Digital Commons Network^™

Reasons For Academic Attrition Among Rural Community College Students By Way Of Satisfactory Academic Progress, Cathy Vaughan

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

The purpose of the investigator’s research was to examine reasons for attrition among rural community college students by way of Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) appeals. Seminal student departure theories of Spady (1971), Tinto (1993), Bean and Metzner (1985), and Braxton, Doyle, Jones, McLendon, Hirschy, and Hartley (2014) laid the foundation for this mixed methods investigation of challenges students face in meeting satisfactory academic progress as defined by federal financial aid guidelines: maintaining a 2.0 cumulative GPA, completing 67% of attempted coursework, and not exceeding the maximum time frame of credit hours for degree completion. Three broad categories of challenge …

The Role Of Different Tv Storytelling Approaches In Engaging U.S. Hispanic Parents And Caregivers Around Early Childhood Development, Caty Borum Chattoo, Lauren Feldman, Amy Henderson Riley

College of Population Health Faculty Papers

Educational achievement gaps exist between racial and ethnic groups in the United States; early childhood readiness, fostered in part by parents and caregivers, is crucial. To respond to this challenge, the Univision television network produced content that aired across 3 storytelling genres (scripted drama, reality, news) to entertain and educate Hispanic parents and primary caregivers of children ages 0–5 years about early brain development interventions. This pretest/posttest experimental study assessed the impact of each genre and found significant direct effects on knowledge, attitudes, and behavioral intentions; the effects were mediated by perceived entertainment value and positive emotions.

Smoke Screens: An Initial Analysis Of The Coronavirus Lawsuits In The United States Against China And The World Health Organization, Ana Santos Rutschman, Robert Gatter

All Faculty Scholarship

In this short essay we provide a preliminary analysis of the lawsuits filed by Missouri against China, and New York against the World Health Organization over the COVID-19 pandemic. We also situate the lawsuits against the expanding coronavirus-related misinformation “epidemic.”

'Terroristic Threats' And Covid-19: A Guide For The Perplexed, Chad Flanders, Courtney Federico, Eric Harmon, Lucas Klein

All Faculty Scholarship

The first few months of the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States saw the rise of a troubling sort of behavior: people would cough or spit on people or otherwise threaten to spread the COVID-19 virus, resulting in panic and sometimes thousands of dollars’ worth of damages to businesses. Those who have been caught doing this — or have filmed themselves doing it — have been charged under so-called “terroristic threat” statutes. But what is a terroristic threat, and is it an appropriate charge in these cases? Surprisingly little has been written about these statutes given their long history and …

Covid-19 And The Conundrum Of Mask Requirements, Robert Gatter, Seema Mohapatra

All Faculty Scholarship

As states begin to loosen their COVID-19 restrictions, public debate is underway about what public health measures are appropriate. Many states have some form of mask-wearing orders to prevent the spread of COVID-19 infection. Public health guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization has conflicted. From a public health point of view, it is not clear what the right answer is. In the absence of directives, individuals are also making their own choices about mask use. At a time when public health measures, like shelter-in-place orders and social distancing, are being used to …

Clicking In The Dark: Are Student Financial Aid Websites Accessible For Students With Disabilities?, Zachary W. Taylor

Journal of Student Financial Aid

The United States (U.S.) Access Board, a branch of the federal government responsible for advancing the inclusion of people with disabilities into U.S. society, recently amended Section 508 of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). On January 18th, 2018, the final Section 508 amendment required all Title IV institutions of higher education in the United States to conform to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (WCAG) at the Level-A and Level-AA thresholds. As students with disabilities are often minoritized from the U.S. higher education system, this study explored the web accessibility of institutional .edu financial aid websites (n=450) to learn if …

Parent Borrowing And College Completion, Jennie H. Woo, Stephen Lew

Journal of Student Financial Aid

Parent PLUS loans are available for parents of traditional students, allowing them to borrow up to the complete cost of attendance if they pass a credit check. Having access to more loan funds might increase a student’s chances of obtaining a bachelor’s degree by allowing them to attend a higher quality school, or to spend fewer hours working and perform better academically. Among students who intend to earn a 4-year degree and are eligible for PLUS loans, are those whose parents take out Parent PLUS loans, more likely to earn BA degrees than those who don’t? Using the 2004/09 Beginning …

Study Abroad For Low-Income Students: The Relationship Between Need-Based Grant Aid And Access To Education Abroad, Melissa Whatley, Ashley B. Clayton

Journal of Student Financial Aid

This study explores factors related to low-income students’ decisions to participate in study abroad while focusing specifically on the role of need-based grant aid in this decision-making process. Estimates account for systematic differences between students receiving and not receiving need-based grant aid using propensity score modeling (PSM) before disaggregating models by need-based grant aid status. Results indicate that need-based grant aid significantly increases a student’s probability of participating in study abroad. Additionally, disaggregated models show that the study abroad decisions of students receiving need-based grant aid differ significantly from those not receiving this aid, particularly when considering other forms of …

