This collective case study focused on leadership strategies and self-determination in college students with learning disabilities by examining a small but significant segment of public institutions in the Southern region of the land-grant system.

1. A COLLECTIVE CASE
STUDY OF LAND-
GRANT UNIVERSITIES
AND RETENTION OF
STUDENTS WITH
LEARNING
DISABILITIES
LaRachelle Samuel-Smith, Ph.D.
February 28, 2022
Copyright © 2022 LaRachelle Samuel-Smith. All rights reserved.

2. Discussion
Points
Overview of the Problem Statement
Reaffirming the Research Method
Application of the Collective Case Study
The Study Findings
Implications from the Findings
Next Steps for the Future of the Study

3. Preconceived
Notions:
Developing
the Study
Universities have been highly criticized for their
graduation and retention rates (Valeriu, 2017).
Lack of attention to a growing population of
students with learning disabilities (McGregor,
2016)
Black students with disabilities continue to lag
behind their White counterparts (Banks &
Gibson (2017).
Corporations and agencies with a neurodiverse
workforce focused on diversity, equity, and
inclusion initiatives (Elliot, 2018)

4. Journey to Scholarship:
Literature Review
• Leadership and Retention
• College Students with Learning Disabilities
• Profile Characteristics (Dong et al., 2014)
• Student Perceptions (Geiger et al., 2018)
• Discrimination, inclusion, and law (Rothstein,
2018)
• Barriers to successful engagement (Gokool-
Baurhoo et al., 2019)
• Implications for Research and Practice
• Policy development (Gartland et al., 2018)
• Institutions types (Public vs Private)
• Land-grant universities (Lyons et al., 2018)
• Student affairs administration
• Disability services (Zeng et al., 2018)

5. Framing the Issue:
A Problem Statement
Ethical Considerations
• Social justice for marginalized
groups (Elliot, 2018)
• Balancing community values, needs,
and identity
• Essentialism and identity politics
• Stigmatization
• Availability and distribution of
resources and existing competencies

6. Framing the Issue:
A Problem Statement
• Numerous studies revealed that underrepresented students,
including students with learning disabilities are enrolling in
college are on an upward trend since the enactment of several
statutes relating to higher education in the United States (Ju,
Zeng, & Landmark, 2017; Knight, Wessel, & Markle, 2018;
Mitchell & Gansemer-Topf, 2016)
• Lovett, Nelson, and Lindstrom (2015) recognized learning
disabilities comprised most disability types in higher education
confirmed by National Center Education for Statistics (2019)
• Public institutions’ performance in this focus area has not been
clearly explained, particularly land grant universities with the
specific mission of providing access to education for all citizens
to promote teaching, research, and service in practical
education.

7. Framing the Issue:
A Problem Statement
Ensuring a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive society
• Profound lessons of marginalized people
• The institution of slavery in America lasted 246 years
using 1619 as the beginning and the 1865 Thirteenth
Amendment as its end.
• A unique segment of the U.S. land grant education
system exists in pairs -- a historically Black college and
university and a predominately White institution --
due to historical segregation in the United States’
Southern region.
• Driving Factor: Self-determination
• Framed inquiry assessing present status and future intent
• How do administrators of land-grant universities
describe strategies for students with learning
disabilities to be self-determined, so they succeed in
their academic progress, retention, and persistence?

8. Theory Supporting this Research:
Self-Determination
• Lack of self-determination often results in passive
integration into higher education, which leads to social
awkwardness, academic challenges, and psychological
stress impacting retention.
• Theory of Self-Determination (Weyhmeyer & Little, 2013)
• combination of skills, knowledge, and beliefs that
promote goal-directed, self-regulated, and
autonomous behavior
• involve problem-solving and making independent
decisions about personal activities, choices about
educational goals, and commands control of all
aspects of one’s life

9. Research Questions
• Leadership Retention Strategies
• How do administrators of land-grant
universities in the Southern region of the
United States, where both HBCUs and
PWIs exist, describe professed and
documented strategies to increase
persistence and retain students with
learning disabilities?”
• Theoretical Framework
• How do leaders explain their
perspectives regarding self-
determination in underrepresented
students with learning disabilities, so
they succeed in their academic progress?

10. Application of the Qualitative
Collective Case Study Method
Qualitative Collective Case Study Design
• Refines theory and provides insight on current
and relevant lessons that are learned and
offered by personal experiences (Merriam et
al., 2016)
• An analysis bound within the Southern region
of the land-grant system (Yin, 2016)
• Guides the exploration through a deep
dive into the historical, social and political
context of educational segregation in the
South
• Compares multiple cases within the land-
grant system in order to provide insight
into the issue of diversity, equity, and
inclusion
Note. From Land-Grant University Website Directory by United States Department of
Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, 2021
(https://nifa.usda.gov/land-grant-colleges-and-universities-partner-website-
directory?state=All&type=1890). In the public domain. Adapted with permission.

