Browsing by Subject "University of Texas at Austin"
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Item Beyond the burnt orange empire : the struggles faced by Austin area professional sports teams(2010-05) White, Richard Christopher, 1984-; Minutaglio, Bill; Dahlby, Tracy; Hauser, MelanieThe University of Texas at Austin has the highest revenue producing college athletic department in the country and routinely contends for national championships in numerous sports. It brings in millions of fans and millions of dollars in profit from hundreds of sporting events each year. This has led the UT athletics program to dominate the Central Texas sports scene. However, there are several professional sports teams, including the Austin Aztex, Austin Toros, Austin Turfcats, Round Rock Express and Texas Stars, in the area. This report shows how these teams attempt to survive in a town where numerous professional sports teams have struggled and finally folded in the shadow of the University of Texas.Item Binational cooperation for high school ELL immigrant students : the LUCHA program at UT Austin(2009-12) Gutiérrez-González, Beatriz Irene; Valenzuela, AngelaThis dissertation is a qualitative case study of a program where binational program established by the University of Texas to lower the Hispanic high school dropout rate in the United States. The Language Learners at the University of Texas at Austin Center for Hispanic Achievement (LUCHA) program is the focus of this dissertation. The LUCHA program serves immigrant Hispanic students who account for 34% of the 45% Hispanic dropout rate reported by NCES. The theoretical framework employed included the theories of cultural and social capital and the theory of caring to answer the following questions: 1) What challenges had to be met in order to initiate and develop the LUCHA program, a binational education program to combat the high dropout rate among Latino immigrants?, and 2) What can be learned from the implementation and practice of the LUCHA program in school districts with almost identical, homogenous population, and different levels of success with the program. Data was collected in Mexico and the United States and included participants involved in the program at different levels ranging form political involvement in Mexico to immigrant students in South Texas Valley school districts where the program started operations in 2006. The researcher was a participant in this study. The innovative ideas developed and instituted to reduce the Hispanic dropout rate included equipping schools with essential/core and English as a Second Language courses produced in Mexico, validating prior high school credits students had from Mexico through a transcript analysis service, obtaining Mexican transcripts for immigrant students who could not deliver them to schools, and diagnostic tests produced in Mexico for immigrant students with interrupted schooling. These services and their delivery were modified and adapted to meet the changing needs and graduation requirements of students and the educational bureaucracy in the U.S. This study brings to light the skills sets, assumptions, and characteristics of people needed to create binational agreements of cooperation. This research suggests that the perception of caring (Noddings, 1984) of educational agents in schools and school districts influences the level of success of the program in schools with almost identical populations.Item Bridging theatre and visual art : the role of an applied theatre practitioner in a fine art museum(2011-05) Genshaft, Lindsay Michelle; Alrutz, Megan; Dawson, Kathryn; Garner, JenniferThis thesis document details the theoretical and practical implications of using theatrical techniques and drama-based instruction in the visual art museum setting. Presented are four diverse museum theatre programs created and implemented at The Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas at Austin. These programs support the argument that drama-based instruction and theatrical techniques can help deepen and/or complicate the notion of visitor engagement in a visual art museum. The theoretical underpinnings of museum theatre are investigated by examining elements of applied theatre and museum learning and the progressive education theory which shapes their practice. The belief is put forth that creative participation in museum education is essential for personal and critical connection with visual art. Theatre is a dynamic and powerful tool to support this creative participation. Findings include recommendations for utilizing museum theatre programming implemented by an applied theatre practitioner as it promotes the use of critical thinking and problem-solving skills, engages the senses, and stimulates meaningful dialogue.Item Creating the conditions for inspiration : thoughts on positive, collaborative theatre making at the University of Texas at Austin(2011-05) Kays, Halena Starr; Douglas, Lucien; Kanoff, Scott; Dietz, StevenAn in depth reflection on my approach to directing theater, particularly the attitudes and exercises I utilize to foster a positive environment for actors and designers to do their best artistic work. This thesis sites specific examples from the productions I directed as a Master of Fine Arts student in the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of Texas at Austin.Item CRP was-is-will be here : sustaining an academic service-learning approach to planning instruction(2006-12) Tirpak, Mark Andrew; Oden, MichaelThe Community and Regional Planning program of the University of Texas at Austin, School of Architecture (UTSOA-CRP) has made course-integrated community-based project work (CCPW) a key - if not