Digital Commons Network^™

The Minutes Of The Marshall University Graduate Council Meeting, February 27, 2026, Marshall University Graduate Council

Graduate Council Minutes

No abstract provided.

The Justice Implications Of Public-School Discipline For African American Students In The Usa, Dr. Demeka Denay Simmons, Dr. Festus Obi

African Journal of Criminology and Justice Studies

National data illustrates that using exclusionary discipline practices has resulted in disproportionality and overrepresentation in school discipline. Additionally, research also illustrates that African Americans have been overrepresented in exclusionary discipline at higher rates than their White counterparts. This study aimed to determine if there was a statistically significant difference in the percentage of exclusionary discipline practices between African American and White students based on school district settings within Texas. The researchers analyzed archival data from 673 students in grades 3-12 enrolled in a Texas public school. The statistical tests used to analyze the research questions included Chi-Square and multinomial logistic …

The Interactions Between Part-Time African American Male Students And Academic Advisors In A One Stop: A Case Study, Donnell Clement

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative case study examined how interactions between part-time African American male students and their advisors in a one-stop enrollment center motivated them to persist. Guided by Wood and Harris’s Socio-Ecological Outcomes (SEO) model, the study focused on the non-cognitive, academic, environmental, and campus ethos domains to explore how advising relationships support both advisors and part-time African American male student success. Data collection included observations of six advisor–advisee pairs across three campuses and interviews with both advisors and students. Stake’s (1995) approaches of direct interpretation and categorical aggregation guided the analysis. Findings indicated that academic advisors acted as validating agents, …

Protecting ‘Punks’: The Shortcomings Of The Prison Rape Elimination Act, Rachel Goldsmith

Binghamton University Undergraduate Journal

Prisoner-on-prisoner sexual abuse is widespread in US male prisons, with inmates “turning each other out” by sexually assaulting each other. While the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) received unanimous support in Congress in 2003, motivated by the Human Rights Watch Report “No Escape: Male Rape in Prisons,” scholars argue that the PREA fails to protect prisoners from prison rape: for example, its standards may be ineffective or criminalize consensual sex between prisoners. This essay will examine the shortcomings of the PREA, drawing on current legal scholarship, and propose solutions to enhance the law's effectiveness in protecting prisoners. The US government …

The Missed Education Of Mtss: A Phenomenological Study Of Cross-Cultural Counseling With African American Students, Whitney L. Towns

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore how secondary school counselors experience and implement cross-cultural counseling practices with African American students during the Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) process. African American students disproportionately face systemic barriers that influence their academic, behavioral, and social-emotional outcomes, and counselors are often underprepared to provide culturally responsive and trauma-informed care within the constraints of MTSS. Guided by Ecological Systems Theory, Intersectionality Theory, and the Trauma-Informed Practice Framework, this transcendental phenomenological study examined how counselors understood and carried out their roles across MTSS tiers while navigating issues of trust, culture, trauma, and equity. …

The Implementation Of The Collaborative And Proactive Solutions Model To Influence A Decrease In Students’ Maladaptive Behaviors In K-12 School Settings In The United States: A Phenomenological Qualitative Study, Amy Rachel Wilhite-Stauffer

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study was to understand the experiences of implementing the CPS model to reduce students’ maladaptive behaviors for teachers and providers in K-12 school settings in the United States. Bandura’s social learning theory (SLT) was the theoretical framework on which this study has been based. The central research question was: What are teachers' and providers' experiences implementing the CPS model, and what is the perceived influence on decreasing students’ maladaptive behaviors? A transcendental phenomenological study was conducted, comprising a sample size of 10 teachers and providers from the Northeast Region of the United States who have utilized …

Spectrum, Volume 56, Issue 2, Sacred Heart University

Newspapers (Obelisk & Spectrum)

Highlights include: College of Health Professions Appoints Associate Dean -- Learning the Law Hands On -- Growing Together with Figure Skating -- SHU Flag Football’s Rapid Growth -- Pioneers Use Resilience in Current Season

Linking Illinois High School To College Data And Beyond, Benjamin Boer

Reports, Analyses, and other Publications

This brief examines the challenges and opportunities in linking high school, postsecondary, and workforce data in Illinois. Despite significant investments in education pathways, career programs, and dual credit initiatives, there is no central source of data showing whether Illinois high school graduates are enrolling in college, persisting through their programs, and securing quality employment. The brief explores why data linking is technically and structurally challenging, reviews existing efforts at state and national levels, and provides specific recommendations for improving data infrastructure. Using the STAMP (Scaling Transformative Advanced Manufacturing Pathways) program as a case study, the authors demonstrate how linked data …

