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University Assessment Services, Annual Report And Strategic Plan, 2023-2024, Illinois State University

Annual Reports

2023 Annual Report and 2024 Strategic Plan from University Assessment Services, Illinois State University.

Sea Level Rise And Maritime Delimitation In The Eastern Caribbean: A Comparative Approach, Rosemarie Cadogan

American University Law Review

Thank you, Mr. Moderator. Let me just start by thanking the organizers today for having me on the program, and I want to extend to everyone my gratitude for having me here today. I am going to look at, as the title suggests, sea level rise and maritime delimitation in the Eastern Caribbean, and I am going to take a comparative approach as I compare it with the Pacific–South Pacific region. I am going to take it that all protocols have been observed, and, in the interest of time, I will go straight through to my presentation with the one …

The Clarion, 2023, University High School

Yearbooks

The Clarion of University High School, Normal, Illinois, vol. 95, 2023

Counselors’ Lived Experience Treating Patients Utilizing Methadone: The Intersection Of Culture, Policy, And Stigma, Kathryn Floyd Eggert

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The United States continues to experience unprecedented deaths related to the opioid epidemic. Efforts to address the epidemic remain hampered by war-on-drugs policies that stigmatize people who use drugs and create barriers to accessing evidence-based treatments, particularly methadone maintenance treatments (MMT). Despite 50 years of research regarding MMT, it remains highly regulated, and arguably the most stigmatized treatment. The punitive regulatory structure of MMT remained unchanged until emergency waivers were initiated during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study used an exploratory, critical phenomenological approach to examine the intersection of culture and regulation on the lived experiences of 26 addiction counselors who …

Sex Trafficking Prevention Training For Higher Education Students, Jessica Nicole Kennedy

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Higher education students are vulnerable to being sex trafficked (Campus Law Enforcement-DHS, n.d.). As a means of prevention, an online training was developed for higher education students. The purpose of this training was to provide awareness and education about sex trafficking and promote safety in terms of relationships, jobs, and the internet. The intention of this study was to research the effectiveness of this training in building an understanding of sex trafficking. A convergent mixed methods study was conducted using pre and post surveys to assess awareness around sex trafficking in higher education. The training was found to be effective …

How Can Principles Of Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy Inform The Design Of A Junior High Curriculum To Enhance Science Learning In A Meaningful Way?, Michelle K. Ramzan

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The objective of this dissertation was to explore how the principles of culturally sustaining pedagogy (CSP) can inform the design of a junior high school curriculum to enhance science learning by providing meaningful learning experiences to all students. The transformative paradigm provided a framework used as a lens to emphasize the importance of understanding the social, cultural, and historical context in which individuals and communities are situated. CSP and Backward Design Model were applied to develop a curriculum for a sheltered science literacy elective class for below grade level readers. The purpose of using CSP in the curriculum design was …

Building University Relationships: A Holistic Approach To Student Success In Online Learning Environments, Elizabeth Carson-Murphy

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Online learning in the higher education sector has grown exponentially over the past 15 years. Whereas online learning was once a viable alternative for the nontraditional adult student, enrollment trends now show an influx in traditional students opting for virtual education opportunities especially in the last three years during the COVID-19 pandemic. While there has been exponential growth in online learning, the rates of attrition have also significantly increased, making it difficult for institutions to retain their online students. This qualitative narrative inquiry study will explore the impact of authentic relationships on student success, engagement, and overall persistence in online …

Navigating Opportunities To Improve Youth Outcomes In A Least Developed Country: An Action Research Study, Naomi Docilait

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The ambitious United Nations-adopted Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) require the concentrated effort of governments, the business sector, and other key stakeholders, including women and youth, for its success. Effective leadership will be essential for different sectors to integrate these development goals into strategic plans and operational activities in the service of realizing this agenda by 2030. Unfortunately for Least Developed Countries (LDCs), the COVID-19 pandemic caused the worst economic outcomes in 30 years. For this group of countries, the pandemic has negatively influenced efforts to eradicate poverty and improve social outcomes. This setback makes achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by …

Mokṣa, Seeking A Humanizing Way Of Being: I Am Recognized. I Am Acknowledged. I Am Human., Lauralynn Jansen