a requisite, component of its classroom-based teaching and planning instruction. Often referred to as academic service-learning, the pedagogy of incorporating community-based project work with classroom instruction is recognized to have significant benefits for college students, faculty members, institutions, and communities. More specifically, this teaching approach is understood to have substantial advantages in planning instruction. This professional report attempts to offer recommendations towards addressing the question of how a CCPW, or academic service-learning, approach to planning instruction can best be sustained and/or enhanced by the UTSOA-CRP program. Ideally, this report will add to the growing body of literature and research related to academic service-learning in planning instruction, while offering the CRP program useful tools and resources to consider in program design, implementation, evaluation, and planning.Item Desi women on the forty acres : exploring intergenerational issues and identity development of South Asian American college students(2011-05) Ruzicka, Smita Sundaresan; Saenz, Victor B.; Reddick, Richard J.; Sharpe, Edwin R.; Fong, Rowena; Meunier, VagdeviSouth Asian Americans are one of the fastest growing sub-groups within the Asian American population in the United States today. Between 1960 and 1990, the South Asian American population witnessed an increase of approximately 900% (Leonard, 1997). This increase in population also corresponds with the increase in South Asian American students enrolling in institutions of higher education. However, despite their physical visibility on college and university campuses across the nation, South Asian American students remain invisible in higher education research. Student affairs practitioners have a limited understanding of the unique needs and issues confronted by South Asian American college students. This qualitative study addressed the paucity of research on South Asian American college students by specifically exploring the college experiences of South Asian American women. In particular, the study examined the central intergenerational issues between first-generation South Asian mothers who immigrated to the United States as adults and second-generation South Asian American daughters who are currently enrolled at the University of Texas at Austin. Secondly, it investigated the impact of these intergenerational issues on the identity development and overall college experiences of second-generation South Asian American female college students. Using a postcolonial, critical feminist framework, this study attempted to dismantle the one-dimensional, dominant narrative of South Asian Americans as the successful, high-achieving, model minority and present instead the multi-layered and complex narratives of these participants. Key findings indicated that the intergenerational issues between mothers and daughters were complex with both negative and positive impacts on the mother-daughter relationships, identity development, and the overall college experiences of the daughters. The transmission of culture and cultural values were primary ways in which mothers affected the identity development of their daughters. South Asian American peers and social networks were another significant source of identity development for the students. Additionally, narratives of both mothers and daughters revealed that the impact of the model minority image on women was qualitatively different than men where women had to often strive to fulfill simultaneous expectations of being a successful student and professional as well as conforming to the standards of being the model traditional South Asian wife and mother.Item Examining effective advising and assessment : the academic advising environment, current practices and experiences at UT Austin(2014-05) Wong, Stephen Dajone; Kameen, Marilyn C.Effective academic advising may be perceived or experienced differently depending on a person’s involvement (student, advisor, or administrator). In addition, a person’s understanding and description of effective advising depends on how it is identified (process, outcome, or approach) or the context in which it is encountered. Results from multiple studies of the relevant literature have demonstrated how the quality of advising influences students in regard to retention, academic and social integration, decision-making processes in selecting academic programs and careers, overall student satisfaction, and success (Banta et al., 2002; Cuseo, 2004, Hunter & White, 2004). However, research on effective advising and the assessment of advising has received very little attention in the literature. Although awareness of the importance of institutional assessment has increased, assessment of academic advising today is – if conducted at all – is piecemeal and consists of simple student satisfaction surveys that may be neither adequate of useful. Even when assessment measures are conducted, advising units are often inept at utilizing the results to create positive change within their programs. Understanding effective advising requires a closer look at the participants, the advising programs, and the assessment practices of programs along with exploring student learning outcomes. The overarching area of inquiry in the research study is: What is effective advising (how is it manifested and in what ways is it measured at the University)? Within this context, the goals for this study were to uncover the following: how academic advising is administered and supported across a specific institution; how perceptions about advising differ among system participants; what valued characteristics are found among effective