Education Tax Credits: A Different Trajectory For Federal Funding Of Higher Education And Remediation For Effectual Policymaking, Anna C. Bartel

Journal of Student Financial Aid

Education tax credits provide federal financial aid to a wide expanse of American taxpayers; however, little research or analysis has been done on these costly programs. There has been little evidence of its link to college enrollment growth. This descriptive paper outlines the establishment of education tax credits, their original intent, and the lack of evidence of effectual federal policy over the past two decades. Thus, the purpose of this article is to assess how the federal government has reached an $18.9 billion annual expenditure for education tax credits with little to show in returns on investment. Further, this paper …

Start To Finish: Examining The Impact Of The El Dorado Promise Program On Postsecondary Outcomes, Elise Swanson, Gary Ritter

Journal of Student Financial Aid

The El Dorado Promise program is a universal, first dollar Promise program that guarantees a full tuition scholarship to students who attend the El Dorado School District from grades K-12, and a partial scholarship for those enrolled for at least 9^th through 12^th grade. We use a difference-in-differences framework to examine the impact of the El Dorado Promise program on college enrollment and bachelor’s degree completion. We find that, overall, the Promise was associated with a 14.0 percentage point increase in postsecondary enrollment, no change in associate’s degree completion, and an 8.8 percentage point increase in bachelor’s degree …

Expectations And Incentives: Parental Financial Support For College During The Transition To Young Adulthood, Allyson Flaster

Journal of Student Financial Aid

This study provides new insight into enrollment disparities by examining how the financial support adolescents expect to receive from parents as they transition to young adulthood differs by parent and family characteristics and whether they attend college. I do this by estimating expectations of cash and in-kind co-residency support in the year after high school completion using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. The results indicate that children whose parents are highly educated, who have high solidarity with their parents, and whose parents hold norms of adolescent financial dependency have particularly large financial incentives to attend college—particularly a …

Personality Traits As Markers Of Psychosis Risk In Kenya: Assessment Of Temperament And Character, Daniel Mamah, C Robert Cloninger, Victoria N Mutiso, Isaiah Gitonga, Albert Tele, David M Ndetei

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Specific personality traits have been proposed as a schizophrenia-related endophenotype and confirmed in siblings at risk for psychosis. The relationship of temperament and character with psychosis has not been previously investigated in Africa. The study was conducted in Kenya, and involved participants at clinical high-risk (CHR) for psychosis (

Who Benefits From A Prostate Rectal Spacer? Secondary Analysis Of A Phase Iii Trial, Thomas J. Quinn, Walter Bosch, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

PURPOSE: Previously a phase III trial of a hydrogel rectal spacer during prostate radiation therapy found decreased toxicity and a clinically significant improvement in bowel quality of life (QOL) at 3 years by the Expanded Prostate Cancer Index. We performed a secondary analysis to identify men less likely to benefit.

METHODS AND MATERIALS: Clinical and dosimetric data for the 222 patients enrolled on the SpaceOAR phase III trial were analyzed. The volume of rectum treated to 70 Gy (V70) and the quantitative analysis of normal tissue effects in the clinic (QUANTEC) rectal dose goals were used as surrogates for clinical …

Improving The Implementation And Sustainment Of Evidence-Based Practices In Community Mental Health Organizations: A Study Protocol For A Matched-Pair Cluster Randomized Pilot Study Of The Collaborative Organizational Approach To Selecting And Tailoring Implementation Strategies (Coast-Is), Byron J Powell, Amber D Haley, Sheila V Patel, Lisa Amaya-Jackson, Beverly Glienke, Mellicent Blythe, Rebecca Lengnick-Hall, Stacey Mccrary, Rinad S Beidas, Cara C Lewis, Gregory A Aarons, Kenneth B Wells, Lisa Saldana, Mary M Mckay, Morris Weinberger

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Implementing and sustaining evidence-based programs with fidelity may require multiple implementation strategies tailored to address multi-level, context-specific barriers and facilitators. Ideally, selecting and tailoring implementation strategies should be guided by theory, evidence, and input from relevant stakeholders; however, methods to guide the selection and tailoring of strategies are not well-developed. There is a need for more rigorous methods for assessing and prioritizing implementation determinants (barriers and facilitators) and linking implementation strategies to determinants. The Collaborative Organizational Approach to Selecting and Tailoring Implementation Strategies (COAST-IS) is an intervention designed to increase the effectiveness of evidence-based practice implementation and sustainment. COAST-IS …

Vaccines And Ip Preparedness In The Coronavirus Outbreak, Ana Santos Rutschman

All Faculty Scholarship

The COVID-19 pandemic has shed renewed light on the importance of research and development (R&D) on biopharmaceutical products needed to prevent or lessen the burden posed by outbreaks of infectious diseases. Among these, the need for new vaccines has become of paramount importance. While a race to develop different types of vaccines unfolds at unusual speed, there are still significant shortcomings in the ecosystem that leads to the production and dissemination of vaccines targeting infectious diseases like COVID-19.