Early Learning Across Decades: Advances In Measuring Head Start Effectiveness, Chloe R. Gibbs

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

The Head Start program, launched in 1965 and targeted to children from disadvantaged backgrounds, remains the largest early childhood care and education (ECE) program in the United States and the only one deployed at the federal level. As such, the Head Start literature spans several decades and now allows for synthesis of findings from different contexts, time periods, and research designs. This paper provides a comprehensive assessment of the rigorous evidence measuring Head Start’s effects on children, their families, and society. The focus is on how (1) the contrast between program and counterfactual conditions, (2) takeup of the program among …

The Current - Volume 36 Issue 6, Nova Southeastern University

Student Newspapers

No abstract provided.

Nsu Florida Undergraduate Student Catalog 2025-2026, Nova Southeastern University

Undergraduate Programs Course Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Arts In Criminal Justice And Corrections: International Perspectives On Methods, Journeys And Challenges, Edited By Amanda Gardner And Laura Caulfield, Kirstin Anderson Dr

Journal of Prison Education Research

It was the first day of my study I had planned as part of my PhD research. I had prepared all the materials the night before, took an early train to ensure I was on time, went through all the checks at the prison gate, set up my room and waited for the first participant to come in for their interview. I welcomed him with ease, introduced myself and went through the consent form. I turned on the audio recorder. ‘It’s just like the fucking police’. My heart sank. I don’t think I told anyone about how big a misgiving …

Exclusionary Discipline’S Impact On Minority And Low Social Status Student Achievement, Ulanda Latreace Branch

Student Theses and Dissertations

School discipline was intended to keep students safe in schools, but exclusionary discipline methods fail to meet this goal. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the impact of exclusionary discipline methods on student achievement, with an emphasis on ethnic and socioeconomic differences. The problem addressed how subjective referrals, cultural differences, unequal disciplinary tactics, and ineffective reprimands contribute to inequalities in disciplinary outcomes. Drawing on Glasser and Gordon's behavioral theoretical frameworks, this study emphasized proactive educational settings, effective classroom management, student accountability, and positive relationships as paramount to managing misbehavior. The study used a correlational research design, which …

Momentum, With A Mission, Sarah Moss

The Voice

No abstract provided.

K-8 School Administrators' Implementation Of Positive Behavior Intervention And Support Systems To Reduce Out-Of-School Suspensions In A Southeastern U.S. School District, Chantell H. Walker

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The problem that was addressed through this study is that the implementation of positive behavior interventions and supports (PBIS) has not resulted in a consistent reduction in the use of out-of-school suspensions as a disciplinary consequence in K–8 schools in a Southeastern U.S. school district. Grounded in Horner and Sugai’s PBIS, the purpose of this qualitative study was to explore K–8 school administrators’ perceptions of their implementation of PBIS in a Southeastern U.S. school district. For this basic qualitative design, semistructured interviews were conducted with three principals and three assistant principals in the local school district. Thematic analysis using inductive …

Sissies At The Cafeteria Table: Toward A Queer Black-Town Sense Of Place, Education And Life, Ezekiel Joubert Iii

Journal of Queer and Trans Studies in Education

Contemporary research has shown rural communities to be places with diverse identities and ideologies, disrupting much of the mainstream images of rural spaces as isolated, White, monocultural, and conservative. However, the persistent tendency to imagine racial inequality and queer life as urban contributes to the invisibility of intersectional struggle. Drawing from Critical Pedagogy, Black geographies, Black Queer Studies, and Mobility Studies, this study examines the collective educational experience and storytelling of Black rural queers in a Metro-Rural community in the Upper Midwest. Using an autogeographic approach, building from auto-ethnography and archival praxis reveal how the spatial structures that reproduce educational …

The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly: Personifying The South In Rural Queer Collegians’ Stories, Miranda N. Rutan, Leia K. Cain

Journal of Queer and Trans Studies in Education

In this study, we explore the complex interplay between queer identity and Southern cultural narratives among rural college students in the U.S. Bible Belt. We integrated narrative inquiry and arts-based research to examine how participants personify the South within their own stories, revealing nuanced understandings of belonging and identity. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, participant-created artwork, and discussions about these artworks. Our findings illustrate a dynamic representation of the South as both a source of support and a site of conflict, highlighting the dual roles of community and marginalization in shaping rural queer Southern identities. This research contributes to …

