Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Community Engagement Newsletter, January 2024, University Of Northern Iowa. Office Of Community Engagement.

Community Engagement Newsletter

In this issue:

--- Calling all Service-Learning Courses for Designation
--- Engaged Scholars Initiative hosted by National Campus Compact
--- HUD + Higher Ed Engagement Network
--- Spring Volunteer Fair
--- Community Engagement Celebration Day
--- Certified Nonprofit Professional Credential (CNP)
--- UNI Engaged Podcast

The Battle Over Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion And Critical Race Theory In Florida: A Case Study On The Stop W.O.K.E. Act, Grace Anne Castelin

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Accelerating from 2022 and continuing through 2024, the state of Florida has experienced significant policy changes, particularly within the realm of higher education and affairs of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Many progressive officials, experts, and activists assert arguments that the state is on the verge of evolving into an authoritarian regime while many illiberal policies are being produced through the Florida legislature and current executive leadership—social and economic sectors are consequently threatened in order to maintain political oppression. The Stop W.O.K.E. Act has served as a catalyst for shifting the state's political stance on DEI, culminating in a chain …

Department Chairs’ Impact On The Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion Of Their Departments, Nicholas R. Garcia Ii

Theses and Dissertations

Department chairs serve not only as the leaders of their departments but also as middle managers in their schools, colleges, and universities. While many department chairs see their role as having little authority, they still play an integral role in day-to-day campus operations (Hunt & Jones, 2015). As leaders of their departments, chairs can directly influence the department’s organizational culture (Schein, 2010), including the culture of diversity and inclusiveness. Departments nationwide are being held responsible for increasing the diversity of the faculty and responding to students' calls for diversity. Departmental organizational culture and the role of the chairperson are essential …

For A Lost Drachma: Contesting Hindutva Subjectivation In India’S Universities, Bhavika Sicka

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Faculty Publications

The aim of this essay is to apply Michel Foucault’s ideas on power and the practice of freedom to the context of India’s increasingly neoliberalized higher education landscape. The essay revisits Foucault’s notion of subjectivation to analyze the cultural politics of the Hindu Right, which, through organized violence and self-disciplinary mechanisms, has attempted to masculinize, privatize, saffronize, and brahmanicize the nation-state (and the public university), erase the othered body from the nation (and campus spaces), and shape how individuals understand themselves, their identities, and their modes of being in relation to savarna-capitalist power and knowledge. This essay will also suggest …

The Classification Paradox: Historically Black Colleges' And Universities' Complex Relationship With Inequitable Experiences With The Carnegie Classification System, Felecia Commodore

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Faculty Publications

[Introduction] Higher education in the United States boasts of diverse institutional offerings to students. From community colleges to well-resourced liberal arts institutions, this diverse array of institutions and types has created a system commonly viewed as having a variety of access points for those seeking higher learning. Higher education stakeholders can argue that this diversity is a strong suit of American higher education, but an argument can also be made that this same institutional diversity laid the groundwork for systemic racism and inequities within the higher education system.

These inequities exist through various intersecting systems and practices, such as the …

2023-2024 Annual Report By The Numbers [Infographic], Sarah Myers, Murray Library

Library Publications

Murray Library's 2023-2024 Annual Report displayed as an infographic. It includes highlights for the 2023-24 year and testimonials from undergraduate students.

In Pursuit Of Consumption-Based Forecasting, Charles Chase, Kenneth B. Kahn

Marketing Faculty Publications

[Introduction] Today's most mature, most sophisticated, best-in-class forecasting is what we call consumption-based forecasting (CBF). In contrast, the least sophisticated companies typically do not forecast at all, but rather set financial targets based on management expectations. Companies beginning to use statistical forecasting techniques usually take a supply-centric orientation, relying on time series techniques applied to shipment and/or order history. The next stage of progression is to incorporate promotions data, economic data, and market data alongside supply-centric data so that regression and other advanced analytics can be used. Companies pursing CBF utilize even more advanced capabilities to capture, examine, and understand …

How Black Undergraduate Students Experience Whiteness In Postsecondary Education, Karen Margaret Guettler-James

Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

Critical whiteness scholars have described whiteness as a system of oppression that privileges White identities above others and perpetuates White supremacy. On the college campus, institutional, social, and historical norms reinforce the educational status quo and work together to maintain a system of whiteness that marginalizes Black students. This study investigated perceptions of whiteness held by student participants who self-identify as Black undergraduate students. Through focus group interviews, participants were asked to share their lived experiences with whiteness on the college campus. With the words of the participants, I reveal how campus standards that align with White Eurocentric norms devalue …

Incarcerated To Educated: The On-Campus Experiences Of College Students Post Incarceration, Taylor Comer

Masters Theses

As reentry rates continue to climb in the United States, more individuals with felony convictions on their criminal records will be looking to obtain post-secondary education to make themselves more marketable in the workforce. The purpose of this narrative study was to examine the experiences of three individuals that pursued higher education after being released from prison. It was determined that the criminality of these individuals had minimal impact on their experiences in higher education, and that there are other components of their identity that have a heavier influence on their likelihood of success. The other components of their identities …

Victim Advocates' Experiences In The Provision Of Domestic Violence Services For Jewish Women, Michael Sue Jenefsky

Theses and Dissertations

Domestic violence is a serious, dangerous global epidemic and does not discriminate. Domestic violence has no limitations happening in all communities, religions, and cultures. There are many types of abuse, and it is not always physical; however, the underlying threat of violence is perceived by victims. Abusers use manipulative and coercive tactics to gain and maintain power and control of victims. It is deliberate and a choice. Feelings of shame, guilt, blame, failure, helplessness, and being trapped with no means to escape are prevalent among victims. Jewish women have specific feelings and fears that are associated with halakha, Jewish law, …

Implementing A Stepped Care Model: A Case Study Of Two College Counseling Centers, Stephanie L Johnson-Kane

Dissertations and Theses

The demand for mental health counseling services has surged, but the capacity of college counseling centers to meet this demand has not kept pace. The effects of COVID-19 have exacerbated this already fragile system of care. College students are enrolling in college with increased levels of anxiety, depression, disordered eating, suicidal ideation, and substance use. College counseling center staff are facing burnout. The waitlist to receive mental health services is at critical capacity. This multi-site case study was designed to foster an understanding of two college counseling centers' implementation of the stepped care approach as a mental health service delivery …

Social Gender Norms And Depression In College Students, Derek Deeney

Masters Theses

The primary purpose of this quantitative study was to determine if there was a relationship between the conformity to social gender norms (masculine and feminine) and depression among male and female college students at a mid-sized, four-year public institution in the Midwest. A secondary purpose was to investigate if there was a difference in depression between males and females, and if a there was a difference in conformity to social gender norms (masculine and feminine) between males and females. Understanding the trends in social norm conformity and depression can lead to changes in how faculty and staff in higher education …

Navigating Campus Climate: Microaggressions And Microaffirmations Impacting Trans* College Students On College Campuses, Chas Figueroa

Masters Theses

This study explored the microaggressions and microaffirmations that transgender college students experienced on their campus. The study looked at the impact those experiences had on transgender student perspectives regarding inclusivity on campus. With the population of out college age trans* students growing there is a need to look at the importance of inclusive practices in colligate environments. This narrative approach takes the stories of two trans* college students and interprets their experiences with themes of misgendering, university action, university community, and signs of support. The study indicated that trans* college student’s perspectives on inclusivity was impacted by the microaggressions and …

Retrospective: The Beginning, Section 1, Sally Brown, Linda Blake

Art in the Libraries Retrospective: 2015-2024

This section of the WVU Art in the Libraries Retrospective (2015-2024) exhibition includes the history of the Art in the Libraries Program, including the first exhibitions and the forming of the committee.

How Saudi Undergraduate Students Perceive Teacher Support, Basic Psychological Needs, And Academic Motivation, Anas M. Alhudib

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation examines the Saudi undergraduate educational environment, exploring relationships among teacher support, basic psychological needs satisfaction and frustration, academic motivation, and GPA. The study investigates whether basic psychological needs mediate the relationship between teacher support and academic motivation, utilizing a structural equation model with 312 Saudi undergraduate students. The findings reveal a positive relationship between teacher support and basic psychological need satisfaction, influencing academic motivation. Interestingly, GPA did not correlate with other variables. Various models were tested, resulting in two sets of models that underscore the significant role of basic psychological needs as mediators in shaping the relationship between …

Designing For Everyone: Accessibility, Inclusion, And Equity In Online Instruction, Kimberly Shotick

Faculty Books & Book Chapters

This chapter introduces practices that promote equity and inclusion in online learning spaces through the lens of Universal Design for Learning.

