Digital Commons Network^™

Future 3: Regional Safety Collaboration To Vision Zero, Cheryl Franks, Kate Múspell

Purdue Road School

This presentation will explore how the City of Rushville spearheaded a multicounty collaboration to develop a corridor-wide safety plan for State Route 3. Attendees will learn how SS4A grant funding, Vision Zero principles, and bypass alternatives shaped a data-driven strategy—despite the absence of an MPO or shared regional planning framework. This session will highlight how local leadership, safety and operational analysis, and stakeholder coordination converged to address high-injury corridors and deliver actionable safety priorities across disconnected communities.

Young Professionals As Catalysts: Driving Innovation And Organizational Growth, Dolan Mcmillan, Kusai Contractor, Ryan Delves

Purdue Road School

Today’s young professionals (YPs) enter the workforce fluent in AI and digital tools, bringing fresh insight that reshapes how organizations make decisions and deliver projects. This session will explore how YPs apply classroom-taught technologies to real-world challenges—leading pilots, influencing business strategy, and fostering inclusive cultures. Through the lens of Organizational Citizenship Behavior, we’ll examine how YPs’ voluntary efforts—rooted in community, collaboration, and curiosity—are redefining innovation, leadership, and organizational growth across the transportation industry.

We Need To Talk: Transforming Dreaded Feedback Conversations, Karen Wood, Jennifer Sharkey

Purdue Road School

Feedback can inspire growth—or shut it down. This session will debunk the myths that feedback is a one-time event and always negative. We will explore practi cal methods, conversation strategies, and mindsets that make giving and receiving feedback more effective. Whether you are a supervisor or not, you will walk away with tools you can use immediately to turn feedback into a meaningful, ongoing dialogue while fostering trust, encouraging curiosity, and building a culture of continuous improvement.

The Open Knowledge Fellowship: An Opportunity For Transformative Learning At The Doctoral Level, Elvis Bakaitis, Jill Cirasella

Transforming Libraries for Graduate Students

How can we integrate the principles, practicalities, and complexities of open educational resources (OER) and open access scholarly literature into graduate-level education? At the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY), the popular and successful Open Knowledge Fellowship offers a much-needed intervention in doctoral education by addressing these topics and associated debates. Between 2020 and 2025, the intensive six-week Fellowship program was offered 12 times and trained over 200 doctoral students from across the disciplines in the selection and use of openly licensed resources in the courses they teach. These 200+ students then taught their revamped courses …

Reshaping Library Programming For Graduate Students Through Strategic Partnerships And Adaptation, Brian Vetruba, Caroyn Bishoff, Kate Peterson

Transforming Libraries for Graduate Students

In the wake of Covid-19, support structures dedicated to graduate student success at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (UMN) underwent dramatic shifts. Centralized in-person events for graduate students were discontinued, departmental identities strengthened, and library outreach responsibilities were reshaped by institutional changes, including a reduction of library staff. This panel examines how academic libraries can adapt and innovate with decreased capacity to meet the diverse needs of graduate students. Panelists will share strategies for expanding campus partnerships and sustaining and scaling initiatives that equip graduate students – especially first-year, international, and BIPOC students – with essential research skills and …

The Mid-States Corridor: A Project Update, Kyanna Wheeler, Jason Dupont, Jason Rhoades

Purdue Road School

Join us for a progress update on the NEPA, Technical Procurement, and ROW Acquisition phases of the Mid-States Corridor Project. The Mid-States Corridor is an improved highway connection in southern Indiana generally following US 231 from I-64, east of Huntingburg and Jasper, extending north and connecting to I-69. We will provide insights into ongoing project activities within each phase.

Cost-Effective Critical Path Management Of Utilities And Right-Of-Way, Kip Bunch, Kenny Franklin, Daniel Mcmurtry

Purdue Road School

ROW and Utilities are two essential elements that affect both cost and schedule. Because these disciplines involve third parties who may not always share the project’s goals, significant attention is warranted to minimize unnecessary complications that can result in cost and schedule overruns. This session will focus on the intersections of ROW and utilities, providing participants with tools and tips to reduce project risk and build reliability in delivery.