Diet: Another Piece Of The Crime Puzzle?, Jerrod Brown, Jeremiah Schimp, Leanne Skehan, Amanda Fenrich, Janina Cich

Nutritional Neurocriminology Today

An expanding body of research suggests that diet and nutrition may play an influential yet underrecognized role in problematic and criminal behaviors. This article synthesizes research linking excessive consumption of sugar and ultra-processed foods to adverse neurobehavioral outcomes, impaired impulse control, aggression, mood dysregulation, and sleep problems. Integrating research suggests that metabolic disruption, neuroinflammation, and gut–brain axis dysfunction may influence cognitive and emotional regulation. While criminal behavior is complex and multifactorial, this article emphasizes nutrition as a modifiable factor to inform forensic mental health practice, correctional policy, and rehabilitative strategies.

Brief Of Amici Curiae The Notre Dame Law Education Project And Utah Education Fits All In Support Of Appellants, Tyler R. Green, Nicole Stelle Garnett

Court Briefs

No. 20250512-SC
Derek Brown, Attorney General v. Kevin Labresh

From the Argument

No one doubts the significant public interest in K-12 education. Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483, 493 (1954) (“[E]ducation is perhaps the most important function of state and local governments.”). And, for centuries, the critical responsibility for educating young people has been borne in significant part by private schools. Indeed, for many decades, private schools were essentially the only source of childhood education in the United States. It is a role those schools served—and continue to serve—well. While in Utah, as elsewhere, public schools are …

A Systematic Review Identifying The Measures And Factors Relating To Faculty Research Success, Muhammad Salahuddin, Richard Hoberg, Robert Stupnisky

Education, Health & Behavior Studies Faculty Publications

Identification of the various methods of measuring faculty research success stands in need of better collection and summary. This study aimed to identify the measures and factors of faculty research success through a systematic review following PRISMA guidelines. Using the Boolean search, 265 studies (i.e., articles and dissertations) from four popular databases were selected for abstract screening. Thirty-six studies were selected for full-text text review, which ranged over 237,980 faculty of STEM and non-STEM areas from 29 countries. The results indicated that faculty research success is measured through several forms of academic publication including number of articles published in journals, …

20260115: Executive Assistant To The President, 1987-1996, President's Office

Guides to University Archives

These items include materials from the Office of the President at Marshall University from 1987-1996. Items were received in 1996 or thereabouts and include information from the President's Executive Assistant. Items contain Economic Adjustment Programs, MU's CRP Annual Reports, a proposal for Flexible Manufacturing Center for MURC, and Coal Road (survey of southern WV mining and tourism potential). Lots of economic development materials otherwise. This is not an exhaustive list, but the attached inventory will give a broad overview of what is contained in each of the boxes.

African American Adult Male Survivors Of Childhood Sexual Abuse And Their Subsequent Experiences In Intimate Partner Relationships, Christian Lee Jefferson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative interpretive phenomenology study is to explore the lived experiences of African American adult male survivors of childhood sexual abuse within intimate partner relationships. The problem is that it is not known how African American adult male survivors of childhood sexual abuse describe their present or past intimate partner relationships experience or the impact that childhood sexual abuse has on their intimate partner relationships. Research shows how experiences of sexual abuse create difficulty in managing intimate partner relationships. Many survivors of childhood sexual abuse often had damaging effects on adults with their romantic relationships. Findings from …

Teaching Numeracy For Social Justice: Educational Equity, Esther Isabelle Wilder, Crystal C. Rodriguez, Caterina Shost, Eduardo Vianna, Frank Wang

Numeracy

The special collection, “Teaching Numeracy for Social Justice: Educational Equity,” focuses on how quantitative reasoning (QR) can function as a vehicle for equity, empowerment, and democratic participation. Building on a longstanding tradition that treats numeracy as inseparable from social justice, these contributions highlight how progressive pedagogies (e.g., active learning, authentic research, and equity-oriented assessment) have the potential to broaden access for students historically excluded from quantitative fields. The studies span a variety of conceptual frameworks, introductory and advanced quantitative instruction, and interdisciplinary applications, showcasing how inclusive QR practices can build confidence, agency, and real-world understanding. These articles demonstrate that when …

School Social Workers’ Perceptions Of The Effectiveness Of The Strategies Used To Reduce The Dropout Rates Of African American High School Male Students, Tawanda Mclaurin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The problem investigated in this study was that approximately 34% of African American male students had dropped out of high school in an urban public school district in the Northern United States. Grounded in Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, the purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore school social workers’ perceptions of the effectiveness of strategies used to reduce dropout rates among African American male high school students. Purposive sampling was used to recruit 10 school social workers from one urban public school district who worked with African American male students at risk of dropping out. Data was collected …

