Digital Commons Network^™

Latine Students In Early College Programs In Massachusetts: A Policy Brief, Terri Morgan, Melissa Colón

Gastón Institute Publications

In this policy brief, we discuss the emergence of early college programs in Massachusetts and the possibilities they present, with a focus on Latine students. We begin by providing a brief overview and history of early college as a national intervention, then turn to measures of the initiative's success for Latine students and their families in the Commonwealth. Our purpose is to take stock of Massachusetts’ early college initiative; examine the participation rates and outcomes of Latine students; and provide evidence-based recommendations to policymakers and practitioners for creating more equitable, culturally sustaining, and ultimately more effective programs for participating students.

An Evaluation Of Southern Nevada’S Pediatric Care Ecosystem, David Damore, Tina Quigley, Nick Fiore

Policy Briefs and Reports

In 2024, The Lincy Institute and the Nevada Health and Bioscience Corporation released a report prepared by the consulting firm Tripp Umbach detailing the case for a stand-alone children’s hospital in Southern Nevada. Shortly thereafter, Intermountain Health announced it would build Nevada’s first such facility in Las Vegas, expected to open in 2030. To complement the hospital’s development, The Lincy Institute undertook an independent evaluation of the regional pediatric care landscape. The analysis draws on secondary data and discussions with advocates, health system administrators, practitioners, and providers. The report examines:

• Fiscal, resource, and workforce challenges underlying Nevada’s poor population-level pediatric …

Lecturer-To-Lecturer Learning Model For Artificial Intelligence Adoption In African Universities: Opportunities And Challenges, Vincent C. Asogwa

Journal of Research Initiatives

Although artificial intelligence (AI) can transform teaching, research, and administrative processes, many African universities, including those in Eswatini and Nigeria, face challenges in implementing AI effectively because of inadequate infrastructure, lecturer skill gaps, and financial constraints. This study examines the opportunities and challenges associated with adopting the Lecturer-to-Lecturer Learning Model for AI in African universities. Grounded in social constructivism, the model emphasizes knowledge sharing through social interactions, which is particularly relevant in contexts where external resources are limited. The study employs content analysis of secondary data sources, including academic literature, institutional reports, and case studies on AI adoption in higher …

Does Gender Spell Success? Exploring Female Students' Perspectives Of Faculty At A Higher Educational Institution, Chitora Jackson, Terrence Hicks, Jill Channing, Arnold Nyarambi

Journal of Research Initiatives

Numerous studies have pointed to connections and positive interactions with faculty that result in positive outcomes for students (Beckowski & Gebauer, 2018; Jones, 2020; Trolian et al., 2021). However, despite this knowledge, there are still some areas related to this topic that remain under-researched. The purpose of this qualitative interpretative phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of female students at a higher educational institution and to understand how those experiences shape their perspectives of female and male faculty. Additionally, this study sought to discover how faculty gender influences their interactions with students and the similarities and differences between …

Reframing Dissertation Committee Practice: A Student-Centered Conceptual Framework For Doctoral Education, Roberto Victor Rodríguez Rivera

Journal of Research Initiatives

Dissertation committees play a key role in shaping the direction, pace, and outcomes of doctoral study, but their function as a unified structure for guidance and judgment is not well understood. Although research covers supervision, examiner feedback, ethics, power, and dissertation examination, these topics are often studied separately. This article brings together both foundational and recent research to rethink dissertation committees as academic structures that adapt their support, oversight, ethical practices, and evaluation throughout the dissertation process. The article makes three main contributions: it clarifies how committee practice is conceptually fragmented, reviews research on supervision, feedback, ethics, and examination, and …

Removing Barringer: University Renaming Governance, Campus Racial Climate, And The Limits Of Symbolic Reform, Charletta H. Barringer-Brown, Daniel N. Brown

Journal of Research Initiatives

University renaming is often seen as either a necessary moral correction or a less significant symbolic reform. This article examines renaming as a matter of higher education governance. It analyzes the removal of Paul Brandon Barringer’s name from honorific spaces at the University of Virginia and Virginia Tech through a qualitative documentary comparative case study. A contextual policy scan of the University of Richmond, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Oregon State University situates the two primary cases within a wider field of naming-governance design. Guided by critical toponymy, institutional theory, policy-decoupling scholarship, organizational-routines theory, and campus-racial-climate …

