Digital Commons Network^™

From Lived Experiences To Social Activism: Latino Fraternity Brothers Critical Service To The Latinx Community, Regina L. Suriel, James Martinez, Christian Bello Escobar, Jamie L. Workman

Journal of Higher Education & Student Affairs

Colleges and universities are seeing growth of Latinx students actively engaged in Greek life. In this study, six Latino participants share their testimonios as members of different Chapters of a Latinx Greek Letter Organization (LGLO) nestled within Predominantly White Institutions located in the state of Georgia, USA. Informed by LatCrit theory, this qualitative study uses member’s testimonios to shed light on their varied and sometimes politically charged and racist lived experiences. The researchers draw on these experiences to show how the LGLO supported these members’ character and leadership development and their desire and commitment to critical service and socially just …

Understanding The Role Of Cultural Competence In Peer Mentorship Programs For International Students: A Student Development Theory Perspective, Nikheal Patel, Daniel Calhoun, Steven Tolman

Journal of Higher Education & Student Affairs

International students often face challenges while pursuing higher education in a foreign country. These challenges can negatively impact their sense of belonging and community, resulting in social disconnection. Examining the role of culturally competent peer mentoring programs for international students can foster a sense of belonging among international students. Peer mentorship may provide international students with a supportive environment and community, helping them navigate university life. In contrast, student development theory can inform the design of programs and services that support international students in their transition to American higher education. These strategies can create a more inclusive and welcoming environment …

From Private To Public: Lateral Transfer Student Experiences, Melissa P. Stough, Diane C. Elliott

Journal of Higher Education & Student Affairs

The phenomenon of student movement between higher education institutions has received considerable attention due to its widespread occurrence and impact on academic trajectories. While extensive research has focused on vertical transfer, such as transitions from community colleges to four-year institutions, less scrutiny has been directed towards lateral transfer, involving shifts between institutions at similar academic levels. This study aims to fill this gap by examining the factors influencing lateral transfer, specifically from private four-year colleges to public four-year institutions. The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened interest in this understudied area, with indications of increased lateral transfers in its aftermath. Leveraging data …

Predicting Retention, Progression, And Graduation Of First-Time Freshmen Students, Brynn L. Munro, Juliann Sergi Mcbrayer, Antonio P. Gutierrez De Blume, Pamela Wells

Journal of Higher Education & Student Affairs

Currently, roughly one third of college students fit the federal government’s definition of first-generation college student status, meaning that neither parent has earned a baccalaureate degree (RTI International, 2023). This study utilized archival data at an access institution in the southeastern United States in a causal comparative study using binary logistic regression analysis to determine if first-generation college student status, gender, socioeconomic status, and academic preparedness are predictors for six-year graduation rates. Findings from this quantitative study determined that gender, socioeconomic status, and academic preparedness were significant predictors for graduation within six years of matriculation at the institution. A future …

Digital Layout & Design, Saied Farisi

Syllabus Repository

No abstract provided.

The Intersection Of Gender, Caregiving, And Research Productivity During The Covid-19 Pandemic: A Multi-Method Study, Elizabeth A. Moschella-Smith, Sharyn J. Potter

Faculty Publications

The COVID-19 pandemic differentially impacted the productivity of women researchers with children compared to men, with and without children. The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between gender, caregiving responsibilities, and research productivity before and during the pandemic. We quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed survey (n=227) and follow-up interview data (n=44) collected from faculty and staff at a Carnegie Classification Research 1 public university. Findings suggest that women researchers with children faced increased caregiving demands and diminished research productivity during the pandemic, compared to men with children and researchers without children. As illustrated by the qualitative data, …

Youth Experiences In Gender–Sexuality Alliances Predict Academic Engagement But Not Disaffection Through Social–Emotional Wellbeing, V. Paul Poteat, Jerel P. Calzo, Hirokazu Yoshikawa, Daniel Kellogg, Robert A. Marx, Abigail Richburg, Arthur Lipkin

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Experiences in gender–sexuality alliances (GSAs) could predict youth's academic engagement through improved social–emotional wellbeing (indicated by school belonging, hope, and positive and negative affect). This study utilized three waves of data, each spaced 2–3 months apart, among 627 youth (87% LGBQ+, 45% trans/nonbinary, 48% youth of color) ages 11–22 (Mage = 15.13) in 51 GSAs in the United States in 2021–2022. Greater peer responsiveness in the GSA predicted increased academic engagement through increased wellbeing overall and specifically through hope and decreased negative affect. Advisor responsiveness and GSA leadership correlated with wellbeing and academic engagement in bivariate analyses but were not …

Fpdclustering: A Comprehensive R Package For Probabilistic Distance Clustering Based Methods, Cristina Tortora, Francesco Palumbo

