Digital Commons Network^™

Upep Policy Brief #1: Utahns Support State Spending For Outdoor Recreation, Casey Trout

Utah People and Environment Poll (UPEP)

Utah is known as an outdoor recreation destination, with stunning landscapes ranging from high alpine mountains to red-rock deserts. In recent years, Utah’s Legislature has shown a commitment to investing in outdoor recreation. In 2017, the Legislature approved a 0.32% statewide lodging tax to fund Utah’s Outdoor Recreation Grant Program¹ and in 2022 approved a diversion of 1% of all sales taxes in the state to go to funding outdoor recreation infrastructure projects².

2023 Utah People & Environment Poll Descriptive Report, Jessica Schad, Sadie Braddock, Cole Lancaster

Utah People and Environment Poll (UPEP)

From March to May 2023, faculty and graduate students at Utah State University (USU) in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHaSS) and in the department of Environment and Society started the Utah People and Environment Poll, or UPEP, to survey adult Utah residents about their perceptions on environmental issues of importance to the state.

Adverse Childhood Experiences In Mothers And Their Children With Hearing Loss, Elizabeth A. Rosenzweig

Journal of Early Hearing Detection and Intervention

This study examined the relationship between maternal and child ACEs in children with hearing loss ages 3-12. One hundred twenty-four mother-child dyads completed assessments of mother and child ACEs. Adverse cChildhood eExperiences (ACEs) were measured using the Center for Youth Wellness Adverse Childhood Experiences Questionnaire (CYW ACE-Q; Burke Harris & Renschler, 2015).

Both maternal and child participants in this study reported higher levels of ACE exposure than previously reported in studies of the general population. Maternal and child ACEs were significantly correlated. White/Caucasian mothers experienced significantly fewer ACEs than mothers of other races/ethnicities. Children living in adoptive, foster, or guardianship …

Journal Of Early Hearing Detection And Intervention: Volume 8 Issue 1, Pages 1-68

Journal of Early Hearing Detection and Intervention

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Changes In Religion On Health Among Sexual Minority Mormons, G. Tyler Lefevor, Samuel J. Skidmore, Kiet D. Huynh, James S. Mcgraw

Psychology Faculty Publications

The current study presents data from the first longitudinal examination of sexual minority (SM) Mormons (n = 132). Over the course of 2 years, SM Mormons reported decreased psychological (e.g., orthodox beliefs), behavioral (e.g., service attendance), and social (interpersonal religious commitment) religiousness. Analyses revealed that, at baseline, service attendance was related to lower levels of meaning in life and higher levels of depression at time 2, while interpersonal religious commitment at baseline was related to higher levels of meaning in life and lower levels of depression. Latent change scores of religiousness suggested that decreases in interpersonal religious commitment over …

Chapter 14- The Mentoring Program As A Research Project, David Law, Nicole Vouvalis, Andy Harris, Jim Lamuth

Making Connections

Chapter 14, “The Mentoring Program as a Research Project,” helps stakeholders, program coordinators, and researchers distinguish the differences and similarities between program evaluation and program research. If stakeholders choose to include program research, they will need approval from their university’s institutional review board (IRB). Therefore, the second section of this chapter helps stakeholders navigate the IRB. The third section of this chapter describes how theoretical frameworks, operational definitions of mentoring, and methodological designs factor into mentoring programs that contain research. While all formal mentoring programs in academia should include theoretical frameworks, operational definitions, and sound methodology, many do not. The …

Chapter 12- A New Vision For Promoting Equity And Inclusion In Academic Mentoring Programs, Assata Zerai, Nancy López

Making Connections

What are the pitfalls of conventional student, faculty, and staff mentoring programs? Despite good intentions, how might they negatively impact Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), as well as other marginalized faculty who are women, LGBTQIA+, Persons with Disabilities (PWD), or first-generation college students (e.g., grew up in household where no parent/legal guardian earned a four-year college degree in the United States or abroad)? How could employing an intersectional framework—attention to the simultaneity of systems of oppression and resistance—as inquiry and praxis transform student, faculty, and staff mentoring programs? This chapter examines the challenges and possibilities for advancing equity …

Chapter 4- Formal Mentoring Programs: Characteristics, Benefits, And Outcomes, Rachel Arocho, Benjamin A. Johnson

Making Connections

In this chapter, we review the characteristics of mentoring that distinguish so-called formal from informal mentoring opportunities. Through this discussion, we provide a broad view of what could be formalized and how to distinguish these opportunities. We then turn to a discussion of the observed and anticipated benefits of formalized mentoring (and some benefits of mentoring broadly) and provide an argument for why mentoring, with all its recognized importance and impact at multiple levels, should not be left to chance. By formalizing mentoring opportunities and practices, to varying and customizable degrees, programs and institutions stand to distribute the benefits of …

