Digital Commons Network^™

The Lived Experiences Of Neurodivergent Students In A Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program: A Qualitative Study, Tracy Lynn Meyer

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

As postsecondary institutions strive to become more inclusive for students with disabilities, increasing numbers of neurodivergent students are enrolling in higher education. However, retention rates for neurodivergent students remain significantly lower compared to their neurotypical peers. This disparity presents challenges for institutions where there is a lack of awareness of and understanding how to effectively support the needs of neurodivergent students, particularly in clinical mental health counseling programs. This qualitative study analyzed the experiences of neurodivergent students diagnosed with autism, ADHD, traumatic brain injury, or related conditions in a clinical mental health counseling program. Through a Semistructured interview, the study …

2025 Spring Commencement Program: Winona State University, Winona State University

WSU Commencement Programs

This is the Winona State University Spring 2025 commencement program. Commencement was on Friday, May 9, 2025.

Nursing Faculty Experiences Of Teaching Dementia Care: A Transcendental Phenomenological Study, Jeannie Simpson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the experiences of nursing faculty teaching dementia care to nursing students in Texas. The theory guiding this study was Kolb’s experiential learning theory as it offers a structured framework for examining how experiences lead to learning. This theory also introduced the concept of the Experiential Educator profile, specifically delineating the role of educators in facilitating knowledge acquisition (Kolb, 2014). This study bridged the gap in existing literature regarding the experiences of nursing faculty in teaching dementia care to nursing students and provided a comprehensive look at dementia education in nursing schools. …

Academic Entitlement Is Associated With Lower Self-Efficacy And More Course Withdrawals, Alessia Zedde, Patrick J. Cooper

Student Publications and Presentations

Academic entitlement is characterized by students' belief that they deserve favorable treatment in academic settings, often without regard to their effort or engagement. This entitlement often manifests in two ways: Externalizing Responsibility (ER), where students deflect accountability for their academic success onto others, and Entitled Expectations (EE), where students expect special accommodations from instructors. This study explores two psychological constructs, ER and EE, and the association with college students' academic outcomes. A sample of 251 college students completed the academic entitlement scale (AES), which included 15-items examining ER (10-items) and EE (five-items). Three academic outcomes were measured: (1) course failures …

Big Five Personality Traits And Emotional Eating In Young Adults, Madisyn Mae Andrade, Patrick J. Cooper

Student Publications and Presentations

Emotional eating (EE) refers to consuming food in response to emotionally provoking triggers rather than physical hunger (Tinmazoglu & Guvender-Doksat, 2020). Often acting as a learned coping mechanism, EE is associated with emotions like anxiety, depression, anger, or stress. This behavior can lead to overeating or undereating depending on the individual's emotional response and coping style, posing risks for obesity, eating disorders, and nutritional imbalances (Tinmazoglu & Guvender-Doksat, 2020). Psychological factors affect susceptibility to EE, with research indicating that personality traits interact with biological, environmental, and social influences to heighten vulnerability to disordered eating behaviors (Brown et al., 2020). This …

How Does Caffeine Affect Your Learning?, Kiana Rhee-Osorio, Carlton Parke, Khalique Ahmed, Alexis Galindez

Student Publications and Presentations

In the Organic Chemistry I laboratory, caffeine was extracted from tea using dichloromethane. This experiment sparked an interest in exploring the effects of caffeine consumption on the learning process. Caffeine, a widely consumed psychoactive substance found in various consumer products and medications, exerts significant physiological effects on the central nervous system (Khalique Ahmed & Ahmad, 2023). While it is often perceived to enhance cognitive performance, its primary action is the temporary alleviation of caffeine withdrawal symptoms (Kalumuck, 2019; Thau and Sharma, 2020),creating a misleading sense of improved function. Due to its structural similarity to adenosine and its high hydrophobicity and …

Comparative Analysis Of Human And Drosophila Melanogaster Circadian Rhythms Using Dam Software, Maria Eduarda Couto Dourado, Alessia Zedde, Melissa Lehman, Kimberly D. Rowland

Student Publications and Presentations

This study aims to analyze human sleep patterns and compare them to Drosophila melanogaster (fruit fly) circadian rhythms using Drosophila Activity Monitoring (DAM) software. The primary objective is to determine the similarities between human and Drosophila sleep-wake cycles under controlled conditions. Human subject data will be collected through an anonymous survey assessing sleep duration, bedtime, wake-up time, mood variations, and lifestyle factors such as work schedule and caffeine intake. The collected data will be processed using DAM software to analyze human sleep-wake cycle patterns. To compare circadian rhythms, human-derived sleep patterns will be integrated into the DAM system to regulate …