Webometrics Analysis Of Government Medical Colleges Of Bihar: A Study, Debashish Pandit Paul, Mohd. Aslam Khan, Anubhaw Kumar Suman

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The study presents the webometrics analysis of 9 websites of Government Medical Colleges under the Health Department, Government of Bihar. The Purpose of in study to identify the web presence, domain analysis and other webometrics indicators of the selected website. The study uses SEO MOZ for data collection. It was found that the website of Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital, Muzaffarpur (SKMCH) has the highest domain authority of 27 and the highest page authority of Nalanda Medical College and Hospital, Patna (NMCH) of 35. The study concluded that all websites should be inter-connected, well-maintained and …

The Unequal Distribution Of Social Risk For Black Men Across The Life-Span. A Novel Framework., Waleed Y. Sami

Adultspan Journal

This conceptual overview offers a comprehensive overview of systemic pathways that negatively impact the mental health of Black Men throughout their lives. Our argument highlights the importance for counselors and mental health professionals to utilize a thorough social risk assessment that considers these pathways in order to effectively address the mental health needs of Black Men while fostering positive working relationships. This overview strongly advocates for the use of context and structural determinants when evaluating mental health symptoms. Without an appropriate understanding of social risk and determinants, counselors may inadvertently perpetuate disparities by decontextualizing symptomology, and reproducing racist discourse.

Critical Convergence: Mapping The Boundaries Of How Faculty Interrogate Whiteness In The Geoscience Educational Landscape, James E. Hobbs

Educational Leadership & Policy Studies Dissertations

This study examined the role of faculty members in interrogating whiteness within geoscience education. The dominant reliance on whiteness as the primary way of knowing in geoscience education has long perpetuated a singular perspective that serves as a mechanism for reinforcing existing power structures rooted in white supremacy. Drawing on tenets from Critical whiteness Studies, Curriculum Theory, and Transformative Learning Theory, this research investigated U.S. higher education faculty members' strategies and challenges in disrupting whiteness within the geoscience curriculum.

Through critical qualitative narrative inquiry, data were collected through semi-structured interviews with geoscience faculty members across multiple institutions across the United …

True Culture At War With Colonizer Culture: The Underrepresentation Of Pacific Islander Students In Higher Education., Loriann A. Leota

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This dissertation is an examination of the limited number of Pacific Islander students that advance from high school to higher education. It also examines the percentage of Pacific Islander students that attend higher education, but do not acquire their degree. Pacific Islander students informally recognize the dominant United States culture and curriculum as not culturally relevant and colonizing in nature. Thus, they struggle to adhere to colonizer culture and rely heavily on their culture (true culture), which has a set of norms that do not align with American cultural values. Pacific Islander culture is collectivist, which is in opposition to …

"Why Does This Have To Be So Hard?": Perinatal Experiences From An Ecological Systems Approach, Caitlin Senk

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study examines the lived experience of the perinatal population to understand how they can be supported from the lens of different ecological systems and what counselors can do to better serve people with uteruses during their perinatal experience. Furthermore, this study aims to utilize an inclusive framework for capturing the perinatal experience of people with uteruses and to explore barriers and facilitators to care through an ecological systems framework. Fifteen participants who have experienced infertility, conception, pregnancy, miscarriage, childbirth, stillbirth, and postpartum were recruited through various means throughout the United States. Thematic analysis was used, with semi-structured interviews and …

Case Study: Improving Student Advisory Board Engagement, Anita R. Hall

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

After two pandemic-impacted academic years, the University of Louisville’s Libraries Student Advisory Board (LSAB) was starting to feel stagnant. Meetings that had previously included hands-on activities, lively conversation, and free food had settled into the virtual meeting doldrums. Attendance was down and conversation felt stilted, despite the librarian facilitator devoting additional time and effort to preparing for each meeting. In an effort to improve engagement among the group and better understand the continued relevance of advisory groups in the current moment, the author undertook a series of interviews with other advisory group facilitators. Results from these interviews were used to …

