The UTC Graduate School is pleased to announce that Carshonda Harris Martin will present Doctoral research titled, The Influence of Summer Bridge Program on African American Students at East Tennessee State University on 06/18/2025 at 1pm via Zoom (https://tennessee.zoom.us/j/85489546092). Everyone is invited to attend.
Learning and Leadership
Chair: Dr. Elizabeth K. Crawford
Co-Chair:
Abstract:
The purpose of this research was to investigate if there was a significant difference of academic success between African American participants and non-participants of the B.U.C.S. Academy program, a summer bridge program, at East Tennessee State University (ETSU). Although African American students’ enrollment has increased for several years, this population remains underrepresented in comparison to majority groups regarding retention, grade point average, and attainment of bachelor’s degrees (East Tennessee State University, 2021). For the purpose of this study, academic success was defined as key metrics of fall-to-fall retention rate, grade point average, and four and six-year graduation rate. Through further evaluate the academic success of African American students at ETSU, four research questions were used for the study to analyze any significant difference between overall satisfaction and academic success for African American students who are/were enrolled in the B.U.C.S. Academy Program and African American non-participants at ETSU, any significant difference for African American students between the overall grade point average, any significant difference between the fall-to-fall retention rates, and any significant difference between the graduation rates at both the 4-year and 6-year levels For this study, the researcher used a non-experimental, comparative quantitative approach. In the study, the researcher gathered two data sets of quantitative data and survey responses. The researcher aimed to offer a more comprehensive awareness of the African American student experience by analyzing both students’ perceived satisfaction and academic achievements (Bowen et al., 2017). The researcher compared two groups, African American students at ETSU who participated in the B.U.C.S. Academy program and African American students who were non-participants within the program from 2018 to 2023. The researcher employed two statistical tests, the t-test and Chi-square test, to determine if the means of African American participants and non-participants were compatible. Both the t-test and Chi-square were run in Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and revealed to the researcher if there was statistically significant difference between the means of both sample populations (Field, 2013).