An Analysis of Campus Civility: Best Practices from Student Affairs Professionals
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Georgia Southern University Digital Commons@Georgia Southern Electronic Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies, Jack N. Averitt College of Spring 2017 An Analysis of Campus Civility: Best Practices from Student Affairs Professionals Amy Zieziula Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd Part of the Educational Leadership Commons, and the Higher Education Commons Recommended Citation Zieziula, Amy J., "An Analysis of Campus Civility: Best Practices from Student Affairs Professionals." (2017). Electronic Theses & Dissertations. This dissertation (open access) is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies, Jack N. Averitt College of at Digital Commons@Georgia Southern. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons@Georgia Southern. For more information, please contact [email protected]. AN ANALYSIS OF CAMPUS CIVILITY: BEST PRACTICES FROM STUDENT AFFAIRS PROFESSIONALS by AMY WILLEMS ZIEZIULA (Under the Direction of Teri Denlea Melton) ABSTRACT Incivility on college campuses is an issue that can disrupt the learning environment and the retention of students, as well as harm the reputation of a college campus. This is a pertinent issue for leaders in higher education to address and to promote a more civil campus both inside and outside of the classroom. There is no research that addresses how Student Affairs Professionals best promote civility on college campuses, and this study fills that research gap. This qualitative study was conducted using Student Affairs Professionals at eight SUNY institutions. The Generational Theory and Work Place Incivility Theory were utilized to frame this research. The researcher collected data relating to civility initiatives from websites, civility statements, workshops, and interviews with three Student Affairs Professionals. The researcher then analyzed this data and found that Student Affairs Professionals are promoting civility through Offices of Diversity and Inclusion, Student Handbooks, dialogues and conversations with students, and creating programs utilizing current issues that may spark debate. The researcher also found that there are no centralized efforts on college campuses within this study to create civility initiatives. INDEX WORDS: Civility, Student Affairs, Incivility, Civility Campaigns AN ANALYSIS OF CAMPUS CIVILITY: BEST PRACTICES FROM STUDENT AFFAIRS PROFESSIONALS by AMY WILLEMS ZIEZIULA Bachelor of Science, State University of New York at Brockport, 2005 Master of Education, University at Buffalo, 2008 Educational Specialist, Georgia Southern University, 2013 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Georgia Southern University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF EDUCATION STATESBORO, GEORGIA © 2017 AMY WILLEMS ZIEZIULA All Rights Reserved 1 AN ANALYSIS OF CAMPUS CIVILITY: BEST PRACTICES FROM STUDENT AFFAIRS PROFESSIONALS by AMY WILLEMS ZIEZIULA Major Professor: Teri Denlea Melton Committee: Meca Williams-Johnson Kerry Greenstein Electronic Version Approved: Spring 2017 2 DEDICATION This work is dedicated to my husband, Nicholas, and our daughter, Anika. Nick, without your support and constant guidance this would not have been possible. This accomplishment is not just mine, but truly both of ours. Anika, you are the best and the reason I wanted to hurry up and finish this! Mommy cannot wait to spend more time with you. 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are many people who have guided me throughout my doctoral process, and who I will forever be grateful to. I would like to thank my Dean of Students’ coworkers at Georgia Southern University who encouraged me to start this journey, without their inspiration I would not be where I am today. To my cohort, who kept me sane throughout this process and made our Saturday classes much more enjoyable. Thank you to the participants who so willingly responded to my study, and provided me with such valuable insight. I would also like to thank my committee for your flexibility with me as I relocated back to New York. And for making me smile as I conducted my second defense eight months pregnant online via Skype. And of course, thank you Dr. Melton, my advisor. You have pushed me when I needed to be pushed, and supported me when I needed the support. I truly am grateful for all of your guidance. I am forever appreciative for the example in which my parents have set for me. Both of my immigrant parents taught me how to be determined and to have a desire to always want to achieve more. I can hear my mother’s voice as I type this, reminding me, “I always want you to have it better than we did.” I would also like to thank my parents for instilling in me at a young age the importance of education. I will never forget seeing my mother graduate from college, and how proud my sisters and I were of her. And I will never forget the way in which my father supported my mother through her journey back to college. These are important lessons that impacted me and made me want to complete my doctorate more than anything. And thank you to my sisters, for checking in on me and asking when I would be finished. Rachel and Juliana, I am finally finished, so 4 now you can count me back in on the Christmas cookie baking, summer BBQs, shopping trips, and everything else I passed on to have more time to write. And lastly, but most importantly, to my family. Nick, there is no way I would have made it through this journey without you supporting me every step of the way. You have always been exactly what I needed, before I even knew what I needed. Whether it was encouraging words, a quick break, challenging conversations or endless support; you have always given me what I needed. There really are not enough words to express how forever thankful I am for you. And to our sweet little Anika, thank you for going to bed a little earlier some nights, so that I could write. And now, mommy cannot wait to cuddle you much more and write a little less. Lastly, Anika, I hope that I can be an example to you, that anything is possible with determination and a strong support system. And I am so very blessed to have the support system that I do. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 .................................................................................................................................. 7 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................ 7 Background .......................................................................................................................................... 9 Civility/Incivility............................................................................................................................................ 9 Campus Incivility ......................................................................................................................................... 10 Incivility on College Campuses .............................................................................................................. 11 Generational Theory .................................................................................................................................. 19 Student Affairs Professionals ................................................................................................................. 21 Civility Programs ......................................................................................................................................... 22 Statement of the Problem ............................................................................................................. 25 Significance of the Study ............................................................................................................... 26 Research Questions ........................................................................................................................ 27 Procedures ......................................................................................................................................... 28 Definition of Terms ......................................................................................................................... 30 Limitations, Delimitations, and Assumptions ....................................................................... 30 Chapter Summary ............................................................................................................................ 32 CHAPTER 2 ................................................................................................................................ 33 REVIEW OF LITERATURE ..................................................................................................... 33 Campus Incivility ............................................................................................................................. 34 Examples of Incivility in Higher Education ...................................................................................... 36 Why Increased Incivility ........................................................................................................................... 38 Faculty and Incivility ................................................................................................................................. 40 Affects of Gender and Race .....................................................................................................................