Using Focus Groups to Listen, Learn, and Lead in Higher Education presents an easy-to-use 6-step guide to help leaders in higher education listen to and learn from their stakeholders in order to enhance decision making. The big questions facing institutions today--especially those surrounding access, affordability, and accountability--require more than dashboards. Metrics and quantitative data alone do not offer lasting solutions and improvements. Using qualitative methods to listen to the voices of those involved, especially students and staff, is critical. Focus groups constitute the most appropriate, rigorous, and relevant qualitative research tool for this purpose, and one that is cost-effective and builds community when conducted using the ODU Method described in this book. Using Focus Groups is a single, comprehensive, and practical resource that describes why, when, and how to use focus groups. The authors provide detailed guidance for using focus groups, from developing the research questions with stakeholders, through training and recruiting moderators, and identifying and recruiting participants, to the logistics of conducting focus groups, and ultimately analyzing data and developing final reports. Conversational vignettes illustrate the discussions that regularly occur in each step and help the reader better understand the process. Fifteen appendices provide templates and examples of every part of the process.Written particularly for institutional research and assessment staff and upper-level administrators, this book will also appeal to deans, department and program chairs and directors, faculty leaders, and administrative unit directors, including those in auxiliary and student services, alumni associations, and university foundations. It also serves as an excellent resource for higher education research methods courses.The authors are uniquely positioned to guide readers in this process. The team developed and refined this technique over two decades at Old Dominion University. They have conducted over 100 focus groups with campus, nonprofit, local, and international community organizations to assist them in assessing student learning, transition, and preparedness for the workforce, as well as evaluating organizations work and planning future projects.

Using Focus Groups to Listen, Learn, and Lead in Higher Education presents an easy-to-use 6-step guide to help leaders in higher education listen to and learn from their stakeholders in order to enhance decision making. The big questions facing institutions today--especially those surrounding access, affordability, and accountability--require more than dashboards. Metrics and quantitative data alone do not offer lasting solutions and improvements. Using qualitative methods to listen to the voices of those involved, especially students and staff, is critical. Focus groups constitute the most appropriate, rigorous, and relevant qualitative research tool for this purpose, and one that is cost-effective and builds community when conducted using the ODU Method described in this book. Using Focus Groups is a single, comprehensive, and practical resource that describes why, when, and how to use focus groups. The authors provide detailed guidance for using focus groups, from developing the research questions with stakeholders, through training and recruiting moderators, and identifying and recruiting participants, to the logistics of conducting focus groups, and ultimately analyzing data and developing final reports. Conversational vignettes illustrate the discussions that regularly occur in each step and help the reader better understand the process. Fifteen appendices provide templates and examples of every part of the process.Written particularly for institutional research and assessment staff and upper-level administrators, this book will also appeal to deans, department and program chairs and directors, faculty leaders, and administrative unit directors, including those in auxiliary and student services, alumni associations, and university foundations. It also serves as an excellent resource for higher education research methods courses.The authors are uniquely positioned to guide readers in this process. The team developed and refined this technique over two decades at Old Dominion University. They have conducted over 100 focus groups with campus, nonprofit, local, and international community organizations to assist them in assessing student learning, transition, and preparedness for the workforce, as well as evaluating organizations work and planning future projects.

The foremost scholars in student affairs discuss issues facing the field today, approaches to those issues, and skills necessary to enact the approaches Professionals in student affairs administration need practical, timely, and applied information on the myriad issues they encounter in supporting the success of the students and the institutions they serve. In the Handbook of Student Affairs Administration, the top scholars in the field share the latest information, methods, and advice on addressing these issues. The book is sponsored by NASPA, the leading professional organization for student affairs in higher education. This fifth edition has been updated to reflect current and effective techniques in student affairs administration including new chapters on anti-oppressive frameworks and equity in praxis, access for students with disabilities, men and masculinities, support for students’ mental health and well-being, and student employment as learning-integrated work. There is also an emphasis throughout on adult learners, online learners, part-time students, and transfer students. Chapter authors of diverse gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, experiential background, and type of institution offer broader perspectives. Learn about the dominant organization and administration models in student affairs Stay up to date on core competencies and professional development models Discover research-based strategies for addressing both emerging and lasting issues in student affairs Instructor resources available The Handbook of Student Affairs Administration is a comprehensive and thoughtful resource, with expert insight on the issues facing student affairs. This is one handbook students and professionals in the field won’t want to go without.

