Congratulations to Marilyn Johnson Thomas who on Friday, August 21, 2026, successfully defended her dissertation proposal.
The title of Marilyn's dissertation is,"A QUALITATIVE STUDY OF UNDERGRADUATE ALUMNI EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING EXPERIENCES AND JOB PREPAREDNESS."
The abstract of this study follows:
Overview of Problem: This study is designed to explore how undergraduate alumni make meaning of their experiential learning experiences and how those experiences influenced job preparedness and employment outcomes.
Research Purpose: The purpose of this study is to describe undergraduate alumni experiences in experiential learning and to understand job preparedness of undergraduate alumni who engaged in experiential learning opportunities.
Research Design: This study consists of semi-structured interviews that will be administered via Zoom. Undergraduate alumni will be asked to provide answers to a series of questions related to their experiential learning experiences while enrolled as a student.
Interviews will be recorded to ensure accurate capture of experiences shared and to assist with data analysis. Participation in this study will require 60-90 minutes of time. Interviews will then be transcribed and emailed back to participant to ensure accuracy.
Sample: Fifteen participants will be chosen for this study. I will employ purposive sampling and snowball sampling for this study. Initial participants will also be asked to refer other individuals who meet the study criteria.
Data Collection: Semi-structured interviews will be conducted. Interviews will include open-ended questions. Participants in this study must meet the following criteria: Must be undergraduate alumni (bachelor’s degree holders), and participated in at least one form of experiential learning (internship, externship, co-op, research, or service-learning) from various academic disciplines, including disciplines with and without required experiential learning components.
Dissertation Committee Chair:
Dr. Susan V. Iverson
Dissertation Committee Members:
Dr. Yiping Wan
Dr. Ruben Barato
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