Digital Commons Network^™

Increasing Breast Cancer Screenings In The New American Population, Tuhina Venkatayogi Mph, Bs, Rn, Erin Leighton Dnp, Aprn, Fnp-Bc

College of Nursing and Health Sciences Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Project Publications

Purpose: Breast cancer poses a significant health risk globally, with routine screenings pivotal for early detection. The New American population in Vermont face many barriers to accessing mammogram screenings and have a 0% participation rate in breast cancer screening, thus necessitating targeted interventions. The purpose of this project was to improve mammogram participation among New Americans by at least 15% by January 2024.

Methods: The intervention at a New American clinic included an educational infographic presented during initial health center visits, supplemented by tangible pamphlets. Patient understanding was assessed through teach-back questions. Appointment scheduling was facilitated during the visit, with …

Student Attitudes About Cultural Humility Within Nursing Curriculum: A Survey Of Undergraduate Nursing Students At A Northeastern University, Kacia Smith

UVM Patrick Leahy Honors College Senior Theses

Cultural humility is the practice of continuous self-reflection and critique where an individual learns about a culture and explores their own personal beliefs and cultural identity. This allows for the deconstruction of biases and assumptions, and the acknowledgment of power imbalances. This in turn helps to build respectful, honest, and trustworthy relationships with others and holds institutions accountable. In the context of the field of nursing, cultural humility plays an important role in creating positive client experiences and healthcare outcomes. Within nursing school accreditation standards, however, cultural humility is not an explicit domain outlined. With that, the incorporation of cultural …

Social Justice And The Us Food System: A Critical Course On The Human Dimensions Of Food, Ali Brooks

Food Systems Master's Project Reports

Our world is made up of overlapping political, environmental, and economic spheres that engender social injustice and inequality. Though separate societal issues can seem divergent and unconnected, they are all linked together by one universal necessity: food. Because everyone eats, everyone is connected to—and dependent on—food and the systems that govern it. However, the impacts of our industrial food system are not felt equally among people who hold different positions of power within it.

Today’s industrial food complex operates on the capitalist principle of profit accumulation through exploitation, commodification, and extraction. This set of relations is not defined by scale …

Improving Mental Health Documentation Through Education: An Intervention For Level Of Care Utilization System (Locus) Use In Psychiatric Crisis Placement, Lauren Ozimek

College of Nursing and Health Sciences Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Project Publications

Purpose: The Community Mental Health Act (1963) created crisis stabilization units to lessen burdens of emergency departments addressing psychiatric crises. Crisis stabilization units – including the project site – evaluate treatment efficacy via assessments including the Level of Care Utilization System (LOCUS). The LOCUS is totaled into a composite score, expected to decrease at treatment completion. The project site has not consistently seen LOCUS scores decrease at completion. The project’s purpose was to improve use of a clinical assessment tool to reflect treatment and progress for patients utilizing crisis stabilization programs. A secondary aim was to increase incidence (75%) of …

Adolescent Suicide Prevention Via Parental Education, Junelle Shepard, Mary Val Palumbo

College of Nursing and Health Sciences Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Project Publications

Purpose. Up to 24% of children from the ages of 12 to 17 have reported suicidal ideation, with 7-11% reporting at least one suicide attempt in the past 12 months (Hetrick, 2017). In a study by Jones et al (2019) over 50% of parents were unaware their child was exhibiting suicidal ideation. This project aims to increase community awareness of suicidal ideation and teach community members how to talk with adolescents about this sensitive topic.

