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Minutes From April 30 2025, University Senate

University Senate Minutes

Minutes from April 30 2025 University Senate Meeting

Economic Development On The Ground: Rural Development And The Distribution Economy, John David Rinehart

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the practice of economic development in the South Carolina at the county and regional level. Looking at the Interstate 95 corridor, this research examines economic development organizations in practice, using in-depth interviews with actors operating at different spatial scales. Specifically, I highlight the current ideology of development as it relates to the proliferation of warehousing and distribution in the state. I outline the ideologies of economic development professionals, including their spatial strategies and perceptions of ‘community’ as it relates to economic development goals.

My research demonstrates the extent to which rural areas have been left without the …

Mapping Fire Susceptibility Of The South Carolina Coastal Plain, Breonna Roden

Theses and Dissertations

Wildfires are a natural hazard that have occurred across the world, throughout time. Regions prone to wildfires have been experiencing changes in their fire regimes. Not only has the fire season length increased, but the fires themselves are increasing in frequency and intensity. Wildfire research has been limited for the state of South Carolina, raising concerns along with global warming and population growth. Global warming is likely to become more extreme, which can lead to droughts becoming more frequent and lasting for longer periods of time. According to the 2020 census, South Carolina was the 10th fastest-growing state, which is …

Racial Contestations Of Space: Rural Preservation And Black Municipal Development In The South Carolina Lowcountry, Sydney Elizabeth Potter Smith

Theses and Dissertations

As newcomers flock to the South Carolina Lowcountry and drive development, the region has generally implemented strategies to preserve what remains of the region’s iconic rural landscapes by restricting new development in places that are designated as “Rural Areas”. These multi-scaler growth management strategies are problematic because they frame rural preservation as benefiting the greater good and prescribe a universal solution to urban sprawl, regardless of the individual needs of rural communities. This naturalizes and perpetuates forms of racial inequality across the landscape. Simultaneously, there are alternative spatial practices that aim to improve the quality of life for rural residents …

Narratives In Motion: The New Era Of Dam Building In East Africa, Andrew Nicholas Selassie Prado-Alipui

Theses and Dissertations

Narratives of energy insecurity, underdevelopment, and resource conflict influence how African hydropower projects are justified within the broader context of climate change and demands for sustainable development. The challenge of meeting energy demands provides the overarching motivation for ambitious large-scale hydropower projects in East Africa, especially in Tanzania and Ethiopia. As development projects, the Julius Nyerere Hydropower Project (JNHPP) and the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) can be understood as vehicles of political discourse, framed as the technopolitical solution to questions of national identity that both countries face in the midst of sociopolitical and economic transformation periods. This research shows …

Of Grave Importance: A Collaborative Approach To Archaeological Research On The Cooper River Cemetery, Daufuskie Island, South Carolina, Angelina Towery-Tomasura

Theses and Dissertations

Land dispossession and displacement is a challenge being faced by the Gullah community in Lowcountry South Carolina. Land dispossession due to a phenomenon known as coastal capitalism, or, the increased interest in coastal property, on Daufuskie Island served as an impetus for Miss Sallie Ann Robinson, a Gullah, Daufuskie native, to reach out to academic communities to assist in the preservation of spaces including cemeteries. This led to the ongoing collaborative archaeology project on the Cooper River Cemetery to record information about burials and investigate the presence of those without any headstone markers. The Cooper River Cemetery is one of …

Assessing Relationships Between Water Quality, Precipitation, Land Cover And Stormwater Conveyance Type Across A Range Of Sub-Watersheds In The Southeastern Coastal Zone, Kevencia Sabine Gabriel Faton

Theses and Dissertations

The expansion of urban land use/cover along the coast may degrade water quality by introducing a plethora of pollutants and pathogens that negatively impact human and ecological health. It is hypothesized that anthropogenic contaminants associated with stormwater runoff increase with increasing urban density and vary with the timing and magnitude of rainfall. In this study, we examined land use/cover change and relationships between Escherichia coli (E. coli), turbidity, nutrients, and the timing and magnitude of rainfall in two different types of stormwater conveyances (ditches and ponds) within Murrells Inlet, SC during the summer of 2023. Our results indicate …

Integrated Coastal Science And Dune Management: A South Carolina Perspective, Michelle Harris

Theses and Dissertations

Historically, coastal dunes have been poorly understood from a societal perspective despite their protective role in attenuating incoming waves to reduce onshore flood risk. As developed coastlines promote strategies to design and maintain managed dune systems, it is necessary to ensure these strategies are optimized for dune health and resilience, particularly given the increasing threat of natural and anthropogenic stressors. This dissertation work aims to identify strategies that influence coastal dune management in South Carolina (SC), USA from an integrated approach, including a current use assessment, a mesoscale field-based study on strategy efficacy, and by incorporating a societal assessment and …

