Sustainability is a relatively new topic that has transcended traditional disciplinary boundaries. Since faculty members have been trained in traditional disciplines, developing curriculum for and teaching sustainability presents both a great opportunity and a challenge. In order to embrace sustainability education and develop and implement new curriculum, faculty members have to expend a large amount of effort and time. Moreover, faculty members require support and help of professional development programs. All these issues and problems demonstrate a need for this research study. The purpose of this study was to analyze the processes and procedures used by a small sample of faculty members of Greenville Community College District (GCCD) to integrate sustainability into the curriculum and classroom. The diffusion of innovation was identified as the conceptual framework, and qualitative case study methodology was used. The findings revealed three major themes why faculty members were interested in sustainability education: love of nature, inherent nature of their discipline, and commitment to issues of equity. The findings revealed that sustainability is taught using pedagogical tools such as experiential learning, problem-based learning, inquiry-based learning, and a heavy focus on research. As lesson plans were developed, appropriate assessment tools were created. The participants interviewed identified several barriers for teaching interdisciplinary courses, among which time constraints and increase in workload emerged as common themes. The study found that strategies for helping mainstream faculty members embrace sustainability education were time, rewards, recognition, support and encouragement, motivation of students, and creating a network of early adopters as mentors.  

Barrett, The Honors College at Arizona State University (ASU) serves as a universal role model for organizing the resources of an institution to support highly motivated and prepared students. In 2009, Barrett, The Honors College (Barrett) opened the nation's first purposefully designed undergraduate honors residential college campus. Given the current demand by other American higher education institutions who wish to better understand how Barrett emerged as a distinct and singular model for an honors residential college experience, this action research study explores the effectiveness of the decisions, execution and outcomes central to Barrett's development. Five senior administrators of college units or universities were interviewed and provided insight for constructing a design for how other honors programs and colleges can learn from the challenges and accomplishments presented in developing an honors college for the 21st century while replicating Barrett's success. The study is framed in the overall context of how Barrett actualizes the New American University at ASU in meeting the demand for producing students that can compete in a global marketplace.

To sustain world preeminence, 21st century university and college leaders in the United States are redesigning their institutions organizationally and culturally to align with the direction of local and global societies and markets. The New American University enterprise model at Arizona State University has become one of the leading organization and cultural redesigns in United States higher education since its inception in 2002. Yet, sustaining a 21st century model such as this one means every individual in the college or university must understand his or her specific role to further progress the new model forward. Therefore, to advance and sustain a 21st century higher education redesign model at a U.S. college or university, it becomes imperative that every master-level professional who works in the academic/student services field at the institution understand his or her specific role in helping to further progress the new model forward. To this end, there is a need to change the way graduate students in higher education/student affairs masters programs are educated to work in the 21st century institution. This change can prepare new professionals to understand these enterprise models and how to integrate them into their practice in order to meet the needs of the institution, local and global societies and markets. The purpose of this action research study is to highlight one program, the ASU M.Ed. Higher and Postsecondary program, and show how graduates from 2007 - 2011 understand New American University concepts and integrate them into professional practice within higher education. Through use of a quantitative approach, this action research study described how the ASU M.Ed. in Higher and Postsecondary program graduate students' understanding of New American University concepts informs their thinking and practice to lead and respond to changes and challenges facing today's 21st century higher education field.

Most research on the experience of young women in student service roles in higher education is focused on a reflection of the early career experiences of mid and senior level professionals. Young women enter the field with a set of expectations about the work and their early career experiences need to be uncovered in order to better understand what they expect from their roles in student services. This study focused on the experience of young women in student services and the dynamics they identify as being significant to their work experience. Six women in their mid-twenties working in student service roles participated in two dialogic interviews regarding their work experience. Findings from these women's stories suggest that women are aware of internal and external dynamics that shaped their work experience, and are engaged in their journey toward Self-Authorship along intrapersonal and interpersonal dimensions. Specifically, the women actively chose their career path, looked for opportunities to develop their professional cache, and were impacted by their relationships with their supervisors and colleagues. The women are interested in their professional development in student services in higher education and are active in shaping the experience to meet their expectations. The findings suggest that to understand the experience of young women in student service roles in higher education, women should be asked to share their stories on their early career experiences, including interactions with supervisors and other professional colleagues. By representing these voices in the dialogue on the experience of young women in student service roles, the dynamics that shaped those experiences can be better understood.

The purpose of this phenomenological hermeneutic study was to explore the meaning found in the lived-experience of producing scholarship for five higher education administrators from within the major areas of administration in higher education--academic affairs, business affairs, and student affairs--from a single research university in the western United States. In the historical and recent scholarship in and about the three fields of higher education administration, academic affairs, business affairs, and student affairs, one issue that has not been addressed is what it is like to produce scholarship as an administrator. Current scholarship in the field helps administrative practice by focusing on the practice of administration; however, current literature did not provide an understanding of what it means to do scholarship as an administrator. Thus, the challenges and rewards of producing scholarship as a practicing administrator, creating the first step toward a possible new era in the practice of scholarship on college campuses, were explored in the this study. Individual semi-structured interviews were the primary source of data. The structured questions were used to set up the un-structured questions used to explore specific examples and instances pertaining to producing scholarship as an administrator. A three-step data analysis process was used to develop both an understanding of what scholarship means for each participant and an interpretation of the meaning of producing scholarship as a higher education administrator. Across all of the lived-experiences and the participants' varied scholarly endeavors, each administrator was more connected to education and contributed more to the educational environment by participating in scholarly activities. The administrators were found to be more connected to the people within the university, their own field of practice, and with the university itself.