Digital Commons Network^™

Hiring Practices For Faculty, Toni Munos, Bill Newton

Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy

No abstract provided.

The Assessment Buffet, Coming Back For Thirds, Elisa Acosta

Librarian Publications & Presentations

Every year we use assessment to bake a better batch of library instruction for freshman English students. This presentation addresses the universal challenge that many instruction librarians face, “How can we assess student learning outcomes in a one-shot instruction session?” LMU’s Reference Department created a standardized introduction to the research process which could apply to any topic, developed learning objectives, and measured them for the three years. The presenter will highlight assessment successes and what went back to the Test Kitchen. Our assessment buffet consists of a variety of sweet dishes: a worksheet and grading rubric, interactive online LibGuide, keyword …

Open Access At Valparaiso University: Two Perspectives - The User And The Publisher, Jonathan Bull

Library Faculty Presentations

This is part 2 of 2 of the presentation, "Open Access: Resources of tomorrow or Resources of a lower-quality?" which was presented at the Indiana Library Federation (District 1) conference on May 1, 2012. In this presentation, I discuss current Open Access initiatives at Valparaiso University as well as the Valpo user experience in relation to Open Access resources. Part 1 of 2 was "Open Access: The Basics," presented by Joseph Coates, Reference Coordinator at Calumet College of St. Joseph.

Anonymity And Consumption: How Modern Technology And Pressure Affect The Eating Habits Of College Students, Jessica A. Laso

Senior Honors Projects

One of the biggest issues in our society today is the increase in obesity. Despite the amount of available data on the negative health effects or possible solutions and food alternatives, the problem has not seemed to haven gotten any better. In more recent years, the notorious "freshman 15" has even become a victim to obesity and is weighing in as the "freshman 30." What is causing college students to become more susceptible to weight gain? There has been much research conducted to find the common causes of over-eating and weight gain, especially amongst those in college. After reading several …

College Student Satisfaction & Assessment [Presentation With Audio], Laura Heidel

Assessment & Accountability in Student Affairs & Higher Education (CNS 610)

The purpose of this podcast is to inform viewers on the importance college student satisfaction has within student affairs departments and higher education institutions.

User-Focused Acquisitions Strategies: Developing Collections For The 21st Century, Kelly Smith

Library Faculty and Staff Papers and Presentations

With flat or declining budgets and rising prices, most libraries need to find new ways to provide access to the significant amount of content that our users need. Following a user-centered philosophy, Eastern Kentucky University Libraries have implemented several new approaches for acquiring print and electronic resources. Initiatives have included: Patron-driven eBook collections - both broad and subject-specific; article-level purchasing using Copyright Clearance Center’s Get it Now service; and ILL initiated collection development for print resources. The presenter described each initiative and discussed their effect on the budget, the usage of resources, and workflow processes. Future implications for organization and …

Preserving The Digital Past For The Next Hundred Years, Cheryl D. Walters, Tawnya Mosier Keller, Chris L. Erickson

Library Faculty & Staff Presentations

Digital resources in libraries are fragile, and without proper preservation, these valuable resources will become unusable. This preservation reviews the importance of digital preservation, the problem with preserving digital materials, and then discusses what libraries can do to create a plan for providing long term access to their digital resources.

Bridging The Gap Through Collaboration:, Rebecca Arliss, Carlos Arguelles, Rodolfo Hernandez

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Local Government Counts: Facilitating And Enhancing Local Government’S Performance In Community And Service Delivery, L.S. Beh, S.N. Phang

Research Publications (2011 to 2015)

No abstract provided.

Moss Mural, Chelsea Fredrikson

Senior Honors Projects

Moss Mural: Bridging the Arts and Sciences

Chelsea Fredrikson

Major: Fine Arts

Advisor: Robert Dilworth

Advisor Department: Fine Arts

Date 5-2012

Abstract

When we are young, in elementary school, we are encouraged to learn subjects together. Fine arts, science, math, and literature all work as one, and overlap to teach us valuable lessons and tools we can use as we grow. But as we become older school systems segregate subjects, forcing students to chose a direction. Do I have a creative mind, or a logical mind?

As an art student I’ve tried over the course of my college …

A Social Justice Approach: Exploring Umass Boston’S Service Learning Partnership With The Boston Public Schools To Develop High School Students’ College And Career Readiness, Laura Hayden, Amy Cook, Robert Gracia, Jason Youmatz, Elizabeth Walsh

Counseling, School Psychology & Sport Faculty Publication Series

Through partnership with two BPS high schools, school counseling graduate students engage in service learning and participate in organized experiences that meet school needs and are coordinated with graduate students' learning goals. School counseling students meet with BPS students individually and through classroom interventions to assist in the college/career process and prepare them for post-secondary educational options. This session will describe the partnership, including direct experiences shared by graduate students.

