Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

University Of Rhode Island Open Access Policy, Andrée Rathemacher, Julia Lovett

Julia Lovett

These are the Powerpoint slides for a presentation on the University of Rhode Island Open Access Policy to the University of Rhode Island Dean's Council on October 23, 2013.

Open Access At Uri: Exciting Opportunities For Faculty, Researchers, And Grad Students, Julia Lovett, Andrée Rathemacher

Julia Lovett

Slides from a presentation, "Open Access at URI: Exciting Opportunities for Faculty, Researchers, and Grad Students" offered at the University of Rhode Island Libraries on October 8 and October 21, 2013.

"Open Access provides you with the opportunity to increase your readership and your scholarly impact, and also improves your access to scholarly information. The DigitalCommons@URI is part of an international effort to increase access to scholarly articles, theses, and dissertations. Come learn about the benefits of open access for your research and how to comply with URI's Open Access policies."

Part of the University Libraries' Search Savvy Seminar series.

Exploring The Factors That Motivate Female Students To Enroll And Persist In A Collegiate Stem Degree Program, Rosemary L. Edzie, Mahmoud Alahmad

Rosemary L Edzie

In the United States, collegiate enrollment in science and engineering programs continues to decline, while European and Asian universities have increased the number of science and engineering graduates. In addition, there is a growing concern over too few females enrolling and persisting in collegiate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) degree programs. Through increasing access to pre-collegiate STEM activities, providing a better understanding of STEM career choices, instilling of confidence in math and science, and establishing student and industry based mentoring programs, more female students will enroll and persist in collegiate STEM degree programs. This paper sets to explore the …

Building Uncommon Community With A Common Book., Colleen T. Boff, Schroeder Robert, Joy Gambill

Colleen T. Boff, Ed.D.

Library involvement with Campus Reading Experiences (CRE) at two community colleges and two four-year institutions are described. The case studies were chosen because each reflects a strong library presence in institutional level program planning and instructional development for deeper student learning related to the CRE. In particular, the case studies highlight the connections these programs create between librarians, student affairs, and academic affairs. Practical suggestions for how librarians can initiate this type of experience on their campus as well as advice for how librarians can take a more active role in getting involved with already existing reading programs are provided.

Relations Between Language Learning Strategies, Language Proficiency And Multiple Intelligences, Karim Hajhashemi, Alireza Shakarami, Neil Anderson, Seyed Yasin Yazdi-Amirkhiz, Wuying Zou

Karim Hajhashemi

The theory of multiple intelligences (MI) developed by Gardner, proposes at least nine different human intelligences that are distinct and relatively autonomous human intelligences through which people learn. It has been theorized that knowing our MI profile assists us to learn and use this awareness to obtain necessary information and knowledge from a lesson. Characterizing learners’ personal MI profiles thus may enhance learning. Language learners’ learning process, on the other hand, can be facilitated through the use of language learning strategies, particularly if the strategies have been explicitly developed by instructors who possess knowledge about individuals’ learning styles. This paper …

Onboard From The Beginning: A Successful Library Partnership With A Distance Learning Phd Program, Anne Marie Casey

Anne Marie Casey

This presentation described the development of a distance education PhD program that included a librarian in the planning from the start. Beginning its fifth year, the PhD in Aviation Science at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) considers the library an integral part of its success. The presentation covered funding, ongoing library participation, and tips for involvement in planning.

Western And You Parent/Family Academy: The Road Leading To And Through College, Sharon A. Glaser

Shari Glaser

The transition from high school to college is a life-changing experience for both student and family and can cause great distress within the family system. Research shows that pre-college orientation programs are an integral part of reducing uncertainty about the college experience and assist families in preparing for the upcoming transition. For Western Michigan University (WMU) to better support this transition through the parent/family orientation program, this project will evaluate our current session devoted to family transition (Western and YOU Parent/Family Academy: The Road to and through College) and retool the 2013 course to better support the needs of our …

Serving Those Who Serve: Outreach And Instruction For Student Cadets And Veterans, Nancy E. Fawley, Nikki Kyrsak