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This dissertation delves into the intricate dimensions of humanization by shifting the analytical focus from denial and exclusion to affirmative aspects of inclusion. The central aim of this research is to unravel the mechanisms underlying the process of humanization, or how individuals perceive and internalize their being recognized as human beings. Employing the critical incident technique, this research methodically examined the lived experiences of a highly diverse group of individuals living with varying social stigmas and how they experience humanization. This research displays the intricate interplay of language, actions, and sensory elements engendered before, during, and after a humanizing moment. …

The Monroe Method: A Methodology On Navigating Race, Oppression, And Equity In Medical Education Through Physician Cultural Responsibility, Christen D. Johnson

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Many forms of oppression create barriers for health care, further health disparities, and impact the wellness of physicians. As health disparities, caused by the social determinants of health, complicate the practice of medicine, physicians’ risk of burnout increases. The practice of Physician Cultural Responsibility provides a means to overcome health disparities and support physicians while embracing the intersectionality of the populations they serve. Incorporation of Physician Cultural Responsibility into physician professional identity is essential for the practice to be life-long. As there is no standardized curriculum to address teaching the practice of Physician Cultural Responsibility, this study aims to evaluate …

Diabetes Distress In U.S. Adults During The Covid-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review, Joanna Leah Sullivan

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a common metabolic disease that continues to grow in prevalence, affecting around 11% of the U.S. population in 2019. Although DM has a clear medical cause, a growing body of research points to social determinants of health (SDOH) and psychosocial factors as important mediators of prevalence and severity of DM. Diabetes distress, a mental health phenomenon arising out of the challenges of living with a stigmatized and demanding chronic disease, is one such factor. Given the heightened effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on psychosocial stressors and vulnerability to mental health disorders, it is important to understand …

Elementary School Leadership, Climate, And Resilience During Covid-19: A Comparative Case Study Of Two Independent Schools, Nora C. Malone

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The recent worldwide pandemic impacted educational systems on a global scale, forcing school leaders to reimagine educational structures as they faced the ongoing wounding of the unprecedented, shared trauma wrought by COVID-19. Mandated U.S. school closures in March of 2020 forced an immediate transition to distance learning and presented unforeseen academic and social challenges for students, educators, parents, and school leaders. As school campuses re-opened over the next year, the pandemic continued to present hardships. School leaders were tasked with developing systems to follow appropriate health and safety measures, develop systems to accommodate stakeholders’ individual health circumstances, and communicate school …

The 2022 U.S. Steel/Aluminum Tariff Ruling: A Legal Reckoning For The United States And The Wto Over The National Security Exception In International Law, Klint W. Alexander

American University Law Review

On December 9, 2022, the World Trade Organization (WTO) issued landmark rulings against the United States in four cases brought by China, Switzerland, Norway, and Turkey involving the U.S. imposition and maintenance of restrictive trade measures on steel and aluminum imports dating back to 2018. The major effect of the rulings was to quash the idea that a WTO member had unfettered discretion to invoke the national security exception under Article XXI(b) of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT 1994) whenever it suits its interests. The recent decisions build upon important WTO precedents addressing the applicability of the …

It Takes Two To Incorporate: The Role Of Patent Co-Ownership In Inventor Choice Of Business Form, Shawn P. Miller

American University Law Review

The literature on the theory of the firm and the reasons why entrepreneurs choose one type of business organization over another is massive. However, few empirical studies have been conducted to test the importance of the various proposed determinants of choice of legal form of organization in real-world industries. This paper helps fill that gap through an econometric investigation of the differences in the characteristics of two groups of independent inventors engaged in the business of patent monetization: inventors operating as sole proprietors and those operating through business organizations, almost always LLCs or close corporations.

The results suggest that commonly …

Disability Reproductive Justice During Covid-19 And Beyond, Robyn M. Powell

American University Law Review

The United States is experiencing the convergence of two crises threatening the reproductive freedom of people with disabilities and other historically marginalized groups: the COVID-19 pandemic and a rising assault on reproductive rights, including the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision. This convergence has created a perfect storm, revealing the depth of existing reproductive injustices endured by disabled people and forcing a reckoning with the consequences of permitting such inequities to persist. As such, urgent attention by activists, scholars, legal professionals, and policymakers is necessary.

