Digital Commons Network^™

Impact Of Telehealth On Health Disparities Associated With Travel Time To Hospital For Patients With Recurrent Admissions: 4-Year Panel Data Analysis, Youyou Tao, Ace Vo, Dezhi Wu, Junyuan Lin, Kala Seal, Abhay Mishra, Arindam Brahma

Publications

Background: Geographic, demographic, and socioeconomic differences in health outcomes persist despite the global focus on these issues by health organizations. Barriers to accessing care contribute significantly to these health disparities. Among these barriers, those related to travel time—the time required for patients to travel from their residences to health facilities—remain understudied compared with others. Objective: This study aimed to explore the impact of telehealth in addressing health disparities associated with travel time to hospitals for patients with recurrent hospital admissions. It specifically examined the role of telehealth in reducing in-hospital length of stay (LOS) for patients living farther from the …

Pursuing Success In A Hybrid Phd Nursing Program, Chloé Littzen, Jennifer T. May Phd, Rn, Anp-Bc, Jessica Rainbow, Helena Morrison, Lois Loescher

Publications

Background:

Little is known about hybrid PhD nursing students' experiences.

Method:

The purpose of this study was to describe and analyze the experiences of PhD nursing students in a hybrid program using a convergent mixed methods design. Recent nursing PhD alumni (n = 18), and current PhD students (n = 4) were recruited at a research-intensive university in the southwestern United States.

Results:

Four metainferences were identified: (1) the facilitator of faculty as both advisors and mentors; (2) the facilitator of peers as support, motivation, and a source of advice that preceded advisors; (3) the barrier of receiving …

Systems Check: A Qualitative Case Study Of Educators And Parent-Educators Supporting Adolescent Readers From An Ecological Systems Perspective, Kristi Nicole Grooms

Theses and Dissertations

In spite of decades of research and an abundance of well-intentioned intervention efforts, supporting adolescent readers, particularly at the middle level, remains a significant area of concern for educators in the United States. The struggles are present for educators working to help underperforming readers reach grade-level and keep advanced readers motivated and engaged. At home, parents and guardians experience similar challenges. Data on adolescent comprehension performance continues to be frustrating in terms of producing consistent positive results. This qualitative action research study investigated the ongoing challenge of supporting adolescent readers, specifically within the context of 7th grade, through a systems …

K-Perm: Personalized Response Generation Using Dynamic Knowledge Retrieval And Persona-Adaptive Queries, Kanak Raj, Kaushik Roy, Vamshi Bonagiri, Priyanshul Govil, Krishnaprasad Thirunarayan, Raxit Goswami, Manas Gaur

Publications

Personalizing conversational agents can enhance the quality of conversations and increase user engagement. However, they often lack external knowledge to tend to a user’s persona appropriately. This is particularly crucial for practical applications like mental health support, nutrition planning, culturally sensitive conversations, or reducing toxic behavior in conversational agents. To enhance the relevance and comprehensiveness of personalized responses, we propose using a two-step approach that involves (1) selectively integrating user personas and (2) contextualizing the response with supplementing information from a background knowledge source. We develop K-PERM (Knowledge-guided PErsonalization with Reward Modulation), a dynamic conversational agent that combines these elements. …

Proknow: Process Knowledge For Safety Constrained And Explainable Question Generation For Mental Health Diagnostic Assistance In The Age Of Large Language Models, Kaushik Roy, Manas Gaur, Misagh Soltani, Vipula Rawte, Ashwin Allen, Amit P. Sheth

Publications

Current Virtual Mental Health Assistants (VMHAs) primarily offer counseling and suggestive care but do not assist with patient diagnosis due to their lack of training in safety-constrained and specialized clinical process knowledge, referred to as ProKnow. In this work, we define ProKnow as an ordered set of information aligned with evidence-based guidelines or categories of conceptual understanding used by domain experts. We also introduce a new dataset of diagnostic conversations guided by safety constraints and Pro- Know, known as ProKnow-data. We develop a method for natural language question generation (NLG) designed to interactively gather diagnostic information from patients, termed ProKnow-algo. …

Terror And Time: Analyzing Homegrown Terrorism In The United States, Kyser Daniels-Baessler

