September 2026, Denise Landrum-Geyer

aCAdemicS: The Newsletter of the SWOSU College of Arts & Sciences

The more things change...

We’ve seen a lot of changes on campus over the last year. As the dust settles after all kinds of moves and transitions, now seems as good a time as any to reintroduce the aCAdemicS newsletter. This newsletter, the brainchild of Dr. Peter Grant, originally ran from 2015-2019 (check out older issues in SWOSU’s Digital Commons).

As a writer and writing teacher at heart, I cannot help but try to revive this newsletter to celebrate all things CAS and document the amazing things happening in our college. In between newsletters, you can also find SWOSU …

September 2026 Faculty Senate Packet, University Of Nebraska At Kearney Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Packets

No abstract provided.

The Starvation Of High Education, Heather Stassen

Proceedings of the New York State Communication Association

The author demonstrates from her experiences as a university administrator and from her observation of the market environment that higher education is being systematically starved of resources. This overview is not a representation or the voice of her current institution, but rather a description of her experiences in the field and discussions with other college administrators.

Applying Their Capital: Family Motivation And Tension Among Housing-Insecure Undergraduate Students, Vanessa Pena, Susan P. Farruggia, Nicole A. Perez

Journal of College Access

This study examined how housing-insecure undergraduates draw on community cultural wealth to persist in higher education. Findings show that students’ family relationships were deeply embedded in their educational experiences, functioning as a source of motivation and tension. Campus housing emerged as a critical institutional resource that alleviated financial and emotional burdens for both students and their families. Furthermore, campus housing proved to be a source of relief and an important intervention for both students and their families that led to the activation of familial, navigational, and aspirational capital. The results offer implications for supporting students facing housing insecurity and student …

The Freedom To Learn: Student Stories Of Challenge, Aspiration, And Accomplishment, Marjan Noori, Ata Ullah, Elizaveta Vergel, Salma Rahman, Myo Myint Maung Maung, Sisila Zafari

GHEA21 Publications

Every year, students threatened or displaced by political repression, conflict, or crisis take more than 2,000 regular, credit-bearing courses offered by GHEA21. This collection of student work is a small selection of the perspectives on the freedom to learn that have emerged from these courses. It presents a range of work—academic papers, articles written for public audiences, and creative writing—from several countries. GHEA21 compiled this collection as an initiative of its Collaborative for Threatened and Exiled Universities.

Don’T Let Us Down: A Phenomenological Study Of African American Employees’ Perceptions Regarding The Benefits Of Professional Development In Student Affairs, Courtney Nicole Demings

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The experiences of student affairs professionals are critical to the success of higher education, allowing for a concentrated exploration of African American student affairs professionals who are often employed in 2-year U.S. community colleges. The general problem was that African Americans may leave student affairs in community colleges if they do not perceive supervisory support for professional development and, in turn, career advancement. The purpose of this dissertation was to understand and interpret their lived experiences, illuminate the barriers to their career advancement, and discuss the impact of supervisory support. As such, this action research employed qualitative research through the …

2026 September, Morehead State University. Office Of Communications & Marketing.

Morehead State Press Release Archive, 1961 to the Present

Press releases for September of 2026.

Theology As The Queen Of The Sciences? Kuyper, Bavinck, And Dooyeweerd, Steve Bishop, Renato Coletto

Pro Rege

No abstract provided.

Finding Home: How Richard Mouw And Dordt's Community Healed My Heart, Brad D. Hickey

Pro Rege

No abstract provided.

Brooding Upon The Waters: A Memoir Of Farming, Fishing, And Failure In America's Lost Landscape (Book Review), Abby De Groot

Pro Rege

Reviewed Title: Brooding Upon the Waters: A Memoir of Farming, Fishing, and Failure in America's Lost Landscape by Howard Schaap. Slant Books, 2025. 238 pp. ISBN: 9781639822096.