Enhancing Safe Streets And Roads For All (Ss4a) Safety Plans Through Stakeholder Input, Neal Styka, Aaron Bubb

Purdue Road School

Developing a successful Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) safety action plan requires meaningful collaboration across diverse groups. While technical advisory committees are valuable, participation and feedback are not always guaranteed making outreach to organizations and attendance at community events all the more important to ensure input can truly shape stronger, more responsive safety plans. This presentation will highlight how one-on-one outreach and direct engagement build trust, expand community input, and reveal safety concerns not reflected in crash data.

Enhancing Bicycle And Pedestrian Safety: Leveraging Near-Miss With Indygo, Christian Cambron, Steven Hollenkamp, Patrick Weitlauf

Purdue Road School

Safety remains a core priority for transportation professionals, yet traditional crash data often do not capture the full picture, particularly for vulnerable road users like bicyclists and pedestrians. To address this gap, the transit agency for Indianapolis, IndyGo, integrated near miss conflict data into a transit-oriented safety project at 33 bus stops and intersection across Indianapolis. In this presentation, learn how IndyGo is using these data to inform operational and infrastructure improvements in coordination with the Indianapolis Department of Public Works.

Diverging Diamond Interchanges Lessons Learned: Design Refinements And Performance, Nathaniel Shellhamer, Daniel Mccoy, Jack Gallagher

Purdue Road School

This presentation will share an overview of INDOT’s experience with the design of diverging diamond interchanges (DDIs). Specific discussion will focus on design refinements being made in the most recent DDIs in Indiana, as well as lessons learned from existing DDIs in the areas of geometrics, operations and performance, and human factors/driver behavior. We will also review case studies and before-and-after analyses of existing DDIs.

From Feedback To Innovation: Next-Gen Asphalt Preservation, Andrew Eicher, Tim Zahrn, Curt Higginbotham

Purdue Road School

Spray-applied rejuvenators are increasingly used as a proactive pavement preservation tool. This presentation will explore their benefits, recent research findings, and key product attributes valued by road owners. We will discuss limitations and challenges facing current rejuvenator technologies and explore how recent innovations improve user value. An agency representative will provide firsthand insights into the practical use and performance of rejuvenators in network-level pavement management, offering a real-world perspective on their role in extending pavement life and improving asset condition.

Marl Madness: Plainfield’S Slam Dunk Solution, Scott Singleton, Mark Butler, Kyle Zak

Purdue Road School

The final link in Plainfield’s Northwest Perimeter Parkway posed a challenge with poor soils. Designers faced a thick layer of organic material beneath an embankment road section and four-sided box culvert, introducing a risk of settlement under construction loads. This presentation will discuss the challenges and how the proposed solution exceeded expectations.

Liquid Steel-Repair Of Steel Bridges With Ultra-High Performance Concrete, Michael Culmo, Brian Winger

Purdue Road School

The use of Ultra-High Performance Concrete (UHPC) for steel bridge repair has been pioneered through a collaboration of the Connecticut DOT, the University of Connecticut, and CHA Consulting, Inc. To date, three applications have been developed and completed. These applications include repairing of corroded steel beam/girder ends, improving flexural capacity of girder flanges, and strengthening of truss gusset plates. This presentation will cover the development and implementation of all three applications.

Revive I-70: Pavement Design Overview, Matt Taylor, Kumar Dave

Purdue Road School

This presentation will examine the goals and design strategies behind two recently awarded design-build contracts for the Revive I-70 project in Wayne County. We will discuss how these contracts showcase contrasting approaches to pavement management and design: reconstruction using extended-service-life pavement and rehabilitating pavement to extend the service life of the original structure. We will also offer insights into INDOT’s evolving pavement design practices.