Methods. Five online training sessions were offered in Fall 2021, with each session lasting 90 minutes. Using Smith et al.’s Suicide Knowledge and Skills Questionnaire, …

Secondary Students’ Perspective On Relationships And Belonging Within A High School Implementing Tier One Restorative Practice: A Secondary Data Analysis, Olivia L. Mauro

UVM Patrick Leahy Honors College Senior Theses

Restorative Approaches are a foundational mindset adopted in schools that focus on fostering relationships and building a unified community that, in turn, mitigates harmful and negative behavior. Restorative Practice is a positive, school-wide intervention system often implemented within K-12 schools fitted into multiple, fluid tiers for the purpose of providing increasing support throughout its levels. At its universal level, Restorative Practice aims to build a school-wide community. From a restorative perspective, this can be achieved through establishing high, consistent expectations, using affective language, and holding Community Building Circles. This secondary study and thesis aim to add to the literature by …

Understanding The Relationship Among Durable Goods, Academic Achievement, And School Attendance In Colombia, Hans Walter Cabra

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

A joint report from the United Nations Development Program and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative indicates that while the number of people living with less than $1.90 a day declined globally, dropping from 2 billion in 1990 to 736 million in 2015, the number of people who experienced non-income poverty reached 1.3 billion in 2020. Non-income poverty, referred to as multidimensional poverty, assesses the extent to which people are deprived from accessing basic services such as health, education, or attaining decent living standards, despite having income levels well above $1.90.

Research on development and welfare economics points to …

Culinary Education As An Experiential Complement To Nutritional Science Information To Improve Learning And Food Agency, Olivia May

Food Systems Master's Project Reports

With misinformation regarding nutrition and health only a few clicks away, the need for increased nutrition education from reputable sources is pressing. (Krishna & Thompson, 2021) The integration of culinary education as a compliment to an introductory nutrition course may provide enhanced learning and improve food agency. (Pherson-Geyser et al., 2020; Trubek B. et al., 2017) This project edited the current University of Vermont NFS 095 Cooking for Health curriculum to be a 1-credit class that serves as a complimentary course to the University of Vermont NFS 043 Intro to Nutrition. As a method of creating impact in the community, …

Master’S Project: Exploring And Supporting Social And Ecological Dimensions Of Pollinator Habitat Enhancement In Burlington, Vt, Victoria Hellwig

Rubenstein School Masters Project Publications

Urbanization and other manmade impacts threaten critical pollinator species like the bumblebee, whose populations are significantly affected by habitat loss. In response, activists in the City of Burlington are enhancing habitat to increase biodiversity through collaborative partnerships in urban green spaces. In an effort to explore and support pollinator habitat enhancement in Burlington, I examined social interactions involved in a group highly motivated to enhance habitat at Lakeview Cemetery and Champlain Elementary School, with an emphasis on power dynamics and place meanings of these sites. In conjunction with this exploration, I created landscape designs, planted a native habitat garden, and …

Networked Improvement Community Hub Leadership: A Unique Case Study Of State Education Agents Of Change, Lori Dolezal

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Networked Improvement Communities (NICs) are emerging, yet few empirical studies have examined implementation factors, efficacy, and outcomes. Fewer have examined structures, dispositions, and behaviors of NIC hub leadership, especially hubs led by State Education Agencies (SEAs). This unique, qualitative case study explores adaptive leadership and emerging improvement leadership models in the context of a NIC hub operated exclusively by an SEA. Through semi-structured interviews and document reviews, this study investigates how SEA hub leaders establish conditions to build educator capacity for continuous improvement within a NIC model, focusing specifically on leadership structures, behaviors, and mental models. Provisional findings demonstrate alignment …

Master's Project: Cultivating Liberatory Learning Spaces Through Racial Equity Coaching & Facilitation, Marissa R. Barbieri

Rubenstein School Leadership for Sustainability Project Publications

In the 2019-2020 school year, the Vermont Principals’ Association convened school leaders for a two-year-long exploration of educational equity. Year one of the initiative included individual and peer group coaching as a key support and space for inquiry. I acted as Lead Coach, providing coaching to eight practitioners - principals, a counselor, a classroom teacher, and a Director of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. Throughout this engagement, I tracked the practices that enable educators to examine and disrupt whiteness as it operates within ourselves, our relationships, and our schools. This paper explores the elements of racial equity coaching and facilitation that …