Beyond The Binary: Strengthening Nursing Students’ Proficiency Of Equitable Health Promotion, Martha K. Findley

Theses

Background: Sexual and gender diverse (SGD) populations continue to experience significant health inequities, yet prelicensure nursing curricula often lack structured, evidence‑based training to prepare students for equitable care.

Purpose: This study evaluated whether a targeted, transgender‑focused simulation could improve nursing students’ clinical knowledge and preparedness for providing equitable health promotion to SGD populations.

Methods: A pre‑/post‑intervention design was used with senior‑level nursing students who completed a transgender patient simulation emphasizing communication, assessment, and equitable health promotion. Students completed a validated survey measuring knowledge and preparedness in caring for SGD patients.

Results: Significant improvements across most survey items demonstrated that the …

The Difficulty In Defining The Construct Of Perseverance, Davon W. Ferrara, Linda W. Jones

Papers

Perseverance is a character virtue necessary for flourishing in the STEM disciplines; however, there are competing definitions of perseverance in scientific literature, which makes measuring the trait and researching its impact difficult. This work provides a review of the definitions of construct found within the literature and compares it to conflated terms such as grit, persistence, resilience, and self-efficacy that have related, but distinct meanings. Finally, we summarize the role of perseverance in STEM and what factors may influence its formation.

The authors gratefully acknowledge support from the Belmont Formation Collaborative and the Formation Scholars Cohort for Character Research and …

Traversing The Broken Staircase: The Experiences Of Academic Neglect For Black & Brown First-Generation College Students, Kashmeel D. Mckoena

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Although Black and Brown students are diversifying college campuses and opening doors for their families as new cohorts of first-generation collegians, they often find themselves silently dealing with the aftermath of academic neglect from U.S. secondary education. This phenomenon can be understood from extant literature as absence of reliable guidance, mentorship, resources, and support that help students persist and succeed in their academic goals. Existing explanations of grit and resilience (Duckworth et al., 2007) not only erase the existence and impact of academic neglect, but also mask the creative solutions and compensatory strategies that Black and Brown first-generation college students …

“Nothing About Us Without Us”: Examining Sense Of Belonging And College Success Through The Experiences Of Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Courtney E. Mulligan

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Sense of belonging has become an increasingly important indicator of student engagement, persistence, and success in higher education. Despite this, limited research has explored how college students with autism experience and define belonging while at college. As increasing numbers of students with autism pursue postsecondary education, institutions face a growing need to better understand the factors that influence student experiences and outcomes. The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to investigate the experiences of sense of belonging among current college students with autism and identify the factors that contribute positively or negatively to this experience to inform more inclusive higher …

The Minutes Of The Marshall University Graduate Council Meeting, August 28, 2026, Marshall University Graduate Council

Graduate Council Minutes

No abstract provided.

A Path To Creating Global Citizens: Education For Sustainable Development In Small Liberal Arts Colleges, Shari Bissoondatt (Boochay), Timea Varga, Antonella Regueiro, Amy An

Faculty and Staff Publications & Presentations

Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) play a critical role in advancing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) by preparing students to address complex social, environmental, and economic challenges. In the literature, less attention has been paid to scalable curricular models implemented in small liberal arts colleges. This paper presents a case study of Lynn University’s Impact Series, an interdisciplinary and co-curricular initiative, intentionally integrated into the undergraduate curriculum to advance Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). Drawing on institutional reports, program documentation, and attendance data from Fall 2022 through Spring 2025, the study examines how the Impact Series promotes short-term …

August 25, 2026 Ereporter, University Of Alabama At Birmingham

eReporter (campus newsletter)

No abstract provided.

