Shimer College Effects on Students: A Retrospective Case Study A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at George Mason University by Jonathan Goldman Master of Business Administration Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 2005 Bachelor of Arts Marymount University, 2001 Director: Jeannie Brown Leonard, Vice Provost for Student Success Kansas State University Summer Semester 2020 George Mason University Fairfax, VA THIS WORK IS LICENSED UNDER A CREATIVE COMMONS ATTRIBUTION-NODERIVS 3.0 UNPORTED LICENSE. ii Dedication I dedicate this dissertation to my wife, Susan J. Aitel, without whose regular cajoling I would never have completed it. iii Acknowledgments This dissertation would never have been completed without the dedication of my chair, Dr. Jeannie Brown Leonard, who took on my project midway through my work and pushed me to keep working, even after she moved from George Mason University to Kansas State. She also continued encouraging me to make it perfect and not just okay. I’d also like to thank Dr. Rick Davis, who has been on my committee since the inception of my research and provided useful insights and encouragement. Dr. Lori Cohen Scher joined late “in the game” and her willingness to jump in at the last minute is greatly appreciated. And I can’t forget Dr. John O’Connor who helped me get started in the doctoral program and saw me through the early stages of dissertation preparation. Dr. Kathy Bohnstedt, a former colleague at George Mason University who is now at Northern Virginia Community College, provided some invaluable insights into my work, helping me to “see the forest” when I kept seeing trees. Debby Kermer in the George Mason University library helped me over the “learning hump” so I could use NVivo to facilitate my research analysis. I’d also like to thank my anonymous (except to me) participants, each of whom spent time during our interview “chats” providing answers to my questions. Their willingness to be open and honest during the interviews produced valuable information about their experiences and our conversations helped me regress to adolescence as we discussed our time in Mount Carroll. I would never have completed this without my wife, Susan, and her regular reminders to stop playing with whatever gizmo whose repair distracted me and get back to work on this paper. And this would never have been as readable without her suggestions and comments throughout my writing process. My editor, Colleen Spears, went far beyond fixing my text to be APA compliant in the middle of transitioning from APA 6 to APA 7. She identified areas of my text that were unclear or just plain needed something else. And to my friends and family, who thought I was using this as an excuse to ignore them—it’s all over now so I can’t use that excuse. iv Table of Contents Page Abstract ............................................................................................................................. vii I. Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 1 Overview ....................................................................................................................... 5 Possible College Attendance Effects ............................................................................ 6 Topic-Specific Effects .................................................................................................. 8 Shimer College............................................................................................................ 11 Significance................................................................................................................. 22 Summary ..................................................................................................................... 23 II. Literature Review ......................................................................................................... 24 Higher Education Context........................................................................................... 25 Astin’s I-E-O Model ................................................................................................... 27 Factors Unique for Shimer College ............................................................................ 45 III. Methods....................................................................................................................... 56 Conceptual Framework Considerations ...................................................................... 57 Research Methodology Choices ................................................................................. 62 Participant Selection ................................................................................................... 63 Interview Process ........................................................................................................ 67 Trustworthiness ........................................................................................................... 72 Limitations .................................................................................................................. 76 Analysis and Interpretation ......................................................................................... 78 Summary ..................................................................................................................... 81 IV. Findings ...................................................................................................................... 83 Participant Information ............................................................................................... 83 Interview and Analysis Process .................................................................................. 87 Inputs........................................................................................................................... 89 Environment ................................................................................................................ 96 Outcomes .................................................................................................................. 116 Summary ................................................................................................................... 128 V. Analysis and Conclusions .......................................................................................... 130 Research Process ....................................................................................................... 132 Analysis Process ....................................................................................................... 134 Inputs......................................................................................................................... 135 Environment .............................................................................................................. 138 Outcomes .................................................................................................................. 153 Conclusions ............................................................................................................... 157 v Implications............................................................................................................... 161 Thoughts for Future Research ................................................................................... 165 Summary ................................................................................................................... 168 Appendix A ..................................................................................................................... 170 Appendix B ..................................................................................................................... 171 Appendix C ..................................................................................................................... 172 Appendix D ..................................................................................................................... 173 Appendix E ..................................................................................................................... 174 Appendix F...................................................................................................................... 175 Appendix G ..................................................................................................................... 177 Appendix H ..................................................................................................................... 179 Appendix I ...................................................................................................................... 180 Appendix J ...................................................................................................................... 182 Appendix K ..................................................................................................................... 185 Appendix L ..................................................................................................................... 186 References ....................................................................................................................... 187 vi Abstract SHIMER COLLEGE EFFECTS ON STUDENTS: A RETROSPECTIVE CASE STUDY Jonathan Goldman, PhD George Mason University, 2020 Director: Dr. Jeannie Brown Leonard This qualitative