scholarly journals An American Business School’s Academic Advising and Professional Development Centers’ Early Pandemic Response

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 34
Author(s):  
Gary Blau ◽  
Daniel Goldberg

As colleges and universities around the world grapple with the continuing impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it is necessary for research to not only focus on student academic learning issues, but also test for maintained support of needed student resources such as Academic Advising and Professional Development Centers. Using the Senior Student Satisfaction Survey, two separate samples of graduating business undergraduates at a Mid-Atlantic University in the United States of America were surveyed, in late Spring 2019 (pre-pandemic) and late Spring 2020 (early pandemic). The goals of this study were two-fold. The first was to test for changes from pre-pandemic to early pandemic in seven student-related perception measures: attendance motivation, coursework challenge, professional development engagement, academic advising ease/quality, professional development ease/quality, business degree satisfaction, and perceived market value to potential employers. The second goal was to test for changes in the perceived relationships of five “independent variables”, i.e., attendance motivation, coursework challenge, professional development engagement, academic advising center ease/quality, and professional development center ease/quality, to two “dependent variables”, i.e., business degree satisfaction and perceived market value to potential employers. Comparing pre-pandemic (2019) to early pandemic (2020) perceptual change data, this study found that both the Academic Advising and Professional Development Centers handled these student-based perception variables from the surveys quite well. When the campus was suddenly closed due to the pandemic, both Centers successfully made quick adaptive changes to virtual models to handle initial student needs.

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Gary Blau ◽  
Corinne Snell ◽  
Daniel Goldberg

The Covid-19 pandemic has created many challenges for universities around the world, including how to keep students engaged in their professional development, despite the challenges of remote learning and virtual student services. The goal of this study was to demonstrate the continued importance of Career Professional Development Center (CPDC) support (pre-pandemic to early stages of the pandemic) for business-related internships influencing student professional development engagement (PDE) and anticipated employment upon graduation. PDE encompasses typical CPDC resources (e.g., internship search support; involvement in student professional organizations (SPOs); professional development coaching; and job search assistance). A survey, the Senior Student Satisfaction Survey (SSSS) was deployed prior to graduation to business students. Using the SSSS, two separate samples of graduating business undergraduates at a Mid-Atlantic University in the United States were surveyed, in late Spring 2019 (pre-pandemic) and late Spring 2020 (early pandemic). Pre-pandemic survey results showed that students having at least one internship experience (versus none) were more likely to: join an SPO sooner; attend more SPO meetings/semester; complete their professional development sooner; and anticipate “by graduation” full-time employment. Despite the drop in survey participation due to the pandemic onset, results consistent with this were found with the early pandemic survey. Like other academic-related and campus services in the face of the pandemic, the business school CPDC is adapting to the new remote ways of operating and successfully transitioned their delivery mode to a 100% virtual model to meet the resource challenge of supporting student PDE. It is hoped that the ideas discussed will be useful to a wider audience.


2010 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony G Picciano ◽  
Jeff Seaman ◽  
I. Elaine Allen

The purpose of this article is to examine online learning at the macro level in terms of its impact on American K-12 and higher education. The authors draw on six years of data that they have collected through national studies of online learning in American education as well as related research to do a critical and balanced analysis of the evolution of online learning in the United States and to speculate where it is going. Their collection of data represents some of the most extensive research examining online learning in the totality of K-20 education. Issues related to the growth of online learning, institutional mission, student access, faculty acceptance, instructional quality, and student satisfaction are explored. Of particular importance is an attempt to determine if online learning is in fact transforming American education in its essence and to speculate on the future.


