Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2017 From Orientation to Graduation: Diverse Student Experiences of Campus Traditions at Florida State University Victoria E. Dobiyanski Follow this and additional works at the DigiNole: FSU's Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected] FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF EDUCATION FROM ORIENTATION TO GRADUATION: DIVERSE STUDENT EXPERIENCES OF CAMPUS TRADITIONS AT FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY By VICTORIA E. DOBIYANSKI A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education 2017 Victoria E. Dobiyanski defended this dissertation on July 17, 2017. The members of the supervisory committee were: Tamara Bertrand Jones Professor Directing Dissertation Diana Rice University Representative Kathy Guthrie Committee Member Robert Schwartz Committee Member The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members, and certifies that the dissertation has been approved in accordance with university requirements. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The doctoral degree process has been one of many ups and downs for me, relying both on an internal drive to find the time, energy, and knowledge to push through coupled with a community of support both beside me and behind me through the entire process. You see, I never thought I would be here. I earned my bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Texas A&M University and I sincerely thought that was the end of my educational journey. However, when I came to Florida State University, I learned what could be—I had a question weighing on my mind. How do campus traditions fit as part of the overall institutional mission at an institution? Traditions have always been an important part of my life. I love family traditions with the Dobiyanski and Holub families and now with the Vaughn family. I look forward to them every year to celebrate our past, present, and future. I found a passion in college in participating in campus traditions. I loved the spirit, togetherness, and reverence those traditions paid to the institution. However, when I was a freshman at Texas A&M University, one of those traditions literally collapsed when in the middle of construction for the annual Thanksgiving weekend football game against the University of Texas the annual Bonfire collapsed, killing 12 students and injuring 27 others. This tragedy was a lot for a new freshman to work through, however I was surrounded by family and friends at Texas A&M and we worked through it as a community. I can pinpoint this experience as my trajectory into higher education and wanting to work with young people in their college career. It has been an honor to work with CARE students to learn more about their experience at Florida State University and the traditions on campus. Thank you, Taddaryl Starke, Director of CARE, who helped me identify students to work with through this study. iii I would like to extend my most sincere gratitude to my committee members, Drs. Tamara Bertrand Jones, Diana Rice, Kathy Guthrie, and Robert Schwartz. Your feedback throughout this process has helped make this dissertation what it is, and I have enjoyed working with you. It has been an honor to get to work on a subject I am extremely passionate about with you all and your thoughtful questions and suggestions have made me dig deeper and work harder throughout this process. I am especially grateful for Dr. Tamara Bertand Jones—she has been there for me challenging and supporting me through this process for over four years as my advisor and chair. Thank you for providing guidance and challenging me to work hard and give it my all through this process. I am better for having had the opportunity to work with you and learn from you. Thank you. As a full-time employee and part-time/full-time student over the past five years, this process would not have been possible without a supportive supervisor, colleagues, and staff. Thank you to my supervisor of seven years, Dr. Mary Coburn, for your commitment to me in earning the degree and always asking “How’d your writing go?” along the way. Your support and guidance and allowing for writing time away from the office was most appreciated. Thank you for always being there for me! I will miss you, happy retirement! Dr. Allison Crume and Dr. Brandon Bowden, thank you for your encouraging words and “Get it done!” approach with me. You both have inspired ideas and thoughts along the way and helped me stay on task to finish. To my original staff in SGA, especially Danielle Morgan Acosta, thank you for your understanding and willingness to step up when I had classes or needed to be away for school work. I am so proud of the work you do with SGA and so happy you are now the Director! I am eternally grateful for our friendship. To my “newer” staff in the Dean of Students Department, thank you for welcoming me with open arms and working hard for our students every day. Your iv love and support have been appreciated while we built a department and I worked to complete my degree. I am most grateful to Associate Deans Alan Acosta, Dr. Shelley Ducatt, and Tammy Patrick, who have been there for me and our staff through this entire process. To my colleagues across the Division of Student Affairs, thank you for the support and encouragement. I appreciate you always being there for me and willing to help me process through information or think critically about my research. My people along this journey… thank you. Dr. James Hunt and I started this process together back in 2013, and although he beat me to the finish line in April 2016 (I had a little bit of a job change along the way), he has been there for me every step. We took most of our classes together throughout the coursework process and were known to spend most Sunday afternoons together writing at coffee shops. Thank you for helping me with regression, charts and graphs, and talking through my ideas. Mostly, thank you for being there for me! My best friend Meredith, thank you for always checking in on me and having a funny line to share when things got intense. I appreciate you, even from afar, and want you to know how much you helped along the way. Dr. Laura Osteen, the most positive and encouraging person along the way. You would always ask how my writing days would go and even if I did not think it went well, you would say “That’s alright!” and help me look at what did go well. Thank you for your encouraging words and actions and your willingness to always be there for me. Dr. Sonja Ardoin, you are an inspiration. You helped me find Florida State University and I will always be thankful for coming here both personally and professionally. Thank you for your encouragement and always helping me see the positive in every situation. Thanks for the resources on editors and transcriptionists. Otherwise, I may still be transcribing. To Dr. Kelli Peck Parrott and Dr. Dave Parrott, thank you for your encouragement and support along this journey. You both have v provided guidance and feedback throughout this process and I am forever grateful! Kelli, from the first time I met you in 2004 to start my master’s degree to the writing retreat with you to conclude the dissertation process, you have been a pillar in my educational journey and I will always have you to thank for my success. To Dr. Carlos Gomez and Lesley Sacher, you two have been there for me personally and professionally and have cheered me on to finish this process. Thank you for your constant support and ability to make me laugh. To my fellow doc students whom I have shared this journey—Dante, James, Alan, Danielle, Estee, Sam, Sally, V, Allison— thank you for you for being there along the way! Last, but certainly not least. To my family, thank you for your love, guidance, and support. Mom and Dad, you have always believed in me and cheered for me in whatever I set my mind to do. I never thought this would be possible and even along the way, I thought about giving up when I just didn’t feel like I could finish. But you were there, you pushed me and said I could do it, and I am grateful for that. To my brother Brian and sister-in-law Kayla, thank you for being there for me and loving me through this process. I know my trips to visit Texas have been few and far between in the last few years, but I look forward to more free time in the near future to come see my handsome nephew Kaden. To the Vaughn and Lang families—Marilyn, Steve, Lani, David, Jaclyn, Lois, Luke, and Grandma—thank you for loving me and supporting me through this process. Finally, to Lori, thank you for loving me and putting up with me while I have worked on the doctorate, we bought a house, got married, I changed jobs, and you have worked on your own doctorate. Thank you for reading, editing, taking care of everything, and most importantly being there for me and loving me. Thank you and I love you. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................................... x LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... xi ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................. xii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................... 1 Problem Statement .............................................................................................................. 3 Purpose of the Study ..........................................................................................................