Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0009-0007-6352-8530

Date of Graduation

2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

PhD

College

School of Education

Committee Chair

Erin McHenry-Sorber

Committee Member

John Campbell

Committee Member

Sharon Hayes

Committee Member

Thomas Willoughby

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to explore the expectations and experiences of program directors of campus support programs which center wardship experienced students. This research question guided the current study: What expectations and experiences influenced program directors’ development and reform of a wardship-centered campus support program? This inquiry applies Ürie Bronfenbrenner’s Person–Process–Context–Time (PPCT) bioecological model. Semi-structured interviewing was utilized for this case study. In this research, six directors of campus support programs centering wardship experienced students were interviewed. Additionally, this work employs content analysis of twenty-eight National Research Collaborative for Foster Alumni and Higher Education (NRC-FAHE) publications, introducing fourteen campus support programs and their directors, with eleven corresponding interviews of students with wardship experience. This research complements previous literature in achieving college goals for this group, while suggesting additional research may be conducted to further understand the quality of bioecological experience of wardship experienced students, from college and from wardship-centering college support programs. Further exploratory inquiry is recommended to consider whether expectations and experiences of wardship experienced students might impact postsecondary graduation, program participation, and other markers of student success. Additionally, future inquiry should include college students currently in wardship, as such programs have recently begun and have not yet been researched.

Download

Share

COinS