Grit, Mindset, And Academic Outcomes Among Nontraditional Online College Students, David W. Franklin, Heidi L. Andrade, Jason Bryer, Angela M. Lui

Journal of Research Initiatives

Grit and mindset have gained prominence in educational discourse; however, empirical evidence suggests they predict student success only minimally. Existing research on grit and mindset has several gaps, including insufficient focus on retention, online learners, and nontraditional student populations. The present study examines the relationships between grit, mindset, and academic outcomes among two samples of nontraditional students enrolled in online colleges. Utilizing survey data from the Diagnostic Assessment and Achievement of College Skills (DAACS) project, the study analyzes responses from 9,276 predominantly nontraditional undergraduate students at two online institutions in the United States. Findings reveal that although grit, its two …

From Silos To Systems In Higher Education: Doctoral Students’ Conceptualizations Of Faculty And Staff Collaboration In Academic Planning, Linda Wilson-Jones, Simone Elias

Journal of Research Initiatives

Collaboration is increasingly recognized as central to student success and institutional effectiveness in higher education. This qualitative study investigates doctoral students’ conceptualizations of faculty and staff collaboration in academic planning. Data were collected from 22 written responses in a doctoral-level program course. Through reflexive thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006, 2021), five interrelated themes emerged: (1) holistic student support, (2) shared institutional vision and goal alignment, (3) complementary expertise and role interdependence, (4) communication as quality assurance, and (5) collaborative culture as an institutional asset. The findings indicate that collaboration functions as organizational infrastructure that aligns academic and administrative systems …

Digital Learning And Digital Literacy: Conceptual Distinctions, Theoretical Frameworks, And Educational Implications Across The Educational Continuum, Simone Elias, Linda Wilson-Jones, Richard Brutti

Journal of Research Initiatives

The terms digital learning and digital literacy recur frequently in educational policy and institutional discourse. Yet peer-reviewed scholarship shows they are conceptually distinct constructs operating at fundamentally different levels of analysis. This article examines the theoretical foundations, definitional genealogies, empirical interdependencies, and grade-band and postsecondary manifestations of both constructs across the full educational continuum, from kindergarten through Grade 12 and into undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral education. Drawing on literature across leading educational technology journals, the article argues that digital learning constitutes a pedagogical modality, the structured, technology-mediated environment through which instruction is delivered.

In contrast, digital literacy is a multidimensional …

The Revolving Door: A Content Analysis Of Presidential Transitions At North Carolina’S Historically Black Colleges And Universities, 1865-2026, Tara Shollenberger, Romaine Boyd

Journal of Research on the College President

National reporting has framed presidential turnover at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) as a leadership crisis, yet few studies examine transition patterns systematically within a defined system of institutions over time. This study presents a quantitative content analysis of 206 presidencies across all 11 North Carolina HBCUs from 1865 to 2026, constructed from institutional histories, archival records, and contemporary news sources. Using descriptive analysis and Kaplan-Meier survival estimation, we examine tenure length, the rise of interim appointments, differences by institutional control (public versus private governance), and gender patterns in modern appointments. Findings indicate that median completed tenure has collapsed …

“Playing Mental Gymnastics”: Exploring Black Women College Athletes' Mental Health Experiences At Historically White Division I Universities, Ezinne D. Ofoegbu

Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics

Between 2002 and 2022, over 125 college athletes died by suicide, and Division I athletes represented 45% of these deaths. In 2023, Black women college athletes at Division I universities identified racism as a mental health stressor at a higher rate than their non-Black peers. The intersectional nature of social identities and athlete status may create gendered and racialized stressors that are uniquely experienced by Black women athletes. Given the underrepresentation of Black students (i.e., athletes and nonathletes), coaches, faculty, and staff at historically white institutions (HWIs), Black women athletes are likely navigating campus relationships and environments that are shaped …