Food Insecurity. A Factor In Criminal Behavior?, Jerrod Brown, Jeremiah Schimp, Leanne Skehan, Janina Cich

Nutritional Neurocriminology Today

This article examines how food insecurity and limited access to nutritionally adequate foods impair cognitive function, emotional regulation, decision-making, and impulse control. Emerging research purports that individuals experiencing food insecurity face increased risks of mental and physical health problems, violent behavior, delinquency, heightened childhood vulnerability, and criminal justice involvement across the lifespan. The article advocates for increased awareness, routine screening, and specialized training for professionals in mental health, social services, and the criminal justice system to address food insecurity, thereby supporting long-term policy and community-level strategies that reduce criminal behavior and improve outcomes for vulnerable populations.

Exploring Academic Librarians Self-Perceived Teaching Attitudes And Practical Culturally Responsive Teaching (Crt) Strategies In Library Instruction, Jocelyn Castillo

Theses and Dissertations

As campuses continue to see an increase in students from various backgrounds, there is an interest in academic librarianship to explore the use of culturally responsive teaching (CRT) strategies in library instruction. Guided by self-perception theory, this quantitative study examined the relationship between the teaching attitudes of academic librarians and the years of teaching experience, and identified practical CRT strategies in library instruction particularly in undergraduate minority serving institutions in the United States. The teaching attitudes of academic librarians were measured using a modified version of the Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES) capturing specific teaching tasks relevant to teaching …

Effective Practices In A School-Based Mentorship Program: Insights From An Elementary School Setting, Kimberly Noele Steger

Dissertations and Theses

(School-based mentoring programs) SBMPs have demonstrated beneficial outcomes for mentees, mentors, and overall school culture; however, their effectiveness was highly dependent on intentional implementation and the educators who facilitated them. Limited research exists on how SBMPs were practically introduced, structured, and sustained; thus underscoring the need for deeper examination of successful implementation practices. Therefore, this case study explored the implementation of SBMPs within a specific elementary school, focusing on mentors’ perceptions and experiences. The researcher sought to understand mentors’ roles within the program, including their successes and challenges, the training and support they received, and how implementation conditions influenced their …

It Begins With Relationships: Exploring Discipline And Belonging Through The Narratives Of Native American Students, Jessica J. Swagger

Doctor of Education (EdD)

‘One caring adult can make a difference in a student’s life.’ This phrase or some facsimile of it permeates the world of education. This research explored the stories told by students about their experience with discipline in a small, rural alternative school that is implementing restorative practices and how they perceive relationships in relation to the practices. This research used qualitative narrative inquiry, interviewing self-selected students about their lived experiences. The research was grounded in Restorative Justice theory, Belonging theory, and Trauma-informed Practices theory. This qualitative narrative inquiry explored the stories of lived experience of Native American students, who have …

Navigating Yellow Zone Sexual Misconduct Cases: Exploring Title Ix Administrators’ Discretion, Angela E. Hobbs

Educational Leadership & Policy Studies Dissertations

This study examines how Title IX administrators exercise discretion when responding to ambiguous sexual misconduct reports referred to as yellow zone. The 2020 Title IX Rules and Regulations introduced a more restrictive definition of sexual misconduct, requiring behavior to be severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive (SPOO) to meet the threshold for formal institutional response. Despite the practical challenges these cases present for institutions, there is limited scholarly understanding of how Title IX administrators make decisions when responding to them. Guided by street-level bureaucracy theory (Lipsky, 1969, 1980, 2010), the study explored how institutional actors exercise discretion in response to regulatory …

A Data-Driven Framework For Automation Readiness In Minnesota State University, Mankato Course Scheduling, Prisca Bongu Payanzo Maba

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

University course scheduling is one of the most complex optimization problems in higher education institutions. With universities growing in size and offering a broad spectrum of majors and disciplines, the number of possible course scheduling combinations increases exponentially, rendering traditional ways of scheduling ineffective.

Although operations research has extensively studied automated scheduling algorithms, there has been limited investigations into the organization readiness of academic departments to implement such systems. This paper offers a hybrid data science framework that assesses departmental readiness for scheduling automation.

The study combines qualitative Zoom interview data from 19 academic departments with institutional scheduling rules from …