Theses and Dissertations

The events of September 11th, 2001, prompted a global reckoning with the threat of international terrorism, leading to intensified awareness and policy responses worldwide. However, amidst this heightened global focus, the United States has faced a concerning rise in politically motivated violence on its soil. Against this backdrop, this thesis delves into the phenomenon of homegrown terrorism within the United States from 2000 to 2020. By employing advanced geospatial techniques, this study seeks to pinpoint areas nationwide with elevated rates of homegrown terrorist incidents. Moreover, it endeavors to uncover potential temporal correlations between these acts of violence and significant events, …

The Leadership Blind Spot: Why Are Black Boys Missing From The School’S Leadership Positions?, Chima Ikeme

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this phenomenological action research study was to explore the factors that have contributed to the absence of Black boys in school leadership positions. The study looked to answer the following research questions: How do Black male students perceive leadership and their connection to leadership roles on campus? What barriers exist that discourage or prohibit Black boys from engaging in school organization student leadership positions? How can student leadership from Black boys on campus be increased?Critical Race Theory, Transformational Leadership Theory, and Self Determination Theory served as the theoretical frameworks that grounded this study. Utilizing a qualitative approach …

Digital Usage Of Indian Teleworkers In Home Settings: A Digital Inclusion Framework, Anindita Paul, Borchuluun Yadamsuren, Kim M. Thompson

Faculty Publications

This research focuses on ICT adoption and digital use by teleworkers operating from their homes during the pandemic in India. A two-phase mixed-method approach is used: Phase 1 involved in-depth interviews with three individuals during the pandemic, findings from which were used along with the Factors Affecting Digital Inclusion (FDI) model (Thompson & Paul, 2020) to develop the survey instrument for Phase 2. This survey was distributed to professionals via listservs, and the FDI model was subsequently utilized to analyze the survey responses. The study’s findings highlighted multiple factors related to digital inclusion among teleworkers that could impact work productivity. …

Linking Ethical Leadership To Organizational Citizenship Behavior And Unethical Pro-Organizational Behavior, Jinhee Kim

Theses and Dissertations

The significance of ethical leadership has recently garnered considerable attention from both academia and practitioners. However, despite its reputation for facilitating ethical conduct and preventing unethical conduct, there are inconsistencies in the findings about its relationship with (un)ethical pro-organizational behaviors such as organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB). Thus, the purpose of this dissertation is to delve deeply into the influence of ethical leadership on OCB and UPB. Through three interrelated papers, I seek insights into how ethical leadership can drive ethical pro-organizational behaviors that are compatible with broader societal norms. In Paper 1, while noting a …

Engaging With Culturally Relevant Curriculum Development Practice In First-Year Writing Courses Through A Community Of Practice, Mitchell Dallas Herring

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative action research study provides a case study of a community of practice (CoP) comprised of six faculty who teach first-year writing at Southern Technical College (pseudonym) as they engaged with culturally relevant teaching to review their curriculum development practices. The guiding question of this study was: How does engagement with culturally relevant pedagogy within a community of practice impact faculty who teach first-year writing's curriculum development practice, especially given their perceptions of students' needs and literacies? The study used a case study research design to document the faculty's experiences discussing and reflecting on their practice and perceptions of …

Diversity Across Disciplines: Student Response To Dei Content In College Curricula, Angela Pettitt

Theses and Dissertations

Discussion and inclusion of diversity-related topics in higher education are often confined to specific courses designated as fulfilling a university-mandated diversity requirement such as courses in women's studies, Black history or literature, Eastern religions, among others. Mainstream general education courses in disciplines such as psychology, chemistry, or communications typically do not address diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) topics as part of the curriculum, even if individual textbooks, courses, or faculty work to improve such courses' pluralism. However, as the U.S. population becomes both more diverse and segregated, and as DEI initiatives come under fire from state legislators, students receive conflicting …

Neurosymbolic Value-Inspired Ai (Why, What, And How), Amit Sheth, Kaushik Roy

Publications

The rapid progression of Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems, facilitated by the advent of Large Language Models (LLMs), has resulted in their widespread application to provide human assistance across diverse industries. This trend has sparked significant discourse centered around the ever-increasing need for LLM-based AI systems to function among humans as part of human society, sharing human values, especially as these systems are deployed in high-stakes settings (e.g., healthcare, autonomous driving, etc.). Towards this end, neurosymbolic AI systems are attractive due to their potential to enable easy-tounderstand and interpretable interfaces for facilitating valuebased decision-making, by leveraging explicit representations of shared values. …

