Digital Commons Network^™

Building Bots That Teach Thinking: Using Custom Ai Chatbots To Enhance Critical Thinking And Decision-Making, Megan Biagi

AI in the Classroom: A Virtual Summit

Generative AI is increasingly common in education, but its effect on student learning depends largely on how it is used. This interactive session will introduce practical strategies for creating custom AI chatbots that encourage students to think through problems rather than simply ask for answers. Participants will explore ways to design bots that ask learners to explain their reasoning, consider alternative perspectives, identify assumptions, and revise their thinking before receiving feedback.   Examples from healthcare education and other disciplines will show how these tools can support guided inquiry, reflective questioning, clinical reasoning, and decision-making. Participants will review and revise sample chatbot …

Crafting Resilient Ai Policies For Education, Delight Ejiaka, Miranda Hannasch, Branden Cunningham

AI in the Classroom: A Virtual Summit

The rapid integration of generative artificial intelligence into academic spaces requires a shift from passive restriction to resilient, active pedagogical frameworks. This virtual panel explores actionable strategies to protect academic integrity, promote deep critical thinking, and manage AI use, particularly in foundational courses. Panelists will discuss the implementation of high-engagement classroom interventions. The will offer frameworks for transparent student disclosure practices. Attendees will leave with practical templates for syllabus policies, assignment rubrics, and disclosure benchmarks designed to foster a culture of transparency and process-oriented learning in an AI-permeated landscape.

Next Steps In Advancing Pediatric Care In Southern Nevada, The Lincy Institute

Lincy Institute Events

The Lincy Institute released new research evaluating the Southern Nevada pediatric care ecosystem. The report, "An Evaluation of Southern Nevada’s Pediatric Care Ecosystem," offers recommendations to develop a stronger and more coordinated pediatric care ecosystem before the stand-alone children’s hospital being developed by Intermountain Health opens in 2030 and identifies the components of an integrated statewide network to provide all of Nevada’s children with access to high-quality care. The event also featured panel discussions with pediatric care providers and policymakers.

Panel 1 - Pediatric Care Providers

Moderator — Tina Quigley, Project Facilitator, The Lincy Institute

Panelists — Lisa …

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 …

Graduate Medical Education (Gme) In The Mountain West, 2025, Mia Tschan, Phillip Seo, Kerima Awol, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Health

This fact sheet presents data on graduate medical education (GME) capacity and physician retention across five Mountain West states: Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. Data are reported on the number of Doctor of Medicine (MD) and Doctor of Osteopathy (DO) granting institutions, teaching hospitals, residents in training, Medicare-supported GME slots, residents training in slots not supported by Medicare direct GME (DGME), and the percentage of physicians trained in each Mountain West state. The data are derived from the 2025 Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) report, “State-by-State Data on Graduate Medical Education,” which includes graduate medical education data …

Metro Monitor 2026: Las Vegas And Reno, Nevada, Kevin Yang, Lara Karaalp, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Economic Development & Workforce

This fact sheet presents economic growth performance indicators in the Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV and Reno, NV metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), using data provided by the Brookings Institution’s Metro Monitor 2023  and 2026. The Metro Monitor explores five indicators of economic performance over ten year periods: the 2023 report provides data measuring the period from 2011 to 2021, while the 2026 report provides data measuring the period from 2014 to 2024. The Metro Monitor reports data on growth, prosperity, economic inclusion, racial inclusion, and geographic inclusion across 196 MSAs in the U.S.

Child Care Deserts In Mountain West Congressional Districts, 2024, Cason Noll, Yash Kalla, Yiselle Olivas Ruiz, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Economic Development & Workforce

This fact sheet presents data on child care deserts across 28 congressional districts in the five Mountain West states of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah as of 2024. The percentage of young children residing in a child care desert and the urban, suburban, or rural designation of each congressional district are included. The Center for American Progress (CAP) report, ‘America’s Child Care Crisis Leaves Many Families Without Access to Licensed Care,’ includes data on all 435 U.S. congressional districts.

