Date of Award

5-2013

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Educational Leadership

First Advisor

David Van Heemst

Second Advisor

Jeffrey S. Williamson

Third Advisor

Houston Thompson

Scholarship Domain(s)

Scholarship of Discovery, Scholarship of Interdisciplinary Integration, Scholarship of Faith Integration

Abstract

This study investigated the integration of spiritually formative goals with student conduct codes at selected Christian universities. Utilizing a case study methodology, this study incorporated content analysis of university documents and focus group interviews with campus stakeholders to assess the formulation, revision, communication and enforcement of the campus policies. Qualitative data analysis software, NVivo, was used as a means of coding and tracking themes from a wide range of data sources. Campus results from the Student Satisfaction Inventory were incorporated as a means of triangulating the data. This study concluded that the participating universities were extensively integrating previously researched spiritually formative goals into the way their campus conduct codes were formulated, communicated, and enforced. Additionally, this study identified an additional spiritually formative goal for student conduct codes at Christian colleges. Data collected suggests that codes also exist to provide an opportunity for university personnel to reflect the character of God by pursuing restoration and relationship in the lives of students. This research also indicates that while many students may appreciate the somewhat protective atmosphere afforded by a Christian college, additional attention needs to be focused on cultivating positive spiritual disciplines and fostering wisdom in students’ lives as means of preparing them for life after college.

Comments

Ed.D. dissertation completed in 2013 for Olivet Nazarene University.

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