Motives Matter: Exploring Psychological Predictors Of Student Drinking Behavior, Emily Kemp, Melissa Lehman, Patrick J. Cooper

Student Publications and Presentations

Alcohol use among college students remains a critical area of research, particularly regarding its implications for mental health. Prior studies have established connections between alcohol dependence and mental health disorders, such as generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and social anxiety disorder (SAD), with evidence suggesting that these issues often begin early, around age 14 (Schneier et al., 2010). Specific student populations, including student-athletes and members of Greek-letter organizations, may be at increased risk for alcohol-related problems (Turrisi et al., 2006). Building on this knowledge, this study examines whether resilience—an individual’s capacity to adapt to and recover from stressful situations—moderates the relationship …

Perceptions Of Employability With Ai Skills, Brandy Whitford, Patrick J. Cooper

Student Publications and Presentations

Artificial intelligence (AI) is making AI proficiency a key factor in hiring and career advancement. By late 2023, 75% of knowledge workers integrated AI into their workflows, with 92% reporting increased productivity and creativity (Kimbrough, 2024). Employers are adapting—66% prefer candidates with AI expertise, and 77% consider AI skills essential for career growth (Microsoft & LinkedIn, 2024). However, hiring biases related to AI-skilled applicants remain underexplored, particularly concerning gender disparities in employability perceptions. This study examines how AI-related skills influence perceived employability and whether these perceptions vary based on applicant gender. Specifically, it explores whether AI-skilled female applicants receive higher …

Meanings And Understandings Of Racial-Ethnic Minority Prelicensure Associate Degree In Nursing And Bachelor Of Science In Nursing Students Who Experience Uncivil Faculty Behaviors In United States Nursing Programs: A Transcendental Phenomenological Inquiry, Lenora Valdez

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological qualitative study was to explore the meanings and understandings of racial-ethnic minority (REM) prelicensure Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) and Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) students who experience uncivil faculty behaviors in United States nursing programs. The literature points to a wide range of faculty behaviors that nursing students experience as incivility. However, little data was found in the literature regarding REM prelicensure ADN or BSN students’ experiences with nurse faculty incivility. Purposive snowball sampling was used to recruit 10 REM currently enrolled junior and senior prelicensure ADN and BSN students who experience …

Impact Of Hidden Populations Through Faculty Identification And Intervention In Higher Education, Jimmie K. Wetmore

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

College students who have endured trauma through experiences in the foster care system, homelessness, justice system involvement, poverty, violence, and/or abuse are at greater risk of not completing college and returning to the circumstances that perpetrated their initial traumas. These students are known as “hidden populations.” Mentorship and resources can help these students to break the social and economic cycles that have placed them in a high-risk category. Higher education faculty are in a unique position to help bridge the gap that exists for these students. The problem can be impacted by more faculty being aware of the population and …

Social Media Use And Exercise Effects On Self-Esteem, Brandy Whitford, Patrick J. Cooper

Faculty and Staff Publications & Presentations

No abstract provided.

Big Five Personality Traits And Emotional Eating In Young Adults, Madisyn Andrade, Patrick J. Cooper

Faculty and Staff Publications & Presentations

No abstract provided.

A Nuanced Look At How Self-Leadership Skills Influence Academic Success, Ashley Kornya, Patrick J. Cooper

Faculty and Staff Publications & Presentations

No abstract provided.

Perceptions Of Ai Skills In Resumes, Brandy Whitford, Patrick J. Cooper

Faculty and Staff Publications & Presentations

No abstract provided.

Motives Matter: Exploring Psychological Predictors Of Student Drinking Behavior, Emily Kemp, Patrick J. Cooper, Melissa Lehman

Faculty and Staff Publications & Presentations

Alcohol use among college students remains a critical area of research, particularly regarding its implications for mental health. Prior studies have established connections between alcohol dependence and mental health disorders, such as generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and social anxiety disorder (SAD), with evidence suggesting that these issues often begin early, around age 14 (Schneier et al., 2010). Specific student populations, including student-athletes and members of Greek-letter organizations, may be at increased risk for alcohol-related problems (Turrisi et al., 2006). Building on this knowledge, this study examines whether resilience—an individual’s capacity to adapt to and recover from stressful situations—moderates the relationship …

2025 Academic & Creative Excellence Reception Program, Lynn University

Academic and Creative Excellence (ACE) Reception Programs

The program for the 2025 Academic and Creative Excellence (ACE) Reception - the 17th annual - organized by the Lynn Library, working in conjunction with the Office of Academic Affairs. The reception is held on Wednesday, March 19, 2025 in the Salon at the Keith C. and Elaine Johnson Wold Performing Arts Center.

