East Tennessee State University Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University Electronic Theses and Dissertations Student Works 5-2008 A Case Study of the Involvement of Undergraduates with Physical Disabilities in Campus Organizations at East Tennessee State University. Lance Alexis East Tennessee State University Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.edu/etd Part of the Disability and Equity in Education Commons Recommended Citation Alexis, Lance, "A Case Study of the Involvement of Undergraduates with Physical Disabilities in Campus Organizations at East Tennessee State University. Electronic Theses and Dissertations.edu/etd/1899 This Dissertation - Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Works at Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University.
For more information, please contact digilib@etsu. A Case Study of the Involvement of Undergraduates with Physical Disabilities in Campus Organizations at East Tennessee State University _______________________ A dissertation presented to the faculty of the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis East Tennessee State University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Education _______________________ by Lance Travis Alexis May 2008 _______________________ Dr. Terrence Tollefson, Chair Dr. Kathryn Franklin Dr.
James Lampley Dr. Elwood Watson Keywords: Undergraduates with Physical Disabilities, Campus Student Organizations and Involvement, East Tennessee State University ABSTRACT A Case Study of the Involvement of Undergraduates with Physical Disabilities in Campus Organizations at East Tennessee State University by Lance Travis Alexis The purpose of this study was to examine the level of relationship that existed between undergraduates with physical disabilities at East Tennessee State University and campus student organizations. The study was designated a case study as it focused on one institution of higher education. Interview and document review were the 2 methods used for data collection.
People from 2 select groups were interviewed on a one-on-one basis. One group was people involved in recruiting for selected campus organizations geared toward undergraduates and the other group was undergraduates with observable physical disabilities. Constitutions, bylaws, mission statements, and other documents offered by the recruiters for the select organizations were reviewed in an effort to discover references to people with disabilities. The results of the study are intended to assist in bridging the gap between involvement in extracurricular organizations and undergraduates with physical disabilities at East Tennessee State University.
It has been documented that increased campus involvement 2 lends itself to successful college and post-graduate careers, so it is a relevant issue to resolve. Campus organizations can benefit because their recruiters will have the opportunity to view ways to reach a new pool of possible participants. The findings could also prove beneficial to any campus experiencing a similar phenomenon. 3 DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to those who were with me physically and spiritually throughout the process of its completion.
I want to give thanks to God for every conceivable reason. I would like to dedicate this dissertation to my wife, Pam, who was always by my side, my son, Lawrence, for being my boy, my daughter, Annabelle, for reminding me why, and to Isis for making me laugh. 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Foremost I would like to acknowledge the chair of my dissertation committee, Dr. Terrence Tollefson, for all the encouragement along the way.
I would also like to thank the rest of my committee, Drs. Katherine Franklin, James Lampley, and Elwood Watson for volunteering the time out of their busy lives to lend their support and assistance. It is also important that I acknowledge several others who have been there for me. My mother and father continually provided me the opportunity and drive to complete the ELPA program.
My sister always proved a gentle ear to listen to my problems and celebrate my successes. My dear friends—Rex, Jon, Richard, Joe, Mike, Nathan, Mark, Lena, and Shawn checked in on me from different reaches of the country. Deborah Harley, Teresa Brooks-Taylor, Stephanie Kirkland, and the rest of the staff of the Center for Community Engagement, Learning and Leadership gave me the introduction and guidance that provided insight into the world of higher education. I would like to acknowledge my fellow doctoral fellows, Reese, Gerald, Vincent, Judith, George, Evelyn, Louise, Todd, Tausha, Brenda, Robert, and Anne, because we always had fun while finding a way to learn the skills necessary to be ready after our time was up.
Out of the group of fellows, I want to extend special thanks to Judith for being my transcriber and Evelyn for being my auditor. The ELPA faculty and adjuncts guided the classes that have led me here. Betty Ann kept everyone on track and in line. I am extremely grateful to Linda, Libby, Kim, and the rest of ETSU’s Disability Services staff for all the help.
I would like to acknowledge all the others who assisted in my research especially Tricia and those that agreed to participate. Steve gave me great advice at Magic Wok. Jeff cooked me great food at Mid City Grill. Anthony was always willing to 5 talk.
Finally, I would like to extend a special thanks to all the members of Leadership House for helping me find my direction. 6 CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………. INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY ……………………………………… 10 Statement of Purpose…….………………………………………………… 13 Research Questions………………………………………………………… 14 Significance of the Study ……………………………………………………. 14 Scope of the Study…………………………………………………………… 15 Researcher’s Biases………………………………………………………….
16 Organization of the Study………………………………………………. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE………………………………………… 17 Introduction………………………………………………………………… 17 Physical Disability Culture………………………………………………… 17 Celebrity Influence………………………………………………………… 18 Medical Model vs. Social Model…………………………………………… 20 Equality……………………………………………………………………… 22 Societal Perception…………………………………………………………… 23 Marginalizing……………………………………………………………… 24 7 Student Involvement………………………………………………………. 27 Institutional Responsibility………………………………………………… 29 Beyond the Campus………………………………………………………….
36 Design of the Study…………………………………………………………. 36 Participants in the Study……………………………………………………. 38 Interview Script…………………………………………………………… 39 Document Review……………………………………………………………. 43 Perspective of the Researcher……………………………………………….
