Digital Commons Network^™

Teaching Note - Embedding The Human Library Experience Within Social Work Curriculum, Emily M. Paine

Social Work Faculty Works

The Human Library is a global initiative designed to challenge stereotypes and foster dialogue through storytelling and presents a unique opportunity for experiential learning within social work education. This teaching note explores how the Human Library framework can be integrated into social work curriculum in alignment with the 2022 Council on Social Work Education’s Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards, with particular emphasis on Competency 3: Engaging in Anti-Racism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion practice. When embedded in coursework, the Human Library enables students to engage in brave and authentic conversations with storytellers who share aspects of their lived experiences, promoting mutuality, …

Assessing Neurocognitive Functioning Among Adults Ageing With And Without Hiv At The Kenyan Coast: Measurement Issues And Correlates, Patrick Nzivo Mwangala, Carophine Nasambu, Ryan Wagner, Mihaela Duta, Gaia Scerif, Charles Newton, Amina Abubakar

Institute for Human Development, East Africa

Background: Cognitive impairment is one of the most prevalent complications of HIV infection, with significant medical and functional impacts. However, valid, and reliable assessment tools are lacking for the newly emergent ageing population of people living with HIV (PLWH) in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), including Kenya. Without these tools, critical intervention opportunities, e.g., psychoeducation, treatment and additional support, are missed. To bridge this gap in Kenya, we adapted the Oxford Cognitive Screen Plus (OCSPlus), a tablet-based cognitive assessment tool designed for low-literacy settings, with adults ageing with HIV ≥ 50 years and their uninfected peers. This study examines …

Understanding Landowner Perceptions: Enhancing Conservation Easement Adoption In Missouri's Priority Landscapes, Mckenna N. Thompson, Jennah I. Klein, Robin M. Rotman, Sonja A. Wilhelm Stanis, Gus C. Raeker, Michele D. Baumer

Faculty Publications

Conservation of private lands is essential for protecting open space, supporting ecosystems and species, preserving resources, and facilitating outdoor recreation. One tool for private land conservation is a conservation easement – a voluntary legal agreement where a landowner surrenders certain rights to use or develop their property. This study explores landowner perceptions of perpetual conservation easements in areas of high conservation value in Missouri, focusing on landowners without existing easements. Through interviews, four themes emerge containing both motivations and constraints: prior knowledge, land protection, regulations, and finance. Many landowners were unfamiliar with conservation easements or had misconceptions or misunderstandings. The …

Collective Action Under Repressive Conditions: Integration Of Individual, Group, And Structural Level Research, Recommendations, And Reflections, Arin H. Ayanian, Aya Adra, Fouad Bou Zeineddine, Rim Saab, Johanna Vollhardt, Nicole Tausch

Psychology

Social scientific research from different traditions on collective action under repressive conditions is fragmented across different levels of analysis. The current paper takes a first step toward remedying this fragmentation by reviewing research findings on repression and collective action and organizing them into a multilevel framework. We describe the impact of repression on antecedents of collective action at the (a) individual level (including grievances, emotions, efficacy beliefs, politicized identity, and individual differences), (b) group level (including community cohesion and norms), and (c) structural level (including political opportunities and socioecological conditions). We then present an integrative summary reflecting on the broad …

Institutional Isomorphism, Top Management Commitment, And Environmental Disclosure In Tanzania’S Construction Sector, Aulelius Lema, Siasa Issa Mzenzi

Business Management Review

This study examined the influence of institutional isomorphism on environmental disclosure (ED) in Tanzania’s construction sector and the mediating role of top management commitment (TMC). A cross-sectional design was employed, with data collected from 314 construction firms. Environmental disclosure was measured using content analysis of financial reports, and Structural Equation Modelling using the Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE) method was used to estimate the structural model. The findings reveal that coercive, normative, and mimetic pressures significantly impact ED. The result also indicates that TMC significantly affects ED and mediates mimetic pressure’s effect, but does not mediate coercive or normative pressures. Similarly, …

What Is The Standard Of Review For (Mixed) Constitutional Questions?, Anthony Sangiuliano, Mark Friedman

UBC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Terre Haute Residential Design, Kimberly Smith

2025 Fall Reports (Terre Haute)

After meeting with Maitri Desai and Caleb Williams, the project scope was finalized and included a one- or one-and-a-half story home with two to three-bedrooms; the design of the house was to reflect typical architecture styles within the neighborhood surrounding the 19th and Beech streets. The design was to reflect a modest home within the price range of $125,000 and 1400 square feet. Students conducted a site visit to the proposed area to assess the development site; during this visit additional information was gathered by the students such as site analysis and walkability of the neighborhood. Further research was conducted …