The Faculty Scholarship and Creative Activities Award is presented to Dr. Nava Dushi.

Artificial Intelligence And Communication Technologies In Academia: Faculty Perceptions And The Adoption Of Generative Ai, Aya Shata, Kendall Hartley

Hank Greenspun School of Journalism and Media Studies Faculty Research

Artificial intelligence (AI) is ushering in an era of potential transformation in various fields, especially in educational communication technologies, with tools like ChatGPT and other generative AI (GenAI) applications. This rapid proliferation and adoption of GenAI tools have sparked significant interest and concern among college professors, who are dealing with evolving dynamics in digital communication within the class-room. Yet, the effect and implications of GenAI in education remain understudied. Therefore, this study employs the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) as theoretical frameworks to explore higher education faculty’s perceptions, attitudes, usage, and motivations, as the underlying …

Implementation And Evaluation Of A Group Peer Mentoring And Leadership Development Program For Research Faculty In Academic Medicine, Linda H. Pololi, Janet T. Civian, Mark Brimhall-Vargas, Vasilia Vasiliou, Arthur T. Evans, Kacy Ninteau, Lisa A. Cooper, Brian T. Gibbs

School of Business

Introduction: Research faculty often experience poor mentoring, low vitality, and burnout. We report on our logic model inputs, activities, measurable outcomes, and impact of a novel mentoring intervention for biomedical research faculty: The C-Change Mentoring & Leadership Institute. We present a) a detailed description of the curriculum and process, b) evaluation of the program's mentoring effectiveness from the perspective of participants, and c) documentation of mentoring correlated with key positive outcomes. Methods: A yearlong facilitated group peer mentoring program that convened quarterly in person was conducted twice (2020-2022) as part of an NIH-funded randomized controlled study. The culture change intervention …

University Students & Faculty Would Like More Knowledge About Using Ai In Academics, Tessa Richardson

Research on Capitol Hill

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is prevalent in every aspect of human life. Understanding both faculty and student attitudes and behaviors toward AI in education allows governing boards and lawmakers to effectively discuss and make informed decisions regarding policies that impact its usage.

Faculty Accountability In Higher Education: Navigating Complexity And Equity, Mary Margaret Cunningham

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

This chapter examines the complex landscape of faculty accountability in modern higher education institutions. It analyzes the traditional supervisory structures and evaluation systems while highlighting emerging challenges and tensions in faculty assessment. Additionally, it explores the multiple dimensions of faculty accountability, including the tenure and promotion process, the role of student evaluations, and peer review systems. Particular attention is given to how these systems impact faculty of underrepresented identities and the increasing prevalence of non- tenure track positions. This chapter also explores how mission creep and shifting facultystudent dynamics affect accountability standards. Through an analysis of current practices and limitations, …

Secondary School Leaders’ Perceptions Of Their Role In Mitigating Cyberbullying, Masey Pechholt

Dissertations and Theses

Cyberbullying is a pervasive issue in secondary schools, posing significant challenges to student well-being and academic success. This phenomenological study explored how school leaders perceived their responsibilities in addressing and preventing cyberbullying within secondary school environments. Grounded in ecological systems theory, the study examined social media technologies and their relation to cyberbullying in schools, cyberbullying and cybervictimization, digital literacy among students, faculty, and parents/guardians, social media exposure and its impact at school, implications for school leaders addressing cyberbullying and both the value and problems of digital literacy. Through in-depth interviews and qualitative analysis, school leaders revealed a shared commitment to …

9. By The Faculty, For The Faculty: A Grassroots Effort To Define And Support Teaching Excellence, Virginia Stormer, Elisabeth Schussler, Chris Kilgore, Caroline Wienhold, Jordan Shipley, Ferlin Mcgaskey

Documenting Teaching Excellence

In 2022, the University of Tennessee, Knoxville launched a process to establish a university-wide set of principles guiding teaching excellence and rooted these efforts in the process of shared governance. After a meticulously inclusive feedback process and iterative revisions, we arrived at a set of four principles that we now call UT’s Principles of Excellence in Teaching (UT PoET), which reflect the specific values around teaching at our R1 (doctoral university with very high research activity), flagship, land-grant institution. This chapter will detail the process by which we arrived at these principles. In so doing, we hope to provide a …

2025 Nsu Fact Book, Nova Southeastern University

NSU Fact Book

In 2025, NSU was recognized by the Carnegie Classification system as one of only 21 universities nationwide to hold all three of the following designations: Very High Research Activity (R1), Community Engaged Institution, and Opportunity College & University (OCU). Its R1 classification places NSU among the top tier of U.S. research universities, a milestone that reflects our continued growth and commitment to research that leads to real-world impact.. As an R1 institution, NSU is shining a new light on scientific discovery, medical breakthroughs, and technologies that advance quality of life: from pioneering treatments in neuro-immunology and cancer, to safeguarding coral …