ANALYSIS OF DATA………………………………………………………. 48 Research Question #1……………………………………………………… 49 Perception……………………………………………………………………. 50 Research Question #2……………………………………………………… 51 8 Recruitment……………………………………………………………………… 57 Research Question #3……………………………………………………… 57 Relationship Building……………………………………………. SUMMARY OF FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH…………………………………………………………………… 63 Summary of the Study………………………………………………………… 63 Conclusions…………………………………………………………………… 66 Research Question #1…………………………………………………….
66 Research Question #2……………………………………………………… 67 Research Question #3……………………………………………………… 69 Research Question #4……………………………………………………… 70 Literature Review Reviewed…………………………………………………. 72 Recommendations for Practice………………………………………………. 74 Recommendations for Further Research…………………………………….… 81 Appendix A: Informed Consent Document ………………………………… 81 Appendix B: Interview Script …………………………………………………. 83 Appendix C: Document Review Guide………………………………………… 85 VITA……………………………………………………………………………… 86 9 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY “Student organizations are the life blood of the campus.
All ETSU students are expected to join and participate in at least one student group on campus” (East Tennessee State University Student Organization Resource Center, 2005). Kuh, Schuh, Whitt, and Associates (1991) indicated that college students who involved themselves in out-of-class activities had a more positive outlook on their collegiate experience because they were more satisfied with their environment. Those students felt more confident in their academic choices and their ability to communicate with faculty increased as their confidence and self-esteem rose. Most importantly, they were more likely to graduate and attribute some aspects of career success to their experiences outside the classroom, because extracurricular activities provided opportunities to develop leadership skills such as teamwork, decision-making, and planning (Kuh et al.
When considering the importance of student campus involvement and the emphasis placed on it by East Tennessee State University, it is important to note that students with physical disabilities at the university are not partaking in what is considered an essential experience. East Tennessee State University boasts more than 190 student organizations. Those organizations are categorized under the headings Academic, Governance, Community Service, Greek, Honors, Religious, Sports, University Programs, Residence Life, and Special Interest (East Tennessee State University Student Organization Resource Center, 2006). Susan Lilly, a representative of the Office of Housing and Residence Life at East Tennessee State, mentioned that the number of students who live 10 on campus is 2200 (personal communication, November 30, 2007).
Tricia Nguyen, Director of Student Activities at East Tennessee State University, (personal communication November 30, 2007) stated that there are 3871 reported students involved in campus organizations and that number is actually higher because not all the organizations reported their numbers. The fact that the number of students involved is dramatically higher then the on campus residents shows that there is a strong push to try to get all students involved. According to Linda Gibson, Disability Services Director at East Tennessee State University, (personal communication, September 15, 2005) the majority of students with physical disabilities on the campus do not participate in these organizations, and only one student organization had any significant membership consisting of students with physical disabilities. Silent Bucs is an organization created by students with hearing deficiencies for people with hearing deficiencies or anyone interested in sign language and the deaf culture (Silent Bucs, 2006).
The organization has three primary objectives. First is to work toward easing communication problems between the deaf and hard-of- hearing community and others at East Tennessee State University. Second is providing a support system for those who are deaf or hard of hearing. Third is working with people in the community who are deaf or hard of hearing (Silent Bucs).
Whereas Silent Bucs does provide an extracurricular opportunity for some students with physical disabilities, it has unintentionally developed an important problem. Gibson (personal communication, September 15, 2005) stated that Silent Bucs has developed into an exclusive club for students who are deaf or hard of hearing and has not led to interactions between students with disabilities and those without. Senelick and 11 Dougherty (2001) contended that interactions between people with physical disabilities and those without were essential to break down the barriers between disability and non- disability. The importance of those interactions lay in the fact that a lack of understanding, knowledge, and exposure between members of the two cultures was the primary obstacle to acceptance.
According to Gibson (personal communication, September 15, 2005), the primary reasons for the absence of students with physical disabilities from the other student organizations at East Tennessee State University were grounded in students’ backgrounds, limited access, disability social culture, and the social culture of the members of individual organizations. Sax (2006), Associate Director of the Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles, stated that students who were more active in high school tended to be more active in college. A spirit of involvement fostered in the stages before college allowed students to carry that desire with them to higher education. Tricia Nguyen (personal communication, September 15, 2005) contended that students at East Tennessee State did not often come in contact with their peers with physical disabilities in high school and the lack of association played a role in their trepidation in approaching students with physical disabilities.
Michalko (2002), a sociologist with a vision impairment, expressed that someone with a disability was often seen as an “other”, and this distinction created a divide between people without disabilities and those with disabilities. According to the Center for Independent Living (2005), full inclusion and acceptance into any group can only be achieved when each person has the ability to become a productive member and be able to interact in organizations. People with physical disabilities need organizations to incorporate accommodations into their 12 operating procedures. Accommodations could include sign language interpreters, newsletters in Braille, or holding all meetings in accessible locations.
Time and transportation often prove to be other accommodation issues (Center for Independent Living). Nguyen (personal communication, September 15, 2005) stated that leaders and members of student organizations did not intentionally avoid recruiting students with disabilities. However, they may have unintentionally refrained from recruiting them when they saw them at an orientation or similar fair because of the fear of the unknown, fear of possibly offending the students, or a feeling that they could not relate to a student with a disability. Also, some student organizations, such as those involving outdoor recreational activities, were centered on activities that would be difficult for students with physical disabilities (Nguyen).