Chapter 8- Outlining The Goals, Objectives, And Outcomes Of The Mentoring Program, Lisa Z. Fain, Jamie Crites

Making Connections

Even when institutions already have a mentoring culture, a mentoring program is not an end in itself. Rather, mentoring is a tool to achieve a broader outcome, be it at the institutional, department, or individual level. While these outcomes may vary, it is critical that a mentoring program is carefully crafted in service of the outcomes. It must meet the needs and objectives of not only the mentees and mentors but also the institutions and the field. In this chapter, authors Lisa Fain and Jamie Crites will use a case study to discuss how to craft goals, and objectives that …

Contributors, David Law, Nora Domínguez

Making Connections

List of contributors for Making Connections: A Handbook for Effective Formal Mentoring Programs in Academia.

The Utah Statesman, May 1, 2023, Utah State University

The Utah Statesman

Weekly student newspaper of Utah State University in Logan.

Cross-Boundary Stewardship In Protected Area Centered Ecosystems: Perceptions Of Success And Characteristics Of Cooperative Engagement, Ryan D. Tarver

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The legal boundaries of protected areas, such as national parks are established and enforced by humans. Therefore, jurisdictional boundaries are ultimately have human meaning but not necessarily ecological relevance as natural phenomena such as watersheds and wildlife habitat often extend beyond a jurisdictional boundary. When considering the extent of natural system, we find that protected areas only make up part of a given ecosystem. The result is a large expanse of lands that fall under a various ownership types that include both publicly and privately designated tracts of land. This presents a management challenge when attempting to manage at the …

Speech Intelligibility Assessment: Predicting “Noncompliant” Listener Behavior, Briggs Kroff

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Purpose: When researching speech intelligibility among people with dysarthria, convenience sampling has typically been used to recruit listeners. A new online crowdsourcing method, Mechanical Turk (MTurk), results in ecologically valid results, but outlier results are often removed from the analysis and considered "noncompliant". This study aims to examine whether there is a relationship between age, gender, speech/language/hearing impairment, and whether someone is "noncompliant".

Methods: 16 speakers, both with and without dysarthria, were recorded while they read prewritten sentences. Research participants found through MTurk then listened to the sentences and transcribed them. They also were asked questions including their …

Connections For Success: Social Networking In Virtual University, Clara K. Cook

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Online learning has experienced an unexpected increase in the last two years in response to the demands of the COVID-19 pandemic and its accompanying mitigation efforts. As universities engage in discussions regarding whether to keep offering a wide selection of online courses or transition fully back to traditional course modes, it is important to understand the extent to which students are able to network with their instructors and classmates in their online courses and the ways in which it differs from in-person courses. This paper explores the differences in networking between in-person, synchronous online, and asynchronous online courses. Additionally, it …

Ethical Issues With Schizophrenia Research And Treatment, Chloé Brogdon

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Schizophrenia is a complex and debilitating mental disorder that affects millions of individuals worldwide. Current medical science is rapidly growing in its understanding of this illness. As researchers and practitioners seek to better understand and treat this condition from a medical and physiological standpoint, it is crucial that ethical implications of research and treatment approaches are fully considered and prioritized. This project investigated the nature and scope of schizophrenia as an illness in order to delve into ethical issues with current research and treatment approaches. Some of the ethical issues identified and analyzed include issues with informed consent, stigmatization, and …

Ethics, Fashion, And Film In The 1950s And 60s, Sara Miner

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

To truly understand the nature of identity, autonomy, and morality in the 1950s and 60s, one must look at what artifacts of humanity have been left behind. More specifically, clothes and fashion capture, represent, and immortalize the human experience through each stitch and seam. By analyzing clothing from an anthropologic lens, one can discover the socio-cultural reality of a time long past. Known for intense culmination of social and political movements, the 1950s and 60s contain many radical shifts. Ranging from social movements like Civil Rights, Women’s Liberation, Black Feminism, and others, to the political metamorphosis as a result of …

Historic Downtown Streetscape Plan Price City, Utah, Patricia Beckert

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

The idea of a small-town Main Street has profound meaning within the American culture that has prevailed for the past two centuries. Historically, Main Street serves as the beating heart of a community, a place where economic, social, cultural, and civic activities are centered (Francaviglia, 1996; Main Street America, n.d.). Since the beginning of the 19th century, many factors have led to the decline of Main Streets, and despite a variety of efforts from different stakeholders, that decline has only intensified in recent decades (Isenberg, 2008; Orvell, 2014 Howard, 2015). In 1980, after a three-year project conducted by the National …

County Characteristics And Opioid Mortality Rates In The United States, Baksun Sung