11. Application of the Qualitative
Collective Case Study Method
Collective Case Study Population and Sample
• Purposive sampling
• Based on the need to “discover, understand,
and gain insight” about a phenomenon (Yin,
2016).
• Land-grant university administrators from an
HBCU and a PWI
• Founded by the Morrill Land-Grant Acts of
1862 and 1890 which limits the number of
institutional sites in the population
• Paired administrators that manage students with
learning disabilities from each institution to model
sites across the system.
Note. From Land-Grant University Website Directory by United States Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, 2021
(https://nifa.usda.gov/land-grant-colleges-and-universities-partner-website-directory?state=All&type=1890). In the public domain. Adapted with permission.

12. Application of
the Collective
Case Study
Method
Data Collection
• Video interviews
• Reviewed policy documents, print
and digital publications, posted
announcements

13. Application of
the Collective
Case Study
Method
Data Analysis
• Open Coding
• Axial Coding
• Selective Coding

14. The Study and the
Researcher
• Decades of experience with LGUs
• Family of college students and degrees
from a land-grant HBCU
• Served as a staff member and an
administrator
• Responsible for reporting the impact of
agricultural research and Extension
programming supported with federal
funding from the USDA.
• Employed with the U.S. Department of
Agriculture, advocating for LGUs in all
regions of the United States.

15. The Study Sample: Institution and Participants
The Land-Grant PWI
Institution
• 35,000+ Students Enrolled
• Rural location
Participant
• White Female
• Administrator of an Academic Unit
• Late-career
• Managed two staff members working
collaboratively with university student
services
The Land-Grant HBCU
Institution
• 9000+ Students Enrolled
• Rural location
Participant
• Black Female
• Director of Disability Services
• Mid-career
• Managed one staff member and
temporary student workers

16. The Study Sample: Documents and Artifacts
The Land-Grant PWI
Digital Resources
• Webpages on the Institution’s
website
• Student Relationship
Management Software
Classroom Resources
• Personal in-class assistants
The Land-Grant HBCU
Digital Resources
• Webpages on the Institution’s
website
• Student Relationship
Management Software
Printed Manual
• Standard Operating Procedures
Special Equipment

17. Study
Findings:
Leadership
Strategies
for
Retention
Collective
Land-
Grant
Strategies
Delegate responsibilities
Build relationships
Embed success into the culture
Train and develop stakeholders
Plan strategically and tactically
Embrace diversity
Implement technology solutions

18. Study Findings: Strategies for Retention
The Land-Grant PWI and
Transformational Leadership
Delegation
Collaboration
Appreciating diversity
The Land-Grant HBCU and
Servant Leadership
Training
Documenting
Elevating difficult
situations

19. Study
Findings:
Leadership
Perspectives
on Self-
Determination
Collective
Land-Grant
Perspectives
Lead by example and
acknowledgment
Manage candid conversations
Create a safe zone of mentorship
Trust staff and students to make
decisions
Provide access to resources

20. Study Findings: Perspectives on Self-Determination
The Land-Grant PWI
• Leading by example
• Self-reflection and
mentorship
• Coaching
• Managing difficult
conversations
The Land-Grant HBCU
• Demonstrating confidence in
others
• Encouraging psychological
safety
• Straightforward conversations
• A reliance on the support of
others with influential
leadership skills

21. Discussion of
the Findings
Influential Factors to Consider for PWI Participant
• Highly motivated
• Position in the department as a dean and director and
decades of experience reinforced an appreciation for
research principles
• History of leadership development provided the
breadth and depth of knowledge regarding the
application of various leadership styles.
• Inspirational sincerity about leading staff and helping
students with all types of disabilities.
More substantial responses with
• More time allotted to allow the participant to
elaborate on her answers
• Shared questions in advance.

22. Discussion of
the Findings
Influential Factors to Consider for HBCU Participant
• Often mentioned a lack of support and cooperation
• Responses were shaped by self-sacrifice and a
motivation to help students despite her
circumstances.
• Tenure and position in higher education disability
services were admirable and instrumental in her
ability to respond to the research questions.
• Confirmed disparity claims of inequitable funding
practices between HBCUs and PWIS found in the
literature.
• Performance-based funding policies and lack of state
matching funds to receive federal grants
More substantial responses with
• Additional time to build rapport with the participant.