Of/By/For: The Rhode Island Student Political Boot Camp, Scott Andrews

Senior Honors Projects

Of/By/For/RI: The Rhode Island Student Political Boot Camp

Scott Andrews

Sponsor: Maureen Moakley, Political Science

“Election? What Election?” The 2011 Princeton Review rankings selected the University of Rhode Island in this category as one of the 20 most apathetic colleges in the country. When I asked students on URI’s campus why they did not engage in activism, the most common answer was they felt they lacked the knowledge and skills to be effective. I wanted to create a community of youth activists at URI and other colleges and high schools throughout Rhode Island who feel empowered to take action on …

Digitizing Items From Special Collections: The Usu Approach, Clint Pumphrey, Andrew Wesolek

Library Faculty & Staff Presentations

The presentation outlines a USU pilot project in using the Institutional Repository to promote and provide access to materials in Special Collections.

Roping, Corralling And Branding Silos Of Information: Old West Techniques For A New World, Cheryl D. Walters, Randy Williams, Liz Woolcott

Library Faculty & Staff Presentations

Isolated silos of information are somewhat outdated in today's fast paced, Google-ized search environment. At Utah State University Libraries, we are creating strategies for aggregating unique primary source materials form multiple institutions and creating uber-collections that preserve institutional-level branding. Modeling our efforts on Indiana University's and the American Folklore Society's OpenFolklore Initiative, we are "roping" the oral histories (and associated materials) of American Folklorists, "corralling" them with CONTENTdm and rich metadata records, and branding them with institutional logos. The digital collection Collecting Memories: Oral Histories of American Folklorists is our first such effort.

Assessing The Assessment Tool, Nancy Turner

Librarian Publications

No abstract provided.

Characteristics Of Auditors Reporting Material Weaknesses In Internal Control Over Compliance For Federal Grants, Julie Hyde

Faculty Works

Are auditor characteristics associated with the reporting of a material weakness in internal control over compliance for federal grants?

Video Making And Editing, Clare Gaynor Willis, Debbie Ginsberg

Presentations

Presentation from Chicago Association of Law Libraries Half-Day Institute on Technology, 2012

How Subject Librarians Make Better Irs And How Irs Make Better Subject Librarians, Andrew Wesolek, Kacy Lundstrom

Library Faculty & Staff Presentations

No abstract provided.

Working Hard Or Hardly Working: Recent Mlis Grads Finding Work And Making It Pay In A Harsh Economy, Andrea Hathway, Liz Woolcott, Becky Skeen, Katie Wesolek

Library Faculty & Staff Presentations

These slides come from the presentation given at the Utah Library Association Conference (April 26, 2012).

Is There A Correlation Between Depression And Inflammation In College-Aged Students?, Jennifer J. Yelle, Cassie J. Dorschner, Jayne Byrne

Nutrition Student Work

The college population has many stressors in life which can elicit depressive symptoms and other factors may contribute to depressive symptoms. Academic pressures, relationships, developmental challenges, etc. Depressed individuals have high psychological stress which elevates C-reactive protein (CRP), an inflammatory marker which can be measured through the blood. CRP levels indicate the extent of inflammation and elevated CRP appears to be associated with severe depressive symptoms. If CRP levels can be used to indicate the severity of depressive symptoms then dietary means can be used to decrease inflammation and reduce depressive symptoms. Purpose: Our present study is intended to determine …

Morphological Variation And Trophic Partitioning Among Central Mexican Lake Silversides, Daniel Powell

Academic Summit

Central Mexican Lakes Silversides species (i.e. Chirostoma) show limited genetic variation for individuals with significant levels of morphological variation. Trophic partitioning is believed to influence the elevated diversity in the region but is not well understood. This study examined the association between diet and morphology, focusing on internal digestive anatomy and head shape. Dissections were performed to determine relative intestine length as related to trophic position. No clear relationship was determined. Head shape was analyzed using geometric morphometric analysis to help quantify replicated patterns of divergence between lakes. Results largely support independent divergence along the same axes in mophospace.

Web-Based Case Studies For Verification-Driven Cs Learning, Joseph Desselle

Academic Summit

Students typically learn to program by beginning with simple coding requirements and work their way into more difficult and complex systems. This approach exposes students to advanced coding and design techniques in existing code with the goal of having them learn to program by figuring out things that are incorrect in this code. Students using the test cases are able to practice their problem-solving and debugging skills, while students developing the cases are putting into practice their experience in design, coding, and user interaction.

