Digital Commons Network^™

Building Leadership Capacity In Rural Schools: A Regional University Partnership, Chelsea Feusner, Aprille Phillips, Po Hu, Michael Teahon

The Rural Educator

The roles of school building and district administrators in rural areas have expanded in the last decade. Expanded responsibilities are amplified in rural school districts where there are fewer administrators to assume a multiplicity of roles. Additionally, educator shortages make it increasingly challenging to recruit and retain school leaders. While larger school districts in metropolitan areas have developed ongoing professional development and support programs to help school leaders meet the ever shifting and complex expectations placed upon them, school administrators in relatively rural regions receive less support. The purpose of this quantitative study was to explore leadership constructs believed to …

Careers In A Box: A Promising Career Exploration Curriculum For Rural Youth, Kristine M. Ramsay-Seaner, Amber Letcher, Elizabeth Koob, Meagan Scott Hoffman, Laura Hasselquist

The Rural Educator

This article highlights a career exploration curriculum that was developed to support the vocational guidance needs of school counselors working in six rural, high-need communities in North Dakota and South Dakota. Based on social cognitive career theory, Careers in a Box was created to bridge existing gaps in career exploration curricula for rural middle school youth. This grab-and-go curriculum introduces participants to specific careers across the spectrum of food, agriculture, natural resources, and human sciences and provides them with hands-on activities associated with these careers. While program evaluation is ongoing, preliminary results indicate an associated increase in personal resilience in …

Ai Mcat Tutor: Personalized Study Planning, Daily Check-Ins, & Slideshow Generator For Pre-Medical Students, Luke Latterman

IPHS 300: AI for Humanity

Preparing for the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) is among the most demanding academic challenges facing pre-medical students, yet access to professional tutoring remains prohibitively expensive for many. This paper describes the design, implementation, and iterative evaluation of an AI-powered tutoring system built using Claude Code, Anthropic’s command-line interface for the Claude large language model, intended to serve pre-medical students directly, whether or not they have access to a professional tutor. The system integrates three components: a personalized multi-phase study schedule generator, a daily check-in assistant, and an AI-driven instructional slideshow generator for targeted content review. Each component was designed …

Analyzing Pressure Injury Trends Among Hospitalized Older Adults From Tarrant County, Oluwafunto M. Olorundare

2026 Spring Honors Capstones Projects

Pressure injuries occur when skin and underlying tissues are damaged due to unrelieved pressure that reduces blood circulation to the affected area. Hospitalized older adults are vulnerable to pressure injuries due to factors such as limited mobility, physiological changes associated with aging, chronic conditions, and longer hospital stays. Despite multiple studies on the prevalence and incidence of pressure injuries at the national and global levels, there is limited research that analyzes trends among hospitalized older adults at the county level, specifically Tarrant County. This research aims to examine pressure injury trends among hospitalized older adults residing in Tarrant County. Using …

Active Listening And Reassurance In Text-Based Virtual Health Coaches, Ghulam Hussain

Dissertations

Conversational agents (CAs) have strong potential to support health and physical wellbeing through text-based coaching, but they remain limited in their ability to demonstrate supportive social behaviours that are important in human coaching interactions. In particular, relatively little is known about how Active Listening and Reassurance are perceived, modelled, and evaluated in text-based virtual healthcare coaching, or how such behaviours should be adapted to individual users.

This dissertation investigates how supportive interaction behaviours can enhance text based virtual health coaching, with an initial focus on Active Listening and Reassurance and a later theoretical emphasis on Active Listening. Across five unique …

Computational Analysis Of Immigration Discourse And Political Polarization: Evidence From U.S. Political Podcasts During The 2024 Presidential Election, Reishiro Kawakami , ‘26

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

This study examines how immigration is discussed across the U.S. political podcast ecosystem during the 2024 presidential election cycle, with a focus on differences across the political spectrum. While prior research on immigration attitudes has relied heavily on survey data, this study shifts attention to naturally occurring political communication by analyzing large-scale podcast transcripts. Drawing on a novel dataset of over 48,500 episodes (approximately 40,000 hours of audio) from the top 100 political podcasts ranked on Election Day, this paper combines keyword search, topic modeling, and sentiment analysis to investigate both the thematic structure and emotional tone of immigration discourse. …

The Impact Of Social-Emotional Learning On Student Academic Achievement And Outcomes, Tanya L. Fields

Dissertations

This mixed-methods study examined the impact of the Second Step social-emotional learning (SEL) program on student achievement and outcomes in Forest Elementary School District (FESD). Guided by Patton’s utilization-focused evaluation framework, the research addressed five questions: (1) How has Second Step implementation during SY23–24 and SY24–25 impacted behavioral referrals in K–5 students? (2) How has it influenced NWEA, ELA, and Math grades in SY23–24 and SY24–25? (3) To what extent do teachers and leaders feel prepared to implement SEL and the Second Step program? (4) How effective is the training and support provided by school leaders? and (5) What additional …

Sb 21-25/26: Resolution Amending Asum Bylaws, Chase O'Brien

Senate Resolutions, 2007-Present

SB21-25/26: Resolution Amending ASUM Bylaws. This resolution passed by a roll-call vote [16-0-0] during the April 1, 2026 meeting of the Associated Students of the University of Montana (ASUM).