23. Interpretation of the
Findings
Qualitative Case Study Research Design
Achieved maximum proximity to the land-grant culture
utilizing observation and access to the participants’
subjective thoughts, feelings, and opinions
Leveraged my familiarity as an administrator from the
land-grant community and previous classroom experience
to create a richly descriptive product.
Provided clarity between the real-life context of land-
grant leadership and the geographical boundary of the
land-grant system in which the leaders function.
Elicited common strategies and captured the complexity
of the land-grant phenomenon across the PWI and HBCU
sites.

24. Interpretation of the
Findings
Historical and Cultural Factors
Bias and suppression persist in the education of Black students
to the present day.
Certain aspects of past conditions are preeminent within the
campus cultures.
Inequities persist between the PWI and the HBCU
Benefit policy development for diversity, equity, inclusion, and
access to needed resources.

25. Interpretation of the
Findings
Knowledge and Credibility of the Sample
Diverse ethnic groups, long tenure of land-grant
experience over decades, and varying levels of leadership
development.
Participants’ tenure included multiple positions within the
institutions with responsibilities for students with and
without learning disabilities.
Numerous civil rights statutes might have guided
strategies of training, documenting, and reporting
challenging issues to a higher authority.
The participants’ limited perspectives on the campus
culture of the other enhanced rich responses that were
pure and organic.

26. Limitations of the
Collective Case Study
Factors that limited the generalizability of the study
Sample size of one pair
Sample confined to a small geographic segment of the
land-grant system.
Available persons at each of the PWI and HBCU land-
grant institution with decision-making responsibility
Potential researcher bias
• All-female sample did not represent the diversity of
the universities
• Female researcher connecting with the participants
based on gender
• Inclusion of only female administrators at mid-to-late
stages in their careers

27. Implications
Reflections from the Literature
• Non-disclosure among persons with learning
disabilities due to history of stigmatization
• High sensitivity to others’ conscious and
unconscious biases
• Inferiority, unintelligent, and incapable
• Untrustworthy, cheating the system
questioning status and accusations of unfair
advantage
• Performance improvements occur slowly
overtime

28. Implications
Reflections from the Literature
• Wealthier individuals, out-of-state and off-campus
students are more likely to seek accommodations
and support
• More interaction with faculty,
administrators, and peers
• Less difficulty with assignments and projects
• Instructors and advisors are a major factor the
success of persons with learning disabilities
• Increase awareness
• Honor discretion
• Seek feedback
• Show empathy
• Nurture a sense of belonging

29. Implications
Reflections from the Literature
• Organizations have experienced many benefits
with a neurodiverse workforce
• Expand, support, and fund awareness training
and professional development
• Accommodate vulnerabilities and gain greater
improvements
• Encourage informal networks
• Provide clear, caring, and flexible lecturers and
tutor
• Center approaches around the individual
• Embrace personalized life and career coaching
• Give people time

30. Implications
Recommendations From the Collective Case
Study
Land-grant leaders receive leadership
development in effective student retention
strategies and implementation of self-
determination principles. Include activities for:
• Enhancing self-awareness and self-reflection
to build the confidence needed to lead and
influence others.
• Practicing effective communication skills in
mock scenarios that simulate conflict guided
by professional counselors

31. Implications
Recommendations From the Collective Case
Study
Land-grant leaders receive leadership
development in effective student retention
strategies and implementation of self-
determination principles. Include activities for:
• Thinking creatively to increase access to
resources, boost resiliency in challenging
work environments. and remove instead of
create barriers
• Improving collaboration between PWI and
HBCU directors on issues related to students
with learning disabilities

32. Implications
Recommendations From the Collective Case
Study
Land-grant leaders receive leadership
development in effective student retention
strategies and implementation of self-
determination principles. Include activities for:
• Preparing to have difficult conversations
about the cultural influence of PWI and
HBCUs
• Identifying and openly discussing
organizational culture to build a healthy
workplace with a no tolerance for incivility
policy

33. Recommendations for
Future Research
from the Collective Case Study
• Include male participants to add data that
may be different from female participants
• Expand the research setting to a broader
geographical region to include the
Midwest and the Western region
• Correlate leadership theories with
minority-serving institutions
• Conduct quantitative research to correlate
the leadership strategies discovered in this
case study with success indicators such as
GPA, retention, and graduate rates

34. Closing Thoughts
and Next Steps
Diversity in the modern world is
more than just skin color – it’s
gender, age, disability, sexual
orientation, social background – and
most of all as far as I’m concerned,
diversity of thought.
-Idris Elba
With this achievement, I commit to a
role of advocacy through diversity,
equity, inclusion, and access for
students and professionals with
hidden disabilities.
-LaRachelle Samuel-Smith

35. Thank You
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