Doctorates and Dissertations

Criminology (Doctor of Philosophy)

May 9, 2025

Matthew Ryan Dennis
Dissertation: Room for Growth? Understanding Attitudes Toward Horticultural Programming in Corrections
Dissertation Chair: Jennifer Roberts

August 8, 2025

Vanessa Jesenia Gutierrez
Dissertation: Perceptions of Campus Police Legitimacy: A Cross-Institutional Examination of Procedural Justice
Dissertation Chair: Daniel Lee

Cole Matthew Edson Stillson
Dissertation: Exploring the Influence of Death Anxiety on Criminal Behavior: The Role of Criminal Worldviews and Ineffective Anxiety Buffers
Dissertation Chair: Daniel Lee

English/Composition and Applied Linguistics (Doctor of Philosophy)

May 9, 2025

Arwa Alshehri
Dissertation: Exploring the Development of Middle Eastern Women’s Translingual Digital Identity
Dissertation Chair: Gloria Park 

Willa Swift Black
Dissertation: Customize Player Character: The Effects of a Digital Language Learning Role-Playing Game on Language Learner Identity
Dissertation Chair: David Hanauer 

Riza Elfana
Dissertation: (Re)Envisioning Writing Centers as Multiliteracy Centers: The State of Multiliteracy in Writing Center Practice
Dissertation Chair: Dana Driscoll

Alexandra Krasova
Dissertation: How Translanguaging Practices in Digital Story Writing Shape Plurilingual Identities
Dissertation Chair: Gian Pagnucci

Yanika Phetchroj
Dissertation: Toward Translanguaging: An Exploratory Study of University English Language Teachers’ Perceptions and Practice of Translanguaging in English Language Classrooms in Thailand
Dissertation Chair: Gloria Park

Gary John Sasala Jr.
Dissertation: Comparing Unfocused Error-Coded Indirect Written Feedback to Unfocused Error-Coded Direct Written Feedback Using a Finer Table of Error Codes with Metalinguistic Information and Written Languaging
Dissertation Chair: Brian Carpenter

August 8, 2025

Zhigang Bai
Dissertation: A Study on the Value of Professor-Doctoral Student Collaborative Writing for Scholarly Publication
Dissertation Chair: David Hanauer 

John Daniel Loo
Dissertation: An Investigation into the Affective Language and Communication Practices of Linguistically Diverse Students Using a Vlogging Project
Dissertation Chair: Curtis Porter

English/Literature and Criticism (Doctor of Philosophy)

May 9, 2025

Kimberly Lauren Bressler
Dissertation: Consumptive Cycles: The Ravishment of the Body, Mind, and Nation in Renaissance Revenge Tragedies
Dissertation Chair: Christopher Orchard 

Abigail E. Hennon-Robinson
Dissertation: Reading the Shifting Periphery: Paratextual Close-Readings of Reprintings in 19th-Century Women’s Periodical Ficton
Dissertation Chair: Todd Thompson

Simon Huff
Dissertation: Learning to Dwell in the Last Frontier Women Writers and the Cultural Imagination of Colonial Alaska 1867-1959
Dissertation Chair: Melanie Holm

Michaela Anna O’Toole
Dissertation: Tragic Politics: Representations of Violence Through American Political Identities in 20th- and 21st-Century Politically Appropriated Shakespearean Adaptations
Dissertation Chair: Christopher Orchard 

Brian Keith Sateriale
Dissertation: Androgynism: Recognition of the Influence of the Internal Hieros Gamos—the Sacred Masculine-Feminine Union—upon Literary Critical Discourse, Literature, and Film of the 20th and 21st Centuries
Dissertation Chair: Christopher Orchard

August 8, 2025

Miad Abdullah Alazmi
Dissertation: Vocation, Education, and Marriage in Novels by George Eliot, Charlotte Brontë, and Anne Brontë
Dissertation Chair: Michael Williamson

Media and Communication Studies (Doctor of Philosophy)

August 8, 2025

Youssef Ahmed Taha Abdelhalim Yakoub 
Dissertation: Examining the Level of Engagement, Satisfaction, Sense of Presence, and Perceived Ease of Use in Virtual Environments: VR Metaverse vs. Zoom Among Computer Science Students
Dissertation Chair: Steven Kleinman

Business (Doctor of Philosophy)

May 9, 2025

Kathleen Hamilton Baker
Dissertation: The Management and Prevention of Fraud in the Multi-National Healthcare Corporation
Dissertation Chair: Abbas Ali

Jill Baumgardner
Dissertation: Palette for Your Thoughts: Examining the Impacts of Consumer Affect Dimensions on Color Choices in the Paints Marketing Spectrum
Dissertation Chair: Lisa Sciulli

Sean MacIsaac
Dissertation: Catastrophic Health Expenditures in the United States as Influenced by Social Determinants of Health in the Post-Implementation Era of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010
Dissertation Chair: Brandon Vick

Mahmoud Khalil Tarda
Dissertation: An Empirical Investigation of the Impact of Entrepreneurial Marketing on Digital Marketing Orientation and Marketing Performance in the Apparel Retail Industry: Evidence from Palestine
Dissertation Chair: Madan Batra

August 8, 2025

Andrew Joseph Colosimo
Dissertation: Exploring Follower Mindfulness, Well-Being, and Leadership Dynamics: A Replication and Extension Study in North America Incorporating Leaders’ Emotional Contagion
Dissertation Chair: Joseph Rosendale

Curriculum and Instruction (Doctor of Education)

May 9, 2025

Carrie Elizabeth Recla
Dissertation: Accelerated Middle School Mathematics Placements: Relationships with Track Retention, Mathematics Knowledge, and Postsecondary STEM Career Planning
Dissertation Chair: Kelli Jo Kerry-Moran