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Data clustering has a long history and refers to a vast range of models and methods that exploit the ever-more-performing numerical optimization algorithms and are designed to find homogeneous groups of observations in data. In this framework, the probability distance clustering (PDC) family methods offer a numerically effective alternative to model-based clustering methods and a more flexible opportunity in the framework of geometric data clustering. Given nJ-dimensional data vectors arranged in a data matrix and the number K of clusters, PDC maximizes the joint density function that is defined as the sum of the products between the distance and the …

Improving Field Education For Social Work In Vietnam: Intern Supervisors’ Perspectives Of The Current State And Potential Solutions, Megan Aikawa, Meekyung Han, Trang T. Nguyen, Linh Dinh, Minh Thanh Bui

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Research has identified challenges associated with the implementation of competency-based social work field education in Vietnam. However, there is limited information available from intern supervisors, who have unique perspectives at the crux of social work training and service delivery. An exploratory phenomenological qualitative approach was used to explore their experiences and perceptions through online interviews. Four categories were identified: diverse implementation of a common framework, rudimentary expectations and activities, challenges to implementation, and opportunities for improvement. These findings suggest that a multidimensional approach is needed, including improved collaborations between field agencies and universities to empower students, intern supervisors, and faculty.

Incorporating Uas Traffic Management Into Wildland Firefighting Operations: Initial Findings Of Subject Matter Expert Interviews, Deborah L. Bakowski, Lynne Martin, Gil Dustin, Chris Mariano

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UASs) are being utilized throughout the disaster and emergency response domain, including in wildland firefighting operations. While UASs can offer safety benefits in comparison to crewed aircraft, such as removing the human pilot from the vehicle so that they are not exposed to the same risks and the ability to operate in low-visibility conditions, they are not without tradeoffs. For example, it can be challenging for UAS pilots (UASPs) to build situation awareness of the airspace in which their UAS is operating. In order to address some of the challenges associated with using UASs and provide greater …

Sample Sizes For 10 Types Of Qualitative Data Analysis: An Integrative Review, Empirical Guidance, And Next Steps, Amber Wutich, Melissa Beresford, H. Russell Bernard

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

There has been a recent explosion of articles on minimum sample sizes needed for analyzing qualitative data. The purpose of this integrated review is to examine this literature for 10 types of qualitative data analysis (5 types of saturation and 5 common methods). Building on established reviews and expanding to new methods, our findings extract the following sample size guidelines: theme saturation (9 interviews; 4 focus groups), meaning saturation (24 interviews; 8 focus groups), theoretical saturation (20–30+ interviews), metatheme saturation (20–40 interviews per site), and saturation in salience (10 exhaustive free lists); two methods where power analysis determines sample size: …

The Applicability Of Llms In Generating Textual Samples For Analysis Of Imbalanced Datasets, Saroj Gopali, Faranak Abri, Akbar Siami Namin, Keith S. Jones

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

In machine learning class imbalance is a pressing issue, where the model is biased towards the majority classes and underperforms in the minority classes. In textual data, the natural language processing (NLP) model bias significantly reduces overall accuracy, along with poor performance in minority classes. This paper investigates and compares the performance of transformer-based models, such as Multi-head Attention with the data levels and algorithmic levels approaches and BERT (Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers) with LLM-based data augmentation. The research utilized the approaches, such as Random Over Sampler, Synthetic Minority Over-sampling Technique (SMOTE), SMOTEENN, data augmentation at word level, class …

Advancing A Systems Perspective On Innovative Behavior, Stephen Demski

Doctoral Dissertations

"Engineering organizations pursue innovation in strategy, structure, processes, and the services and products offered to remain relevant and competitive. Identifying factors supporting or constraining innovative work behavior and recognizing the complexity of their interactions are vital to sustaining an innovative workforce, yet how factors interact has not been comprehensively studied.

Recognizing innovative work behavior as the output of a complex system of factors guided this study’s literature search that identified over one hundred individual, team, and organizational factors influencing innovative behavior, interviews of engineers to learn what factors are essential in their work environment, and Delphi survey to rank factors, …

Contextualizing Renewable Energy Adoption: An Examination Of The Role Of Community Choice Aggregation, Ankit Agarwal

Doctoral Dissertations

"The rapid expansion of renewable energy generation in the U.S., both through distributed and utility-scale facilities, is largely driven by top-down policy measures and the growing engagement of residential consumers on both individual and community levels. Previous studies on motives behind residential renewable energy adoption have examined procurement options in isolation and within a static context, primarily focused on intrinsic attributes like economic incentives, emission reductions, and peer popularity. This research introduces a novel context, assessing renewable procurement options in the presence of Community Choice Aggregation (CCA), a more prevalent and accessible alternative. This dissertation makes four pivotal contributions, offering …