advisors and advising programs; what assessment of academic advising looks like at the institution; what advisors and advising programs do to contribute to quality and improvement. To achieve these objectives, the study utilized a multi-faceted case study of undergraduate academic advising and the participants within a large public research institution which contained several academic advising centers. Understanding effective advising and the advising system required a comprehensive and multi-dimensional approach that involved the collection and analysis of many different forms of data from a variety of sources and over an extended period of time. A mixed methods, action-research design utilized the collection and review of numerous assessment and advising documents, descriptive and quantitative SPSS analysis of several longitudinal data sets yielded from electronic survey systems of seven colleges, numerous original interviews and focus groups with students, staff, and administrators, and a year’s worth of detailed field observations (journals and critical reflection) of the advising process and the advising system.Item From DNA bases to ultracold atoms : probing ensembles using supersonic beams(2006-08) Smith, Valoris Reid; Fink, Manfred, 1937-This thesis discusses two ensembles, the study of which was dependent upon the controllable production of cold gas-phase samples using supersonic beams. The experiments on DNA bases and base clusters were carried out in Germany at the Max Born Institute. The experiments anticipating the construction of a molecular beam slower were carried out in the United States at the University of Texas at Austin. Femtosecond pump-probe techniques were employed to study the dynamics and electronic character of DNA bases, pairs and clusters in the gas phase. Experiments on DNA base monomers confirmed the dominance of a particular relaxation pathway, the nπ* state. Competition between this state and another proposed relaxation pathway was demonstrated through observations of the DNA base pairs and base-water clusters, settling a recent controversy. Further, it was determined that the excited state dynamics in base pairs is due to intramolecular processes rather than intermolecular processes. Finally, results from base-water clusters confirm that microsolvation permits comparison with biologically relevant liquid phase experiments and with ab initio calculations, bridging a long-standing gap. A purely mechanical technique that does not rely upon quantum or electronic properties to produce very cold, very slow atoms and molecules would be more generally applicable than current approaches. The approach described here uses supersonic beam methods to produce a very cold beam of particles and a rotating paddle-wheel, or rotor, to slow the cold beam. Initial experiments testing the possibility of elastic scattering from a single crystal surface were conducted and the implications of these experiments are discussed.Item From the campus to the globe : race, internationalism and student activism in the postwar South, 1945-1962(2012-05) Whittington, Erica Layne; Jones, Jacqueline, 1948-; Oshinsky, David M., 1944-; Brands, Henry W; Abzug, Robert H; Lawrence, Mark A; Mickenberg, Julia LWhat drew southern college students into the struggle for civil rights? To help answer that question, this project examines student challenges to existing social practices in the South, and traces changes in their attitudes toward race and social justice from World War II through the early 1960s. Over that time, thousands of college students committed themselves to the idea that “keeping the peace” was intertwined with individual human rights at home and abroad. An internationalist outlook shaped interest in race relations, citizenship, and gender roles. Southern youth were central to this development, pushing for social change at home in accordance with their concerns about national security and world peace. This history traces networks of southern college students, focusing on the cities of Austin, TX and Chapel Hill, NC, both of which produced vibrant progressive student organizations and national student leaders during the early postwar period. It uncovers an important yet understudied tributary of the larger Civil Rights Movement, and helps contextualize the interracial, “Beloved Community” activism of the early 1960s. As black students linked internationalism with civil rights as part of the “Double V Campaign” following World War II, many white students also began advocating for domestic desegregation, inspired by their experiences of traveling abroad and interactions with visiting international students. Integrated conferences sponsored by University YMCA/YWCAs and the National Student Association created a progressive, interracial student network. Through these organizations, many postwar students began redefining their own societal roles, and to explore their potential as political actors. Interracial encounters empowered southern students to envision new social relations between blacks and whites, women and men, and American and international citizens. Under the banner of “human relations,” they began to break down personal barriers and to consciously relate to one another on the basis of shared humanity. This dissertation is the first historical work to closely examine organized efforts to change individual attitudes toward race among both white and black southern students during the 1940s and 1950s. It recaptures the early postwar dynamism of southern campuses, where students took action, in both their schools and their hometowns, to better their world.Item Integrating Texas athletics : the forgotten story of the first black basketball