IU Indianapolis ScholarWorks :: Browsing by Author "White-Mills, Kim"

Browsing by Author "White-Mills, Kim"

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Communicating Commitment within Monogamous Romantic Relationships
(2020-01) Leverenz, Alaina Nicole; Goering, Elizabeth; Brann, Maria; White-Mills, Kim
This study sought to better understand the communication of commitment in monogamous romantic relationships, including how one communicates his/her commitment to his/her partner and how one interprets messages from his/her partner. Focusing on the fundamentals of communicating commitment to one’s partner proves beneficial in understanding the commitment processes in daily life. In an effort to understand this concept, I used themes from interdependence theory and the investment model to formulate the interview questions and develop the findings. The findings and interpretations demonstrate that couples are communicating their commitment to each other in words/verbal expressions, especially in the beginning stages of the committed relationship; the commitment global construct employed most to communicate commitment in relationship is relational maintenance behaviors; and people perceive that nonverbal expressions of commitment are the best way to interpret messages of commitment from one’s partner.
Critical Analysis of Case Conference Committee Meetings: A Narrative Analysis of Parent/Guardians’ and Specific Learning Disability Students’ Experiences
(2022-07) Le, Megan Elizabeth; White-Mills, Kim; Dobris, Catherine A.; Parrish-Sprowl, John
In recent years, there has been an increase in special education complaints filed against school corporations for noncompliance with the terms of the Individualized Education Plan (IEP) established in a Case Conference Committee meeting. Case Conference Committees include parents/guardians, Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD) students, and educators. Parents/guardians are equal partners to the school corporation when developing the IEP. Disagreements within Case Conference Committee (CCC) meetings can lead to strained relationships. During Case Conference Committee Meetings, parents/guardians may disagree with educators related to managing the student’s IEP (Indiana Department of Education, 2021). Consequently, a parent/guardian of a SLD student may file a complaint or due process hearing resulting from poor communication between parties during or after a Case Conference Meeting (McQuerrey, 2019). The Critical Organizational Communication Theory was applied in exploring if parents/guardians experienced the Indiana IEP Resource Center’s common issues in CCC meetings including: the lack of (1) Communication, (2) Preparation, (3) Clarity, (4) Respect, and (5) Transparency. A narrative approach was used to tell the stories of parents/guardians and SLD students’ experience in CCC meetings.
Dreamchasers: Examining the Organizational Structure of Social Institutions Across Communities & the Inevitable Cultural Influences which Comprise One’s American Dream
(2023-09) Hibbert, Karl Roy; Parrish-Sprowl, John; Karnick, Kristine; White-Mills, Kim
In a nation indoctrinated with the notion that civil liberties are an expected set of rights, along with policies, presumably made to ensure the equality of all citizens; the idea of egalitarianism, (the belief that all people are equal and deserve equal rights and opportunities) it is critical to pose the question: how equally accessible is the American Dream for all Americans? Our predisposed congenital qualities such as gender and ethnicity, along with socioeconomic status, all contribute to the ‘societal blueprint’ which dictates one’s social reputation, educational rank, and financial reach in this American nation. More specifically, we find that the journey to achieve the American Dream varies by community and major obstacles that impede on the access to key developmental resources. Often minorities and those who do not fit into the static image of ‘The American Dream’ exhaust most of their time trying to bridge the gap, rather than focusing solely on community advancement. In other words, those who live in communities lacking proper infrastructure essential to modern growth and development are forced to play the hand their dealt, while still being expected to attain the heights of their privileged counterparts. The organizational structure of a community’s social institutions will inevitably influence the resources, motivations, and competence of its members. With this, viewing all American’s as having the same access to the ‘American Dream’ is unreasonable. Through comparing the background and livelihoods of characters from four different movies, I examine the depiction and actuality which media uses to highlight the American Dream; and how the challenges inhibit in the journey looks different across cultures.