Ai-Enhanced Citation Mapping: Tools & Strategies For Graduate Instruction, Corinne Bishop Edd, Rachel Trnka Phd, Ven Basco

Transforming Libraries for Graduate Students

AI-enhanced citation mapping tools offer the potential to streamline the discovery process when conducting academic literature searches. Among the wide range of AI-enhanced tools now available, tools like Citation Gecko, Connected Papers, LitMaps, and Research Rabbit are designed to identify, visualize, and uncover relevant connections between sources. While these tools offer the potential to streamline the discovery process, many graduate students may be unaware of how to use AI tools effectively or how to evaluate the relevancy of search results. Graduate students may also mistakenly view the use of an AI-enhanced citation mapping tool as a “one-stop solution” to search …

Rethinking The Search: A Review Of Ai Tools For Graduate Students’ Literature Reviews, Elise Georgulis

Transforming Libraries for Graduate Students

Literature reviews are notoriously one of the most challenging and complex components of academic work. Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools offer many options that aid in literature review development, such as identifying relevant sources, offering connections between studies, summarizing key findings, and highlighting gaps in the existing research. AI tools can aid students in locating and critically evaluating scholarly literature more efficiently.

Given the growing adoption of AI in academia, it is crucial that educators, librarians, and graduate students understand how to harness these tools responsibly and ethically. The proposed presentation will provide a comprehensive review of current AI tools that …

Habitat Or Hazard? Rain Gardens In The Right Of Way, Kendall Knoke, Elizabeth Carter, Patrick Dierkes

Purdue Road School

Rain gardens in the public right of way provide numerous benefits through storm water filtration, increased green space/habitat, and educational activation. Often, these gardens can be implemented as part of larger infrastructure projects. However, the upfront and ongoing maintenance costs can be significant. The City of Bloomington has successfully implemented numerous rain gardens through various projects. In this presentation, we will discuss when are rain gardens worth it and how they can be implemented into your community successfully.

Recycled Concrete Embankment Construction: A Case History, Nayyar Siddiki, Sam Clawson

Purdue Road School

This presentation will discuss how an embankment with recycled concrete pavement was constructed based on INDOT Standard Specification 203.18. No compaction test was performed, and the embankment was monitored by settlement plates. Learn how the experience of this project was used to simplify the embankment Standard Specification.

Next Level Leadership, No Matter Your Job Title, Tim Jensen, Pete Olson

Purdue Road School

This presentation will describe how to take your leadership to the next level no matter where you sit in the organization. Attendees will learn simple, effective steps to help them advance their influence and their career.

Transportation Implications Of School District Development, Neal Styka, Aaron Bubb

Purdue Road School

School districts face growing challenges from aging infrastructure, limited funding, and shifting enrollment trends. As communities respond by building new schools, consolidating facilities, or closing outdated buildings, these decisions directly affect the local transportation network. This presentation will highlight how Traffic Impact Analyses provide reassurance to school districts and communities by evaluating roadway operations, anticipating future needs, and identifying improvements that ensure safe and efficient access to educational facilities amid changing conditions.

From Research To Writing: How Collaboration Strengthens Thesis Preparation, Carly Mcleod, Ben Lee Taylor

Transforming Libraries for Graduate Students

Graduate students have unique learning needs that often require simultaneous support from multiple service areas to be successful. From navigating scholarly sources to developing strong academic writing skills, students benefit most when guidance is provided at critical points through intentional collaboration and shared expertise.

In response to a faculty request for supplementary workshops for mechanical engineering students, the Teaching and Learning unit within the library partnered with the Writing and Academic Skills Centre to design timely instruction that aligns with students’ academic goals as they enter the thesis preparation stage. Rather than delivering separate sessions, we recognized this would be …

Recalibrating Library Research Support Workshops For Graduate Students: Addressing Skill-Gaps Through Targeted, Collaborative Workshop Design, Ekaterini Papadopoulou, Jason B. Hall

Transforming Libraries for Graduate Students

Creating library support for graduate services can and should take many forms to meet the specific and varied needs of the student populations and graduate programs at any given institution. However, there are often common threads and needs that can be met through some carefully targeted centralized library services. We will present our approach to providing a suite of workshops that provide skills and transferable knowledge across multiple graduate student needs at our institution, where the majority of graduate students are pursuing professional graduate degrees.