Staff Members And Students’ Perceptions On Retention In A Trio Student Support Services Program, Gregoire N. Lee

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The problem that was addressed in this study was the low retention rates and consequent low completion rates of students who are low-income, first-generation, and/or disabled who did not participate in a TRIO Student Support Services (SSS) program at Urban University. Grounded in Tinto’s student integration theory, Dweck’s mindset theory, and Duckworth’s grit theory, the purpose of this study was to determine staff members and students’ perceptions on the helpfulness of the TRIO SSS program in improving retention from Year 1 to Year 2 at Urban University. For this basic qualitative design, semistructured interviews with nine students and four staff …

Community Problems Need Community Solutions: Feminist Collaboration Across Campuses To Create Transformative Outcomes Through Community Engaged Learning, Elizabeth Wilhoit Larson, Jasmine R. Linabary, Ziyu Long, Kylie J. Johnson

Journal of Communication Pedagogy

This study presents a multi-institutional engaged pedagogy project responding to college food insecurity that involved partnerships among students, instructors, and campus food pantries from three U.S. universities. Through analysis of pre- and post-class surveys, class assignments, and instructor and community partner reflections, we argue that our feminist collaborative approach resulted in transformative outcomes in three areas: (a) heads, as the collaboration enabled critical understandings of food insecurity and how to combat it; (b) hearts, as the collaboration fostered a culture of care and (re)ignited shared passion in doing change work, and (c) hands, as the collaboration inspired actions to address …

Norman H. Cromwell, Unl Chemistry; Nu System Dean; Eppley Cancer Center Director, Norman H. Cromwell, Pete Boughn, Mark A. Griep

UNL ORCA Interview Series

This 1980 interview of Normal Cromwell was done by Pete Boughn at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. He asked about Cromwell’s history but mostly about his time as director of the Eppley Cancer Center. The interview is reproduced with permission from the UNMC McGoogan Library.

Cromwell was born in 1913 in Terre Haute, Indiana. In 1935, he earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in his hometown. In 1939, three things happened: he earned a doctorate in organic chemistry from the University of Minnesota, he got married, and he was hired …

The Invisible Poet: Stories Of Higher Education Professional Staff Program Experiences Via Poetic Inquiry Through A Wellness Dimensions Framework, Freyja Hofler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

It is well documented that burnout and low levels of employee wellness have negative effects upon employees as well as the organizations that employ them (Gallup, 2019; Maurer, 2024; Wright & Bonett, 2007). This study was a program evaluation of the C2 Initiatives program via a constructivist paradigm, responsive evaluation approach, and summative outcome evaluation. The NWI’s Six Dimensions of Wellness model was utilized as the theoretical framework of the study and arts-based research was used as the conceptual framework.

Participants were given documents from the C2 Initiatives program as a text base to create blackout poetry, a type of …

A Policy Analysis Of Higher Education Support For Foster Youth In The Colorado Child Welfare System, Krystal Robles

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

This policy analysis examines how two Colorado laws, House Bill 22-1374 (Foster Care Success Act), and Senate Bill 22-008 (Higher Education Support for Foster Youth), aim to improve educational outcomes and long-term stability for youth who age out of the foster care system. Critical Policy Analysis (CPA) and Resilience Theory are used in this paper to examine how these policies address systemic inequities, promote resilience, and offer protective factors that support educational attainment. Using policy review, state policy comparison, stakeholder interviews, and community perspectives, I evaluated how the implementation, effectiveness, and limitations of these bills shape real-world impact. The findings …

A Bibliometric And Descriptive Analysis Of The Disciplinary Affiliations Of Research About Students With Disabilities In College-Level Science Education, Tongriang N. Daspan M.Ed, Aaron C. Wenger Phd, Brandy Pleasants Phd

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

Despite the global emphasis on equity and the need for inclusive science education, students with disabilities (SwDs) encounter persistent barriers in college-level science learning environments. While prior research has explored isolated challenges faced by SwDs, few studies have examined how these challenges vary across science disciplines. Yet, science education research is often situated within distinct disciplinary traditions, such as biology education research or geoscience education research, known collectively as Discipline-Based Education Research (DBER). Understanding the disciplinary distribution of research on SwDs is essential to identifying gaps and fostering cross-disciplinary learning. This study maps trends and patterns in the disciplinary affiliations …