Targeting The Country: Exploring The Technology Integration Practices Of World Language Teachers In Rural Georgia, Shannon Borum

Theses and Dissertations

Technology integration affords World Language teachers opportunities to engage with the target language and cultures in a way previously unknown, yet world language teachers in Georgia’s rural high schools have inconsistent integration of technology into their teaching practices. The study was guided by two research questions regarding (1) the current technology integration practices of world language teachers in rural Georgia high schools for communicative language teaching, and (2) the influences the decisions of world language teachers in rural Georgia high schools to integrate technology in their communicative language teaching. The purpose of this action research was to describe how high …

“A Threat To The Family”: Phyllis Schlafly And The Construction Of Negative Group Identity, Christopher Howell

Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, I argue that Phyllis Schlafly’s fight against the proposed Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) from 1972 to 1976 helped construct the “pro-family” political identity that opposed the ERA and came to define social conservatism in American politics. She did this through the creation and elaboration of a negative group identity: individuals defined by their desire for an imagined past of traditional, stable hierarchies. By taking an anodyne piece of legislation and framing its supporters as direct threats to the status quo, Schlafly effectively mobilized a group of previously apolitical actors towards political activism. In the process, she helped …

Creating Systems Of Professional Learning To Encourage Deep Thinking In Social Studies: A Qualitative Study, Elizabeth Poda King

Theses and Dissertations

This paper describes a problem that developed due to a lack of systems in place to provide professional learning for teachers in social studies. This problem was ignited when revised standards were adopted which shifted from heavy content focus to skills and content. Standards requiring both skills and content encourage student inquiry and promote deep thinking by students through the use of historical evidence. Therefore, the purpose of the improvement science plan-do-study-act (PDSA) cycles was to develop a system of job-embedded professional learning to assist teachers with teaching strategies that use historical evidence to promote deep thinking in social studies …

The Design And Optimization Of Optical Systems For The Detection And Characterization Of Phytoplankton, Caitlyn M. English

Theses and Dissertations

Phytoplankton are among the smallest organisms found in marine and freshwater ecosystems. Despite their small size, phytoplankton play a vital role in sustaining life on Earth as primary producers. Through oxygenic photosynthesis phytoplankton are also responsible for large scale carbon fixation and oxygen production. The distribution of phytoplankton in a given water resource can exhibit a high degree of variability across time and space, and this is in large part due to their varying sensitivities to environmental conditions such as resource availability and grazing by predator organisms. As such, phytoplankton community structure is widely used as an investigative tool for …

Author Biographical Notes

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

Reviewers And Referees

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

The Virginia Water Resources Research Center’S Experience With An Audio Show, Alan Raflo

Journal of Contemporary Water Research and Education

This article describes one state water center’s 14-year experience in producing a short, audiobased information product and poses key questions for water centers and institutes considering audio technologies to tell their states’ water stories. From 2010 to 2024, Virginia Water Radio (VWR), produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, sought to use a short audio show to inform Virginia residents about the abundance, complexity, and use of the state’s water resources. Originally designed to be carried by radio stations, VWR evolved into a primarily podcasted show that was accompanied by a blog providing supporting material. The show produced 674 …

A Voice For The People: Hybrid Arabic In The Political Oratory Of Gamal Abdel Nasser, Tate E. Bell

Honors Theses

This thesis examines the political oratory of Gamal Abdel Nasser through the lens of Arabic sociolinguistics, arguing that his speeches are best understood not as simple alternations between Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) and Egyptian Colloquial Arabic (ECA), but as instances of hybridization—a strategic and fluid interweaving of registers across a linguistic continuum. While earlier studies by Clive Holes and Nathalie Mazraani have identified register variation and code-switching in Nasser’s rhetoric, this project expands upon their findings by applying El-Said Badawi’s five-level framework to track intra-utterance blending of MSA and ECA. Drawing on a transcription and linguistic analysis of a key …

Strategies To Improve Recruitment And Retention Of Nurses In Rural Emergency Departments, Thomas Allen Ortiz

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Leaders of rural emergency departments (EDs) in the United States face persistent challenges in recruiting and retaining RNs. The aim of this integrative review was to identify strategies to mitigate these challenges. The review question focused on best practices leaders can implement to decrease problems with the recruitment and retention of rural ED nurses. A review of the literature published within the past five years yielded 31 empirical and non-empirical articles, which were analyzed using the Johns Hopkins Nursing Evidence-Based Practice (JHNEBP) appraisal tool. Overarching themes and subthemes were subsequently identified. The Dynamic Capabilities and Strategic Human Resource Management frameworks …

Heathy Aging In A Sustainable Manner, Karin Volkwein-Caplan

Sustainability Research & Practice Seminar Presentations

Dr. Karin Volkwein-Caplan, Kinesiology, presents "Healthy Aging in a Sustainable Manner".

