Theses and Dissertations from UMD

Permanent URI for this communityhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2

New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a give thesis/dissertation in DRUM

More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.

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    An Exploratory Examination of the Factors Contributing to the Increasing Presence of Women Presidents in Maryland Community Colleges
    (2014) Martin, Amy Beth; O'Meara, KerryAnn; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Many women faculty build their academic careers in the community college environment but are reluctant to consider, and face barriers to pursuing, the presidency in those same environments. The percentage of women presidents in Maryland two-year colleges has been increasing since 1989 and has been above the national average of women presidents in associate's institutions since 1998. This study is about the collective presence of women presidents in the 16 Maryland community colleges using embedded units of analysis. Utilizing feminist standpoint theory and Bolman and Deal's four organizational frames, this exploratory case study examined the factors that contributed to the comparatively high numbers of women presidents at Maryland community colleges. The methods used included interviews, analysis of trend data, and analysis of archival documents. The findings from this study suggest that the comparatively high number of women community college presidents in Maryland was the result of several interrelated factors that mitigated or removed gendered barriers for women academic leaders who were pursuing community college presidencies in Maryland. Significant factors related to each of this study's conceptual frameworks contributed to the high number and increasing appointments of women community college presidents in Maryland between 1989 and 2012. First, Maryland's abundant labor market, educational attainment trends among women, pipeline of potential women applicants in Maryland community colleges (faculty, chief officers) and geography (proximity between community colleges) proved to be strong structural factors. Second, national and regional leadership development opportunities, intentional and pervasive mentoring of women community college leaders at Maryland community colleges, and non-traditional approaches to presidential searches by Maryland community college boards of trustees were strong human resource factors, particularly between 1989-2006. At the same time, strong alliances among women legislators, political activists, and higher education leaders between 1989 and 2006 proved to be significant political factors. Additionally, Maryland's perceived progressive state politics and MACCs collaborative organizational structure were strong cultural factors that attracted women community college academic leaders from outside the state and provided a collective community college culture that supported the development of women presidents and academic leaders in Maryland community colleges. Finally, women community college academic leaders' agency (personal and collective) around balancing family (gendered work norms), pursuing critical experiences in preparation for the presidency (career aspirations), and owning collaborative and constructive leadership orientations (gendered leadership norms) were strong feminist/gendered factors that contributed to this phenomenon.
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    Against the Grain: A Study of North Carolina's Plan to Provide College to its Prison Inmates
    (2008-04-22) Contardo, Jeanne Bayer; Weible, Thomas; Waters, Robert; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    This study uses theories of organizational resiliency and distributed structure to analyze the development and maintenance of postsecondary correctional education (PSCE) in North Carolina. The study uses bounded case study methodology to focus on the partnership between the North Carolina Department of Correction (NCDOC) and the North Carolina Community College System (NCCCS) that provides PSCE to over one-third of all inmates in North Carolina. First, the study examines why North Carolina expanded access to PSCE at a time when other states restricted access. The findings indicate two reasons: (1) legislative (House Bill 50) and legal factors (Small v. Martin) mandated that the NCDOC and NCCCS work together to provide PSCE to the incarcerated population, and (2) the state's culture and values emphasize education for everyone, including inmates, helping to develop widespread support for PSCE. Next the study explores how North Carolina currently provides access to PSCE using data acquired from interviews, document review, and direct observation. The two agencies demonstrated a pragmatic approach that emphasized vocational versus academic PSCE, programs that could be completed within the amount of time remaining on a prison sentence, a funding structure that avoids burdensome legislative oversight, and an awareness of the balance between the local level units of the two agencies and the central system offices. The study concludes with an analysis of North Carolina's PSCE using Coutu's (2003) theory of organizational resiliency and Brafman and Beckstrom's (2006) theory of distributed structure and questions whether distributed structure contributes to a better understanding of organizational resiliency. Results indicate that the longevity and breadth of North Carolina's PSCE appear to be a case of organizational resiliency and that characteristics of distributed structure likely contributed to the resiliency of such programming, however the newness of such research indicates a need for further exploration. This study has numerous research and policy implications, and offers guidance for states that would consider expanding their PSCE offerings. The study also identifies multiple directions for further research.