HortScience ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 510b-510
Author(s):  
Tammy Kohlleppel ◽  
Jennifer C. Bradley ◽  
Jayne Zajicek

In recent years horticulture programs at universities across the United States have experienced a decline in student numbers. Researchers at the Univ. of Florida and Texas A&M Univ. have developed a survey to gain insight into the influences on undergraduate students who major in horticulture. Five universities participated in the survey of undergraduate horticulture programs, these include the Univ. of Florida, Texas A&M Univ., Oklahoma State Univ., Univ. of Tennessee, and Kansas State Univ. Approximately 600 surveys were sent to the schools during the 1997 fall semester. The questionnaires were completed by horticulture majors and nonmajors taking classes in the horticulture departments. The survey consisted of two main sections. The first section examined student demographic information, high school history, university history and horticulture background and was completed by all students. Only horticulture majors completed the second section, which examined factors influencing choice of horticulture as a major. Results examine fundamental predictors in promoting student interest in horticulture, demographic variables that may influence student choice of major, and student satisfaction and attitude toward current collegiate horticulture programs. Findings from this study will provide insight into the status of post-secondary horticulture education and assist in identifying methods to increase student enrollment in horticulture programs across the country.


Author(s):  
Leia Flure ◽  
Melissa Pflugh Prescott ◽  
Whitney Ajie ◽  
Trinity Allison ◽  
Jennifer McCaffrey

Professional development has been identified as a critical component for school nutrition professionals (SNPs) to successfully implement school meal standards in the United States. However, training needs may vary based on different factors. This study examined (1) the topics of highest priority for SNPs; (2) preferred learning methods; (3) where and when trainings should be conducted; and (4) whether responses differ according to important factors including position type, school locale (urban vs. rural), or job experience. Participants completed surveys that included questions on demographics and preferences for learning methods and training topics (n = 492). Descriptive statistics characterized survey responses. Chi square tests assessed differences in learning method and training topic preferences by participant role, locale, and job experience; Cramer’s V assessed the strength of association for each chi square result. Qualitative responses to open-ended questions were analyzed using an inductive thematic analysis method. Nearly all training topic preferences were significantly different (p < 0.001 using Bonferroni method) when stratified by role. Significant differences were also observed for school locale and years of experience, but to a lesser degree. There was less variation in learning method preferences across staff role. Qualitative results (n = 93) identified three key themes related to training needs: role-specific trainings, innovative learning methods, and geographic access. The combination of quantitative and qualitative analysis indicate that professional development for SNPs should mostly be conducted in-person, be easily accessible, and include hands-on activities. Further, training should be tailored by job role and address situational barriers unique to the geographic area.


2020 ◽  
pp. 002242942098252
Author(s):  
Justin J. West

The purpose of this study was to evaluate music teacher professional development (PD) practice and policy in the United States between 1993 and 2012. Using data from the nationally representative Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) spanning these 20 years, I examined music teacher PD participation by topic, intensity, relevance, and format; music teachers’ top PD priorities; and the reach of certain PD-supportive policies. I assessed these descriptive results against a set of broadly agreed-on criteria for “effective” PD: content specificity, relevance, voluntariness/autonomy, social interaction, and sustained duration. Findings revealed a mixed record. Commendable improvements in content-specific PD access were undercut by deficiencies in social interaction, voluntariness/autonomy, sustained duration, and relevance. School policy, as reported by teachers, was grossly inadequate, with only one of the nine PD-supportive measures appearing on SASS reaching a majority of teachers in any given survey year. Implications for policy, practice, and scholarship are presented.


2009 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 816-830 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Tiffany

In 2008 Professor Eric Godelier published a provocative essay in which he concluded that a positive dialogue between business historians and both management scientists and business management practitioners was possible. While the divide between these camps was not trivial, he nevertheless wrote that current events and scholarship was bringing them together, at least as he could observe these trends in the context of emerging French scholarship. In this current review, my own conclusion is the opposite. Management scholarship, in fact, continues to move away from the “soft” approach of the historian and more towards the “rigorous” and quantitatively biased methodology of the management sciences. My essay reviews the background of this development in terms of American business practice and scholarship, as it seeks to demonstrate how the evolution of management training in the United States brought us to the current state of affairs where “hard” drives out soft in almost every encounter. However, while I conclude that this is indeed the current reality, I do not imply any endorsement of this outcome. Rather, I end with a hope that some forms of rapprochement might be possible-yet with an acknowledgement that we will have no definitive answers to this question anytime soon.


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