Taking a staff-led approach, this book helps libraries of all types create their own meaningful and authentic strategic plans while demystifying a process that can bring many benefits to the organization. With dwindling budgets to pay for consultants and a growing interest in collaboration across the organization, libraries are increasingly taking a do-it-yourself approach to strategic planning. This book takes a step-by-step approach to grassroots strategic planning for libraries of all types. The authors, who led a successful strategic planning process at their own library, provide practical advice and detailed information to guide library personnel through their own process. Topics include aligning with institutional and community values, creating vision and mission statements, researching stakeholder needs, conducting environmental scans, collaborative drafting of the plan, communication strategies, and implementation and assessment of the plan. Each chapter helps librarians create a strategic plan for a broad spectrum of libraries, including K–12, post-secondary, public, and special libraries. A unique feature of the book is its emphasis on the ways in which different library types can collaborate to meet shared goals. This book is a one-stop-shop, providing everything library staff will need to create a strategic plan without searching for additional sources.

Engaging faculty in Guided Pathways: A Practical Resource for College Leaders is the first book in a two-book series. It describes the important role of college faculty in student success reform efforts. In particular, it maps out the faculty role in Guided Pathways, a national movement focused on increasing the number of students who earn a degree or credential. It summarizes the primary tasks associated with the four essential practices of Guided Pathways: determining paths, helping students choose a path, helping students stay on a path, and ensuring learning. This book highlights the need for faculty engagement in all aspects of this work and provides practical suggestions and strategies to engage and empower both full and part-time faculty in this work. Moving the needle on student success outcomes requires high-levels of faculty engagement. Colleges are encouraged to invite full and part-time faculty to the table for important conversations about student success reform and to encourage and support faculty leadership in these institutional efforts. Readers will benefit from numerous practical suggestions, including faculty reflect

This book critically examines the potential of, and suggests ways forward in, harnessing a versatile and powerful method of research - focus groups. The book challenges some of the emerging orthodoxies and presents accessible, insightful and reflective discussions about the issues around focus group work. The contributors, an impressive group of experienced researchers from a range of disciplines and traditions, discuss different ways of designing, conducting and analyzing focus group research. They examine sampling strategies; the implications of combining focus groups with other methods; accessing views of `minority' groups; their contribution to participatory or feminist research; use of software packages; discourse anal

This book is a guide is for school practitioners who want to know more about planning and conducting focus groups as an aid to decision-making. It emphasizes practical and cost-effective ways to ensure accurate results. After defining the focus group, chapter 1 offers ways focus groups can be used in schools and reasons for using them. Chapter 2 discusses guidelines for selecting a moderator. Chapter 3 explains how to clarify the purpose of the focus group. Chapter 4 explains how to determine which participants to include in the focus groups. Chapter 5 examines strategies for scheduling the number, location, and duration of the focus groups. Chapter 6 considers choices about recording the discussion, remunerating participants, asking for participant releases, and having an advance organizer. Chapter 7 covers all aspects of recruiting participants. Chapter 8 examines the protocol for conducting the focus groups. Chapter 9 contains guidelines for moderating the group. Chapter 10 discusses the analysis of information gained and the writing of reports. Each chapter offers examples from past focus groups and reproducible checklists of activities that must be completed, as well as samples of forms, letters, and lists. Many topics are accompanied by a summary of differing opinions from the literature. (Contains 35 references.) (RKJ)