Servingness On The Sidelines: Latina/O/X Athletic Administrators At Division I Hispanic-Serving Institutions, Guillermo Ortega

Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics

This qualitative study examines how servingness is understood and enacted within NCAA Division I athletic departments at Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs). Guided by Garcia et al.’s multidimensional servingness framework, the study draws on interviews with ten NCAA Division I Latina/o/x athletic administrators. Findings reveal that athletics is frequently disconnected from institutional HSI missions, with servingness often reduced to symbolic or performative practices. Limited Latina/o/x representation in athletic departments further constrains institutional capacity to serve. Despite structural exclusion, participants cultivate servingness through cultural affirmation and community building. Implications highlight the need to structurally integrate athletics into HSI missions and redistribute cultural labor.

Failing Generations: If There Is An Obligation To Work And Study Online Where Are Digital Wellness Supports?, Louise Nagle, Colin O'Brien, Susan Horgan, Laura Rafferty, Brigid Crowley

Publications

This paper considers how staff and students within an Irish University perceive aspects of their digital health within and outside the educational environment. As this is a continuously and rapidly changing environment, the research is timely and contributes to a gap in understandings of the implication of digital interactions across university generations. In February 2026 the digital teaching support functions within Munster Technological University surveyed students (n=1489) and staff (n=257) on various aspects of digital use within and outside their education. An element of this research focused on Digital Wellness. Aspects captured by the survey include …

Owning The Mission: Reconciling The Past, While Implementing The Science Of Reading In An Education Preparation Program, Paula J. Adams

Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education

This reflective inquiry examines the first year of a two-year initiative to more explicitly align an established educator preparation program with the Science of Reading (SoR). Situated within a small private university in New York State, the article considers implementation as both curricular revision and institutional change. The process included faculty professional learning, curriculum mapping, alignment of student learning outcomes, revision of common course assessments, development of SoR-aligned models of candidate work, and consideration of clinical experiences. Particular attention is given to tensions that emerged around policy fatigue, academic freedom and responsibility, differing professional cultures, candidates’ prior experiences with literacy …

Education Agent Management As Part Of Responsible Internationalization: Insights From Finland, Pii-Tuulia Nikula, Henna Juusola

Critical Internationalization Studies Review

No abstract provided.

Access In Teaching Stem Subjects To The Blind, Ashley E. Neybert

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

There are still many gaps in the literature regarding the difficulties faced by instructors of students who are blind and low vision and who teach Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) subjects. We surveyed 26 K-12 STEM teachers about accessible materials they are aware of versus which accessible materials they use in their classrooms, their thoughts on how common challenges identified in the extent literature affect them in their teaching, and their perspective on how much extra time may be required for blind and low vision students (if any) to effectively learn STEM subjects.

20120918: Academic Affairs, 1984-2012, Academic Affairs

Guides to University Archives

These items include materials from the office of Academic Affairs at Marshall University from 1984-2012. Items were received in 2012 and include notable materials from Faces of Appalachia (CSEGA) Challenge Grant; Course Evaluations; Drinko and Morrow Libraries; Adjunct Faculty; New Faculty Orientation; Dept of Social Work; Academic Common Market Requests; Study Abroad; Assessment Plans; Women's Studies; and Core Curriculum Task Force. Please download the finding aid for a full list of contents.

Industry Implications Of A Scaffolded Hospitality Co-Op, Juan Mendez, Joel Reynolds

ICHRIE Research Reports

The hospitality industry faces a persistent skills gap as graduates enter the workforce with limited preparation in the adaptive, operational, and AI-enabled competencies modern employers require (Jackson, 2013; Sigala, 2018). Cooperative education offers a structured response, yet many programs default to a single internship that leaves the integration of theory and practice to chance. This report presents an undergraduate scaffolded cooperative education framework developed at a U.S. hospitality business school that sequences two foundation courses, six concurrent work-integrated courses, and a capstone digital portfolio across a two-year arc. The framework is grounded in experiential learning and scaffolding theory (Kolb, 1984; …