This Article proposes a vision for addressing the deeply entrenched …

Are Children's Rights Enough?, Clare Ryan

American University Law Review

Are parental rights or children’s rights better for protecting children and vindicating their interests? In this ongoing debate, American family law scholars and advocates are deeply divided. Children’s rights proponents often criticize the United States for failing to ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child and for denying children constitutional family rights. This critique of U.S. family law assumes that incorporating children’s rights would result in better outcomes for children. This Article challenges the assumption that children’s rights are enough to vindicate children’s interests. Instead, this Article identifies how current conceptions of children’s rights present structural barriers to …

Decentralized Collaboration Through Private Ordering, Edward Lee

American University Law Review

This Article sets forth the theory of decentralized collaboration to explain how NFT projects coordinate business and creative collaborations in a decentralized manner through NFTs. Conducting an empirical study of the Top 25 NFT projects, this Article shows that a majority of the Top 25 NFT projects have employed a new, more innovative approach to creative production. Decentralized collaboration refers to the creative activities among unrelated actors who are involved in creating a shared content production project through a decentralized, asynchronous process open to the public. Utilizing a combination of smart contracts that create non-fungible tokens (NFTs) recorded on blockchain …

Regulating Organic, Sarah J. Morath

American University Law Review

Even highly regulated labels, such as the organic label, have the potential for greenwashing. As recently as January 2023, a grain seller was indicted in federal court for a $43 million scheme that involved the sale of non-organic grain as USDA-certified organic. But today’s organic market is also full of sellers who follow the current federal organic regulations but fail to demonstrate the spirit of the organic movement—forgoing soil, animal welfare, and community for profit. I call this nuanced form of greenwashing quasi-greenwashing. It arises when a business complies with a rule or standard but takes advantage of consumer misunderstanding …

Openline Newsletter, January/February 2023, Civil Service Council

OpenLine Newsletter

A monthly newsletter for Civil Service employees, January/February 2023.

Attitudes, Perceptions, And Preferences Towards Sars Cov-2 Testing And Vaccination Among African American And Hispanic Public Housing Residents, New York City: 2020-2021, Chigozirim Izeogu, Emily Gill, Kaitlyn Van Allen, Natasha Williams, Lorna E Thorpe, Donna Shelley

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background

African American and Hispanic populations have been affected disproportionately by COVID-19. Reasons are multifactorial and include social and structural determinants of health. During the onset and height of the pandemic, evidence suggested decreased access to SARS CoV-2 testing. In 2020, the National Institutes of Health launched the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx)- Underserved Populations initiative to improve SARS CoV-2 testing in underserved communities. In this study, we explored attitudes, experiences, and barriers to SARS CoV-2 testing and vaccination among New York City public housing residents.

Methods

Between December 2020 and March 2021, we conducted 9 virtual focus groups among …

Alterations In Static And Dynamic Regional Homogeneity In Mesial Temporal Lobe Epilepsy With And Without Initial Precipitating Injury, Xinyue Mao, Xiaonan Zhang, Chengru Song, Keran Ma, Kefan Wang, Xin Wang, Yajun Lian, Yong Zhang, Shaoqiang Han, Jingliang Cheng, Yan Zhang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objectives

Initial precipitating injury (IPI) such as febrile convulsion and intracranial infection will increase the susceptibility to epilepsy. It is still unknown if the functional deficits differ between mesial temporal lobe epilepsy with IPI (mTLE-IPI) and without IPI (mTLE-NO).

Methods

We recruited 25 mTLE-IPI patients, 35 mTLE-NO patients and 33 healthy controls (HC). Static regional homogeneity (sReHo) and dynamic regional homogeneity (dReHo) were then adopted to estimate the alterations of local neuronal activity. One-way analysis of variance was used to analyze the differences between the three groups in sReHo and dReHo. Then the results were utilized as masks for further …

Health Disparities In Turner Syndrome: Uthealth Turner Syndrome Research Registry, Priscille Donate, Michelle Rivera-Davila, Siddharth K Prakash

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

AIM: Turner Syndrome (TS) is caused by partial or complete absence of the second sex chromosome in a phenotypic female. TS is associated with recognizable congenital anomalies and chronic health conditions. The principal objective of this study was to evaluate the health-related knowledge and insight of participants.