Four-Phase Intergroup Dialogue Inclusivity Posters
(IUPUI Intergroup Dialogue, 2018) Gentle-Genitty, Carolyn; Renguette, Corinne; Griffith, Daniel; White-Mills, Kim; Wright, Tamra
Increasing communication effectiveness per personality types in an effort to enhance student retention
(2010-05-03T19:52:55Z) Barnett, Melissa G.; Goering, Elizabeth; Sandwina, Ronald M.; White-Mills, Kim
Student retention is a problem that continues to plaque higher education institutions whose ultimate goal is to graduate students. The reported national student retention average in 2006 was between 58 and 71.6 percent, depending on to which statistics you refer. The importance for the academic community is that “the loss of students returning to campus for another year usually results in greater financial loss and a lower graduation rate for the institution, and might also affect the way that stakeholders, legislators, parents, and students view the institution” (Lau, 2003). In order to combat low student retention rates, many have initiated a variety of programs and strategic measures to increase students’ likelihood to complete their education. These initiatives can be found in the form of committees designated to conduct research and subsequently implement programs, colleges hiring outside consultants to assist with retention strategies, and the implementation of “student success” courses into the existing curriculum. Additional measures at the campus level may include: retention merit initiatives, student satisfaction and instructor surveys, and re-entry campaigns to target withdrawn students. According to Tinto (2002), “Most institutions, in my view, have not taken student retention seriously. They have done little to change the way they organize their activities, done little to alter the student experience, and therefore done little to address the deeper roots of student attrition”. The author faults the institutions that attempt to combat the issue by simply adding a course that is “marginal to the academic life of the institution”. While he does not directly address using personality or learning styles as a tool to combat student attrition, he states that, “Institutions that are successful in building settings that educate their students, all students, not just some, are institutions that are successful in retaining their students”. This research will provide an in depth look at existing personality type and retention data, an examination of communication incidents as reported by both “graduates” and “withdrawn” students, and recommendations for implementing personality-based communication techniques in the classroom in an effort to enhance overall student satisfaction. Considering the explosive growth of web-based distance education courses and program offerings, additional considerations will be made to address the online learning environment and its unique communicative needs. It is my assertion that both student retention and overall satisfaction can be enhanced with knowledge of existing personality and learning types of both students and teachers and a modification of the communication processes to fit students’ varying styles and communicative needs. By conducting a very basic level of research on personality types, one can find an abundance of information, each assessment claiming to be more effective than the others. Several textbooks, websites, and employer profiling systems guide users to various paper or web based tests which solicit descriptors of one’s own behavior, characteristics, and tendencies. First published in 1962, one widely recognized psychometric questionnaire used frequently in career counseling is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Respondents are asked to answer 93 forced-choice questions based on their preference of two words or short statements. The results are given in the form of a four letter abbreviation, each letter representing one of their four type preferences based on four dichotomies. The four dichotomies are Extraversion vs. Introversion, Sensing vs. Intuition, Thinking vs. Feeling, and Judging vs. Perceiving. “The MBTI suggests general areas of life, or careers, in which persons are most apt to be interested, motivated, and successful” (Van, 1992, p. 20). As described by John (1990), “The five-factor model is a descriptive framework within which all the important individual differences in personality are subsumed under five global traits” (as quoted in Wolfe & Johnson, 1995, p. 178). The Five Factor Model identifies the “Big Five” personality traits of its respondents and presents them as percentile scores. Measures are comprised of either self-descriptive sentences or adjectives. The Big Five factors are as follows: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. “A personality taxonomy such as the “16-factor model developed by Cattell (1965), posits that there are 16 primary personality factors” (Lidy & Kahn, 2006, p. 124). Through extensive research on the subject, and self assessing with a variety of these tests, the model I have chosen to highlight here is the DiSC personality assessment. The tool measures personality types based on a word association that offers a number of descriptors and asks participants to select the one that is “most like” and “least like” them. The in-depth profile then provides a bar graph measure of each of the four dimensions and a “classical pattern” to the participants. The four dimensions of the assessment are as follows: D (Dominant), i (Influencer), S (Steadiness), C (Conscientiousness).