Portraits In Leadership: Six College Presidents Reflect On The Contemporary Presidency, Chris Thomas

Journal of Research on the College President

This qualitative study examines how six college and university presidents describe the contemporary presidency in their own words, offering a personal complement to existing research that often emphasizes governance, organizational structures, or survey data. Through in‑depth interviews conducted in 2025, presidents from community colleges, regional public universities, and a private liberal arts college reflected on their transitions into the role, leadership philosophies, institutional challenges, and the legacies they hope to leave. Their experiences reveal strikingly consistent themes across institutional types. Participants emphasized that “nothing fully prepares someone for becoming the president,” noting the profound shift in responsibility that accompanies the …

Adapting To Change: A Mixed Methods Approach To Understand How Colleges And Universities Are Utilizing Animals To Help Students Transition Into Higher Education, Christopher Puglisi, Shalini Mathew, Nicole D. Schutter, Monte Meyerink, Abiah George

People and Animals: The International Journal of Research and Practice

Individuals experience several changes in their lives, with one of the most impactful being leaving home to attend college. It is no surprise that college-age students need mental health support, especially in times of adjustment. To address this adjustment, animal-assisted interventions (AAI) have recently gained substantial attention. In this study, college and university departments that help students transition to higher education were surveyed (N = 59) and interviewed (N = 6) to understand how AAI are utilized. Results indicate that AAI have potential to ease students’ higher education transition, though institutions must establish an outline that states the benefits of …

Hands-On Ransomware: An Experiential Wannacry Case Study For Undergraduate Cybersecurity Education, Eli Creek Richmond, Thomas R. Devine

Military Cyber Affairs

Ransomware represents one of the most disruptive threats in the cyber landscape, yet hands-on malware analysis remains rare in undergraduate cybersecurity curricula. This paper presents the design, implementation, and evaluation of an experiential learning module centered on the WannaCry ransomware case study, deployed in a senior-level course at West Virginia University. Students performed static and dynamic analysis using industry-standard tools. Pre- and post-module assessments demonstrated measurable gains in self-reported competency across seven technical dimensions. The module's competencies align directly with DoD Cyber Workforce Framework Work Role 212, Cyber Defense Forensics Analyst, supporting education-to-workforce pipeline development.

Humanity, Ai, And The Pedagogy Of Vince Gilligan’S Pluribus, J. Scarlett Kingsley

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

This review discusses the tv show Pluribus as a contemporary television narrative that functions as an allegory for artificial intelligence and its implications for human meaning-making. Centering on Carol Sturka, one of thirteen individuals immune to a alien global virus that merges humanity into a cooperative “Hive Mind”, the series explores tensions between autonomy and collective well-being in a “peaceful apocalypse.” The analysis argues that the Hive Mind reflects key concerns surrounding AI, including the production of knowledge without understanding, personalization without discernment, and efficiency that bypasses the struggle through which meaning is formed. Drawing on John Searle’s distinction between …

Class(Room) Culture: New Conceptualization And A Model Of Culture-Aware Teaching, Ravit Heskiau

International Journal of Transformative Teaching and Learning in Higher Education

As higher education becomes increasingly personalized and students’ individual identities are increasingly considered, this article explores the concept of classroom culture as part of assessing, embracing, and shaping each class’s shared characteristics as a collective. I define classroom culture and explain why it is paramount for educators to understand the unique cultures of their classes and actively assess them, striking a balance between supporting classroom culture and shaping it. Following a critical literature review, I demonstrate the application of commonly used cultural frameworks from the organizational culture literature to higher education classes. Specifically, I expand on how they can help …

2026 - Faculty & Staff Research Symposium, Elizabeth Outka, Lidia Radi

Faculty and Staff Research Symposium Programs

[Excerpt from the "Welcome"]

Dear Colleagues,

Welcome to the third Faculty & Staff Research Symposium!

The Symposium offers us the chance to come together as a community and learn about the inspiring work happening across our campus. Faculty and staff continue to push the boundaries of research, to design and maintain new learning and gathering spaces, to craft remarkable art and performances, and to develop innovative programs that enrich our collective experience. The event is meant to spark curiosity, build connections, inspire partnerships, and open new pathways for exploration. . . .

