Date of Award

Summer 8-2009

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Educational Studies and Research

Committee Chair

Willie Pierce

Committee Chair Department

Educational Studies and Research

Committee Member 2

John Rachal

Committee Member 2 Department

Educational Studies and Research

Committee Member 3

James T. Johnson

Committee Member 4

Elizabeth Mahaffey

Abstract

This study was designed to examine the importance and degree of satisfaction placed by adult, nontraditional, accelerated LPN-RN students on student service item scales as measured by the results of the Noel-Levitz® Adult Student Priorities Survey™. In addition, the study examined the correlation between satisfaction with each of the scales and student success as measured by current nursing course grade point average (GPA). The student service scales of importance were: academic advising effectiveness, academic services, admissions and financial aid effectiveness, campus climate, instructional effectiveness, registration effectiveness, safety and security, and service excellence. The conceptual framework for the study was derived from Herzberg's (1966) satisfaction theory.

The sample was one of convenience and consisted of 54 nontraditional, accelerated LPN-RN students. Data analysis indicated that LPN-RN students identified instructional effectiveness as being most important followed by campus climate and registration effectiveness. The academic services scale was identified as least important however; it was still rated as highly important to the students. Students were most satisfied with the instructional effectiveness scale followed by safety and security and campus climate. Overall, students rated satisfaction with all scales as high. Data revealed no statistically significant relationship between accelerated LPN-RN student satisfaction on any of the identified scales and GPA.

Items identified as being most important and delivering the most satisfaction by the students typically dealt with interpersonal and academic relationships between faculty and students, course expectations, and perceptions of students related to being respected, treated fairly and being "cared for." For students, these factors are intrinsic to the "job" of being a student thus; Herzberg's (1966) theory constructs related to the presence of intrinsic factors or motivators as being necessary for job satisfaction to occur are generally upheld.

Services related to factors outside of the classroom and extraneous or extrinsic to the "job" of being a student were found to be least important to and to provide the least satisfaction for the accelerated LPN-RN students. These findings also lend support to Herzberg's (1966) theory.

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