Interpretive Education Stations: Keeping Terre Haute Informed, Sara E. Watson

2025 Fall Reports (Terre Haute)

Public communication of scientific findings is an important, but often neglected, part of creating solutions to environmental issues facing our communities. To address this gap, students from the ENVI 110: Introduction to Environmental Sciences class worked in small groups to design education stations to be placed around the city of Terre Haute to inform the public about topics in environmental sciences with relevance to local residents. Themes identified by ENVI 110 students for development into interpretive installations include, but are not limited to, food waste, identification of native and invasive plant and animal species, wastewater treatment, conventional and organic farming …

Identifying Climate-Appropriate Tree Species, Christy Pearison

2025 Fall Reports (Terre Haute)

The Tree Species Sustainability Symposium project was developed through a partnership between BUS 100-004 students at Indiana State University and the City of Terre Haute as part of the Sustainable Cities Program. The city’s goal for this project was to strengthen public awareness of climate-appropriate tree species, promote biodiversity, and encourage community participation in preserving Terre Haute’s award-winning urban tree canopy. Students collaborated with city and university sustainability leaders to research native tree species best suited for Terre Haute’s environment, focusing on Sycamore, Red Maple, and Eastern Redbud trees. These species were selected for their ecological benefits, resilience to climate …

Building Community Resilience For Disasters In The Wabash Valley, Nathan Myers

2025 Fall Reports (Terre Haute)

As part of the 2025 Indiana State University Sustainable Cities Initiative, we worked on two interconnected research projects: conducting a community needs assessment (as requested by Catholic Charities) and developing a climate-related disaster plan for the City of Terre Haute, Indiana. To complete this work, a student research team examined current statistical information for the Wabash Valley region (including Vigo, Clay, Parke, Vermillion, and Sullivan counties), as well as conducting and analyzing interviews, focus groups, and survey data to determine strengths, challenges, opportunities, and threats related to community resilience in the area. This same information, in conjunction with information from …

Reimagining Terre Haute's Parks: Smart Parks For A Connected Community, Natasha Rascon

2025 Fall Reports (Terre Haute)

Through collaborations with the City of Terre Haute, the following community issue was identified: Resiliency Education (RE-1) Smart parks - Sign designs, Web page design, a community survey to determine park attendance, ideas for ways to track park attendance, recommendations for improvements in high-risk parks, Finding and/or helping with grant applications. To address the identified community issue, students enrolled in Comm495 Senior Capstone partnered with the City of Terre Haute to provide possible solutions. The students in this class conducted research to identify areas of opportunity relevant to the city of Terre Haute to produce their suggestions. The students formed …

The Leaf Composition & Sustainability Initiative, Christy Pearison

2025 Fall Reports (Terre Haute)

The LEAF Composition & Sustainability Initiative was developed by students in BUS 100-005 in collaboration with the City of Terre Haute and Indiana State University’s Office of Sustainability. The primary goal of this project was to raise awareness of leaf and organic waste management, encourage composting, and strengthen community engagement around sustainable practices. Students explored the environmental impact of leaf waste and food waste, discovering that while the United States produces approximately 66 million tons of food waste annually, only a small percentage is composted. Locally, Terre Haute sends thousands of tons of yard waste to landfills each month—material that …

Israeli Hasbara And The Nba’S Palestine Exception: The Impossibility Of Capitalist “Social Justice”, Chen Chen, Anthony J. Weems, Roc Rochon, Daniel Sailofsky

Sport Management Collection

Sport is a notable site for the Israeli state in its hasbara (public diplomacy, or “explaining”) effort that seeks to normalize the conditions of ethnic cleansing, illegal settlement, and apartheid practices in historic and occupied Palestine. Against the backdrop of the genocide in Gaza and the lack of international sport sanctions against Israeli teams, this paper maps several hasbara activities/attempts featuring the National Basketball Association (NBA) in the last decade. This is a worthwhile case, not least because of the NBA’s self-branding as a socially “progressive” league composed of a primarily Black/African American athletic workforce. Two major observations are made: …

A Closer Look At Your Closet: An Analysis Of Consumer Desires, Fast Fashion’S Negative Harms, And Sustainable Solutions For Change, Sarah Hallman

Honors Theses

This thesis serves as an in-depth analysis of the fast fashion industry as it relates to consumers and seeks to identify and promote changes to enhance sustainability with a focus on reusing and repurposing secondhand clothing. The fast fashion industry is unique in its business model, means of production, and harm associated with it. It thrives on the exploitation of consumer desires that silently influence what and how consumers purchase clothing. Through an analysis of consumer desires and the harms associated with the industry through a literary discussion of scholarly articles previously written on these topics, solutions for both businesses …

The Equity Implications Of Pecuniary Externalities On An Electric Grid, Charles Sims, Gasser G. Ali, J. Scott Holladay, Tim Roberson, Chien Fei Chen, Islam H. El-Adaway

