Digital Commons Network^™

Optimizing Nonprofit Impact: A Comprehensive Approach To Donor Data Management, Gracie Shippen

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

This Honors Capstone project aimed to support the Malouf Foundation’s initiatives to combat sexual violence exploitation and abuse through three main components: developing a participant survey for the Smart Defense self-defense program, conducting research to identify male survivor speakers for the Malouf Summit, and implementing a comprehensive donor data management system.

The Smart Defense survey was designed through an extensive process involving meetings with instructors, stakeholder input, personal participation in the program, and multiple reviews. The resulting survey captures critical feedback from participants to guide instruction adjustments and ensure the program’s continued effectiveness. To promote the inclusion of diverse perspectives, …

The Influence Of Religious Affiliation On The Political Views Of Lgbt Americans, G. Tyler Lefevor, Sydney A. Sorrell, Kelsy Burke, Andrew R. Flores

Psychology Faculty Publications

With a nationally representative, repeated cross-sectional sample of over 250,000 Americans from 2016-2019, we investigate the role that religious and LGBT identities play in influencing Americans’ political attitudes, centering the narratives of religious LGBT Americans. We find that nearly half of LGBT Americans affiliate religiously. Logistic regressions show that identifying as religious is related to more conservative views on LGBT rights and abortion while identifying as LGBT is related to more liberal views on both of these issues. We failed to observe interaction effects, suggesting that religious affiliation influences LGBT individuals’ political views in a manner similar to the way …

Building Neuro-Inclusive Community, Strengthening Mental Health: The Autism After 21 Utah Project, Sumiko T. Martinez, Anna Smyth, Ann C. Carrick

Developmental Disabilities Network Journal

Over two decades of research shows strong positive relationships are a consistently powerful indicator of wellbeing and resilience. However, the U.S. Surgeon General notes that loneliness and isolation is an epidemic in the U.S., and that it is exacerbated for individuals with physical and mental disabilities as well as those with isolating economic or environmental situations. A recent review shows that many autistic adults in particular face challenges in finding the connections they want and need. They also often have compounding mental health conditions, such as depression and mental illness, lower incomes, isolating home environments due to a lack of …

The Person Experiences Interview Survey: A Measure Addressing Ableism In Mental Healthcare For Patients With Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities, Micah Peace Urquilla

Developmental Disabilities Network Journal

Many People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) also have mental health needs requiring the support of mental health service providers, yet they may experience barriers to full engagement in their care due to ableism. Ableism is a kind of prejudice that impacts People with IDD in many parts of life, even in mental health care. This article proposes how an adapted Patient Reported Experience Measure (PREM) can be a response to ableism, with an impact at three distinct yet interrelated levels that reflect the parties involved in the mental healthcare of People with IDD-MH: provider, caregiver, and patient.

At …

The Utah Statesman, April 15, 2024, Utah State University

The Utah Statesman

Weekly student newspaper of Utah State University in Logan.

What Are The Implications Of Carrying Over A Credit Card Balance For Emerging Adults During Covid-19?, Olyessa Carter

Student Research Symposium

Emerging adults who carried over their credit card balances reported lower levels of financial satisfaction than those who did not carry over their balances.

Journeys Of Domestic Violence Survivors In Uintah County, Jessie Miller

Student Research Symposium

This two-phase research project was a collaboration between the Uintah Basin Domestic Violence Coalition (UBDVC), Friends Against Family Violence (FAFV), and USU Transforming Communities Institute (TCI).

Data provided by FAFV showed an increase in DV related services – monthly case management services rose from 69.25 - 293.33.

Licensing Barriers Among Social Workers In San Juan Co., Sariah Tillotson

Student Research Symposium

Research Question

What are the barriers for rural social workers seeking licensure in San Juan County, Utah?

Musical Play: Ethnomusicology In Childhood, Grace Lefler

Student Research Symposium

What is Musical Play, and why does it matter?

• Musical play is voluntary, improvised, and fun.
• It functions to allow children, especially immigrant children, to express emotions, enter the playframe, and engage in cooperative play.
• Musical play lets children pretend without high social risks, lowering anxiety.