‘I Feel Like The Most Important Thing Is To Ensure That Women Feel Included…’: Immigrant Women’S Experiences Of Integration And Gender Equality In Iceland During Times Of Crisis, Marya Rozanova-Smith, Embla Eir Oddsdóttir, Andrey N. Petrov

Faculty Publications

Enabling gender equality by empowering women to fully engage in modern society is fundamental for building resilient and sustainable communities. While Iceland is recognized as a global leader in gender equality, the experiences of various immigrant groups can differ considerably, especially during crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic and recovery. Given the rapid increase in the immigrant population in Iceland, it is crucial to gain a deeper understanding of the processes surrounding immigrant women’s integration strategies, with an emphasis on gender equality through the lens of intersectionality. The main objective of this qualitative study is to explore the gendered impacts …

The Impact Of Religiosity And Violence Prevention Programs On Violence Amongst Adolescents In The U.S., Ngoc Nguyen, John Paulson, Quentin Maynard, Thu T. Ha

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

Youth violence is a societal concern in the United States due to its negative consequences on individuals and communities. The current study aimed to examine the potential mitigating factors of violence prevention programs and religiosity in reducing youth violence among African American, White, Hispanic, and Asian American adolescents in the United States. It also tested the moderation effects of sex on religiosity and violence prevention programs with youth violence. Results of the main effects revealed that adolescents who attended violence prevention programs were generally less likely to engage in violence than those who did not; and that adolescents who were …

Balancing The Scales: The Role Of Work-Life Balance And Technological Support In Enhancing Gig Worker Productivity In Indonesia, Parman Parman, Muhammad Uliah Shafar, Deasy Soraya A. Aminartha Putri

The South East Asian Journal of Management

Research Aims: This study examined the impact of work-life balance (WLB) initiatives on gig worker productivity, focusing on the mediating role of job satisfaction and the moderating effects of gig work characteristics and technological support.

Design/Methodology/Approach: PLS-SEM was used in this study to analyse survey data collected from a sample of 400 gig workers engaged in various platforms, including Gojek, Grab, Shopee, and Freelancer.com. The survey instrument comprised structured questions designed to measure key constructs, namely WLB initiatives, technological support, job satisfaction, and employee productivity.

Research Findings: WLB initiatives significantly positively impacted employee productivity, with job satisfaction functioning as a …

Revitalisasi Kearifan Lokal Tentang Mata Air Bagi Siswa Sma Kristen Waibakul, Kabupaten Sumba Tengah, Nusa Tenggara Timur, Diah Kartini Lasman

Bhakti: Jurnal Pengabdian Masyarakat

Springs are a natural resource with significant ecological and cultural value for the people of Central Sumba Regency, particularly within the Marapu belief system. However, modernization and environmental changes threaten their sustainability. To revive local wisdom related to springs, the Community Service Team of FIB UI conducted a revitalization program at SMA Kristen Waibakul, Central Sumba. One of the main activities was an art competition themed "Springs in Sumbanese Culture," engaging students in interpreting the cultural and ecological values of springs through art. The competition received great enthusiasm, with 40 participants expressing their experiences and cultural identities through their artwork. …

Plantation Museums, Public Memory, And Historical Narratives: A Comparative Analysis Of Slavery Interpretation At Oak Alley And Lakeport, Gabrielle M. Stockand

ATU Scholars Symposium

Plantation museum sites are important in the public's understanding of the complex sociopolitical labor systems that dominated antebellum lifeways. This study examines modern museums' dilemmas when exploring expansive site narratives at plantation museum sites, using Oak Alley and Lakeport Plantations as case studies. Plantation Museum sites construct historical narratives using comparative exhibit analysis, critical discourse analysis of labor narratives, and landscape archaeology. Specific analysis of interpretive language, narrative construction, and site structure demonstrates a stark contrast: while one site marginalizes slavery in its guided tour with non-inclusive language and a self-guided slavery exhibit, the other integrates extensive research on enslaved …

Nature-Based Solutions For Sustainable Cities: A Review Of The State Of The Art Of Green Roof Research, Agustina Gutierrez, Vanesa Y. Bohn, Pablo Marinangeli