METHODS: In 2015, we founded the UTHealth Turner Syndrome Research Registry for longitudinal follow-up of individuals with TS. Study participants were recruited from UTHealth Houston clinics and the Turner Syndrome Society of the United States. Participants completed a questionnaire about demographics, karyotype, congenital anomalies, health history, frequency of contact with care providers, and …

Hermann ("Hugh") Blaschko (1900-1993): Father Of Catecholamine Metabolism, Heinrich Taegtmeyer, Jiries Ganim, Anne B Leuppi-Taegtmeyer

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Social Protection And Foundational Cognitive Skills During Adolescence: Evidence From A Large Public Works Program, Nader Aboul-Fettouh, Kevin P Lee, Natalie Kash, Kathleen Kroger, Sirunya Silapunt

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

INTRODUCTION: Reddit, a popular social media website, has numerous forums where users may discuss healthcare-related topics and request diagnostic and treatment advice for dermatologic conditions. We sought to analyze and grade user-submitted requests for dermatologic advice and their top responses on Reddit.

METHODS: User-submitted posts requesting diagnostic advice and their respective responses on two popular Reddit forums, SkinCareAddiction (ScA) and DermatologyQuestions (DQ), were reviewed by three board-certified dermatologists using a grading rubric designed for this study.

RESULTS: 300 posts and comments were reviewed. Diagnoses among all graders matched in 52.3% of posts with a mean grader confidence score of 4/5 …

Eagle Executive Magazine, Georgia Southern University

College of Business: News & Publications

• Students
• Gala
• Student Organization Spotlight
• Research
• Feature: Executives in Residence
• Graduate
• Alumni
• Young Alumni Board

Calliope, Georgia Southern University

Calliope Magazine

Volume 41

Transforming Experiential Learning In The Honors Interpersonal Communication Course: Interpersonal Enrichment Journeys During The Covid-19 Pandemic And Beyond, Jennifer A. H. Becker

Journal of Communication Pedagogy

Drawing upon my own experience as an educator, I describe and reflect upon my experiential learning-pedagogical process of transforming my fall 2020 Zoom-based honors interpersonal communication course in which my students traversed through a series of experiential learning activities called Interpersonal Enrichment Journeys. Quantitative and written data revealed that students achieved desired learning outcomes and strengthened much-needed interpersonal connections despite the circumstances and stressors induced by the pandemic. Interpersonal Enrichment Journeys can be replicated to maximize the features of quality online courses identified by Kaufman and Vallade (2022), such as helping students develop personal connections in a positive learning climate …

Silver Linings Playlist: Exploring The Effectiveness Of Music As An Emotion Regulation Tool, Caitlin Fountain

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Music not only entertains listeners, but it also evokes emotions and facilitates emotion regulation (Gabrielsson, 2001; Krahe & Bienick, 2012). Specifically, music helps listeners to express their emotions and alter their mood through cognitive reappraisal (Chin & Rickard, 2014; Witvliet & Vrana, 2007). Listening to music also enhances relaxation and reduces physiological arousal after experiencing a stressful event (Yehuda, 2011). Stress often involves an influx of negative emotions, which when left unmitigated, may result in fewer positive emotions, increased depression, and maladaptive coping (Flynn & Rudolph, 2010; Lazenby et al., 2019). While music appears to be an effective stress management …

A Novel Approach To Detecting And Mitigating Keyloggers, Damilola Osedumbi Elelegwu

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

As the digital world gets increasingly ingrained in our daily lives, cyberattacks—especially those involving malware—are growing more complex and common, which calls for developing innovative safeguards. Keylogger spyware, which combines keylogging and spyware functionalities, is one of the most insidious types of cyberattacks. This malicious software stealthily monitors and records user keystrokes, amassing sensitive data, such as passwords and confidential personal information, which can then be exploited. This research work introduces a novel browser extension designed to thwart keylogger spyware attacks effectively. The extension is underpinned by a cutting-edge algorithm that meticulously analyzes input-related processes, promptly identifying and flagging any …

Exploring Relationship Among Programmatic Expertise, Work Engagement, And Turnover Intentions Across Different Generation Cohorts In State And Local Governmental Public Health Agencies, Stephanie L. Irvin

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This study examined the relationship among public health programmatic competencies, work engagement, and turnover intentions among state and local public health workers. It also explored the moderating role of generational cohorts in these relationships. It employed a quantitative secondary data analysis using the 2021 PHWINS survey, a collaboration between the de Beaumont Foundation and The Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. The study's principal findings shed light on critical relationships within the public health workforce: Firstly, an increase in programmatic expertise among public health professionals is linked to increased work engagement, particularly notable within the Millennial cohort. Secondly, a …