A Methodology for the Emerging: Bringing College and Community Together

The purpose of this qualitative case study is to create a unified humanistic methodology for institutions of higher education engaging undergraduate students and diverse/displaced youth in pro-social group activity. Scholarly researchers have expressed the current methodological disconnect between institutions seeking to accommodate displaced populations. With more people around the world becoming compulsorily displaced, institutions of higher education to must take a pro-active approach to engaging these populations. The United States is one of the world's leaders in accepting displaced, immigrant, and refugee populations. Within the U.S., the city of Utica, NY has become fourth in the nation's density of refugee populations. Operating for over 20 years on the Mohawk Valley Community College Campus in Utica is the higher education program Kidz n' Coaches. This program takes a pro-active approach to meeting the needs of undergraduates and displaced youth. Through a qualitative case study approach, this dissertation seeks to study the methodology of Kidz n' Coaches as well as the intellectualism of its creator James D. Smrtic. The researcher utilized qualitative semi-structured in-depth interviews to uncover the methodology of Kidz n' Coaches as well as the intellectualism of James D. Smrtic. By studying the Kidz n' Coaches methodology, the researcher has created an intergenerational, intercultural, and adaptive humanistic methodology that is generalizable for institutions of higher education around the world engaging undergraduates and displaced/diverse youth in pro-social group activity. This unified methodology will be known as "A Methodology for the Emerging." [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]