Uncovering hidden information within university's student enrollment data using data mining

To date, higher educational organizations are placed in a very high competitive environment. To remain competitive, one approach is to tackle the student and administration challenges through the analysis and presentation of data, or data mining. This study presents the results of applying data mining to enrollment data of Sebha University in Libya. The results can be used as a guideline or roadmap to identify which part of the processes can be enhanced through data mining technology and how the technology could improve the conventional processes by getting advantages of it.Two main approaches were used in this study, namely the descriptive and predictive approaches. Cluster analysis was performed to group the data into clusters based on its similarities.For predictive analysis, three techniques have been used Neural Network, Logistic regression and the Decision Tree.The study shows that Neural Network obtains the highest results accuracy among the three techniques

The Black Box of Enrollment Management: The Influence of Academic Capitalism and Values of the Public Good

The study addresses the widening income and racial access gap in higher education resulting from enrollment management teams’ operationalization of academic capitalism. The study focuses on the local, micro level, emphasizing how enrollment management leadership teams make sense of enrollment management, recognizing that enrollment management and the work of enrollment management stakeholders exist within an organizational space encompassing the values of both public good and academic capitalism. Using a case study methodology and critical sensemaking theory, the research explored how academic capitalism and values of the public good shaped enrollment management leadership teams’ sensemaking and sensegiving as they enacted decisions, actions, and practices to recruit and admit students. The main conclusion includes the critical role of the EMLTs and its members’ agency in public good enactments, especially driving the sensemaking process, and a more nuanced and complicated picture between academic capitalism and values of the public good in enrollment management. The study is the first to demonstrate that academic capitalism and the public good can coexist and overlap, in various ways, within the field of enrollment management despite existing literature’s overwhelming characterization of enrollment management as firmly existing within the space of academic capitalism. Recommendations for colleges and universities include leveraging capitalist tools to drive a public good agenda; using predictive data analytics to have a measured approach to increase access; balancing the use of tuition discounting; investing in hiring organizational actors who can operate with contradictory logics and share public good values; developing key public good metrics; diversifying revenue streams; and for wealthy institutions to be bold in their public good enactments

Washington University Record, November 18, 1999

https://digitalcommons.wustl.edu/record/1846/thumbnail.jp

The intersection of identity construction & learning approach : the experience of college students with psychological disorders

College for many adults represents a time for increasing independence, autonomy, and self-exploration. Yet the college experience may also be a time when students discover the presence of a psychological disorder, or navigate how to grapple with an existing disorder in the new and unfamiliar environment of college. An increasing number of students with such disorders are enrolling and participating in higher education yet current literature is often insufficient to adequately guide and inform postsecondary institution personnel regarding this complex student population (Beamish, 2005). Therefore, this phenomenological study aimed to discover the lived experience of a small sample of students with psychological disorders at one public university in the Western United States. Participants\u27 reports of identity processes and classroom learning experiences were investigated through the combined lens of ldentity Theory and the Seven Vectors of Student Development. Study findings suggest (1) there is a pervasive yet varying effect of stigma on participants\u27 identity and impression management behaviors, (2) crises resolution pertaining to seeking help and forming relationships associates with identity development, (3) student-role prominence may influence help-· seeking behavior offering possible implications for student college persistence, (4) reconceptualizing psychological disorders may contribute to more positive self-concepts, (5) sympathetic others play a part in fostering a positive classroom emotional climate and relationship trust and building, and finally, (6) stigma (and concomitant inclinations to prove oneself) prompt participant classroom participation yet outward signs of professor and classmate discrimination stifle participant classroom participation

Preferring print: The planned behavior and preferences of first-generation college students in the academic library

Background: Academic libraries have been adapting and changing their collections with technology. Often this technology has accompanied a transition from physical collections, such as print books, to electronic collections and electronic books. Understanding how this shift away from print formats might affect certain campus populations is essential as electronic collections continue to grow and expand in various academic institutions. Methods: This mixed methods case study aimed to understand how first-generation college students at a public research university use print books versus electronic books. Data was collected in two phases, with the first phase consisting of a Likert scale survey distributed to 4419 potential participants. The second phase was a qualitative semi-structured interview with 19 self-identified participants from the survey. Results: The survey did not indicate a strong preference for print books over electronic books. However, the qualitative interviews did indicate that first-generation students preferred using print to facilitate their reading styles. Conclusion: The study showed that students prefer to use print books over electronic formats daily at their academic institutions for various factors, including the ability to focus and review information. However, the primary reason first-generation college students prefer print books is that it helps them retain information for classes better than electronic books

Higher Education\u27s Immunity to Change: Understanding How Leaders Make Meaning of Their Student Success Landscape

Closing equity gaps in the higher education sector is a long-standing issue. This issue has become exacerbated with the impact of COVID-19 and racial injustices happening across America. Now more than ever it has become imperative to use participatory action research to understand how leaders make meaning of their student success landscape and use that meaning to influence their strategic action for equity. I engaged two student success stakeholders from one university as co-researchers to help identify a problem in practice as it relates to equity gaps in student success. We used a modified approach to immunity to change (ITC) coaching coupled with an action inquiry framework to assist student success stakeholders with processing and reflecting on this problem to enact change. Co-researchers identified groups of stakeholders, referred to as “ITC participants,” based on their problem in practice to complete modified ITC mapping. I then used the findings from the modified ITC mapping to ask co-researchers to develop a plan of action to sustain momentum around resolving the Problem in Practice. This qualitative research project revealed three key findings: (a) understanding problems that relate to equity requires disaggregating data; (b) staff who are on the ground are key in understanding student success and creating a student-centered culture; and (c) leaders’ beliefs are translated into actions and demonstrated in structures and policies created. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA: Antioch University Repository and Archive, http://aura.antioch.edu/ and OhioLINK ETD Center, https://etd.ohiolink.edu

A Case Study of Diverse Faculty Recruitment in a Graduate Higher Education Institution

The purpose of this collective case study was to describe higher education faculty’s experience with recruitment and retention through the university hiring process and to discover the equity standards of the phenomenon for higher education institutions. The importance of recruitment and retention of diverse faculty within higher education institutions is imperative for the health of the institution and will assist in furthering diversity initiatives for faculty recruitment that will enable better student experiences. The theory guiding this study was critical race theory (CRT) that was initially intended to be used in the legal field. However, CRT has been used in education to identify issues of equity and racial bias. CRT in education can help identify and uncover racism and help identify equity issues. Data collection occurred through surveys, interviews, and document analysis. In order to establish and build themes, the collected data was transcribed and analyzed, and four themes emerged. The themes were: diverse faculty hiring; diverse faculty recruitment supporting and representing the student population; diversity being welcomed and wanted; and diversity in administration. These themes correlated to the literature and were supported by CRT