How Do Youth Winter Sport Leaders Perceive Disparities In The Intermountain West?, Mitchell R. Olsen

Student Research Symposium

• Winter sport has a unique culture and context in the Intermountain West
• More needs to be done to address disparities across traditionally underserved youth
• This project aims to understand youth sport leaders' perspectives on disparities across race/ ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status

Concentrated Land Ownership, Inequality, And Community Change In Southwest Montana, Elizabeth Bennett

Student Research Symposium

• Amenity migration: Movement of affluent individuals from urban to rural areas for the scenic and recreational value
• Economic impacts
• Differing views of the West

Community-Level Food Sovereignty And Wellbeing In The Upper Yakima River Basin: Framing Lived Experiences Within Multiscalar Food Systems Discourse, Alex Theophilus

Student Research Symposium

Broader Project Context

• Characterizing wellbeing in the Intermountain West
• Key themes include
• Individual and community wellbeing
• Population and demographic change
• Environmental change
• Rural-urban regional connectivity
• Food
• Community-identified salient issues

Farmers' Adoption Of Nutrient Management Plans In The Chesapeake Bay Watershed (Cbw), Edem Avemegah

Student Research Symposium

Farming and the Environment

• Some agricultural practices lead to environmental problems.

Organizational Response To Social Worker's Well-Being During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Jaylee Cox

Student Research Symposium

This class research project focuses on examining job satisfaction, burnout, and commitment among practicing social workers in North Carolina.

Health Care Professionals’ Stigma Toward People With An Opioid Use Disorder: Preliminary Findings On The Effect Of Amount Of Contact Has On Stigma, Gabriela Murza, Cris Meier, Lily Ward, Sydney O'Shay, Rachel Myrer

Transforming Communities

Opioid-related deaths are the leading cause of injury deaths in Utah. Individuals who seek treatment for opioid misuse report stigma from healthcare professionals as the leading barrier to accessing treatment. Health professionals provide a variety of treatment options in efforts of combating high rates of opioid misuse. However, these professionals may not be properly trained in stigma reduction strategies, thus leading to poor client care and outcomes. The current study examined the association between contact with individuals who misuse opioids and stigma perceptions among healthcare professionals. A one-time survey was administered to healthcare professionals who practice in Utah using convenience …

Establishing The Temporal Relationship Between Religious Commitment, Sexual Identity Struggles, And Religious Struggles Among Sexual Minorities, G. Tyler Lefevor, Samuel J. Skidmore

Psychology Faculty Publications

Objective: Conclusions about the temporal relationship between religiousness and both religious and sexual identity struggles are frequently made in the absence of longitudinal data. The present study examines the temporal relationship between religious identification, sexual identity struggles, and religious struggles.

Methods: Participants were 132 Latter-day Saint sexual minorities who provided data at two timepoints, two years apart. We employed two cross-lagged panel models, one focusing on religious struggles and religious commitment and the other focusing on sexual identity struggles and religious commitment, to understand the temporal relationships between these variables.

Results: Cross-lagged panel models suggested that interpersonal religious struggles and …

A Review On Recent Deep Learning-Based Semantic Segmentation For Urban Greenness Measurement, Doo Hong Lee, Hye Yeon Park, Joonwhoan Lee

Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning Student Research

Accurate urban green space (UGS) measurement has become crucial for landscape analysis. This paper reviews the recent technological breakthroughs in deep learning (DL)-based semantic segmentation, emphasizing efficient landscape analysis, and integrating greenness measurements. It explores quantitative greenness measures applied through semantic segmentation, categorized into the plan view- and the perspective view-based methods, like the Land Class Classification (LCC) with green objects and the Green View Index (GVI) based on street photographs. This review navigates from traditional to modern DL-based semantic segmentation models, illuminating the evolution of the urban greenness measures and segmentation tasks for advanced landscape analysis. It also presents …

Faculty Senate Agenda March 4, 2024, Utah State University

Faculty Senate & Faculty Senate Executive Committee

• 3:00 Call to Order
• 3:05 University Business
• 3:25 Faculty Senate Business .
• 3:35 Information
• 3:40 Reports
• 3:55 Old Business
• 4:05 New Business
• Adjourn: 4:30 pm

Educational Policies Committee Agenda March 7, 2024, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

• Approval of Minutes – February 1, 2024
• Subcommittee Reports
• Curriculum Subcommittee (Chad Simon)
• Program Proposals
• Academic Standards Subcommittee (Renee Galliher)
• General Education Subcommittee (Matt Sanders)
• Other Business
• Adjourn: 4:00 pm

Curriculum Subcommittee Agenda March 7, 2024, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

• Approval of Minutes – February 1, 2024
• Program Proposals

• Semester Course Approval Reviews: https://usu.curriculog.com/

• Other Business

• Adjourn: 3:00 pm

A Relational-Cultural Approach To Examining Concealment Among Latter-Day Saint Sexual Minorities, Samuel Skidmore, Sydney A. Sorrell, Kyrstin Lake