Beyond Interventions: District Design Of Multi-Tiered Systems Of Support As An Equity Framework To Address Inequitable Student Outcomes, Joyce Debrah

Dissertations

Although multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) is often examined through the lens of school-level intervention systems and the fidelity of tiered academic and behavioral supports, this study approached MTSS from a district leadership and systems design perspective. Rather than evaluating the implementation of specific interventions within individual schools, the study investigated how district-level leadership structures, governance practices, and implementation infrastructure shape the capacity to operationalize MTSS as a coherent framework for advancing equitable student outcomes across a portfolio of schools. By examining district systems, structures, and decision-making processes, the study positioned the district as the primary unit of change and …

Front Matter, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Front Matter for Volume 124, Issue 6 of Michigan Law Review

Who Then Can Be Saved? A Discussion Of Views Within The Christian Tradition Concerning The Salvation Of The Non-Christian, Logan A. Davis

Honors Theses

This thesis argues that, contrary to popular conception, the Christian Tradition is not strictly exclusivist in its understanding of salvation or in its assessment of the fate of the non-Christian but rather displays a rich diversity of views. Both the Christian Tradition and the Christian scriptures are characterized by a certain ambiguity on this issue; although a definitive answer may exist, it is not easily identifiable. Given this ambiguity, the study presents a representative spectrum of theological positions within the Christian Tradition and analyzes their respective treatments of the salvation of the non-Christian. In doing so, it seeks to provide …

Ready To Serve, Spencer Hillier

The Diana McDonald Writer's Challenge

In this thorough analysis of the U.S. military’s ban on transgender personnel, Spencer Hillier describes the great sense of pride he felt when he initially joined the Army National Guard, as well as his subsequent emotional struggle, not to mention loss of GI benefits, health and dental insurance, and retirement benefits due to the 2017 ban on transgender service members. Hillier takes a careful look at the arguments against transgender personnel, developing thoughtful, logical explanations of why they lack validity. He argues that what matters is not a person’s identity, but whether one can fulfill the seven Army values—loyalty, duty, …

The Impact Of R&D Team Diversity On Ambidextrous Innovation In Srdi Smes, Cheng Zhan

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

As a vital organizational form of R&D teams in specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative (SRDI) small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), distributed teams have gradually emerged as a dynamic source of innovation for such enterprises. Against the backdrop of the (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity) era, markets have imposed higher demands on enterprises' innovative and sustainable development capabilities, exerting substantial impacts on the growth of SRDI SMEs. Although the distributed R&D team model, developed through continuous exploration in=132=132enterprises' innovation practices, has drawn practical and scholarlyattention for its role in shaping ambidextrous innovation in SRDI SMEs, the internal mechanism underlying the relationship …

Valuing Biodiversity Impact, Han Wei Koh

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Biodiversity loss has emerged as a systemic challenge with far-reaching implications for ecological stability, economic activity, and long-term financial resilience. Despite growing recognition of nature-related risks in finance, biodiversity remains far less developed than climate within investment analysis, particularly at the portfolio level. This dissertation addresses that gap by examining how biodiversity impacts can be measured, valued, and interpreted within an investment portfolio concentrated in resilient and essential sectors of the economy.

The study constructs a Global Essential Economic Systems Portfolio comprising 16 publicly traded companies operating across non-discretionary sectors, including agriculture, energy, materials, pharmaceuticals, utilities, infrastructure, telecommunications, and financial …

Collecting Dust (Jackets): Regarding The Life And Ephemerality Of Dust-Jackets Through The Early To Mid-Twentieth Century, Kelsey Clodfelter

Munn Scholars Awards

Collecting Dust (Jackets): Regarding the Life and Ephemerality of Dust-Jackets through the Early to Mid-Twentieth Century examines the dust-jacket as a liminal form of printed ephemera, tracing its evolution between disposable packaging to a culturally significant archival object. Using theories of paratext, archival practice, and book history by Gerard Genette, Jacque Derrida, and G.T. Tanselle, and through three cases within the West Virginia & Regional History Center, the paper argues that the increasing incorporation of aesthetics, information, and advertising transformed dust-jackets into cultural artifacts with value beyond their protective function. Their preservation challenges conventional distinctions between ephemera and archival material.