Ontolog Summit 2024 Talk Report: Healthcare Assistance Challenges-Driven Neurosymbolic Ai, Kaushik Roy

Publications

Although Artificial Intelligence technology has proven effective in providing healthcare assistance by analyzing health data, it still falls short in supporting decision-making. This deficiency largely stems from the predominance of opaque neural networks, particularly in mental health care AI applications, which raise concerns about their unpredictable and unverifiable nature. This skepticism hinders the transition from information support to decision support. This presentation will explore neurosymbolic approaches that combine neural networks with symbolic control and verification mechanisms. These approaches aim to unlock AI’s full potential by enhancing information analysis and decision-making support for healthcare assistance1.

"What Is A Wave But 1000 Drops Working Together?": The Role Of Public Libraries In Addressing Lgbtqia+ Health Information Disparities, Vanessa Lynn Kitzie, A. Nick Vera, Valerie Lookingbill, Travis L. Wagner

Faculty Publications

Purpose. This paper presents results from a participatory action research study with 46 LGBTQIA+ community leaders and 60 library workers who participated in four community forums at public libraries across the US. The forums identified barriers to LGBTQIA+ communities addressing their health questions and concerns and explored strategies for public libraries to tackle them.

Design/methodology/approach. Forums followed the World Café format to facilitate collaborative knowledge development and promote participant-led change. Data sources included collaborative notes taken by participants and observational researcher notes. Data analysis consisted of emic/etic qualitative coding.

Findings. Results revealed that barriers experienced by LGBTQIA+ communities are structurally …

Maximizing Organizational Effectiveness: Ncaa Division Iii Administrator Core Values And Departmental Culturization, Coyte G. Cooper, Erianne A. Weight

Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics

The purpose of this study was to explore Division III athletic administrator perceptions of organizational values through a lens of core value culturalization literature. Survey methodology was utilized to garner responses from 192 Division III head athletic directors [n = 75] and lower level (senior, associate, or assistant) athletic directors [n = 117]. Cumulative administrator emphasis on the “student-athlete experience” and “academic excellence” as top priorities demonstrates support that the mission of these Division III departments is to provide student-athletes with a high quality educational experience both in the classroom and in athletic competition (NCAA Division III, 2011). Analysis of …

Examining The Effects Of Relationship Quality And Calculative Commitment On Sport Consumer Behaviors For Intercollegiate Athletics, Ryan T. Wang, Cony M. Ho, James J. Zhang

Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of relationship quality and calculative commitment on sport consumers’ game attendance, donation intentions, and customer referral in the context of intercollegiate athletics. Relationship quality was operationalized as a higher-order construct containing trust, satisfaction, and affective commitment (De Wulf, Odekerken-Schröder, & Iacobucci, 2001). Calculative commitment, on the other hand, was conceptualized as a cost-induced commitment between relationship partners (Geyskens, Steenkamp, Scheer, & Kumar, 1996). Based on previous studies, a 29-item instrument was developed, and modifications were made to adapt it to intercollegiate athletics. Research participants (N = 350) were consumers of …

The Perceptions And Effects Of Community Service Participation Among Intercollegiate Men’S Basketball Players, Brittney D. Jarvie, Amanda L. Paule-Koba

Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics

Due to the varied community service opportunities offered to intercollegiate student- athletes at many institutions in the United States (NCAA, 2011), it is important to understand the effects and perceptions of these experiences on these student-athletes. Yet, despite the vast opportunities for student-athletes, there is a lack of research on the results and impact of student-athlete participation in community service. This case study presents data that highlights the outcomes of community service participation as specified by the participants, which are categorized in eight themes: Coach Support, Enjoyment, Helping Hand, Leadership, Lessons Learned, Motivation, Staying Connected, and Togetherness. These themes were …

To Name It Or Not Name It: Consumer Perspectives On Facility Naming Rights Sponsorship In Collegiate Athletics, Kenneth K. Chen, James J. Zhang

Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics

Collegiate athletics have become increasingly attractive for sponsorship investments, a trend that has also created some potentially negative side effects. How university stakeholders, such as students, perceive and respond to stadium naming rights sponsorship is a major concern to administrators of both athletic programs and business corporations. This study investigates students’ beliefs about naming rights sponsorship, their attitudes toward commercialization, team and stadium identification, and perception of financial status, as well as how these factors affect naming rights sponsorship outcomes regarding attitude toward sponsor, purchase intention of sponsor’s product, and willingness to attend sporting events. A theoretical model was proposed …

Reviewing The Public Discourse Of The Division I (Football Bowl Subdivision) Playoff Issue Pre-Bcs: A Historical Analysis Of Core Event Stakeholder Perspectives, Chad Seifried

Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics

Opinions from the various stakeholders of the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), such as conference commissioners, university presidents/chancellors, bowl executives, and coaches, are numerous and well documented by the popular media since the establishment of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) in 1998. The public discourse offered by the various popular media sources significantly influenced the behaviors and perspectives of others on the prospects of a Division I FBS playoff before the BCS. Few academic and historical reviews of the core event stakeholders (i.e., athletic directors, coaches, and players) involved with the playoff debate have been formally organized prior to …

Development Of A College Readiness Screening Measure For Student Athlete Recruits, Allison Lombardi, Robyn Conley Downs, Andrew Downs, David Conley

Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics

The National Collegiate Athletic Association recommends student athlete recruits be screened for academic preparation using high school grade point average (GPA) and college admission exam scores under the assumption these indicators will sufficiently predict college academic performance. In this study, the Student Athlete Pre-Screening Questionnaire (SA- PSQ) was developed based on a pre-existing measure of college readiness designed for high school students. The SA-PSQ allows for reliable and valid assessment of college readiness knowledge and skills that are aligned with the expectations of college faculty. Results of a discriminant function analysis revealed an optimal combination of 16 items that predict …

University Selection Factors For Division Ii Softball Student-Athletes, Tracy L. Jordan, Jordan I. Kobritz

Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics

The purpose of this study was to determine which factors most influence the selection of an institution for student-athletes competing on National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II softball teams. Sixty-nine student-athletes from an NCAA Division II Conference in the southwest participated in this study. The Strength of University Selection Factors survey, made up of 24 items, was used to investigate six university selection factors: (a) family and friends, (b) location of the institution, (c) academic characteristics, (d) softball program, (e) financial aid, and (f) coaching staff. The frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation were determined for each survey item. The …

The Effects Of An Institution’S Athletic Success On The Future Freshmen Application Pool At Ncaa Division Ii Universities, Joshua Castle, Robert Kostelnik

Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics

This exploratory study investigated the relationship of intercollegiate athletic success to the quantity of the freshmen application pool and the quality of first time enrolled freshmen at National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II institutions. Aggregate data from the fourteen member institutions of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) and the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) served as the subjects for this study. All the institutions included in this study are members of the NCAA and classified as Division II universities. A correlation model was used to analyze the relationships between athletic success and the quantity of the …

Third Time’S A Charm: The Case Of Tennessee’S Four Junior Football Players Who Endured Three Different Head Coaches In Three Seasons, Joshua R. Pate, Sarah. E. Stokowski, Robin Hardin

Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics

For college student-athletes enduring multiple head coaching changes during their careers, challenges include changes in the level of competition, lifestyle pressures, identity issues, loss of support system, and changes in training environment. Student-athletes are required to build relationships with a new head coach while facing issues with loneliness, frustration, discouragement, self-doubt, and feelings of decreased self-worth. This unique case study examined the transitions of junior student-athletes at the University of Tennessee who played for three different head coaches. Themes that were constructed from challenges the student-athletes faced were: Trust, Individual and Team Strength, and Future. A tremendous amount of effort …

Leadership And Facilitating An Intercollegiate Athletic Department Merger, Lisa A. Kihl, Vicki Schull

Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics

Leadership is an important aspect in facilitating an organizational merger. Research indicates that each merger presents a different objective and thus a variety of challenges that require different forms of leadership. Further, the merger type and merger stage influences leadership required to facilitate the merger process. This study examined merger challenges and leadership employed to assist an intercollegiate athletic department merger. Using a single qualitative case study design (i.e., interviews with 57 stakeholders and documents), the findings showed transition leadership challenges included an absence of leadership and stakeholder uncertainty, and the central integration leadership challenge was strategic planning. Transition leadership …

