David F. Ayers

A native of Dobson, North Carolina, Dr. Ayers received a Bachelor of Science in Spanish and a Master of Arts in higher education administration from Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. His graduate work at Appalachian included a concentration in Spanish with a focus on contemporary Latin American cultures. In 1999 he received a Doctor of Education in higher education administration from the Department of Adult and Community College Education at North Carolina State University. For more than ten years Dr. Ayers has taught within a variety of contexts including adult continuing education in Monterrey, Mexico; K-12 education both public and private; community college education; and graduate education. He worked within administrative and instructional capacities in North Carolina community colleges for seven years before accepting an appointment as assistant professor of higher education at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 2002.

There are 11 included publications by David F. Ayers :

TitleDateViewsBrief Description
Community Colleges and the Politics of Sociospatial Scale 2011 2663 In an analysis of 421 community college mission statements, I demonstrate how community colleges recontextualize a dominant discourse in which economic activity at the global scale transcends regulation, the nation-state lacks the moral authority to ...
Conservation and education: prominent themes in zoo mission statements 2007 12937 In this study, the authors examine the mission statements of 136 zoos in the United States that the American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA) has accredited, and report on the predominant themes of education and conservation in the statements. To e...
Culturally Responsive Pedagogy and Online Learning: Implications for the Globalized Community College 2006 4588 Implicit in the open-door mission of the community college is the mandate that every learning experience should offer full equity and inclusion for all learners, including those of diverse cultural backgrounds. This mission is paramount, given the cu...
Institutional Contradiction in the Community College 2009 3769 Critical discourse analysis was employed to examine the narratives collected from 40 community college administrators who were asked to recount their experience in an event, activity, or decision that challenged their values. The analysis yielded thr...
Manifestations of Neoliberal Discourses Within a Local Job-Training Program 2007 2916 The purpose of conducting this study was to understand how neoliberal discourses manifest within the local context of a short-term, job-training program offered at a two-year college in the USA. Ethnographic data were collected at the local site thro...
Mission Priorities of Community Colleges in the Southern United States 2002 3472 Community college leaders must articulate the adaptive challenges ahead if colleges are to respond to learner needs in a rapidly changing environment.
Mission statements of AZA-accredited zoos: Do they say what we think they say? 2007 7735 Most zoos have a ‘mission statement’, or statement of purpose, that directs operational decisions and sets goals for the institution (Mazur and Clark, 2001). It is through their mission statements that zoos share their passion for animals and animal ...
Neoliberal Ideology in Community College Mission Statements: A Critical Discourse Analysis 2005 7779 Because the community college is often the only viable educational option for members of marginalized communities, the structural outcomes of its mission are of great consequence to educators, policymakers, and citizens concerned with social justice ...
Organizational Climate in Its Semiotic Aspect: A Postmodern Community College Undergoes Renewal 2005 4128 The chief purpose of the present study was to chart various institutional discourses relating to the climate at a rural community college undergoing organizational renewal. The researcher hypothesized that members of various subsystems within the ins...
Review of the book Collaborations across educational sectors, New Directions for Community Colleges (Vol. 139) 2008 987 Edited by Marilyn J. Amey, it may serve as a resource for community college administrators and faculty, state policy- and decision- makers, institutional researchers, and educators in other sectors who may find themselves partnering with community co...
Security, Dignity, Caring Relationships, and Meaningful Work: Needs Motivating Participation in a Job-Training Program 2008 2276 Researchers asked 17 participants in a job-training program to describe their personal struggles following an economic restructuring. Examined through a critical theoretical lens, findings indicate that the learners enrolled in the program to reclaim...