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The adoption of rooftop photovoltaic (PV) systems can create upward pressure on retail electricity rates as utilities are forced to spread their fixed costs of generation and transmission across a smaller customer base. Since high-income households are more likely to purchase PV systems, low-income households may be disproportionately impacted by these rate increases. Using a novel combination of agent-based computational economic modeling and a choice experiment of rooftop solar adoption, we show how this pecuniary externality between low- and high-income customers increases low-income electricity bills by 10% in an area with some of the highest poverty rates in the United …

An Analysis Of Policies Impacting Ex-Offenders And The Barriers Created In Their Transition Into Society: A Qualitative Metasynthesis, Thomas A. Ayala

Theses & Dissertations

In 2018, more than six million people in the United States were under correctional supervision, including incarceration, probation, or parole, equivalent to 1 in 40 adults (Maruschak & Minton, 2020). While this reflects a decline from previous years, prison populations reversed course in 2022, increasing by 2% nationwide, with 36 states and federal facilities reporting higher inmate counts (Nellis, 2024). Since 1973, policy shifts have fueled the rise of mass incarceration (Nellis, 2021; O’Brien, 2020). According to the Pew Center, the United States remains a global outlier, holding 5% of the world’s population, but incarcerates 25% of the 9 million …

2025 Fall Commencement, Tennessee State University

TSU Commencements 2025-Present – Mr. Dwayne Tucker, President

No abstract provided.

Educational Data Mining Techniques To Analyze Student Behavior In A Learning Management System, Mohamad Ali Bin Baba

Dissertations

This study identifies course-level patterns of LMS use in fully asynchronous graduate engineering management courses and examines the relationships between LMS use, course type, student satisfaction, and performance. Using the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework and Moore’s interaction types, LMS metrics were mapped to learner–content, learner–learner, and learner–instructor interactions and clustered with k-means across nine courses. Profiles emerged—content-dominant, instructor-active, and balanced—showing that knowledge-based courses often emphasize content engagement, while application-based courses tend to be more balanced or instructor-driven. Satisfaction correlated most strongly with teaching/social-presence indicators (e.g., feedback cadence, discussion activity), whereas performance aligned with content-oriented engagement. The five strongest predictors …

Foundational Phases For Community Development: A Model For Enhancing Cooperative Extension’S Role Within The Community, George Grant, Kristina Hains

Journal of Human Sciences and Extension

The Cooperative Extension System (CES) plays a vital role in community education and development across the United States. The objective of this article is to demonstrate the historical and present-day significance of the CES as a catalyst for community development practice, while overlaying a community development model applicable to CES. A literature review is provided on the historical origins, organizational structure, and leadership responsibilities of agents and specialists relevant to community development research and practice. The researchers suggest a novel conceptual model, the Foundational Phases for Community Development, to assist agents and specialists across all areas of programming for engaging …

Community Engagement Newsletter, December 2025, University Of Northern Iowa. Office Of Community Engagement.

Community Engagement Newsletter

Contents:

--- MLK Day Kicks off Spring into Service: Cats Who Care
--- Holiday Volunteer Needs
--- Seed Coalitions’s Online Service-Learning Institute
--- UNI’s Day of Service - April 8, 2026
--- Submit Your Service Project
--- Free T-shirts & Funding
--- Get Ideas / Secure a Project for your Group
--- Planning Sessions & One on One Meetings
--- National Credential
--- Season’s Greetings

The Psychological Impacts Of Higher Education Educators During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Ashlee Morgan Kemp

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the psychological well-being of higher education educators—specifically stress, anxiety, depression, alienation, and burnout—and to identify the coping strategies they employed while adapting to emergency hybrid instruction. This study was guided by the following research questions: What were the primary psychological impacts on higher education instructors’ well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic? How did the pandemic influence instructors’ experiences of stress, anxiety, depression, alienation, and burnout? Additionally, in what ways did educators cope with the instructional and professional challenges that emerged during this period? Guided by a …

Lgbtq+ Adolescents With Disabilities’ Experiences Of School Connectedness And Identity Navigation, Lyndsay Loretta Mccabe

Dissertations

In the United States, LGBTQ+ students have recently faced a barrage of school-based anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and policies (American Civil Liberties Union, 2025). Little is known about the effects of such policies and the overall sociopolitical climate on school connectedness and identity navigation for LGBTQ+ adolescents with disabilities. School connectedness, or the degree to which students feel that they belong at their school, is associated with numerous academic, behavioral, and social-emotional benefits (K. Allen et al., 2018; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2022b). Students who are at the intersection of multiple marginalized identities, such as LGBTQ+ adolescents with disabilities, …

External Funding Bulletin July 1, 2024-June 30, 2025, Office Of Research And Creative Activity, University Of Nebraska At Omaha

Sponsored Programs Bulletins

No abstract provided.