Psychology Student Research

Sexual minorities often conceal their sexual identity from others to avoid distal stressors. Such concealment efforts occur more frequently among sexual minorities in religious settings where rejection and discrimination are more likely. Using a sample of 392 Latter-day Saint (“Mormon”) sexual minorities, we assess (a) the effect of religious affiliation on concealment efforts, (b) the relationship between social support, authenticity, and religious commitment on concealment, and (c) the moderating effect of authenticity on religious commitment and concealment. Multi-level model analyses revealed that religious affiliation alone accounted for over half (51.7%) of the variation in concealment efforts for Latter-day Saint sexual …

The Domestication Of Machismo In Brazil: Motivations, Reflexivity, And Consonance Of Religious Male Gender Roles, H. J. François Dengah Ii, William W. Dressler, Ana Falcão

Sociology and Anthropology Faculty Publications

The relationship between culture and the individual is a central focus of social scientific research. This paper examines motivations that mediate between shared culture norms and individual actions. Inspired by the works of Leon Festinger and Melford Spiro, we posit that social network conformation (the perceived adherence of one’s social network with norms) and internalization of cultural norms (incorporation of cultural models with the self-schema) will differentially shape behavior (cultural consonance) depending on the domain and individual characteristics. For the domain of gender roles among Brazilian men, religious affiliation results in different configurations of the individual and culture. Our findings …

Faculty Senate Executive Committee Agenda February 20, 2024, Utah State University

Faculty Senate & Faculty Senate Executive Committee

• Call to Order
• Approval of Minutes - January 22, 2024
• University Business
• Faculty Senate Business
• Information
• Education Policies Committee - December 7, 2023 | January 4, 2024
• New Limited English Proficiency (LEP) Policy
• Reports
• Faculty Diversity, Development, & Equity Annual Report
• Parking and Transportation Committee Annual Report
• Sustainability Council Annual Report
• Old Business
• Update on IRB Ad Hoc Committee
• Update on Faculty Code 405
• New Business
• 
  Faculty Code 407 Redline - Clean | 408 Redline - Clean
• Adjourn: 5:00 pm

The Utah Statesman, February 5, 2024, Utah State University

The Utah Statesman

Weekly student newspaper of Utah State University in Logan.

Educational Policies Committee Agenda February 1, 2024, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

• Subcommittee Reports
• Curriculum Subcommittee (Chad Simon)
• Academic Standards Subcommittee Report (Renee Galliher)
• General Education Subcommittee Report (Matt Sanders)

Curriculum Subcommittee Minutes February 1, 2024, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

• Program Proposals
• Semester Course Approval Reviews

• College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences
• Caine College of the Arts
• Jon M. Huntsman School of Business
• Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services
• College of Engineering
• College of Humanities and Social Sciences
• S.J. & Jessie E. Quinney College of Natural Resources
• College of Science
• College of Veterinary Medicine
• Other
• Other Business

Educational Policies Committee Minutes February 1, 2024, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

• Subcommittee Reports
• Curriculum Subcommittee (Mateja Savoie-Roskos)
• Academic Standards Subcommittee Report (Renee Galliher)
• General Education Subcommittee Report (Matt Sanders)
• Other Business

The Less Food Security You Have, The More Likely You Are To Face Discrimination Based On Your Weight, B. Sky Jones

Research on Capitol Hill

20% of US households were food insecure in 2020. One outcome of food insecurity is weight discrimination.

School Climate Perception Among Latinx And White Students: An Examination Of Intersecting Racial/Ethnic And Socioeconomic Identities In Context, Mei-Ki Chan, Jill D. Sharkey, Erin Dowdy, Karen Nylund-Gibson, Michael J. Furlong

Psychology Faculty Publications

Limited research has explored how the characteristics of student and teacher racial/ethnic composition may explain students’ perceptions of school climate. This study used stratified analysis to assess the associations of two prominent diversity aspects (i.e., student racial/ethnic diversity and teacher racial/ethnic diversity) with students’ perceived school climate. Particularly, this study controlled for student- and school-levels demographic characteristics among 41,237 Latinx students and 23,819 White students from 7th grade to 12th grade enrolled in 250 California public schools. The findings indicated that higher teacher racial/ethnic diversity had a mild to moderate positive association with perceived school attitudes to parental participation (Economically …

Faculty Senate Agenda January 8, 2024, Utah State University

Faculty Senate & Faculty Senate Executive Committee

• 3:00 Call to Order
• 3:05 University Business
• 3:20 Faculty Senate Business
• 3:30 Information

• 3:35 Reports

• 4:00 Old Business

• 4:05 New Business

• Adjourn: 4:30