Master's Project: Be You: A Journey To Find Courage, Amaya Mirentxu Carrasco-Torrontegui

Rubenstein School Leadership for Sustainability Project Publications

This capstone project has been transformational, a journey to courage. My project was focused on assisting Latino migrants to the U.S. to create a sustainable food system and support their physical, mental and economic wellbeing during Covid-19. In this project, I applied observational and quantitative methods. Through this process, I was able to discover my capacity for self-awareness, leading by example and the heart. Outcomes of my capstone project included the development of an eight-session seminar on sustainable food production in collaboration with the Missouri University Extension that was attended by 240 participants from nine different countries. Additionally, I supported …

Recalibrating Our Moral Compass: How America's Narrowing Value System Is Erasing Lgbtq+ People In Schools, Andrew Levalley

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

This thesis bridges the effects of society—meaning politics, policies, norms, and values—and school on LGBTQ+ students. Paramount educational philosophers, namely Dewey, Freire, Berliner, and Illich, understood that schools are a reflection of the communities they serve. I apply this common philosophy to the LGBTQ+ community to uncover the systems of inequalities that have negative effects on LGBTQ+ youth in order to promote better systems that include both LGBTQ+ youth and the larger LGBTQ+ community. To illustrate the effects of society and school on the LGBTQ+ community and youth, I use traditional peer reviewed researched data, current events that showcase America’s …

Developing An Evidence-Based Mentorship Program For New Graduate Nurse Practitioners, Matthew R. Guy

College of Nursing and Health Sciences Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Project Publications

Purpose. Excessive job turnover in the novice nurse practitioner (NP) population is a stressful phenomenon for providers, adversely affecting institutional financial performance, and has the potential to lead to poorer health outcomes for the individuals we serve. The purpose of this investigation was to assess the need for the establishment of a structured mentorship program for new graduate nurse practitioners. As an aspect of an institutional quality improvement project, the overall goal is to reduce new graduate NP employment turnover.

Methods. A literature search was conducted in order to appraise and synthesize available knowledge regarding employment turnover and mentorship programs …

Master's Project: Maple: A Sap To Syrup Guide, A Manual For Career And Technical Centers Of Vermont, Lynn Michelle Wolfe

Rubenstein School Masters Project Publications

Maple syrup production is a very important aspect of Vermont life and history. Every year in the early spring, people of all ages find their way to the woods to tap trees, collect sap, and participate in the great tradition of producing maple syrup. Maple syrup production is an essential industry from a historical, cultural, agricultural, and economic perspective. As the industry continues to grow, it creates potential employment opportunities for people of all ages, including recent high school graduates.

Through a collaboration between Vermont high school agriculture/natural resources instructors, the UVM Extension Maple Specialist, Shelburne Farms, and the UVM …

The Benefits Of Family And Consumer Science Education: One Educators Quest To Find Meaning Through Self Discovery And Holistic Teaching, Julie Shaw

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

(Teachers) are engaged in work that will influence not just students’ immediate level of knowledge but their entire lives, and thereby they have the potential to contribute to the future of humanity itself. –

Dalai Lama (Spiritual Leader)

The world of public education is much different now than when I was a student not so long ago. In only ten years, the world has opened up and changed in a way that no one imagined, thanks to cell phones and social media. Students can now walk through the halls of school with a device in their pocket that allows them …

Culturally Responsive Adult Education For Non-Western Learners, Asma Ali M. Abunaib

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Although education theory in general includes important insights related to the relationship between multiculturalism and pedagogy, a critical analysis of what are considered culturally responsive western adult education methods, such as Experiential Learning Cycle & Dialogue Education (ELC) suggests significant adaptations should be made when applied in settings with non-western learners. This paper highlights the challenges and opportunities of utilizing adult education methods as a framework in delivering learning opportunities in non-western settings or for non-western, new American communities in western settings. Specifically, the author discusses her experience in one Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp in Darfur, Sudan, presenting her …

