Date of Award

1-30-2012

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Educational Leadership

First Advisor

James VanderPutten

Abstract

A concurrent mixed methods research design was used to investigate student affairs professionals' perceptions of parental involvement and the extent to which changes have occurred in the type, frequency, and reasons for parent-initiated contact in the past ten years. The study also investigated the degree to which graduate preparation programs provided curriculum that focused on areas previously identified as important for student affairs practice. The Perceptions of Parental Involvement Survey was created and invitations to participate were sent via e-mail to all 611 members of NASPA Region IV-West with a `professional' designation, a total of 248 completed surveys were returned. Just over ninety percent (90.8%) of respondents worked at 4-year institutions, and 73.3% of respondents identified themselves as working for public institutions. The majority of respondents (57.6%) indicated they worked at schools with undergraduate enrollments of 10,000 or more students. Results from this research indicated that there was a statistically significant difference between perceptions of parental involvement among student affairs practitioners based upon the type of institution where they worked. Those who worked at private 4-year institutions perceived the highest levels of parental involvement and those working at 2-year public institutions reported the least parental involvement. Survey respondents indicated that the most frequent reason they are contacted by parents/families was `to speak FOR son/daughter,' with `general info,' and `to request disclosure of info re: son/daughter' completing the top three. Results also indicated that student affairs graduate preparation programs may not be adequately preparing graduates for the daily work they will face in their professional lives. Suggestions for curriculum change include incorporating attachment theory and emerging adulthood theory to the current development theory discussions, creating opportunities to engage students in `real-life' application of theory, and engaging students in discussions with current practitioners to create a richer understanding of the daily demands of student affairs work. Implications for student affairs practice include creating collaborative relationships with high school counselors so they might begin discussions of how the parent-child relationship will change during the college years, providing parents and families with opportunities to become part of the university community, communicating early and often with families regarding what the college years `look like' for their students and what milestones families can expect, and creating opportunities to discuss student development theory and attachment theory with both parents and students.

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