The Domestic Mirror: Tiktok V. Garland, Data Privacy, And Meaningful Free Expression, Olivia Sharp

Colorado Law Student Scholars

No abstract provided.

Wooster Magazine: Spring 2026, Caitlin Paynich Stanowick

Wooster Magazine: 2021-2030

The spring 2026 issue of Wooster magazine showcases the enduring value of a liberal arts education in moments of change. Alumni Bill Colvin ’79, Scott Bloom ’94, and Hannah Samuell ’09 share how their Wooster education prepared them to navigate unexpected career paths and professional pivots. Additional features examine the College’s approach to artificial intelligence with an emphasis on learning and ethics, revisit a historic campus debate over teaching evolutionary theory and evidence-based scholarship, and there’s also a Q&A with President Anne McCall on the role of academic freedom in society. Oak Grove features “Why I Play” with baseball infielder …

Epigenetic Mechanisms For Mediating The Transmission Of Prenatal Maternal Stress And Associated Neurodevelopmental Outcomes, Kaylee Vis

Senior Honors Theses

The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is the primary stress response system responsible for regulating cortisol release. During pregnancy, maternal stress can dysregulate the HPA axis, leading to elevated cortisol and corticosterone levels that impact fetal development. Excessive prenatal exposure to stress has been associated with alterations in fetal brain structure and function, increasing the risk for neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and anxiety. Emerging research supports the idea that these neurodevelopmental effects may be transmitted through epigenetic mechanisms. However, a gap remains in the literature regarding the specific mechanism of interaction between environmental stressors, heritable epigenetic information, …

Tetrahydrocannabinol: The Extraction And Analysis Of Thc Metabolites From Urine Via Sle And Lc-Ms/Ms, Kaycee A. Smith

Senior Honors Theses

Over the past few decades, widespread cannabis legalization has substantially increased forensic toxicology casework throughout the United States (National Institute of Justice, 2019). Washington state, an early adopter of recreational cannabis legalization, reflects this trend with toxicology laboratories reporting a 59% increase in annual case submissions since 2014 (Goldstein-Street, 2026). Current cannabinoid analysis methods involving liquid – liquid extraction (LLE) coupled with gas chromatography – mass spectrometry (GC-MS) are time consuming, labor-intensive, and require chemical derivatization and pH modification prior to analysis. To manage growing caseloads, an efficient method capable of consistently and reliably detecting THC is critical. The goal …

Navigating Cultural Biases And Self-Worth For Black Women Leaders In Higher Education, Robbin Mitchell

Interdisciplinary Leadership Dissertations

African American women leading at public universities share their thoughts and perspectives on days filled with more than just tasks; they bear silent struggles and the hidden expectation of being recognized for their work without being marginalized. While building inner strength, some find their voices amid doubt and pressure. Progress is made not through grand gestures but through small acts of care. Viewed through the lens of Black Feminist Thought (Collins, 2000), their lives reflect complex realities. Du Bois’s (1903) concept of split identities is relevant—not by choice but by context. Being Black and female reshapes their identities in leadership …

Haitian Protestant Leaders’ Perceptions Of Social Media Use For Discipleship, Cherubin Dorcil

Doctor of Ministry (DMin)

This qualitative descriptive study explores how Haitian Protestant church leaders in a large urban area of the northeastern United States describe the influence of their use of social media on promoting discipleship. The study addresses a gap in understanding how digital ministry practices are interpreted within Haitian Protestant diaspora contexts and how these practices inform both theory and ministry application. Using a qualitative descriptive design, data was collected through semi-structured interviews with 12 Haitian Protestant church leaders selected through convenience sampling. The data was analyzed using thematic analysis, which resulted in the identification of five primary themes: social media as …

Do Not Sit Or Quit: From Marginalized To Mobilized In The Third Stage Of Life: A Theological And Pastoral Response To The Rebirth Of Purpose, Dignity, And Calling Among Aging Believers, Brent M. Nordan

Doctor of Ministry (DMin)

This project examines how senior citizens can rediscover purpose, productivity, and spiritual vitality in the third stage of life through intentional pastoral engagement and church-based ministry models. The study addresses the growing demographic of aging adults who often face social marginalization and spiritual neglect within local congregations. Using a qualitative research approach, this project incorporates biblical and theological reflection, case study analysis, and ministry fieldwork conducted within an active church context. Grounded in the biblical doctrine of the imago Dei, the research affirms that senior adults retain divine purpose and value regardless of age. Key passages of Scripture form the …

Developing 'A Guide To Agricultural Education Advisory Committees: Development, Uses, And Transitions', Christine Schuler

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This project developed a practical guide to support agricultural education advisory committees in their development, use, and long-term sustainability. Strong school-community partnerships are essential to effective agricultural education programs, particularly in small, rural communities where programs serve as connections between the school and local industry. Advisory committees play a critical role in maintaining these relationships, yet many agricultural educators lack clear, accessible resources to guide this work. This project addressed that need by creating a comprehensive, practice-based guide established from research and professional experience.