Nancy Fawley

Student cadets and veterans new to college have unique academic needs, and the abrupt switch from civilian to Corps life for new students at a military university can be challenging. Likewise, transitioning from military life to civilian life as a veteran student can be overwhelming. The libraries at Norwich University and The University of Alabama are supporting programs to assist new students in the transition from civilian to Corps life and from military to civilian life, respectively. While these students are at different stages of their military careers, cadets and veterans have common attributes that inform library support and instruction, …

Profile Of Contributors To The American Economic Review, 2010: Human Capital Theory, Gender And Race, Amadu Jacky Kaba

Amadu Jacky Kaba

This study begins by presenting an explanation of the Human Capital Theory and its relation to gender and race. Next, the methodology, data availability and limitations section of the study is presented. Next, the study presents the statistical findings and analysis of the compiled and computed data. Finally, the study presents a discussion section, focusing more attention on the various factors responsible for the wide gender and racial gaps in the statistics presented.

Publishing Open Access E-Journals: Leveraging An Outreach Opportunity, Laura Edwards, Linda Sizemore, Kelly Smith

Linda Sizemore

Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) Libraries began exploring the institutional repository (IR) landscape in 2009 with the intention of publishing electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs), journals, special collections, images, videos, sound files, or anything else that would fit a need for us. The hosted systems we examined were effective as either platforms for displaying special collections or platforms for managing publishing processes. However, we didn’t find a system that did both of those things well.

An Ethnographic Study: Becoming A Physics Expert In A Biophysics Research Group, Idaykis Rodriguez

Idaykis Rodriguez

Expertise in physics has been traditionally studied in cognitive science, where physics expertise is understood through the difference between novice and expert problem solving skills. The cognitive perspective of physics experts only create a partial model of physics expertise and does not take into account the development of physics experts in the natural context of research. This dissertation takes a social and cultural perspective of learning through apprenticeship to model the development of physics expertise of physics graduate students in a research group. I use a qualitative methodological approach of an ethnographic case study to observe and video record the …

Conclusion: Looking To The Future, Ronald G. Ehrenberg

Ronald G. Ehrenberg

[Excerpt] A number of important themes emerge from the chapters in Governing Academia. First, decentralization gives individual units—be they university campuses within a state system, colleges within a university, or departments within a college—an incentive to act in their own best interests, but less of an incentive to work toward the common good. As Heller points out, at the level of a state system, decentralization of control may lead to wasteful overlap between campuses. As Wilson shows, decentralized budgeting in the form of responsibility center management models may cause units not to maximize the quality of the education they are …

Introduction To The Book Governing Academia, Ronald G. Ehrenberg

Ronald G. Ehrenberg

[Excerpt] During recent decades tuition for undergraduate students has risen at rates substantially higher than the rate of inflation at both public and private colleges and universities in the United States. These high rates of tuition increases led Congress to establish the National Commission on the Costs of Higher Education in 1997 to conduct a comprehensive review of college costs and prices and to make recommendations on how to hold tuition increases down. Parents of college students, taxpayers, and government officials all wanted to know why academic institutions can't behave more like businesses—cut their costs, increase their efficiency, and thus …

Collective Bargaining In American Higher Education, Ronald G. Ehrenberg, Daniel B. Klaff, Adam T. Kezbom, Matthew P. Nagowski

Ronald G. Ehrenberg

[Excerpt] No discussion of governance in higher education would be complete without a consideration of the role of collective bargaining. Historically, most researchers interested in the subject have directed their attention to the unionization of faculty members. Given several recent decisions by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) that leave open the possibility that unionization of faculty in private colleges and universities may increase in the future, we discuss collective bargaining for faculty in the first section (Leatherman 2000, A16). Recently, however, attention has been also directed at the unionization of two other groups in the higher education workforce. Activists …

The Four C'S (Curriculum Guidelines, Courses, Competencies And Capacities) To Educating And Training Nonprofit Leaders, Garland S. Doyle

Garland Doyle

The standards from the three national organizations that have developed curriculum guidelines, professional competencies or accreditation standards are compared to the literature on the knowledge and skills needed to be a nonprofit leader. The standards are applied to the four core nonprofit capacities from Connolly and York (2003) to develop a conceptual framework to evaluate a nonprofit management graduate program.

