Perceptions of Texas A&M University former students about the relevance and value of research performed by the university /
Although research is a major role of American universities, few studies have been undertaken to learn how alumni and other publics view the importance of research. If various components of the general public including students, parents, alumni, policy makers and others (referred to in this paper as...
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| Format: | Thesis Book |
| Language: | English |
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[Place of publication not identified] :
[publisher not identified] ;
2003.
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| Online Access: | http://proxy.library.tamu.edu/login?url=http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=765660391&sid=1&Fmt=2&clientId=2945&RQT=309&VName=PQD |
| Summary: | Although research is a major role of American universities, few studies have been undertaken to learn how alumni and other publics view the importance of research. If various components of the general public including students, parents, alumni, policy makers and others (referred to in this paper as key publics) view the research of a university as not being of value to the needs of society, support may be threatened. Alumni represent an important public since they support the university, serve the institution as volunteers, and contribute to the university. However, little is known about how much alumni know about university research, if they want to learn about it, and how they view the importance of research. In this study, the researcher carried out loosely structured personal interviews with 123 Texas A&M University alumni at 33 sites throughout Texas in 2001. Conversations were recorded by hand in bound journals. Interviews were transcribed, divided in individual unitized thoughts, and grouped into themes, and data were used to answer research questions. This study found that participants were exposed to university research in many ways. They read about research in publications, applied research results, and experienced instances where professors shared research in classes. Respondents were only somewhat interested in discussing news about the research of Texas A&M. Their passion focused on talking about how an emphasis on research might adversely affect undergraduate teaching quality. Respondents were passionate about the need to preserve undergraduate teaching quality. If research was thought to threaten the quality of teaching, most participants wanted to preserve and enhance teaching quality. This study illustrates how these alumni became exposed to university research, how they learn about it, and how they compare the importance of research to other roles of the university. This study provides information on how the programs of a university are perceived by one key public (alumni) and can be useful in evaluating the effectiveness of public affairs programs and assisting in strategic planning efforts. Qualitative methods are valuable because they allow the researcher to obtain the unsolicited points of view of participants to guide these studies. |
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| Item Description: | Vita. "Major Subject: Educational Administration". |
| Physical Description: | ix, 237 leaves : map ; 28 cm. Issued also on microfiche from University Microfilm Inc. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (leaves 157-169). |