Average Earnings Of Undergraduate Certificate Graduates In The Mountain West, 2024, Devin Streuter, Kahlen Coss, Kevin Yang, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Higher Education

This fact sheet presents data on the average earnings of undergraduate certificate program graduates in 2024 dollars compared to the average earnings of high school (HS) graduates in five Mountain West states: Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. The fact sheet reports information on the number of undergraduate certificate programs, number of graduates, the most popular certificate programs, and earnings premiums for each state. Published by Open Campus in collaboration with The Higher Education Analytics (HEA) Group, the fact sheet reports data originally published through the “Certificate Earnings Explorer."

Fastest-Warming States And Cities In The Mountain West, 2025, Maisoon Faris, Kahlen Coss, Kevin Yang, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Environment

This fact sheet presents data published by Climate Central on the change in average annual temperatures for the five Mountain West states of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah and 15 Mountain West cities from 1970 to 2025. City-level data are derived from Applied Climate Information System (ACIS) operated by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), state-level data are derived from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI).

Readme Template For Geospatial Data, Alyssa Renteria

Library Faculty Research

A readme file provides descriptive information about a dataset, file(s), or software. The goal is to ensure that the files and data can be correctly interpreted by your future self or others when sharing or publishing data, code, or software.

Middle Class Affordability In The Mountain West, 2023, Kian Parikh, Krish Sharma, Mohit Pande, Kristian Thymianos, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Economic Development & Workforce

This fact sheet presents 2023 data on the share of middle-class households that can afford basic necessities in the five Mountain West states of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. The Brookings Institution report, “In every corner of the country, the middle class struggles with affordability,” provides metropolitan-level estimates across all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. This fact sheet focuses on middle class affordability data for the largest metro area in each Mountain West state and, where available, explores middle class affordability by race and ethnicity.

The Intersection Of Sport Betting And Consumer Behavior: A Systematic Review, Jackson Sears, Beth Cianfrone

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

Sport betting is a popular and lucrative entertainment segment of the sport industry. As such, understanding consumer behavior across the betting experiences is critical for the many stakeholders involved. The current study is a systematic quantitative literature review which assesses the current state of literature that intersects sport betting and consumer behavior literature, specifically cognitive, affective, conative, and consumption behavior of the sport bettors. The purpose of the systematic review is to (1) identify the most recent sport betting consumer behavior research, (2) compile and examine theoretical frameworks guiding sport gambling consumer research, (3) provide a descriptive summary of findings …

Largest Generations In The Mountain West States, 2024, Anirudh Polagani, Kian Parikh, Mohit Pande, Sean Curry, Kristian Thymianos, Olivia K. Cheche, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Demography

This fact sheet presents population data by generation and by state, identifying which generation represents the largest share of the population in Mountain West states. The data are derived from the Brookings Institution report, "Baby boomers are turning 80: A closer look at the generation that reshaped America," by William Frey. This fact sheet compares the 2024 population of each generation, from Pre-Baby Boom to Gen Alpha, to identify the largest generation in each of the five Mountain West states: Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah.

Synthesis, Thermal Stability, And Ionic Conductivity Of Phenyl-Extended Viologen Ditriflate Salts: Tailoring Properties Via Oxyethylene Chain Length, Seonghyeok L. Cox, Emily Moon, Si L. Chen, David King, Haesook Han, Pradip K. Bhowmik, Calvin Ng Yi Bin, Thamil Selvi Velayutham, Alfonso Martinez-Felipe

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Research

Six new phenyl-extended viologen salts with oxyethylene groups paired with triflate anions (OTF) have been synthesized using anionic ring-opening and ring-closing reactions (ANRORC) and metathesis reactions with LiOTf salts. The salts, which contain terminal oxyethylene chains of varying lengths ((CH₂CH₂O)_n, n = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7), are named PEOn-OTF. These materials exhibit a fluorescence response and possess high thermal stability, with processing windows up to approximately 300 °C, as confirmed by thermogravimetric analysis. While samples with short chain lengths (n = 1, 2, and 3) undergo crystallization observed …

Gross Metropolitan Product (Gmp) And Gross State Product (Gsp) In The Mountain West, 2024, Devin Streuter, Phillip Seo, Zafeen Boulware, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Economic Development & Workforce

This fact sheet presents 2024 Gross Metropolitan Product (GMP) and Gross State Product (GSP) data for five Mountain West states: Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah, and selected metros in these states. The data are derived from a report by the United States Conference of Mayors titled, “U.S. Metro Economies Annual Report and Forecast June 2025."

