Date of Award

5-2026

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

School

Communication

Committee Chair

Lindsey Maxwell

Committee Chair School

Communication

Committee Member 2

Laura Alberti

Committee Member 2 School

Communication

Committee Member 3

Amy Chasteen

Committee Member 3 School

Interdisciplinary Studies and Professional Development

Committee Member 4

Richard Conville

Committee Member 4 School

Communication

Committee Member 5

Amonia Tolofari

Committee Member 5 School

Communication

Abstract

The rapid growth of dual enrollment has created an emerging population of students entering universities with substantial college credit earned during high school. These students often begin college socially as first-year students while academically navigating coursework typically taken by upper-level students. This study introduces the term “firstfers” to describe this hybrid population while examining how they communicate about identity and belonging within institutional environments that lack a clear category recognizing their position.

Existing research on dual enrollment primarily focuses on academic outcomes such as retention, grade point average, and degree completion. Few studies focus on how these students interpret their experiences or communicate about their ambiguous academic and social positioning once they arrive on campus. This study addresses that gap by examining how firstfers describe their communicative experiences. The research explores how they use communication to make sense of uncertainty, belonging, and self-definition within the university environment.

To explore these issues, this study uses a qualitative constructivist grounded theory approach. The research collected data through four focus groups and nine semi-structured interviews with students who entered a southeastern public university with fifteen or more college credit hours earned prior to matriculation. Analysis followed open, axial, and selective coding procedures to identify recurring patterns in participants’ experiences.

The findings from this analysis reveal a central communicative process through which students interpret institutional ambiguity and negotiate identity across academic and social contexts. Specifically, participants described navigating ambiguity regarding classification, advising interactions, peer relationships, and everyday questions about academic standing while attempting to stabilize their sense of belonging. Based on these findings, this study develops the Discursive Absence Negotiation (DAN) model, which explains how individuals use communication to surface identity, manage uncertainty, and construct belonging when institutional recognition and shared group language are absent.

ORCID ID

0009-0008-1904-9046

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Available for download on Wednesday, May 31, 2028

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