Persistence, Trust, and Long-Term Commitment.
Keith's doctoral dissertation examines international student persistence during what Ontario colleges are beginning to call the post-cap period — the era following federal government reductions to international study permit allocations that began in 2023 and accelerated through 2024. The policy changes produced enrolment shocks across the college system that remain poorly understood and inadequately studied.
His research asks a deceptively simple question: when international students find themselves in an environment of institutional uncertainty, reduced financial support, and shifting social conditions, what determines whether they persist or withdraw? The answer, his preliminary findings suggest, is not simply academic performance or language proficiency — it is a complex of social integration, institutional belonging, perceived faculty support, and access to practical resources.
The theoretical framework draws on Tinto's model of student departure, Schlossberg's transition theory, and an emerging body of Canadian postsecondary research that takes the specific conditions of international students seriously rather than treating them as a variant of the domestic student experience.
Scholarship at the Intersection of Practice, Policy, and Organisational Change.
Beyond the dissertation, Keith's scholarly interests include the pedagogical implications of generative AI in postsecondary assessment, curriculum renewal methodology in disrupted program environments, and the application of transformational leadership theory to college-level instructional practice.
His peer-reviewed record is available through his ORCID profile. He is an active participant in institutional research at Georgian College and has presented preliminary doctoral findings at regional symposia for Ontario college educators and administrators.
He approaches research with the same commitment to clarity and practical relevance that defines his teaching: if it does not ultimately illuminate something useful about the experience of learners and the conditions that shape that experience, it is not the kind of scholarship he wants to produce.
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