Navigating the Mental Healthcare Network through a Communication Complex Perspective: An Autoethnography
(2023-08) Seifert, Jorge; Parrish-Sprowl, John; Goering, Elizabeth; White-Mills, Kim
Mental illness is one of the largest health problems in the world and it has grown worse due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Every nation, across all demographic categories, has experienced growth in mental health issues. In many countries there is a serious shortage of mental health professionals to serve the population. While we are relatively better off in the US, the next level question that arises regards service quality. The availability of treatment does not serve well if it does not serve to heal. The problem under investigation examines the interrelationship of mental illness and communication. More specifically, the focus will be on mental illness treatment from an emic perspective. The analysis is framed from a communication complex perspective which treats communication as a dynamic process that is both bioactive and systemic. The method of study is autoethnography and with detailed stories that the author has gone through in their own mental health journey. Autoethnography is a method that seeks to provide evocative and rich description of an individual within an ethnographic setting. The autoethnography will look at four stories that have occurred in the past about mental healthcare networks and problems inherent within them. A discussion on key takeaways from the events described illuminates the limitations and challenges of the current mental healthcare network as well as how a communication complex perspective can enable system improvement.
The Spockian Mother: Images of the “Good” Mother in Dr. Spock’s The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care, 1946-1992
(Taylor & Francis, 2017) Dobris, Catherine A.; White-Mills, Kim; Davidson, Rachel D.; Wellbrook, Toula V.; Department of Communication Studies, School of Liberal Arts
Dr. Spock’s, The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care, one of the best-selling self-help texts of all-time, “second only to the Bible in popularity” (Meakin & Tattersall, 2004) was one of the most influential childcare books in American culture. The author has been both heralded and disparaged as instrumental in the shaping of untold generations. In the present study, we address the rhetorical construction of the Spockian Mother as she is developed during Spock’s tenure from 1946–1992. We employ a feminist rhetorical perspective to examine the progression of Spock’s texts in order to understand how patriarchal images of motherhood are constructed and maintained through Spock’s lifetime and the first 46 years of its publication. We argue that Spock both reinforced and challenged the institution of motherhood; he challenged institutionalized motherhood by encouraging mothers to “trust themselves” while simultaneously conforming to a patriarchal model of motherhood which is at odds with empowered mothering.
Stay interviews: an exploratory study of stay interviews as a retention tool
(2015-03) Baumgartner, Kiersten Hatke; White-Mills, Kim; Sandwina, Ronald M.; Goering, Elizabeth M.; Parrish-Sprowl, John
In order to help individuals feel more engaged within work organizations and more satisfied with their jobs, employers have started to administer stay interviews within organizations, with the end goal being to retain organizational members. Stay interviews have become a proactive solution to the retention problem and have been seen as an alternative to the exit interview. This study proposes that through the use of stay interviews, organizational members will feel more engaged, satisfied, and committed to an organization, which will ultimately result in the retention of organizational members.
Training and Development
(Wiley, 2017) DeWine, Sue; Eicholtz, Mary M.; White-Mills, Kim; Communication Studies, School of Liberal Arts
Training and development are processes that lead to change in individual organizational members for the primary benefit of the organization. These processes are distinct from consulting, which helps decision makers arrive at those same goals. Training and development as well as consulting are functions for communication specialists. In this entry, the major dimensions are described. Needs assessment, technology and training, approaches to training, evaluation of training programs, and adult learning and professional development are addressed. Training as a career in organizational communication is described.
United We Stand: Social Justice for All: A Study of Social Justice and Power Through a Bona Fide Group Perspective
(2011-06-14) Champion-Shaw, Charmayne; White-Mills, Kim; Parrish-Sprowl, John; Flynn, Johnny P.
"In an increasingly abrasive and polarized American society, a greater commitment to social justice can play a construcive role in helping people develop a more sophisticated understanding of diversity and social group interaction, more critically evaluate oppressive social patterns and institutions, and work more democratically with diverse others to create just and inclusive practices and social structures." The importance of social justice is to "help people identify and analyze dehumanizing sociopolitical processes, reflect on their own positions in relation to these processes so as to consider the consequences of oppressive socialization intheir loives, and think proactively about alternate actions given this analysis. The goal of social justice education is to enable people to develop critical analytical tools necessary to understand oppression and their own socialization within oppressive systems, and to develop a sense of agency and capacity to interrupt and chnge oppressive patterns and behaviors in themselves and in the institutions and communitites of which they are a part" (Adams, Bell and Griffin, 1997). Utilizing bona fide group perspective during an ethnographic study of a student group, this study examines how an individual's perception of their self-constructed and group identity(ies) are manifested through social justice behavior - as memebers of a group whose purpose is to engage in social justice.

Browsing by Author "White-Mills, Kim"

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