State Investments In Childcare In The Mountain West, 2026, Sophia Booth, Yiselle Olivas Ruiz, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Economic Development & Workforce

This fact sheet presents data on state investments in childcare and preschool programs in the five Mountain West states of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. BabyCenter’s 2026 analysis, “These are the best and worst states for childcare,” includes state-level data on childcare accessibility, affordability, public investment, and overall childcare rankings for all 50 states. This fact sheet focuses on childcare spaces per child, income spent on childcare, and state investment per child.

Most Affordable And Fastest-Growing Cities In The Mountain West, 2026, Cason Noll, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Cities & Metros

This fact sheet presents data on the most affordable and fastest-growing cities among the five Mountain West states of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. The data are sourced from MoneyLion’s “50 Most Affordable, Fastest-Growing Cities” report, which analyzed and ranked U.S. cities by the most affordable places with large population growth. This fact sheet focuses on the 10 Mountain West cities that ranked within the top 50 and their corresponding 5-year population growth rate, median household income, annual cost of living for both homeowners and renters, and the leftover savings available at the end of the year for …

Sources Of Energy Production In Mountain West States, 2026, Kahlen Coss, Yash Kalla, Kian Parikh, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Environment

This fact sheet presents data on electricity generation and energy sources in March 2026 for five Mountain West states: Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. Each state's share of total U.S. electricity production and its generation by source (coal, hydroelectricity, natural gas, nuclear, solar, and wind) are included. The Choose Energy report, "Electricity Generation by State," includes data on all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Financial Health And Wealth In The Mountain West, 2019 - 2022, Sean Curry, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Economic Development & Workforce

This fact sheet presents data on three indicators of household financial health in the five Mountain West states of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah between 2019 and 2022. The Urban Institute’s Financial Health and Wealth Dashboard includes data on emergency savings, median household net worth, and workplace retirement plan access. This fact sheet focuses on statewide data on the Mountain West states, comparing data snapshots in 2019 to 2022.

Fertility And Birth Rates In The Mountain West, 2024, Sydney Mitchell, Maisoon Faris, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Health

This fact sheet reports 2024 data on the overall birth rate and birth-related health measures in the five Mountain West states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, and Utah using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website. This fact sheet includes information from the National Center for Health Statistics, “Statistics by State” subsection related to birth. This subsection focuses on fertility rates, teen birth rates, infant mortality rates, births to unmarried mothers, cesarean deliveries, pre-term births, and infants with low birth weight.

Scheduled Coal Plant Retirements In The Mountain West, 2022-2031, Kerima Awol, Sophia Booth, Ty Tan, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Environment

This fact sheet presents data on publicly announced coal-fired power plant retirements in five Mountain West states: Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah, between 2022 and 2031. The Visual Capitalist’s 2021 report, “Road to Decarbonization: U.S. Coal Plant Closures,” includes information on the location, retirement year, and electricity generation capacity of coal-fired power plants scheduled for retirement across the United States.

Hemidiaphragmatic Segmental Zoster Paresis, Terrence Sanvictores, Johnson Ukken

School of Medicine Faculty Research

The reactivation of latent varicella-zoster virus within infected neurons can lead to common clinical manifestations, including rash, acute neuritis, post-herpetic neuralgia, herpes zoster ophthalmicus, and Ramsay–Hunt syndrome. Segmental zoster paresis is an unusual neurologic complication of shingles that is defined by focal asymmetric motor weakness in the myotome corresponding to skin lesions of the dermatome. This case is a presentation of a patient who developed chronic hypoxia and severe atelectasis attributed to right-sided phrenic nerve paralysis secondary to herpes zoster infection.

Ice Arrests In The Mountain West, 2025, Cason Noll, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Criminal Justice

This fact sheet presents data from the Prison Policy Initiative briefing on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrest data for the five Mountain West states of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah from January to October of 2025.  This fact sheet reports the number of ICE arrests by location and arrest rates per 100,000 residents in each Mountain West state.