The Evaluation Of Novel Beta-Lactam Antibiotics On Clinical Bacterial Isolates, Melvin Grimes

Academic Summit

The distribution and occurrence of multi-drug resistant bacteria is an increasing public health problem. The emergence of resistant bacteria makes the task of synthesizing new antibiotics imperative to combating these bacteria. In this study, new beta-lactam antibiotics are tested for broad spectrum activity using clinical E. coli and Staphylococcus aureus strains. The clinical isolates were grown on Mueller Hinton (MH) agar. The novel beta-lactam antibiotics were placed on sterile disc and placed on the MH plates, incubated overnight, and each zone of inhibition was measured. Our results show several novel antibiotics are effective against the clinical isolates.

Characterization Of Thin-Film Adhesion With Michelson Interferometer, Sushovit Adhikari

Academic Summit

A Michelson Interferometer is used to evaluate the adhesion strength of thin-film systems. The specimens (gold-coated silicon wafers) are configured as the end mirrors and are driven from rear with an acoustic transducer so that the specimens oscillate parallel to optical axis at moderate frequencies. The resulting film surface displacement is detected as a fringe shift of the interference intensity pattern behind the beam splitter with a digital imaging system. The difference in adhesion strength between two types of specimens is successfully visualized as the difference in the fringe contrast. Fourier analysis on the fringe pattern quantifies the fringe contrast.

Can Positive Thoughts Prevent Illnesses?, Jasmine Scott

Academic Summit

Do positive thoughts facilitate optimal health? The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS, Cohen et al., 1983), the most widely used psychological instrument for measuring the perception of stress, was administered to 85 undergraduate students from Northwestern State University along with a survey asking them to circle illnesses they had experienced in the last month. Participants were sent daily messages containing positive thoughts for 21 days and the questionnaires were readministered. A paired sample t-test showed that thinking positive thoughts reduced stress levels and the number of illnesses. The moderating hypothesis that positive thoughts help decrease health problems was confirmed.

Thermal Lensing Effect On A Beam Splitter Of A Michelson Interferometer, Ramesh Shrestha

Academic Summit

With ground-based, laser interferometric gravitational wave detectors in mind, laser-induced thermal effects in the beam splitter of a Michelson type interferometer are discussed. Thermal lensing effect on beam splitter arising from the non-spatial heat distribution has been discussed. A finite element model has been built to compute the temperature profile in the beam splitter. The optical phase shift resulting from the temperature dependence of the refractive index has been analyzed.

Species Delimitation Of A Hybrizing Complex Through Phylogeographic Inference, George Tiley

Academic Summit

Morning glories generally exhibit low levels of hybridization between species. An exception to this notion is the monophyletic syngameon Ipomoea section Batatas. Strict molecular phylogenetic analyses have left the evolutionary relationships of this system unresolved. Thus a population geographic approach may be more appropriate. Statistical phylogeographic methods can be used to elucidate hybrid zones, introgression, and geographic reasons for isolation. These implications can further invoke complex patterns of species distributions and speciation. Hence our intent is to parameterize the evolutionary relationships among population samples of the named species in I. sect. Batatas, such that we might reconstruct their evolutionary history.

“Take A Walk In My Shoes”: A Qualitative Analysis Of Participant Impressions, Binita Adhikari

Academic Summit

"Take a Walk in My Shoes" is an interactive, educational service-learning project for senior level nursing students that is designed to in-service health care employees at local hospitals and nursing homes. Through the use of simulation equipment, participants experienced the difficulties associated with activities of daily living experienced by geriatric clients. Results were generated through qualitative analysis of student journals and observations; major themes that were identified are "nervous/ anxious", "fun", "teacher/educating", and "empathy". Participants expressed an increase in empathy and understanding with regard to the elderly. In conclusion, this project has the potential to be implemented in additional health …

Positron Lifetime Studies Of Cu/Mn3o4 Core/Shell Nanoparticles, Damilola Fasheru

Academic Summit

A wet-chemical method was used for the synthesis of Cu core – porous Mn3O4 shell nanoparticles. We used positron lifetime spectroscopy to study the variations in nano-porosity due to oxidation. Positron lifetime in pure Cu has been reported to be 0.115 ns. Thus, the observed 0.169 ns value indicates that Cu-core has some disorders such as vacancies/dislocations. The positronium lifetime variations indicate that there is no significant change in the pore structure (pore size and concentration) due to oxidation. However, a drastic change in first and second lifetime components between as-made and oxidized particles indicates the oxidation of the Cu-core.

Thermal And Morphological Characterization Of Carbon Nanofiber Reinforced Low Density Polyethylene, Camille Hebert

Academic Summit

The thermal and morphological characterization of low density polyethylene (LDPE) composites reinforced with carbon nanofibers (CNF) is presented in this study. CNF/LDPE composites with varying weight ratios were prepared and analyzed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and cross polarized light microscopy. This thermal analysis provided significant information on the thermal histories of each specimen, and revealed an overall increase in crystallization temperature when compared to neat LDPE. Microscopic analysis provided visual representation of uniform CNF dispersion within the polymer matrix and independent spherulitic data.