ALUMNI DONORS

I am fortunate to have many individuals who inspired, encouraged, and motivated me through my doctoral journey. I owe a great debt of gratitude to my dissertation committee members. More specifically, I would like to thank Drs. Paul Pitre and Gordon Gates for guiding me through classes, proposals, and the quandaries of statistics. In addition, a special word of appreciation to my chair, Dr. Kelly Ward, for her guidance, encouragement, and pulling out my best writing, despite of “this”. In addition, I want to offer a heartfelt thanks to my Community College Leadership cohort, for their intellectual motivation, moral support, laughs, and good cooking. Lastly, I want to thank my mentor, boss, and friend, Jack Bermingham. If not for him, I may not have had the opportunity to write these acknowledgements, let alone this dissertation. He tried his best to start me on this journey a decade ago, and though it took some time for me to listen to him, he was right (as always). I appreciate his ongoing encouragement and support, and pushing me to go beyond limits I do not always realize I can reach, in my studies, my work, and my life. i