Predictors Of Psychotherapy Attrition Among Refugees, Emily Robin Pichler

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

It is estimated that approximately one in five patients will terminate therapy early, before participating in full treatment and obtaining maximum therapeutic benefits. Millions of people are forcibly displaced as refugees each year, and therefore at increased risk for poverty, discrimination, and complex mental health needs, yet no research has yet examined rates or predictors of psychotherapy attrition among refugees. The current study draws upon a sample of refugee clients seeking treatment at a community clinic (N = 196), and a comparison group of 165 non-refugee clients at the same clinic. Logistic regression was employed to (1) compare rates of …

Master's Project: Relationship With And Within The Land At A Preschool - Grade 12 School, Benjamin Brock

Rubenstein School Leadership for Sustainability Project Publications

This project explored the role that relationship with and within a place can play in fostering environmental and community ethics at Riverstone International School in Boise, Idaho. Riverstone International School is an organization recognized for its academic achievement and outdoor program, however, recent events and dialogues have indicated that it does not necessarily always outwardly or inwardly embody right environmental or social relationships. This project focused primarily on two groups, with different, but ultimately convergent objectives: 1) teachers remembering stories associated with the place and, 2) students reimagining what environmental stewardship could look like. Each of these processes provided an …

Master's Project: Restoration And Relationship In The Public School System, Aziza Malik

Rubenstein School Leadership for Sustainability Project Publications

This project explores the complexities associated with a public school’s adoption and engagement with restorative justice. Over the course of this project, I have focused on Circle Process, examining ways to be in authentic, accountable, and reciprocal relationship with Indigenous communities where Circle Process originates.

Immaculate Deception: One Educator's Exploration Into The Systemic Shaming Of Women In Ireland, Alanna Diane Scully

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

This thesis explores the topic of shame through my perspective as a pro-choice woman and future educator. It tells of the long relationship I have had with shame, which began when I had my first abortion. It also describes the history of shame inflicted on the women of Ireland, who continue to fight for their reproductive rights. I use these narratives to support my position that educators have a responsibility to create safe spaces for controversial topics and vulnerable populations on university campuses.

From There, To Here, Now Where? My Journey Of Vulnerability Toward Interdisciplinary Teaching, Jennifer Lyn Way

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Few words have the power to make people both cringe in fear and lean forward, fascinated to know more. This thesis focuses on one such word: vulnerability. Through the Scholarly Personal Narrative writing format, I explore what vulnerability means to me and how my understanding has changed. I examine how vulnerability in my life helped refine me into a wiser, more compassionate, teacher.

Teaching requires vulnerability, a willingness to risk failure and accept mistakes for what they really are: lessons to create a connection among other humans. This thesis portrays how I have come to understand and accept vulnerability as …

Gratitude, Reciprocity And Joyful Connection: Cultivating Planetary Well-Being In Education, Kristen M. Andrews

Rubenstein School Leadership for Sustainability Project Publications

As an educator in the Anthropocene, I am called to create the conditions for students and teachers to care for themselves, others, and the earth in support of the greater whole. Care is born of connection, and when people engage in activities that foster relationships among all beings, human and non-human, they are poised to experience joy. From a place of joyful connection, our unique gifts are more likely to manifest in the interest of planetary wellbeing. The focus of this project was to cultivate this type wellbeing in educational venues by employing the interactive tools of gratitude and reciprocal …

Environmental Navigation Network: Developing A Peer Mentor Program In The Environmental Program At The University Of Vermont, Jacqueline Cardoza

Environmental Studies Electronic Thesis Collection

The acknowledgement of complex environmental problems and society’s work to address them during the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, inspired higher education to respond by developing a high number of interdisciplinary environmental studies programs nationally. In 1972, University of Vermont instituted the Environmental Program and the first cross-college environmental studies (ENVS) degree program. Students pursue an individually-designed program of study drawing on a wide vary of disciplines with great choice in their courses. The program sustained student interest and steadily grew over four decades. The current number of nearly 500 majors challenges the advising capacity of the faculty and staff. …