Assessing Community Needs: Human Services For Adults In Millis And Medway, Caitlin E. Coyle, Michelle Ward, Ceara Somerville

Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging Publications

This report presents the results of a comprehensive evaluation of issues relating to aging in Millis and Medway. A needs assessment was undertaken in order to support planning on the part of the Towns of Millis and Medway, the Councils on Aging (COAs), and the communities as a whole. Results presented here focus on the characteristics and needs of Millis and Medway residents who are age 60 and older. While the primary goal of this report is to support COA planning, a secondary goal is to present information that will be useful to other Millis and Medway offices and organizations …

Embodied Encounters With Plankton: Ground Truth Methods As Sites For Human-Ocean Entanglement, Clarissa Chevalier

Study of Women, Gender, & Sexuality: Faculty Publications

This article examines shifting methods of plankton research within contemporary oceanography through direct participatory engagement on a ten-day research cruise off the Santa Lucia Escarp- ment in February 2025. As a feminist visual science studies researcher, I reflect on how seasick- ness, sensory immersion, and embodied participation shaped my experience of plankton sampling and reveal the entanglement of oceanographic knowledge with its contexts. While remote sensing technologies – such as satellites, digital twins, and remotely operated vehicles – are increasingly shaping oceanography and producing intensified modes of ocean quantification, I argue that tactile, physical sampling methods remain indispensable in plankton …

Navigating The Terrain: Sense Of Belonging In Geology Field Camps, Ezra J. Hammersfeld

Master's Theses

Social success and feelings of belonging within academic settings play critical roles in students’ continued engagement. Students who feel like they belong are more likely to perform better academically, create feelings of academic self-efficacy, and be more satisfied with their educational experiences (Aelenei et al. 2020; Baker 2013; Chen et al. 2020; Hoffman et al. 2021; Rosenthal et al. 2013; Smerdon 2002; Walton et al. 2012). I examine sense of belonging through analysis of secondary data focused on college student experiences in geology field camps. I approached the study using modified grounded theory (Charmaz 2014) in order to best capture …

South Dakota Newcomers Survey Report, Weiwei Zhang, Kara Harders

Center for Rural Vitality and Community Well-being Project Reports

Project Overview:
 While more populous states typically attract larger numerical influxes from other states and abroad, South Dakota has nevertheless experienced growth in immigrants, both from other states and internationally. In 2024, South Dakota State University Extension launched a state-wide Newcomer Survey to gain a better understanding of the newcomer population. Following prior work in Minnesota and Montana, the South Dakota Newcomers Survey was developed to collect data about the motivations that drive people to move to South Dakota, what they enjoy once moved, what they want more or less of, and ultimately what makes them want to, or not …

Relations Between Ethnic-Racial Identity Statuses And Critical Consciousness Among Latine Adolescents, Kristia A. Wantchekon, Esther Burson, Olga Kornienko, Norma J. Perez-­ Brena, Maciel M. Hernández, M. Dalal Safa, Thao Ha

Psychology: Faculty Publications

Ethnic-­racial identity (ERI) development reflects the processes through which adolescents learn about their ethnic-­ racial background (i.e., exploration) and develop clarity about what it means to them (i.e., resolution). Research on ERI has been critiqued for not examining connections between ERI and broader social beliefs, such as critical consciousness (i.e., individuals' level of reflection about social oppression, motivation to take action against it, and the extent to which they take such action). When examining connections to ERI, research underscores the importance of considering individuals' patterns of exploration and resolution in tandem (i.e., ERI status) rather than analyzing them in isolation. …

Assessing The Impact Of Social Network On Cyber-Argumentation, Bhargav Krishna Thota

Dissertations

Argumentation is one of the basic activities people perform in our society. People often spend a lot of time arguing about social, cultural, economic, financial, political, and other issues. Existing cyber-argumentation platforms facilitate large-scale discussions among participants and play an important role in the analysis of collective opinions and collective decision-making. However, they do not provide social networking capabilities and are not designed to be used in social networking environments. Social networks in argumentation platforms can reveal the patterns, shifts, and true relationships between the users in a discourse that influence the collective decision-making process, outlier opinions and so on. …

Preventing, Delaying, And Managing Chronic Disease, Michele Dinman, Logan Fox

Harvey A. Friedman Center for Aging

We are living longer. Today, men and women who reach age 65 will live another 17 to 20 years, on average. As the human body ages, normal biological changes increase vulnerability to illness, and the risk of developing disease increases. At the same time, advances in public health, medicine, and health care have reduced deaths from acute conditions, like infection and accidents, and have increased our chances of living longer into the human life span. Thus, we now have greater chances of developing one or more chronic diseases. Most (75%) adults in the U.S. live with at least one chronic …