Charting Queer Visibility: A Content Analysis Of Queer Picture Books, 2000-2024, Amanda Melilli, James W. Rosenzweig, Alicia G. Vaandering

Library Faculty Research

This poster session presents findings from a content analysis of queer picture books published from 2000 to 2024. In an initial review of more than 650 books, the authors analyzed narrative themes and the identities, orientations, and BIPOC and/or disability intersectionality of queer characters in each book. This research built a final book sample of more than 430 unique titles with identifiably queer characters. The findings map queer representation and narratives in picture books published in the U.S. and Canada during the twenty-first century.

Degrees And Certificates Awarded To Native American Students In Nevada, 2010-2022, Devin Streuter, Kevin Yang, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Higher Education

This fact sheet presents data on certificates and degrees awarded to Native Americans from the Nevada System of Higher Education’s (NSHE) teaching institutions —College of Southern Nevada (CSN), Great Basin College (GBC), Nevada State University (NSU), Truckee Meadows Community College (TMCC), University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), University of Nevada, Reno (UNR), and Western Nevada College (WNC)— from 2010 to 2022. Additionally, the fact sheet reports data on degree type, gender, and the most common majors pursued by Native American certificate and degree earners in Nevada. The data are derived from the Nevada P-20 Workforce Research (NPWR) Data System.

Manufactured Homes In The Mountain West, 2025, Yiselle Olivas Ruiz, Dre Boyd-Weatherly, Taylor Volk, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Housing & Real Estate

This fact sheet presents 2025 data on manufactured homes in the five Mountain West states of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. The Construction Coverage report, “U.S. States Investing Most in Manufactured Homes,” based on analysis from the U.S Census Bureau and Zillow’s Home Value Index, includes data on all fifty states. This fact sheet focuses on the number of manufactured homes, site-built home permits, and the average price of manufactured homes in the Mountain West.

Innovation Hubs In Mountain West Cities, 2025, Cason Noll, Sean Curry, Olivia K. Cheche, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Economic Development & Workforce

This fact sheet presents data on 20 innovation-dense Mountain West cities across Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. The CommercialCafe report, “Santa Clara, Berkeley & Tempe Lead Among Western Innovation Hubs,”  uses 15 indicators to rank 63 western cities for innovation hub activity across three categories: employment and talent, education, and business activity.

Commute Times And Remote Workers In Mountain West Cities, 2019-2023, Maisoon Faris, Mia Tschan, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Transportation & Infrastructure

This fact sheet presents 2019 to 2023 data on city-wide travel times, the number of remote workers, and the amount of time lost and saved by commuters across seven Mountain West cities: Mesa, AZ; Phoenix, AZ; Tucson, AZ; Colorado Springs, CO; Denver, CO; Las Vegas, NV; and Albuquerque, NM. The data are derived from the 2025 Yardi Kube report, “Back on the Road: U.S. Commutes Increase Amid a Hybrid Work Era,”  which includes commute time and remote worker data for the 50 largest cities across the United States. The year 2022 is used as a base comparison to show changes …

Hedonics Of Used Car Attributes On Market Price, Alexander Bent, Jason Gutierrez

Undergraduate Economics Working Paper Series

This paper uses Rosen's paper on hedonic pricing as a framework to analyze the determinants of used car prices found in Craigslist. Using cleaned data, we observe over 43,000 listings from 2005 to 2020 and investigate factors that affect used car prices and how they interact in this market. Results show that odometer readings and condition are the strongest factors that determine price, while manufacturers, paint color, drive type, fuel type, size, and year have more ambiguous effects that depend on certain perceived attributes or conditions.

Key Determinants Of Diamond Value, Tobey Brill, Alexander Dobrovolskyi, Rayland Labayog

Undergraduate Economics Working Paper Series

This paper intends to examine the determinants of diamond pricing using a hedonic regression framework. Using the diamonds dataset from Wickham (2016), we analyze the four C’s, also known as carat weight, cut, color, and clarity. We also wanted to go deeper into this topic and look into the depth and table to see how it impacts diamond pricing. Results have displayed that carat weight greatly influences a diamond’s price, while characteristics such as clarity, color, and cut exert positive effects. Estimates were found to be statistically significant. Our findings confirm and reassure the idea that hedonic pricing accurately captures …