This guide started from a review of literature on school-community partnerships, advisory committees, and agricultural education …

The Psychology Behind Ai-Generated Phishing And Social Engineering Attacks, A’Shya Reynolds

School of Cybersecurity Master's Level Projects and Papers

Cybercrime has evolved significantly with the integration of artificial intelligence (AI), transforming traditional phishing and social engineering attacks into highly sophisticated and personalized threats. While early phishing attempts relied on generic messaging and low success rates, modern AI-driven attacks leverage advanced data analytics, natural language processing, and behavioral prediction to manipulate victims more effectively.

This research examines how cybercriminals utilize AI to enhance psychological manipulation techniques in phishing and social engineering attacks, increasing victim susceptibility. Drawing from interdisciplinary literature in cybersecurity and psychology, this study explores key psychological mechanisms, including cognitive biases, emotional triggers, and decision-making processes that influence victim …

3rd Place Contest Entry: "More Money, More Votes? Not Always", Levi Ramirez Garcia

Kevin and Tam Ross Undergraduate Research Prize

This is Levi Ramirez Garcia's submission for the 2026 Kevin and Tam Ross Undergraduate Research Prize, which won third place. It contains their essay on using library resources, and a summary of their research project on the relationship between money and elections, and their bibliography.

Levi is a fourth-year student at Chapman University, majoring in Political Science and Strategic Corporate Communication. Their faculty mentor is Dr. Ann Gordon.

1st Place Research Paper: "Gaps In The Academy: Evaluating Pre-Service Criminal Justice Training For Interactions With Vulnerable Populations", Rowan Eiselman

Kevin and Tam Ross Undergraduate Research Prize

This research investigates pre-service training for law enforcement officers (LEOs), specifically examining how current educational practices prepare them to interact with vulnerable populations, including victims, suspects, and individuals in crisis. The quality of this training is critical, as it directly shapes officer behavior, decision-making, and ethical conduct in the field (Mier, 2018). Amid heightened public scrutiny of police practices and calls for reform, the effectiveness of law enforcement education has become a central concern.

The significance of this topic is underscored by extensive research on training methodologies such as procedural justice and de-escalation, which aim to improve police-community relations and …

1st Place Contest Entry: "Examining Experiences Of Search Committee Members For Deans Of Colleges Of The Arts", Connor Bogenreif

Eric M. Scandrett Graduate Library Research Prize

This is Connor Bogenreif's submission for the 2026 Eric M. Scandrett Graduate Research Prize, which won first place. It contains their essay on using library resources, a summary of their research project on the experiences of search committee members for deans of colleges of the arts, and their bibliography.

Connor is a student in the Ph.D. in Education program at Chapman University. Their faculty mentor is Dr. Doug Havard.

Rhetorical Violence: The Rhetorics Of Women's Counter Political Violence, Kylie Rowland

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Protest is omnipresent, and yet not much is known about the efficacy and impacts of its different rhetorical strategies—particularly so for marginalized populations, whose available means of protest are already limited by both material realities and assumptions that govern who and what can make waves. This bind is further exacerbated by gendered and racialized civility politics that determine which bodies can be disruptive and which already are considered “violent.” To address this gap, I turn toward the under-researched rhetorical potentials of marginalized people’s—specifically women and queer folks’—use of symbolic protest “violence,” which works to strategically make evident the larger ongoing …

Restricting Phones And Reaching Students: How Ab 235 Could Restore Adolescent Mental Health And Focus In The Classroom, Brynne Suder

University of the Pacific Law Review

No abstract provided.

Beyond The Nude: Reimagining Feminist Agency In The Art Of Suzanne Valadon, Sofia Harris

Theses

This thesis examines the work of Suzanne Valadon (1865–1938) through a feminist art historical lens, challenging long-standing interpretations of her female nudes as inherently resistant to the conventions of Western art. Structured as a three-part lecture series, the project situates Valadon within a visual tradition in which women have been overwhelmingly represented by men, arguing that her engagement with the nude remains embedded in the same systems of objectification it is often said to subvert. Lecture One establishes the historical framework by tracing enduring archetypes of femininity, demonstrating how representations of women have functioned as projections of gendered power. Lecture …