Masculinism, Institutional Violence And #Metoo: Understanding Australian University Responses To The Covid-19 Pandemic, Emily Gray, Jacqueline Ullman, Mindy Blaise, Jo Pollitt

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This article offers an analysis of data from the project Sexism, Higher Education, and Covid-19: The Australian Perspective. The authors argue that the gendered impact of the pandemic in Higher Education Institutions constitutes a form of institutionally perpetrated sexist harassment, and that raising awareness of the ways in which institutions themselves enable and perpetrate such harassment is consistent with the aims of the #MeToo movement. This article is intended to act as testament to the ways in which Australian universities function as masculinist institutions that, during this time of crisis, deployed tactics that were experienced by women and minority-identifying research …

Increasing Expectations For Entry: Analyzing Changes In Labor Market Entry-Level Education Requirements Over Time With Potential Implications For Credential Or Degree Inflation And Returns-To-Education, William Nicholas Grinstead

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation

The dissertation asks the following question: Have occupations increased academic degree requirements over time?

The literature review provides background on the origin and criticisms of the concept of a “knowledge economy.” It addresses economic “signaling theory” and sociologic “credentialism.”

The methodology relies on a trend analysis using the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Outlook Handbook and the occupations’ Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system and its predecessor the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT). In order to address whether occupations have increased academic degree requirements over time, this dissertation will compare entry-level education requirements for BLS SOC occupations that today are …

Exploring The Needs Of College Students Experiencing Housing Instability, Sandy D. Dawoud

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

This qualitative study explored the needs and experiences of college students who have aged out of the foster care system and facing housing instability at a large public institution. The study explores the participants' pre-college experiences and college journey to identify challenges they faced, sources of support, and unmet needs impacting their education. Analysis of 14 individual interviews highlighted key themes related to motivations, obstacles, and desired assistance across areas like finances, mental health, academics, and support systems. This work has implications for implementing tailored institutional support, community partnerships, transition programs, and advocacy efforts to promote resilience and success for …

Digitalcommons@Cedarville Statistical Report For December 2023, Cedarville University

DigitalCommons@Cedarville Monthly Reports

No abstract provided.

Introduction And Table Of Contents, Mary Rodriguez

Journal of International Agricultural and Extension Education

The Journal of International Agricultural and Extension Education is the official refereed publication of the Association for International Agricultural and Extension Education (AIAEE). Its purpose is to enhance the research and knowledge base of agricultural and extension education from an international perspective.

Manuscript Submission Guidelines, Mary Rodriguez

Journal of International Agricultural and Extension Education

Guidelines for submissions

4-H Senegal Community Of Practice Developing Stem Curricula That Leads To Youth-Driven Discovery And Innovation, Fatima Z. Kebe, Hannah H. Scherer

Journal of International Agricultural and Extension Education

In 2015, Jeunesse en Agriculture (JEA), French for “Youth in Agriculture” formed 4-H clubs in Senegal, West Africa. JEA set out to develop culturally relevant STEM curricula for their 4-H youth learners. This led to the novel formation of the 4-H Senegal STEM Community of Practice (CoP), a group designed to create engaging content and activities that leverage local interest and resources. The CoP Practice used a conceptual framework that applies the United States National Research Council’s Engage-Respond-Connect framing as criteria contextualized for 4-H Senegal STEM learning. JEA team members and the CoP used a design-based educational research approach to …

Fighting Alone: The Lived Experiences Of African Women Immigrant Farmers Acquiring Land In The U.S., Willis Ochieng, Damilola Ajayi

Journal of International Agricultural and Extension Education

The study adopted phenomenology to understand the lived experiences of African Women Immigrant Farmers (AWIFS) acquiring land in the U.S. Seven participants were interviewed through semi-structured interviews. The study found that AWIFs acquire land from friends, and organizations serving immigrants, including government agencies. AWIFS also partners with spouses or close relatives to purchase agricultural land. Nonetheless, AWIFS experiences numerous challenges such as limited social networks which restrict access to land-related information. Other challenges include a lack of knowledge of American land structures and tenure systems, financial challenges, and stringent funding requirements. To overcome such barriers, AWIFS, engage in expanding their …