"I’Ll Wait Zero Seconds": Faculty Perspectives On Serials Access, Sharing, And Immediacy, Rachel Elizabeth Scott, Anne Shelley, Chad E. Buckley, Cassie Thayer-Styes, Julie A. Murphy

Faculty and Staff Publications – Milner Library

This study explores how faculty across disciplines access and share scholarly serial content and what expectations they have for immediacy. The authors conducted twenty-five in-depth, semi-structured interviews with faculty of various ranks representing all Illinois State University (ISU) colleges. The findings, presented in the words of participants and triangulated with data from local sources, suggest that faculty use a variety of context-specific mechanisms to access and share serial literature. Participants discuss how they use library services such as databases, subscriptions, interlibrary loan, and document delivery, coupled with academic social networks, disciplinary repositories, author websites, and other publicly available sources to …

The Predictors Of Self-Censorship On College Campuses, Henry I. Long

CMC Senior Theses

Across U.S. colleges, speech climates are poor. Self-censorship and discomfort expressing views are common. At the same time, we find wide variation in speech climates across different institutions. This study is the first to identify factors that predict variation in speech climates. Drawing on data from multiple sources, including a survey of 58,807 undergraduates across 257 colleges and universities from the Foundation from Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), this study constructs a first-of-its-kind dataset to test three core theories of self-censorship found in the literature—student-centric theories, faculty-centric theories, and administrator-centric theories. We find moderate evidence to support each theory. Overall, …

Professionalism…What Is It Anyway? Researching And Communally Defining An Elusive Social Construct In Occupational Therapy Programs, Carol Lambdin-Pattavina

Journal of Occupational Therapy Education

For its entirety, the profession of occupational therapy’s understanding of and approach to the development of professionalism in occupational therapy students (OTS) has remained relatively static and based largely on a White, Western, and male-dominated understanding of professionalism and how it manifests in academic environments. This understanding and approach are highly problematic in that it does not take into account the kaleidoscope of cultural differences that require occupational therapy practitioners to show up in different ways based on the needs and preferences of clients, communities, and populations. This research qualitatively analyzed existing documents containing references to professionalism utilized in one …

Decline In Attrition Rates In United States Pediatric Residency And Fellowship Programs, 2007–2020: A Repeated Cross-Sectional Study, Emma Omoruyi, Greg Russell, Kimberly Montez

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose: Declining fill rates in US pediatric residency and subspecialty programs requires trainee retention. Attrition, defined as transfers, withdrawals, dismissals, unsuccessful completions, or deaths, disrupts program function and impacts the pediatric workforce pipeline. It aims to evaluate attrition trends among pediatric residents and fellows in Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)-accredited programs from 2007 to 2020.

Methods: This repeated cross-sectional study analyzed publicly available ACGME Data Resource Book records. Attrition rates and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated overall and by subspecialty. Logistic regression assessed temporal changes; odds ratios (ORs) compared 2020 to 2007.

Results: From 2007-2020, pediatric residents …

From Disciplinary Enthusiasm To Soulless Tasks: Norms Behind Computing Educators' Emotion Display, Virginia Grande, Päivi Kinnunen, Matthew Barr, Anne Kathrin Peters, Mihaela Sabin, Matilde Sánchez-Peña, Ethel Tshukudu

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Computing educators' emotion display is regulated by various norms and conventions. These (unwritten) rules affect which emotions educators feel comfortable expressing to different extents when students can perceive such displays. We draw on emotions and norms literature to investigate higher education computing educators' perceptions of what kinds of norms they have as criteria when considering which emotions they are (not) comfortable showing when teaching. Based on the qualitative content analysis of 22 interviews with computing educators from seven countries, we present various–sometimes connected or conflicting–norms that influence emotion display. These norms comprise moral, national, societal, professional, and affiliation norms that …

Approaches In Preparing Transfer Degree Students For University Study: A Case Study Of A Community College In Rural Southwest Virginia, Melissa Suzanne Mckinney

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this case study was to understand approaches for preparing students for their transition to a four-year university following completion of a transfer-focused associate degree at a community college. The theory guiding this study was Albert Bandura’s social cognitive theory. The study followed an embedded, single case study design and included faculty members, staff, administrators, and students within the transfer division, along with general college staff at a rural community college in southwest Virginia. The study used surveys, interviews, and focus groups to gather data which was analyzed to identify relevant themes and unique approaches to preparing transfer …