Social Media And The College Football Audience, Galen Clavio

Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics

Despite the recent growth of social media as a communication and marketing tool, very little research has been conducted on college athletics audiences and their usage of online tools such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Data from a survey conducted on an FBS school's football fans were statistically analyzed, with demographic and other data utilized in examination of traditional and online media usage. The study discovered significant differences in traditional and social media use in relation to demographic factors such as age, income, and alumni status. Media such as Twitter and podcasts tended to be generally unpopular among fans, while …

From Rhetoric To Reality: Ncaa Division I Athletic Department Mission Statements And Student-Athlete Community Service Efforts, Emily J. Andrassy, Jennifer E. Bruening

Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics

With the growing emphasis in higher education on developing character and social responsibility, the NCAA CHAMPS/Life Skills program commitment to service is of interest as it encourages the development of well-rounded student athletes. In framing the current study, the researchers focused on how the communication of an athletic department’s mission impacts the community service activities for athletes. Mission statements are used to communicate the central purposes of organizations (Bart, 1996) to various internal and external audiences. Through website content analysis, this investigation reveals the importance placed upon service across athletic departments through the mission, and determines the effect of such …

A Comparison Of Optimism Levels And Life Stress Levels Among Ncaa Division I Athletes And Non Athletes, Eleanor Shearman, Daniel R. Czech, Trey Burdette, Tyler Mcdaniel, Barry Joyner, Drew Zwald

Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics

Researchers suggest that optimistic individuals approach life situations with the belief that outcomes will be favorable, and are more likely to exhibit better coping mechanisms when dealing with adversity and stress (Carver, & Scheier, 1987; Karadeaus, Karvelis, Argyropoulou, 2007). Moreover, the cognitive adaptation theory suggests that optimistic individuals are more likely to make appropriate cognitive adaptations to stressful situations (Lightsey, 1994; Alloy & Clements, 1992). Results concerning collegiate athletic status, gender, optimism, and stress are mixed. The purpose of this study was to compare collegiate athletes and non athletes and gender on optimism and life stress. The present study utilized …

Internal Marketing Perceptions In Intercollegiate Athletics And Their Influence On Organizational Commitment, J. Michael Martinez, Jeffrey L. Stinson, Colby B. Jubenville

Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics

While scholars have previously focused on the external impact of marketing efforts in college athletics (e.g., Gladden, Irwin, & Sutton, 2001), little research has been done on the internal marketing orientation of collegiate sport properties and its respective impact on college sport. The purpose of this study is to determine the perceptions of internal marketing in college athletics and to examine if those perceptions have an effect on the level of organizational commitment among departmental employees. Survey methodology collected information from 248 athletic department administrators at NCAA FBS and FCS institutions. Results indicate that internal marketing orientation strongly influenced affective …

The Role Of Policy, Rituals And Language In Shaping An Academically Focused Culture In Hbcu Athletics, Ralph Charlton

Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics

Increasing the graduation rates of student athletes is one of the more visible NCAA academic goals. Overall student-athlete graduation rates have improved significantly among many institutional members. However, Historically Black College and University (HBCU) student-athlete graduation rates lag considerably behind. Although the NCAA asserts that a causal relationship exists between lack of economic resources and lower student-athlete graduation rate for HBCUs, the presence of additional impacting factors are also admitted as not all HBCUs are struggling in graduating their athletes. Seeking an additional explanation for graduation rates, this case study examined key components of organizational culture in the form of …

Sport Labor Migration And Collegiate Sport In The United States: A Typology Of Migrant Athletes, Adam Love, Seungmo Kim

Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics

The global migration of athletes has been increasing in a variety of sporting contexts around the globe. Notably, the past decade has seen a nearly threefold increase in the number of international athletes coming to the United States for the purposes of participating in collegiate sport. In accordance with such growing internationalization, a body of research in the area of sport labor migration has developed. The purposes of the current study were to improve our understanding of the forces that lead athletes to the U.S. in order to participate in collegiate sport and to explicitly connect research on international collegiate …