%0 Thesis %1 white_focus_1999 %A White, Anne Harvey %C Memphis, TN %D 1999 %K ADULT AND CONTINUING EDUCATION, Higher, %T The focus on adult students: Institutional response to adult students at a small, private university %X The purpose of this study was to provide a descriptive case study of a typical, small private institution to answer two research questions: (1) In what ways and to what extent does the institution respond to the undergraduate adult student population? and (2) What is the level of congruence between the institutional response and the perception of the adult students about their educational environment? Focus on Adults: A Self-Study Guide for Postsecondary Education Institutions, (Guide), a research instrument designed to determine an institution's effectiveness in meeting needs of adult students, was used to guide the data collection process. Evidence pertinent to the study's purposes was collected from four sources: institutional documentation, institutional archival records, interviews with key school administrators, and a survey, The Mattering Scales for Adult Students in Higher Education (MHE), which was administered to adult students. The MHE is designed to assess the perceptions of adult students on how much they matter to the institution they are attending. The study revealed that although the institution has not responded to the adult student population in all aspects of its operations, the students perceive that they matter to the administration, advisors, faculty, and their peer students. The institution does not address the adult student population in its mission statement or goals and it offers significantly less student development support services to adult students as they do for traditional age students. The findings revealed that adult students attending the institution perceive a high level of mattering. In every subscale of the MHE, mean scores for the institution's adult students were substantially higher than the norm for four-year institutions. Recommendations for addition study of undergraduate adults students included developing MHE norms for private four-year schools and programs that are specifically designed to serve adult students, studying the effect technology and more specifically the internet has had on the ability of student services to serve adult students, and comparing the methods of assessment used in classes with predominantly traditional age students with those used in classes with predominantly adult students.

@phdthesis{white_focus_1999, abstract = {The purpose of this study was to provide a descriptive case study of a typical, small private institution to answer two research questions: (1) In what ways and to what extent does the institution respond to the undergraduate adult student population? and (2) What is the level of congruence between the institutional response and the perception of the adult students about their educational environment? Focus on Adults: A Self-Study Guide for Postsecondary Education Institutions, (Guide), a research instrument designed to determine an institution's effectiveness in meeting needs of adult students, was used to guide the data collection process. Evidence pertinent to the study's purposes was collected from four sources: institutional documentation, institutional archival records, interviews with key school administrators, and a survey, The Mattering Scales for Adult Students in Higher Education (MHE), which was administered to adult students. The MHE is designed to assess the perceptions of adult students on how much they matter to the institution they are attending. The study revealed that although the institution has not responded to the adult student population in all aspects of its operations, the students perceive that they matter to the administration, advisors, faculty, and their peer students. The institution does not address the adult student population in its mission statement or goals and it offers significantly less student development support services to adult students as they do for traditional age students. The findings revealed that adult students attending the institution perceive a high level of mattering. In every subscale of the MHE, mean scores for the institution's adult students were substantially higher than the norm for four-year institutions. Recommendations for addition study of undergraduate adults students included developing MHE norms for private four-year schools and programs that are specifically designed to serve adult students, studying the effect technology and more specifically the internet has had on the ability of student services to serve adult students, and comparing the methods of assessment used in classes with predominantly traditional age students with those used in classes with predominantly adult students.}, added-at = {2018-06-19T15:20:34.000+0200}, address = {Memphis, TN}, author = {White, Anne Harvey}, biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/2721a8efb6d8de4fad8b25c42691e5767/prophe}, interhash = {b8fd64eb89342ccb1560beaa159209e2}, intrahash = {721a8efb6d8de4fad8b25c42691e5767}, keywords = {ADULT AND CONTINUING EDUCATION, Higher,}, school = {The University of Memphis}, shorttitle = {The focus on adult students: {Institutional} response to adult students at a small, private university}, timestamp = {2018-06-19T15:20:34.000+0200}, title = {The focus on adult students: {Institutional} response to adult students at a small, private university}, type = {{PhD} {Thesis}}, year = 1999 }