension was not nearly as Important In the nominally denominational school. In conclusion, while the scores on the scale Quality of Teaching and Faculty-Student Relationships appeared to be high at all three schools, the scores on the Campus Morale scale appeared to be sufficiently low to cause concern.
Author: G. William Snodgrass Publisher: ISBN: Category : Small colleges Languages : en Pages : 246
Book Description
The purpose of the study was to compare perceptions by faculty, students and administrators of the campus environments of eight small, independent liberal arts colleges in Oregon and to determine if similar or like perceptions of the environment lead to greater vitality in each of the colleges studied. In the context of the study, vitality refers to the ability of the institution to function effectively or optimally. A random sample of 50 junior and senior resident students, 20 full-time teaching faculty and 7 administrators were selected for testing on each of the campuses using the Institutional Functioning Inventory to measure perceptions. Following are the eleven scales: 1. Intellectual-Aesthetic Extracurricular 2. Freedom 3. Human Diversity 4. Concern for Improvement of Society 5. Concern for Undergraduate Learning 6. Democratic Governance 7. Meeting Local Needs 8. Self-study and Planning 9. Concern for Advanced Knowledge 10. Concern for Innovation 11. Institutional Esprit The following null hypotheses were tested: 1. There are no significant differences between faculty, students, and administrators at each college in the study in their perception of the campus environment. 2. There are no significant differences in the nine colleges studied in the manner in which their environments are perceived by faculty, students and administrators on all scales totaled. 3. There is no demonstrable relationship between divergent perceptions of the campus environment by faculty, students and administrators and institutional vitality. 4. There is no demonstrable relationship between divergent perceptions in areas of the campus environment that are of concern to student personnel services and institutional vitality. Statistical analysis of the data resulted in the rejection of null hypotheses one and two. Significant differences were found among the three groups, faculty, student, and administrators, in 28 out of 88 comparisons at the colleges studied. The groups differed most often on the scales that measured perceptions in the dimensions of personal and academic freedom, diversity in faculty and student backgrounds, concern for undergraduate education and campus decision-making. The data suggested that students as a group did not share the perceptions of their faculty and administrators at four of the eight colleges studied when responses to all eleven scales of the inventory were totaled for faculty and administrators and on six scales for students. Students tended to perceive the campus environment less positively than either faculty or administrators. The most positive perceptions were noted among administrators. A major conclusion of the study was that in the population samples, the presence of shared or congruent perceptions of the campus environment by faculty, students and administrators did not have a demonstrable relationship with the vitality of the college and its ability to function effectively. Null hypotheses three and four were retained. Further results of the study indicated that, at the colleges studied, significant differences exist between students and administrators in their perceptions of the campus environments in areas of special concern to student services personnel. Differences, statistically significant at the .05 level of confidence (in five instances at the .01 level) were noted at seven of the eight colleges in areas including campus governance, personal freedom (life style, values) and diversity in student backgrounds. Colleges in the study which described themselves as conservative and church-related had lower overall college mean scores, suggesting lower vitality, than did non-sectarian colleges. The church-related colleges, however, had fewer significantly different perceptions between faculty, students and administrators, scale-by-scale, than did the non-sectarian colleges suggesting a greater sense of community and singleness of purpose.
Author: William Kenneth Stob
Author: William Kenneth Stob
Author: G. William Snodgrass
Author: 
Author: Warren Shelburne Brown
Author: Carroll Eugene Peter
Author: Ruth Ruud Gough
Author: University Microfilms, Incorporated
Author: 
Author: Charles Eugene Monroe