Advanced Mass Spectrometry Method Development And Applications For Assessment Of Traumatic Brain Injury And Legionella Pneumophila Dissinfection With Copper, Austin Chase Sigler

Doctoral Dissertations

"Pathological processes often involve complex biochemical changes which can be assessed using advanced mass spectrometry. In this present dissertation, two fields were studied: traumatic brain injury (TBI), and water contamination by L. pneumophilia. TBI is a pressing public health concern for which current clinical tools remain inadequate. We present newly developed mass spectrometric methods to access metabolites associated with blast induced TBI. We applied these methods to the biofluids of soldiers conducting explosives training. Significant changes in several metabolites were observed between pre- and post-blast specimens, including changes that increased with repeated exposure. These changes point to the possibility of …

Not Just Bony Fish: All Nonmammalian And Nonavian Animals Are Neglected In Both Welfare And General Research, Jennifer A. Mather Ph.D.

Animal Sentience

The lack of research on fish welfare highlighted by Oldfield & Bonano (2024) is only part of a more general problem: a relative neglect of animals other than mammals and birds. The causes are our lack of knowledge, our negative view of what we consider to be “lower” animals and our underestimation of their intelligence and sensitivity. Our estimation will increase as our knowledge increases. As a broader view spreads to the public through the media, it should gradually increase the demand to expand both research and welfare, especially beyond mammals and birds.

Quality Care Rehab & Autism Center

OJOT Sponsor Profiles

No abstract provided.

Mandatory Anti-Bias Cle: A Serious Problem Deserves More Meaningful Response, Rima Sirota

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

This essay addresses the problematic convergence of two recent trends: (1) the expansion of jurisdictions requiring anti-bias training (ABT) as part of mandatory continuing legal education (CLE), and (2) the growing recognition among social scientists that such training, at least as currently practiced, is of limited effectiveness.

Forty-six American states require continuing legal education (CLE), and eleven of these states now require lawyer ABT as one facet of CLE requirements. I have previously criticized the mandatory CLE system because so little evidence supports the conclusion that it results in more competent lawyers. The central question tackled by this essay is …

The Taylor Swift Effect And International Law, Katrin Kuhlmann

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour has come to an end, but the Taylor Swift Effect will remain a powerful force with influence well beyond even Swift herself. Often used to describe Swift’s economic impact through her fandom, it has become shorthand for the broader network effect that amplifies and extends the reach of her discography and cultural influence. As this article discusses, the Taylor Swift Effect has real implications for international relations and international law at a time when many nations are withdrawing from constructive international engagement, with devastating consequences in terms of global rights, liberties, and norms.

This article explores …

Loper Bright In A Larger Interpretive Perspective: Is This Justice Scalia’S Court Anymore?, Victoria Frances Nourse

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo has left administrative lawyers agog: Could the Supreme Court really reverse the “goliath” known as Chevron deference? For those who study the Court’s interpretive landscape more broadly, however, Chevron reversal may not be as unexpected as administrative lawyers believe. This Article will look at Loper Bright by linking three notable interpretive developments: the major questions doctrine, Chevron skepticism, and strict constructions of statutory text. These developments share the same risk: the Court is imposing a new “clarity tax” on both Congress and administrative agencies. Having said this, others’ grave worries about changes in Chevron are …

Shades Of Service: Navigating Racial Diversity, Mental Health, And Occupational Stress Among Black Police Officers, Manina Jeudy

Theses and Dissertations

This study was conducted to learn about the unique challenges Black police officers face by exploring their lived experiences. This study looked at how these current and retired Black police officers navigate racial diversity, handle occupational stress and how their mental health is affected. The research was prompted by the lack of existing literature that focuses specifically on the lived experiences of Black police officers, as most studies of policing do not address this population in depth. Through Zoom interviews with a small group of officers, this study revealed their struggles at work and in their personal lives. By sharing …

Spouse Violence In Case Of Police Officers In Puerto Rico: Violence In Police Families, Jorge Ismael Suarez

Theses and Dissertations

This applied dissertation was designed to explore the relationship between factors related to police work and whether these factors help predict domestic violence in a sample of officers of the Puerto Rico Police. The following factors were explored in this study: external burnout, alcohol abuse, department withdrawal, and authoritarian spillover. This study was based on a previous study by Johnson et al. (2005), which revealed that violence exposure and domestic violence among police officers are linked according to four mediation chains. The mediation chain was a model implemented by the authors to determine the influence of burnout, authoritarian spillover, alcohol …

Engagement Strategies In A Virtual Classroom, Kelly Clarke

Theses and Dissertations

This applied dissertation was designed to determine if cooperative learning strategies increased student engagement in a virtual elementary classroom. The purposes of this study were (a) to determine whether the implementation of cooperative learning strategies increased student engagement and (b) to explore student perceptions of engagement.

