Publication Date

2021

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

First Advisor

Jaekel, Kathryn S.

Degree Name

Ed.D. (Doctor of Education)

Legacy Department

Department of Counseling and Higher Education (CAHE)

Abstract

This study focused on exploring the perceptions of front-line staff in supporting student success at a mid-western community college. These staff are generally the employees who are not generally involved with teaching or administration, but work in offices like the business, financial aid, enrollment services, or are administrative assistants to the different departments. Nine participants participated in individual interviews and/or a focus group discussion. These front-line staff shared their stories that related to how they saw themselves contributing to student success, what they saw as the challenges and benefits of supporting students, and what professional opportunities were provided by the institution to help them with supporting student success. Findings from this study show that these front-line staff believe that they play an important role in student success, from listening to student problems to helping them achieve their goals. Interdepartmental communication and communication between administration and staff were seen as issues that impeded student success. The findings and conclusions drawn from this study will expand the literature about this under-researched group of college employees, and will help colleges train, hire, and support their front-line staff members.

Extent

81 pages

Language

eng

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Rights Statement 2

NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.

Media Type

Text

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