Healthcare Students’ Experiences Using Artificial Intelligence Simulation Tools In Clinical Simulated Laboratory Practice, Delicia S. Cousin

Student Dissertations

Artificial intelligence-driven simulation has become an important component of healthcare education by providing students with opportunities to strengthen clinical reasoning, decision-making, and technical skills in a safe learning environment. Despite its growing adoption, limited research has explored how healthcare students experience artificial intelligence-driven simulation during clinical laboratory practice. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore healthcare students’ experiences using artificial intelligence-driven simulation tools during clinical laboratory practice. Guided by Experiential Learning Theory and Transformative Learning Theory, the study examined how students interpreted, reflected upon, and learned from these experiences. Data were collected through a researcher-developed Qualtrics questionnaire …

Understanding The Lived Experiences Of Autistic Students As They Navigate Nutrition In Higher Education: A Hermeneutic Study, Amanda Beeman

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study is to interpret how adult students with ASD in higher education navigate nutritional choices. This study was guided by Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, which explains the relationship between environmental factors and individual health and well-being. A hermeneutic phenomenological approach was used to examine how students with ASD experienced nutrition within the higher education environment. The central research question asked how adult higher education students with ASD experienced and navigated nutrition in the context of college life. The sample included 10 adult participants with ASD enrolled in a higher education institution. Data were collected …

Phenomenological Study Of How College Educators Perceive The Effectiveness Of Professional Development Programs In Enhancing Their Attitudes Towards Inclusive Learning Strategies, Robbi-Gail Batura

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to understand the perceptions of college educators regarding the effectiveness of professional development programs in enhancing their attitudes towards inclusive learning strategies. For this study, the central phenomenon was defined as the influence of professional development programs on educators’ approaches to inclusive practices in the classroom. The theory guiding this study is the theory of planned behavior, which explores the relationships between individuals' attitudes and behaviors. The central research question for this study is how do college educators perceive professional development programs as influencing their attitudes toward inclusive learning practices? This study …

A Causal-Comparative Study Of The Effect Of Developmental Education Courses On College Persistence In Higher Education Among First-Year College Students, Tosha J. Mobley

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this quantitative causal-comparative study was to examine differences in institutional integration scores among first-year college students based on enrollment status and gender assigned at birth at a public southern university. This study was important because previous reform efforts intended to improve college persistence and graduation rates have not eliminated the need for developmental education or learning support courses within higher education. The independent variables included enrollment status and gender assigned at birth. Institutional integration was measured using the Institutional Integration Scale–Revised (IIS-R). The sample was composed of 107 first-year college students enrolled in developmental (support) and traditional …

Faculty Members' Lived Experiences Using Generative Ai During Course Development At A Midwest Faith-Based Institution Of Higher Education In The United States: A Phenomenological Study, Cassandra J. Huckstep-Spangler

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of course developers using generative AI during course development at a Midwest faith-based institution of higher education in the United States. The theory guiding this study was the Technology Acceptance Model and subsequent extensions to the model including TAM2 and TAM3 as it explores the perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use, contextual factors that align with social influence processes, and experiences with implementation interventions. The central research guiding this study was: What are the experiences of faculty members using generative AI during course development at a …

Improvisation, Ear Training, And Sight-Reading Ability In Class Piano Students, Kimberly Witt

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Sight-reading is considered an essential functional piano skill for music majors and a component of keyboard proficiency exams in the university setting. While many studies have been completed on sight-reading over the years, research on developing sight-reading as a skill is lacking or incomplete. Additionally, conflicting results among studies have created uncertainty about how to develop sight-reading as a skill. Developing sight-reading skills is crucial for class piano students who need functional piano skills relevant to their future profession. Studying the correlation between improvisation, aural skills, and sight-reading development may show how sight-reading can be built as a skill and …

The Minutes Of The Marshall University Staff Council Meeting, August 2026, Marshall University Staff Council

Staff Council Minutes

No abstract provided.