In this mixed methods research, the writer utilized a sequential explanatory design. The pre-test and post-test survey used in this study was based on the Elementary Student Engagement: Student Response created by the American Institutes for Research (2023). Convenience sampling was used to select 12 students to complete both surveys. A total of 4 …

Instructional Leadership And Self-Efficacy: A Case Study About Elementary School Principals, Barbara J. Hall

Theses and Dissertations

The aim of this applied dissertation was to develop a better understanding of how elementary principals in a large school district in the southeastern United States perceive their self- efficacy as instructional leaders and administrators. The pressures of high accountability play an impactful role in how principals view their roles and their ability to perform effectively.

This qualitative case study utilized interviews and Photovoice for data collection. Participants were six elementary school principals from the same southeastern school district. Participants were interviewed independently. A second, photo-elicited interview was conducted with each participant to discuss the significance of their photographs. A …

Community College Faculty Perceptions Of Their Role In The Academic Achievement Of Minoritized Students, Erin R. Smith

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the perceptions of community college faculty and the impact of those perceptions on the academic success of African American and Hispanic students. Within the context of the achievement gap, finding out how colleges can better serve disadvantaged students supported the aims of this study. This research strove to contribute to the literature on 2-year institutions of higher education and to provide research from the perspective of 2-year faculty. The findings of this study could contribute to faculty professional development, onboarding, and environmental changes for 2-year institutions in support of the academic …

Should We Disaggregate Latino Youths Based On Ancestral Group When Examining Risk Factors Of Violent And Delinquent Behavior, Elvis G. Sevilla

Theses and Dissertations

Researchers frequently aggregate Latino subgroups during statistical analyses despite findings indicating that cultural distinctions within Latino subgroups have unintended hidden impacts on analyses. This study disaggregated the Latino sample to assess if Latino youth samples differ among subgroups (i.e., Mexicans/Mexican Americans, Cubans/Cuban Americans, Puerto Ricans, Central/South Americans, and other Latinos) who self-reported violent and nonviolent delinquent behavior. Also, this study used Sampson and Laub’s age-graded theory to investigate life-course characteristics that predicted violent and nonviolent delinquent behaviors. A two-step approach analysis determined the differences in violent and delinquent behaviors among Latino subgroups and then which life-course risk factors predicted the …

Victim Advocates' Experiences In The Provision Of Domestic Violence Services For Jewish Women, Michael Sue Jenefsky

Theses and Dissertations

Domestic violence is a serious, dangerous global epidemic and does not discriminate. Domestic violence has no limitations happening in all communities, religions, and cultures. There are many types of abuse, and it is not always physical; however, the underlying threat of violence is perceived by victims. Abusers use manipulative and coercive tactics to gain and maintain power and control of victims. It is deliberate and a choice. Feelings of shame, guilt, blame, failure, helplessness, and being trapped with no means to escape are prevalent among victims. Jewish women have specific feelings and fears that are associated with halakha, Jewish law, …

Campus Police Legitimacy And Campus Crime Reporting: Moderating Effects Of Academic Major, James Earl Lyons Ii

Theses and Dissertations

Investigating crimes on college campuses is a prevalent phenomenon that often requires student cooperation with campus police. Using the procedural justice theory’s process-based approach, this applied research examined the likelihood of students reporting campus crime based on their perceived legitimacy of campus police and whether the student’s academic major moderated the relationship. The study used a quantitative, non-experimental design employing non-probability sampling methods.

Procedural justice is a theoretical approach that explains cooperation with police as the result of interactions. The theory asserts that regardless of the outcome, when citizens perceive interactions with police as procedurally just and fair, they are …

Punitive Experiences: Perspectives Of School Discipline Among Black American Males, Joseph Martin King

Theses and Dissertations

Among student groups within American public schools to date, Black males continue to be one of the most marginalized student groups in America. In spite of all the documented research findings that describe the problem from a research, policy, and practice standpoint, and given the plethora of well-documented knowledge of structural patterns identified and labeled as zero-tolerance policies and/or the school-to-prison pipeline, in conjunction with school reform attempts, Black males remain the largest segment of students who are academically discouraged and disproportionally affected by discipline in American public schools. Among the abundance of academic literature that describes the academic marginalization …

Faculty Experiences Incorporating Universal Design For Learning In Online Course Design At Historically Black Colleges And Universities, Chinyere Yvette James

Theses and Dissertations

Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) contributed to over 20% of all bachelor’s degrees earned by African American students. Since the 2019 pandemic, HBCUs have provided more online course offerings to their students. The continued success of HBCUs depends on their ability to grow with technology. This study examined the lived experiences of faculty applying universal design for learning (UDL) principles in online courses at HBCUs. This study was conducted to gain insight into the impact UDL had on retention rates, learning experience, and implementation. Online courses at HBCUs are underdeveloped, which poses a problem for continued growth and success …