This symposium is your creation — it thrives …

The Current - Volume 37 Issue 02, Nova Southeastern University

Student Newspapers

No abstract provided.

Starting To Feel Like A Clinician: Graduate Student Experiences Of Communication Partner Training For People With Aphasia, Katie A. Strong, Esther S. Kim, Aura Kagan, Nina Simmons-Mackie

Teaching and Learning in Communication Sciences & Disorders

Communication partner training (CPT) is among the most evidence-based interventions for supporting people with aphasia, yet many speech-language pathologists report not implementing it in practice, and graduate students frequently report low confidence communicating with people with aphasia prior to targeted training. This qualitative descriptive study examined graduate students' experiences learning CPT through a course-embedded, multi-modal experiential approach with structured reflection. Written reflections from 79 first-year graduate students across two university programs served as the data source. Reflections were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Three themes emerged: Learning by Design, reflecting students' metacognitive awareness of the pedagogical elements most meaningful …

When Students Use Ai Before They Learn To Think Clinically: Cognitive Offloading In Communication Sciences And Disorders Education, Salim Alani

Teaching and Learning in Communication Sciences & Disorders

Generative artificial intelligence is becoming part of how students study, write, summarize, and prepare for coursework in communication sciences and disorders (CSD). Much of the current discussion in higher education has focused on plagiarism, academic integrity, and responsible technology use. Those concerns matter, but they do not fully address what may be a larger educational issue in professional preparation programs. Students can now generate polished explanations, study materials, treatment rationales, and clinical summaries quickly, sometimes before independently developing the reasoning skills those tasks are intended to build. This paper examines cognitive offloading in CSD education, defined here as the shifting …

Interrupting The First Story: A Lonerganian Claim Audit For Visual Analytics, Ajaya K. Swain

San Jose - Lonergan Chair in Catholic Philosophy

Visualizations can create an impression of immediacy: a pattern appears, an explanation follows, and managerial action can seem warranted before the transitions among observation, interpretation, judgment, and decision have been examined. This conceptual and pedagogical paper develops a Lonerganian Claim Audit for visual analytics, a discipline-specific adaptation of Bernard Lonergan's account of experience, understanding, judgment, and decision. It conceptualizes visual inferential compression as diminished differentiation among these operations, such that confidence generated by a visible pattern transfers to an explanation, an evidential claim, and an action without the distinct warrant required at each transition. The Claim Audit interrupts that movement …

From Consumer Experience To Brand Meaning: Teaching Brand Management Through Lonergan’S Generalized Empirical Method (Gem), Nicole Kirpalani

San Jose - Lonergan Chair in Catholic Philosophy

Teaching marketing involves more than helping students learn disciplinary concepts and frameworks. It also involves developing processes of inquiry that prepare students to analyze complex situations, interpret evidence, exercise judgment, and make thoughtful professional decisions. As marketing practice continues to evolve, marketing education must similarly reconsider how courses, assignments, and learning experiences prepare students for professional practice (Grewal et al., 2025). Lonergan’s Generalized Empirical Method (GEM) offers one framework for structuring this process of inquiry. Lonergan, writing as a philosopher, theologian, and educator, initially described the underlying pattern of conscious operations as the transcendental method. In his later work, he …

Analysis Of Needs For Web-Based Mobile Learning Development Based On Universal Design For Learning For Students With Special Needs, Murni Winarsih, Mayasari Manar, Rohmah Ageng Mursita, Mita Septiani

Jurnal Pendidikan: Teori, Penelitian, dan Pengembangan

Higher education institutions still have substantial challenges when it comes to accommodating students with special needs, especially those who are visually or aurally impaired. Access to learning resources is still an issue, as are the limitations of adaptive learning media and the dominance of more conventional verbal and visual methods of information transmission. Hence, not all pupils are given the same chances throughout the learning process. With its emphasis on providing a variety of representational, interactive, and expressive tools, Universal Design for Learning (UDL) aims to meet the requirements of students with a wide range of learning styles. In order …