players(2011-05) Abston, Grant David; Dahlby, Tracy; Minutaglio, Bill; Todd, JaniceDuring a period in American history when the racial landscape was rapidly changing, racial advances in collegiate athletics were taking place across the South in the 1950s and 1960s. At the University of Texas, that process proved harder to achieve than many expected as it would take nearly two decades to integrate athletics following the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling that admitted blacks to the university in 1950. Caught in the middle of the decade-long struggle, as blacks finally began integrating various UT athletic teams, was a group of black basketball players whose story reflects the racial progress made not just in Austin, but also across the United States.Item The relationship between factors that influence college choice and persistence in Longhorn Opportunity Scholarship recipients at the University of Texas at Austin(2004) Bhagat, Geeta Srinivasan; Duncan, James PaulAlthough students choose their colleges for a variety of reasons, lowincome, first-generation, and minority students are often limited in their choices. Furthermore, even when those students do attend college, their persistence rates are generally lower than those of traditional students. This study examines the relationship between factors that influence choice and persistence in recipients of the Longhorn Opportunity Scholarship (LOS), a scholarship given to students from Texas high schools that are under-represented at the University of Texas at Austin (U.T. Austin), the flagship university of the University of Texas System. LOS students are usually low-income, thus, the scholarship offers these students an opportunity to attend a university they otherwise might not be able to attend. Furthermore, the academic and social support offered by U.T. Austin’s Longhorn Scholars Program increases the likelihood these students will graduate. In this study, a qualitative methodology called Interactive Qualitative Analysis (IQA), developed by Norvell Northcutt at U.T. Austin, was used to study the relationship between choice and persistence in LOS recipients. One focus group of LOS freshmen addressed the question of why they chose U.T. Austin, while another focus group of LOS seniors addressed the question of what factors helped them persist. Understanding the relationship between choice and persistence for these students should assist university administrators in understanding what qualities attract talented low-income, first-generation and/or minority students to an institution, and if those same factors or others play a role in their persistence. If the students’ pre-matriculation expectations are met by the university and these choice factors are similar to those factors that ensure persistence, then administrators can assume that programs such as the Longhorn Scholars Program are instrumental in the persistence of quality low-income, firstgeneration, and/or minority students.Item The road less traveled : factors affecting community college transfer student admission to a public flagship university(2010-05) Martinez, Rose Marie, 1966-; Somers, Patricia (Patricia A.); Reyes, Pedro, 1954-; Ekland-Olson, Sheldon; Paredes, Raymund; Vincent, Gregory J.Although much has been written about the challenges affecting transfer students, a mixed method study on transfer admission, particularly at the institutional level is an intriguing, albeit unexplored endeavor. In Texas, there is an added dimension of interest given the presence and popularity of the Top 10% Law. This study sought to provide a comprehensive portrait of transfer admission at The University of Texas at Austin from the 1990s to 2007. A sequential explanatory design was employed to identify changes in transfer admission policy and practice and to address if there were differences in admission rates among the major transfer pathways to the state’s largest flagship institution (Creswell, Plano Clark, Gutmann, & Hanson, 2003). Two main conclusions emerged from this study. First, transfer admission became more competitive and selective after the passage of the state’s Top 10% Law in 1997. Second, qualitative and quantitative findings suggested the implementation of a conditional transfer guarantee program for highly selective freshman applicants resulted in significantly less opportunity for transfer applicants from community colleges and other transfer routes to be admitted. Based on these findings, recommendations included reinvesting in a community college transfer student recruitment and scholarship program and significantly reducing the size of the university’s conditional transfer guarantee program for admissible freshmen applicants. A final suggestion was to identify and value the community college route in the holistic transfer admission process given the large proportion of first-generation college, low-income students who comprise this population. To avoid perceptions of sponsored mobility and to promote a social justice rationale, a pre-selection transfer program to prospective freshmen should be revisited given the adverse effects on the community college transfer population. With over 600,000 students enrolled in Texas 2-year colleges, a viable pathway to the state’s most prestigious flagship university provides increased opportunities for social mobility to the many competitively admissible first-generation and low-income students populating public 2-year colleges and seeking a baccalaureate degree from UT Austin.Item The social construction of race and perceptions of privilege for white college students at a predominantly white institution(2005) Taylor, Betty Jeanne Wolfe; Kameen, Marilyn C.