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Opioid overdose deaths are not equally distributed across the United States. While some areas have a less severe problem with opioid abuse, others face serious challenges, which are affected by various social factors. To address that question, in Chapter 1, I investigate how opioid mortality trends differ according to opioid types, race, and region to identify susceptible populations and areas. In Chapter 1, I contend that synthetic opioid is a main trigger for the current opioid epidemic and that the epidemic is concentrated among blacks and in the Eastern United States. Next, the following studies examine how varying social vulnerabilities …

A Mixed-Methods Study Investigating How A Video Club Professional Development Relates To Teachers' Mindsets, Beliefs, And Reflections On Instructional Practices, Amy Lynn Kinder

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

One of the most significant barriers to changing instructional practices is often the teacher's mindsets and beliefs about teaching and learning mathematics. This study identifies a promising new type of video club professional development that supports teachers in examining their instructional practices and mindsets. This is an important addition to the field due to educators and researchers are just beginning to understand more about how mindset mediates and filters belief systems that impact how instruction is implemented. The purpose of this convergent parallel mixed-methods study is to provide a deeper understanding of how the experience of engaging in video club …

Toward A More Holistic Understanding Of Uranium-Related Views And Experiences Of Residents In The Four Corners Region Of The United States, Matthew J. Barnett

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Research on rural Four Corners Region (FCR) residents’ views about uranium production has focused mainly on predominately-White communities in the northern portion of the region. Meanwhile, residents in the southern part of the region, which includes the Navajo Nation and other tribal nations and communities, have dealt with the worst environmental and health effects of the uranium boom. Through a series of three studies in the southern part of the FCR, I explore the uranium-related views and experiences of racially diverse FCR residents.

In the first paper of this dissertation, I used 53 interviews to explore how sociodemographic factors (e.g., …

Utah State University Commencement, 2023 – Eastern Campus, Utah State University

Commencement Programs

2023 Commencement Ceremony for the Eastern campus of Utah State University.

Utah State University Commencement, 2023 – Uintah Basin Campus, Utah State University

Commencement Programs

2023 Commencement Ceremony for the Uintah Basin campus of Utah State University.

Utah State University Commencement, 2023 – Blanding Campus, Utah State University

Commencement Programs

2023 Commencement Ceremony for the Blanding campus of Utah State University.

Utah State University Commencement, 2023 – Moab Campus, Utah State University

Commencement Programs

2023 Commencement Ceremony for the Moab campus of Utah State University.

Utah State University Commencement, 2023 – Tooele Campus, Utah State University

Commencement Programs

2023 Commencement Ceremony for the Tooele campus of Utah State University.

Utah State University Commencement, 2023 – Kaysville Campus, Utah State University

Commencement Programs

2023 Commencement Ceremony for the Kaysville campus of Utah State University.

Utah State University Commencement, 2023 – Southwest Campus, Utah State University

Commencement Programs

2023 Commencement Ceremony for the Southwest campus of Utah State University.

“It’S Not Always Poor Decisions”: Shifts In Business Student’S Attitudes Toward Poverty After Completing Spent, Jessica M. Parks

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

Access the online Pressbooks version of this article here.

This Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) study examined whether undergraduate business students reported having different attitudes towards poverty after completing SPENT. SPENT is an open-access, digital poverty simulation offered through Urban Ministries of Durham. The author used the Reflexive Thematic Analysis approach (Braun & Clarke, 2006) to analyze 17 student reflection papers. The students were enrolled in an introductory finance course at a small teaching institution in the Southwest. The student reflection paper prompts were based on the four-phase Experiential Learning Model (Kolb, 1984). The author constructed four themes about …

A Participatory Exercise In Developing Syllabi With Adult Learners, Laneshia Conner, V. Nikki Jones, Jason P. Johnston

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

Access the online Pressbooks version of this article here.

Transformative participatory approaches in education are positioned to challenge traditional models where instructors bear all responsibility for knowledge creation and learners are passive recipients of knowledge. The promotion of participatory learning and critical pedagogy is essential to helping professionals seeking to understand oppressive structural barriers and employing strategies to dismantle these structures. This article describes a participatory approach undertaken to guide learners through an exercise to co-create syllabus content in a graduate social work course. Learners identified three themes, concerns, fears, and problems, related to the course material. Learners were also …

Full Issue: Journal On Empowering Teaching Excellence, Volume 7, Issue 1, Spring 2023

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

The full-length Spring 2023 issue (Volume 7, Issue 1) of the Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

Access the online Pressbooks version (with downloadable EPUB format) here.

The Spring 2023 issue presents research and guidance on topics related to student self-reflection, participatory learning, and returning to the in-person learning following the COVID-19 pandemic. The first article takes a critical approach to understanding pedagogy with adult learners by involving students in the creation of course syllabi as a way to challenge ideologies related the roles of instructor and students. The second article blends research and narrative to explore how the experiences of …