Education In The Age Of Complexity: Building Systems Literacy, Caitlin S. Steele

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

In the 21st century, transdisciplinary approaches to research and problem solving rooted in complexity theory and complex systems methodologies offer hope for understanding and solving previously intractable problems. However, in the face of daunting modern challenges like a broken health care system, growing social and economic inequity, and climate change, the knowledge and skills required to understand and ultimately solve problems across interdependent complex systems are distinctly lacking in our collective practice.

The underlying premise of this study is that if modern society is to deal effectively with interconnected challenges across ecological, social, political, and economic systems, our education system …

Factors Impacting Women's Participation In Stem Fields, Lila Carly Gilbreath

UVM Patrick Leahy Honors College Senior Theses

Women are highly underrepresented in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) field professions (Beede, Julian, Langdon, McKittrick, Khan, & Doms, 2011). This has been a persistent issue since the study of mathematics and science has begun. The problem is well documented by research and there have been several efforts to remedy this issue, yet men are still dominant forces in the STEM world (Eccles, 1994; Xie & Shauman, 2003; Roberts & Ayre, 2002). It is clear that we need more women in STEM professions, but in order to make this happen, we need to determine what factors impact their participation. …

Deconstructing Systemic Oppression Through Teaching Community Organizing: A Students-Teaching-Students Course, Francesca A. Hall

UVM Patrick Leahy Honors College Senior Theses

Community organizing has been an essential component of every significant social movement in United State’s history. Often, community organizers receive no formal training and instead gain the skills and knowledge necessary to become effective organizers through experience and trial and error. Through the analysis of a 14-student students-teaching-students course developed and co-taught by myself and another UVM undergraduate in the fall of 2014, my research aims to discover if it is possible to teach, within a hierarchical university setting, how to community organize for the purpose of deconstructing systemic oppression. Using emergent pedagogy, such as non-hierarchical co-teaching through class discussions, …

Transformative Education Through Interdisciplinary Studies: Opening The Dialogue Of Healing Modalities, Jarett Chizick

UVM Student Scholarship From Other Sources

Through the lens of my disability I am exploring dialogue in medical and education settings. Diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS), I have explored the concept and notion behind: “What quantifies or qualifies ‘illness’ or ‘cure’?”. As an arthritic autoimmune condition, it is chronic and can be debilitating. Through course work in the College of Education and Social Service's Interdisciplinary Program, many more questions arose than answers.

A 2012 study by Reveille, et al. shows conditions like AS, grouped as Axial Spondylarthritis (AxSA) or SpA, may affect up to 1% of the population. Classes like Beyond Medical Models expanded perspectives on …

Iraq: My Stories Of Life, Liberty And Leadership, Kenneth Smith

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

...this war is lost, and the surge is not accomplishing anything...

- Harry Reid, April 19, 2007

Human nature prevails. Our desire is to live. Our unalienable right is to be free; to enjoy the fruits of our labor. How we spend our limited time on this earth pursuing happiness is up to each of us: uniquely, individually, with our own distinctive personality, intellect and motivation. In the following personal exploration and scholarly analysis, I discuss how our inherent gift of life and the desire for liberty form an integrated platform from which leadership personifies itself in the lives of …

The Spirituality Of Conciousness: From Mindfulness To Faith To The Awakening Of Self, Monique Swaby

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

This thesis is an exploration of the concepts of what the spirituality of consciousness means in several key areas of the intellectual, emotional, and spiritual self. Many students and professionals walk through their educational and professional careers filled with confusion, lack of self-understanding, a yearning for something more but never discovering it in the places we find ourselves for most of our day-to-day interactions. My hope is that this thesis will give insight to how students can overcome obstacles and fears in their lives in order to move forward, and, when necessary, to move past themselves. As a young, Black, …