Three challenges that we aimed to address with our workshop series:

A perception that library …

Traffic Counting For Buggies, Jay Grossman, Charles Mckenzie, Jennifer Sharkey

Purdue Road School

Counties with larger Amish populations have significant volumes of buggies on some roads. Traditional traffic counting systems do not always capture these vehicles, limiting local public agencies’ abilities to prioritize maintenance and safety improvements appropriate for these users. This presentation will cover results from multiple counting systems and evaluate their performance for non-motorized vehicles.

How Transportation Impacts Have Been Mitigated By The Indiana Stream And Wetland Mitigation Program, Summer Elmore, Brad Baldwin, Jeff Spicer

Purdue Road School

The Indiana Stream and Wetland Mitigation Program (IN SWMP) has been selling mitigation credits since 2018. In this presentation, we will discuss the success and challenges of the program. We will also review the total funds collected by the program, the resulting impacts from transportation projects, and project partners and opportunities.

Focus On Lane Shift Tapers, Mischa Kachler

Purdue Road School

While lane shift tapers appear to be simple type of transition area in a work zone, they are often are designed or implemented incorrectly. This session will review lane shift taper basics, delve into various applications and scenarios, and provide guidance to improve lane shift taper implementation in work zones.

Development Of Indiana-Specific Trip Generation Procedures, Rishika Tumula, Konstantina Gkritza, Nathan Shellhamer

Purdue Road School

This presentation explores how Indiana-specific data can reshape trip generation practices for key land uses, such as warehouses, fast-food restaurants, gas stations, and truck stops. By grounding forecasts in local conditions, the work enhances INDOT’s ability to anticipate traffic impacts and guide infrastructure investments. Attendees will see how conventional methods are being reexamined, where surprising patterns emerge, and why this shift could matter for future development decisions.

Customized Cable Barrier Solutions For Challenging Median Conditions On Us 31, Mitchell Murray, Katherine Smutzer

Purdue Road School

This study details the design and evaluation of a high-tension cable barrier system for US 31 in Hamilton and Tipton Counties. Custom layouts and multiple design iterations addressed substandard medians, underground utilities, and turn lane conflicts. Modifications were reviewed with the Standards committee to comply with safety standards and manufacturer specifications. Field checks and staking finalized the design.

Improving Chip Seal Durability, John Yzenas Jr., Aaron Fugate

Purdue Road School

In Northeastern Indiana, secondary roads can be severely abused due to heavy traffic from farm implements, trucks, and horse-drawn buggies. This presentation details how LaGrange County improved the performance of these roads and developed a successful chip seal program by implementing suggestions from a recent synthesis out of the Lyles School of Civil and Construction Engineering.

It's A Stretch: De-Customizing To Provide Better Support To All, Jean Cook

Transforming Libraries for Graduate Students

The University of X's graduate programs are its fastest growing sector. The College of Education is the third largest public university in the county, due largely to its graduate programs and partnerships with local school districts. Many programs across the disciplines have a heavy research aspect, with a focus on evidence-based practice. To meet the needs of these programs, the library has taken the counter-intuitive approach of widening the focus on its instruction and liaison programs. Previously, each program had specific librarians assigned to that program’s needs. Tools like videos, research guides, and workshops were tailored to each individual class …

Beyond The Tour: Designing Graduate Library Orientations That Build Research Confidence And Belonging, Megan York

Transforming Libraries for Graduate Students

Graduate student orientations often lean heavily on logistics: where to find resources, how to log in, and which services the library offers. While this information is important, it rarely addresses the deeper needs of graduate learners. Many of the students I work with arrive on campus already balancing careers, families, and demanding academic programs. At the University of Arkansas, graduate orientations in the College of Education and Health Professions frequently take place on weekends, serving students who travel from out of state and receive an overwhelming amount of information in a short time. For them, orientation is not simply a …