The framework is tested using curriculum mapping to see how curriculum instruction is aligning with professional competencies to develop the skills and capacities of program graduates. The findings from the mapping illustrate the strengths, weaknesses and gaps in the program …

Do Indirect Cost Rates Matter?, Ronald G. Ehrenberg, Jaroslava K. Mykula

Ronald G. Ehrenberg

This study addresses the relationship between a university's indirect cost rate and its level of federal research funding. Both direct and indirect cost funding are examined. The data used in the analyses include unpublished institutional level data for all doctoral and research universities on funding and indirect cost rates obtained from the National Science Foundation for the fiscal years 1988 to 1997 period. Our major finding is that higher indirect cost rates are associated with higher levels of direct and indirect cost funding for institutions that initially are among the largest recipients of federal funding. In contrast, for universities initially …

Enhancing The Attractiveness Of Research To Female Faculty, Ronald G. Ehrenberg

Ronald G. Ehrenberg

[Excerpt] CSWEP has long been concerned about the underrepresentation of women in faculty positions at major research universities. I have been charged by the committee with enumerating a set of policies that might enhance the attractiveness of research universities to female faculty. After presenting some data that suggest the magnitude of the underrepresentation problem, I do so below. In each case, I sketch the pros and cons of the policy. Although the focus is on increasing the attractiveness of research universities to female faculty, many of the policies would increase the attractiveness of academic careers per se to new female …

Merit Pay For School Superintendents?, Ronald G. Ehrenberg, Richard P. Chaykowski, Randy A. Ehrenberg

Ronald G. Ehrenberg

Given the important role that school district administrators play in the educational process, one might expect their 'performance" to be of fundamental importance in determining both how much students learn and the cost of public education to taxpayers. Yet, while public debate has considered the issue of merit pay plans for teachers, virtually no attention has been directed to the methods by which school administrators are compensated. This paper provides evidence on whether school superintendents are explicitly or implicitly rewarded for their "performance" by higher compensation and/or greater opportunities for mobility. We analyze panel data from over 700 school districts …

Review Of The Book In Pursuit Of The Ph.D., Ronald G. Ehrenberg

Ronald G. Ehrenberg

[Excerpt] When William Bowen, the President of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation (formerly the President of Princeton University), and Neil Rudenstine, the President of Harvard University (formerly Executive Vice President of Mellon), combine to write a book on doctoral study in the arts and sciences, the academic profession must take notice. And well it should. Building on Bowen and Julie Ann Sosa's (1989) predictions of forthcoming shortages of Ph.D.'s in the arts and sciences, In Pursuit of the Ph.D. provides a detailed analysis of the propensity of American college graduates to enter doctoral programs in the arts and sciences and …

Review Of The Book The Cost Of Talent: How Executives And Professionals Are Paid And How It Affects America, Ronald G. Ehrenberg

Ronald G. Ehrenberg

[Excerpt] Why should the former President of Harvard University be concerned that during the 1970s and 1980s the earnings of doctors, lawyers in private practice, and top corporate executives grew substantially relative to the earnings of professors, teachers, and high level federal civil servants? Why should he care that physicians with specialized hospital-based practices, such as neurosurgeons, have seen their earnings rise substantially relative to physicians practicing family medicine during the same period? In each case, the answer is that Bok believes that occupational choices are determined, at least at the margin, by the pecuniary and nonpecuniary benefits that the …

Review Of The Book Prospects For Faculty In The Arts And Sciences, Ronald G. Ehrenberg

Ronald G. Ehrenberg

[Excerpt] Very few books by economists are announced to the world in a front page story in the New York Times. However, Prospects for Faculty in the Arts and Sciences by William G. Bowen and Julie Ann Sosa was (see Fiske) and this honor is well deserved. Prospects may well be the most important analysis of the academic labor market to appear since Alan Cartter's pioneering work in the mid-1970s.

Leveraging Campus Partnerships And Creating Library Advocates, Jessica Alverson, James Lefager, Kate Daniels

Jessica Alverson

Representatives from the libraries and faculty instructional technology support unit at a mid-sized, private university discuss several cross-departmental collaboration projects, including: a university-wide mobile learning initiative, the integration of library widgets into the course management system, and the creation of course-specific online research tutorials. Speakers from both units discuss benefits and potential hurdles associated with cross-departmental collaboration.

