Graduate higher education has done little to assess and understand graduate students’ needs and experiences beyond the classroom. Therefore, we conducted a phenomenological study using multiple data collection tools, including survey and focus groups from two different time periods to implement a multiphase needs assessment. The goal of the evaluation was to better understand graduate students’ overall needs and experiences related to professional development at a public Carnegie classified Doctoral Research University in the Rocky Mountain Region. Results revealed the following themes: perceptions of professional development in graduate school, finding balance is never ending, experiences of personal and professional barriers, and the importance of faculty and peer relationships. Discussion, implications, limitations, and a conclusion are provided.

This study measured marital satisfaction of low-income couples in a Western state following participation in the Building Healthy Marriages program, which aimed to educate couples and increase relationship satisfaction. The researchers' goals were the following: To determine the areas in which participants experienced the greatest number of problems before entering the program, to assess the program's impact on marital satisfaction, and to examine the differences in program impact between various demographic groups. To assess the program's impact, participants were administered the Marital Satisfaction Inventory-Revised before beginning the program and 1 year after completing the pretest. Before starting the program, couples experienced the greatest number of challenges in relationships within their families of origin and problem-solving communication and the fewest problems in areas related to their children. Couples reported significant improvements in marital satisfaction. These changes did not differ significantly between different gender and ethnicity groups.

The focus of this study was to understand why 20 Chinese students selected a rural, regionally focused research university. The research sought to (1) offer new, nuanced understanding of how Chinese students selected a university not well-known to international students and (2) advance how an institution of this type could meet its goal of improving and increasing Chinese student recruitment. As a majority of the Chinese students who selected this institution were majoring in music, this study offers implications for niche marketing and recruitment. In addition to the knowledge produced, this study models academic and student affairs collaboration where the research findings directly inform practice.

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