Journal of Sustainable Construction Materials and Technologies

The study of green roofs is an interdisciplinary field recognized for its eco-friendly roofing solutions. Green roofs offer ecological, economic, and societal benefits, making them an ef- fective way to address urbanization's negative impacts. This review explores the evolution of green roofs from ancient prototypes to modern innovations. Using the Google Scholar da- tabase, we conducted a bibliometric analysis of 50 articles to assess publication rates in the "green roof " area. Descriptive statistics were used to identify key contributors, ecosystem ser- vices, research methodologies, and spatial scales in green roof studies. Our analysis showed a rise in research on …

Sustainability Beyond The Surface: Evaluating The Long-Term Environmental And Energy Performance Of Selected Cladding Materials For Housing Retrofits, Mark Alegbe, Nasuri Hammed

Journal of Sustainable Construction Materials and Technologies

External walls, constituting the largest exposed surface area of the building envelope, face heightened susceptibility to environmental influences. In this study location, aesthetic con- siderations often overshadow environmental impact and comfort requirements in selecting exterior cladding materials. This paper investigates the energy performance, global warming potential, and thermal comfort aspects of carefully selected cladding materials, informed by an exhaustive literature review, for application in retrofit projects in Abuja, Nigeria. Energy con- sumption, carbon emissions, and temperature distributions were simulated using materials in a hypothetical single-floor residential building finished with cement-sand plaster. The findings show that gravel stone exhibits the most …

An Architectural Query Of Anthropocene Era: Planned Obsolescence, H.Gül Aydın, Emel Birer

Journal of Sustainable Construction Materials and Technologies

After Modernity, the human has become the subject, and the world redefined by the human has turned into a painting. However, the efforts of human subjectivity to reveal the world in the Anthropocene Era, with negative practices such as the “planned obsolescence theory,” which is the research subject, even prepares for the end of its existence. According to the research hypothesis evaluated through the theory’s effect on architectural problems, “secular- ization should take place against planned obsolete architecture.” The research aims to show that positive feedback can be provided in society and ecology by reversing architectural consump- tion. It is …

Evaluation Of Concrete Pavers Affected By Manavgat Wildfires, Mustafa Altuğ Peker

Journal of Sustainable Construction Materials and Technologies

In recent years, wildfires have devastated many regions in many countries, especially in Turkey. In addition to the loss of human lives, villages and business facilities have been destroyed, livestock and domestic animals have perished, and forests and natural assets have burned. The wildfires have affected tourism and agriculture, which account for a large part of economic activity and employment in many of the affected areas. There was also significant destruction of local infrastructure, including roads, power, telecommunications, and community facilities. Some of the paving stones on the roads affected by the Manavgat wildfires were also burnt. The replacement of …

A Statistical Evaluation Of Housing Preference In Istanbul Urban Transformation, İsmail Yılmaz

Journal of Sustainable Construction Materials and Technologies

With its rapidly growing population in the last 50 years, Istanbul is one of the cities where skewed urbanization has developed widely. The fact that crooked urbanization is an important threat that causes loss of life and property in disasters such as earthquake, flood, erosion, fire etc., paved the way for the implementation of urban transformations in accordance with modern urbanism in this city. It is also very important to meet the demands and needs of those living in areas where urban transformations are applied. In this study, a housing preference survey was conducted for residents in an urban transformation …

Physical Characterization And Optimization Of Fineness Moduli Of Natural Sand From The North Region Of Cameroon Used In Construction, Bertin Kagonbé

Journal of Sustainable Construction Materials and Technologies

This paper deals with the physical characterization and the optimization of fineness moduli of some natural sand samples for their appropriate valorization in construction in North Cameroon. Five sands samples (SN5, SB1, SB2, SB3 and SB4) were selected from various locations. Tests conducted include Particle size analysis, Organic impurities, Sand Equivalent and Bulk density. Fineness Modulus (FM), Mean grain, Sorting index (Si), Skewedness index and Uniformity coefficient have been deducted mathematically. Results shown that the particle size distribution curves of the studied sands have an "S" shape. The sand equivalent values vary between 91.1 and 96.8 %, characteristic of very …

Infrastructure Projects In Turkey And Innovative Implementations In Project Management, İskender Eyüp Ekiz, Mehmet Fatih Altan

Journal of Sustainable Construction Materials and Technologies

In Turkey, transportation investments have taken the first number on the agenda on the last decades. Tremendeus projects like Kanalistanbul is mnetioned beside many airport projects in Anatolian cities that are existing many urban railway system projects in Istanbul and any other major cities beside high speed railway projects that connects the cities of Turkey by west to east and by south to north. Turkey continues the period of infrastructural establishment and renowation rapidly as a developing country which aims to being one of the biggest economy all over the world. Because of these, project management, management notions, usage of …