Heather David Roman
Dissertation: A Quantitative Study Exploring Pennsylvania’s Science Teachers’ Resistance to Implement the Science, Technology and Engineering, Environmental Literacy, and Sustainability Standards
Dissertation Chair: Daniel Wissinger

Michael Leroy Ulderich
Dissertation: The Decline of “Shop Class”: Examining the Role of Industrial Arts and Technology Education in Rural Career Aspirations
Dissertation Chair: Daniel Wissinger

August 8, 2025

Ragia Hamdy Mohamed Hassan
Dissertation: Faculty Perceptions of the Metaverse as an Instructional Format: A Qualitative Case Study
Dissertation Chair: Jacqueline McGinty

Robin Lynn Howell
Dissertation: Effectiveness of Popular SEL Programs for Post-Pandemic Early Childhood Classrooms
Dissertation Chair: Sarah Brown

Donald James Mazreku
Dissertation: Strength in Language: A Phenomenological Study of English Literacy Experiences Among Deaf Advanced Degree Holders
Dissertation Chair: Jacqueline McGinty

Chloe L. Padasak
Dissertation: The Teaching Scramble: Exploring Health Science Faculty Emergency Online Transition of Courses During COVID-19
Dissertation Chair: Jacqueline McGinty

Kara Nichole Ratai
Dissertation: Third Grade Students’ and Teachers’ Perceptions
Dissertation Chair: Julie Ankrum

Kimberly Marie Rehak
Dissertation: Inclusion in Health Science Education: An Exploratory Qualitative Study of the Beliefs and Practices of Instructional Designers
Dissertation Chair: Jacqueline McGinty

Erica Sue Rice
Dissertation: Diversity Representations in Caldecott Award Winning Children’s Picture Books from 1938 to 2024
Dissertation Chair: Kelli Paquette

Administration and Leadership Studies (Doctor of Philosophy)

May 9, 2025

David Boucher
Dissertation: How the Organizational Structures of State Emergency Management Agencies Influence Disaster Response Networks
Dissertation Chair: Christian Vaccaro

Ryan Thomas Plazio
Dissertation: Assessing Occupational Stress Among Dentists and Dental Hygienists Within Dental Service Organizations
Dissertation Chair: Alex Heckert

Sean Deondre Thomas
Dissertation: Exploring the Lived Experience of Mentorship and Resiliency Among African American Men Matriculating Higher Education at Predominately White Institutions
Dissertation Chair: Christian Vaccaro

Stephanie Fox Wells
Dissertation: Public Perception, Power, and Poverty: The Regulation of Interest Groups and Outcomes for Marginalized Populations
Dissertation Chair: Christian Vaccaro

August 8, 2025

Amal Mohammed Alqahtani
Dissertation: An Exploratory Study of Employee Perceptions of Big Data Analytical Competency Among Leaders and Its Impacts on Decision-Making Quality
Dissertation Chair: Christian Vaccaro

Jason Joseph Barauskas
Dissertation: Understanding the Process of Role Exit as Residential Life Professionals Leave Student Affairs
Dissertation Chair: Christian Vaccaro

Felicia Lanning Shearer
Dissertation: Motherhood in Higher Education
Dissertation Chair: Christian Vaccaro

School Psychology (Doctor of Philosophy)

May 9, 2025

Lauren Elizabeth Lucas
Dissertation: Manipulating the Dosage of an Explicit Timing and Goal-Setting Mathematics Intervention
Dissertation Chair: Lynanne Black

Nursing (Doctor of Philosophy)

May 9, 2025

Deborah W. Busch
Dissertation: NOURISH: A Breastfeeding Simulation-Based-Learning Experience: A Mixed-Methods Study
Dissertation Chair: Lora Hromadik

August 8, 2025

Gretchen R. Schappert
Dissertation: Examining Undergraduate Nursing Students’ Ability to Meet the Interprofessional Education Collaborative’s Core Competencies
Dissertation Chair: Taylor Edwards

Clinical Psychology (Doctor of Psychology)

August 8, 2025

Cyrus B. Chiasson
Dissertation: The Interplay of Existential Isolation, I-Sharing, and the Therapeutic Alliance in Psychotherapy
Dissertation Chair: Anson Long

Chelsea Lynn Gessner
Dissertation: The Role of Emotion and Executive Dysregulation in Anxiety After Mild Brain Injury
Dissertation Chair: Laura Knight

Natalie Angela Ross
Dissertation: The Impact of Person-First Language on Clinician Attitudes Towards Pedophilia: To What Extent Do Labels Impact Conflation Between Sexual Interest and Sexual Behavior?
Dissertation Chair: Margaret Reardon

Ashley Lauren Stapley
Dissertation: Efficacy of Gratitude Interventions on Psychological Symptoms, Emotions, and Life Satisfaction in Adults with Exposure to Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES)
Dissertation Chair: Tara Johnson

Safety Sciences (Doctor of Philosophy)

May 9, 2025

Michael Joseph Adamczyk
Dissertation: Assessing How Various Media and Appeal Types Influence College Students’ Perceptions of Pedestrian Safety Messages Using the Health Belief Model Framework
Dissertation Chair: Wanda Minnick

Joseph Peter Flory
Dissertation: The Value of Using Prequalification Scores for Assessing Contractor Safety Climate at Chemical Manufacturing Sites
Dissertation Chair: Jan Wachter

August 8, 2025

Randy Alan McRoberts
Dissertation: Evaluation of the Association Between Supervisory Support Dimensions, Leadership Style, and Safety Engagement Among Lone Workers
Dissertation Chair: Wanda Minnick

John Vincent Saleski
Dissertation: Biomechanical Evaluation of Three Different Police Body Carriers for Officer Duty Equipment
Dissertation Chair: Majed Zreiqat