Student Newspapers At Public Colleges And Universities: Lessons From The United States, Terry L. Hapney Jr., Charles J. Russo

Terry L. Hapney Jr., Ph.D.

Ipedagogy For Adults, Jessica Alverson, Susan Shultz

Jessica Alverson

No abstract provided.

Adverse Selection And Incentives In An Early Retirement Program, Kenneth T. Whelan, Ronald G. Ehrenberg, Kevin F. Hallock, Ronald L. Seeber

Ronald G. Ehrenberg

We evaluate potential determinants of enrollment in an early retirement incentive program for non-tenure-track employees of a large university. Using administrative record on the eligible population of employees not covered by collective bargaining agreements, historical employee count and layoff data by budget units, and public information on unit budgets, we find dips in per-employee finance in a budget unit during the application year and higher recent per employee layoffs were associated with increased probabilities of eligible employee program enrollment. Our results also suggest, on average, that employees whose salaries are lower than we would predict given their personal characteristics and …

An Economic Analysis Of The Market For Law School Students, Ronald G. Ehrenberg

Ronald G. Ehrenberg

This study utilizes data from a number of sources to estimate how lawyers' starting salaries relate to their ability, the quality of law school they attended, and whether the law school was a private institution. Based upon this analysis, a benefit—cost analysis is conducted of the value of attending a high-quality private institution. Analyses are also done of how the financial attractiveness of law vis-a-vis other careers has changed in recent years and a conceptual framework discussed for law schools to use in allocating their financial aid resources.

Black Male Student-Athletes And Racial Inequities In Ncaa Division I Revenue-Generating College Sports, Shaun R. Harper, Ph.D., Collin D. Williams Jr., Horatio Blackman

Shaun R. Harper, Ph.D.

The purpose of this report is to make transparent racial inequities in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), Big East Conference, Big Ten Conference, Big 12 Conference, Pac 12 Conference, and the Southeastern Conference (SEC). Data from the NCAA and the U.S. Department of Education are presented for the 76 institutional members of these six athletic conferences. Specifically, we offer a four-year analysis of Black men's representation on football and basketball teams versus their representation in the undergraduate student body on each campus. We also compare Black male student-athletes’ six-year graduation rates (across four cohorts) to student-athletes overall, undergraduate students overall, …

Asian Top Universities In Six World University Rankings, Mahmood Khosrowjerdi

Mahmood Khosrowjerdi

There are a variety of ranking systems for universities throughout the different continents of the world. The majority of the world ranking systems have paid special attention toward evaluation of universities and higher education institutions at the national and international level. This paper tries to study the similarities and status of top Asian universities in the list of top 200 universities by these world ranking systems. Findings show that there are some parallelisms among these international rankings. For example it was found some correlations between QS-Webometrics rankings (R= 0.78); QS-THE rankings (R= 0.53); and Shanghai-HEEACT rankings (R= 0.58). The highest …

The Ranking Of Iranian Universities Based On An Improved Technique, Mohammad Reza Ghane, Zahra Azizkhani, Mahmood Khosrowjerdi

Mahmood Khosrowjerdi

Current competitive environment has forced higher education authorities to rank the scientific performance of their universities. The results of the university rankings have been used in strategic planning of research affairs. Focal point behind the university ranking is the methodological issues. Previous university rankings have relied on the conventional methods that are accompanied by some drawbacks. Therefore, the present study aims to evaluate Iranian universities based on the Crown indicator. The performance of fourteen Iranian universities was evaluated based on the data gathered from Essential Science Indicators (ESI) database. Results of the world university rankings do not indicate the true …

Undocumented Student Success: Navigating Restraints Related To Retention, Ronald Hallett

Ronald Hallett

Undocumented college students face multiple barriers. This case study explores how a group of undocumented Latino/a students maintained a peer network. Using Stanton-Salazar's frameworks of empowerment agents, I discuss how students created a space on campus and navigated internal tensions threatening solidarity, including inclusion/exclusion, competition/support, and personal support/political engagement.