Date of Graduation

5-2013

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education in Higher Education (EdD)

Degree Level

Graduate

Department

Rehabilitation, Human Resources and Communication Disorders

Advisor/Mentor

Miller, Michael T.

Committee Member

Morris, Adam A.

Second Committee Member

Murry, John W. Jr.

Keywords

Education; Division of student affairs; Leadership development; Quality of leadership; Undergraduate leadership development; University of Arkansas-Fayetteville

Abstract

Today's students are the leaders of tomorrow, and their ability to lead in the 21st century will be critical to the sustainability of life, and the nation's ability to prosper will depend on the quality of leadership demonstrated at all levels of society. Student leadership development in institutions of higher education has never been more vital than it is today. In order to provide society with excellent and effective leadership that will be capable of handling unprecedented domestic and global economic and medical crises, as well as properly managing technological advancements, institutions of higher education must invest in the development of effective leadership as part of the overall undergraduate educational experience. The purpose for conducting the study was to identify what leadership development opportunities are presented to undergraduate students at the University of Arkansas--Fayetteville (UAF) through student affairs and to assess these current leadership development program offerings. Designed as an assessment, the study investigated and evaluated undergraduate student leadership development initiatives at UAF to determine if the institution is achieving the desired undergraduate leadership development outcomes and if current undergraduate leadership development programs can be identified as being of quality. The study revealed critical findings that suggested that UAF is not providing sufficient and adequate leadership programs specific to leadership development. Current leadership initiatives through the division of student affairs had a great reliance on the promotion of student activity involvement and not much emphasis on process-oriented programs for leadership education, which leads to leadership training and ultimately to leadership development founded on research-based curricula and research-grounded continuous program development.

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