Digital Commons Network^™

Selected California State University Cybersecurity Readiness Policies And Related Guidance For Staff: A Qualitative Document Analysis, Andrew Hung-Nguyen

Dissertations

This study examines the cybersecurity and data privacy policy guiding the staff in the following four California State University campuses: Long Beach, San Bernardino, Chico, and Northridge. The purpose is to evaluate how institutional policies communicate expectations for staff and support cybersecurity readiness. Using a qualitative document analysis approach, the study analyzes publicly available policy documents as primary data sources. The analysis is guided by three frameworks, as follows: Weidman’s framework (2018), which assesses the presence of key policy elements; Karakoç’s framework (2022), which evaluates the depth of policy content; and the Flesch Reading Ease and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level formulas …

"A Door To The Future." A Case Study In Exploratory And Culturally Sustaining Theater Curriculum, Verónica Meza

Dissertations

This study addresses the persistent inequities in access to quality arts education for Latino immigrant and linguistically diverse communities in California. Despite progressive initiatives such as Proposition 28 (The Arts and Music in Schools Act) and the California Arts Council's Racial Equity Statement, systemic barriers prevent Latino and immigrant students from benefiting equitably from the arts. The central objective of this project is to understand how an exploratory, culturally sustaining theater curriculum can serve as a transformative and healing vehicle for adult immigrant Latino students, providing emotional protection, cultural affirmation, and language preservation within a U.S. educational context. This qualitative …

Rewriting The Plan: Environmental Justice, Community Resistance, And Governance Power In Hollister, California, Rolan Resendiz

Dissertations

This dissertation examines how community-led resistance in Hollister, California, challenged environmental injustice and infrastructure governance through grassroots civic action. Focusing on the Hollister Guardians, a coalition of primarily Latinx residents who organized in response to concerns about the city’s sewer system, this qualitative case study introduces the Critical Just Sustainability Policy Praxis (CJSPP) framework, developed by integrating Critical Policy Analysis and the Just Sustainability Paradigm with a praxis-oriented focus on community action. Using critical document analysis of city council meeting minutes, local media coverage, and community-authored texts mainly from 2023 to 2025, the study explores how policy discourse, institutional decision-making, …

Addressing The Lack Of Representation Of Hijab-Wearing Teachers Of Color In Education, Feroza Solaiman

Dissertations

This qualitative study examines the lived experiences of hijab-wearing teachers of color in TK–12 public schools in Northern California. Six participants shared perspectives on representation, inclusion, exclusion, and moments of joy within their school communities. The findings highlight that increased representation of teachers of color strengthens educators’ sense of belonging, supports students’ self-esteem, and enhances both teacher and student engagement. Participants emphasized the need for greater awareness of Muslim women’s diverse cultures, languages, celebrations, dietary practices, and professional attire, as well as the importance of challenging single-story narratives through dialogue, understanding, and upstander practices. Inclusive school environments were found to …

Guru Shishya Parampara: A Phenomenological Exploration Of Character Development Through Immersion, Shilpan Sheth

Dissertations

Processes that support the intentional effort to manifest virtue remain an under-described and poorly understood area of education research. In the literature, it is identified that immersion - a state of deep affective or cognitive engagement with one’s environment - holds implications for character development. Exploring the guru shishya parampara ((गुरुिश� पर�रा), a pedagogical tradition with roots in Vedic culture, through the lived experiences of an expert musician, this study relates immersive experiences to personal transformation. Data from interviews, lectures, and articles were analyzed. From the data, immersive experiences of the guru shishya tradition are understood to be embodied, intrinsic, …

Inferring Host Environment Properties And Gravitational-Wave Decay Time From The Eccentricity Measurement Of Dynamically Captured Binaries, A. Vincent Paul, Parthapratim Mahapatra, Marc Favata, K. G. Arun

Department of Physics and Astronomy Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Dynamical capture in dense stellar environments is a promising channel for producing eccentric compact binary mergers. Although there have been no confident detections of eccentric mergers to date, a few candidates show indications of nonnegligible in-band eccentricity upon reanalysis of the data. By assuming an observed eccentric event originates from a dynamical gravitational-wave (GW) capture, we show that it is possible to identify the host environment using the eccentricity and mass posteriors. In particular, the eccentricity posterior can be mapped to posteriors on key capture parameters, such as the relative velocity at infinity and the impact parameter. By comparing these …

Examining Beliefs Of State Department Of Education Directors Of Assessment Regarding Standardized Testing, Sara L. Kendallen

Dissertations

Directors of assessment in state departments of education are tasked with the planning and oversight, including development, field-testing, validation, and operationalization of statewide assessments. At the state level, directors of assessment are pivotal to a department of education’s ability to meet state and federal testing requirements. Directors of assessment hold their own opinions and beliefs, which may or may not be aligned with current adopted policies. The beliefs of those in state level educational bureaucracies about standardized testing has not been well-researched. It is hoped that this research will add to the greater understanding of statewide assessment. The goal of …

Ensuring Effective, Efficient, And Equitable Libraries In A Post-Pandemic Community College Environment, Jeffery M. Sundquist

Dissertations

Using a case study model, this dissertation investigated student needs regarding library support in a post-pandemic community college environment, using data from student focus group interviews. These needs were juxtaposed with perceived student needs using library employee survey data. Based on the interpretation of data grounded in a critical librarianship framework, the author created action items for college library leaders. To provide effective, efficient, and equitable onsite libraries and library services, the author recommends (a) designing for psychological safety and belonging, (b) embedding visible human support, and (c) conducting equity-oriented space audits. To provide effective, efficient, and equitable online libraries …

Reducing Psychotropic Polypharmacy In Outpatient Mental Health Settings, Roseline Onyebuchi Okafor

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Psychotropic polypharmacy in outpatient mental health settings is associated with increased adverse drug events, reduced adherence, and higher healthcare utilization. This Doctor of Nursing Practice project developed and evaluated an evidence-based clinical practice guideline (CPG) to reduce inappropriate psychotropic polypharmacy among adults receiving outpatient psychiatric care. Guided by the Johns Hopkins Nursing Evidence-Based Practice model, a systematic literature review informed recommendations including structured medication reviews, standardized prescribing practices, interdisciplinary collaboration, and shared decision-making. The guideline was evaluated by a multidisciplinary expert panel using the AGREE II instrument. Mean domain scores ranged from 6.3 to 6.8 on a 7-point scale, indicating …

Effective Strategies For Hospital Leaders To Increase Employee Retention, Lionso Gomez

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Employee retention remains a critical challenge for hospital leaders because high turnover can contribute to workforce instability, increased organizational costs, and poor patient care quality. The purpose of this qualitative pragmatic inquiry research project was to identify and explore effective strategies that hospital leaders in Texas use to increase employee retention. The participants were six former hospital leaders in Texas's eastern and southern regions who had successfully implemented employee retention strategies. This research project was grounded in Herzberg’s two-factor theory. Data were collected through semistructured interviews and publicly available documents. The data were analyzed utilizing Braun and Clarke’s six-step thematic …

The Experiences Of Deaf American Muslims In Their Pursuit And Retention Of Employment, Shukry Mahmood

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Deaf American Muslims in the United States face high levels of unemployment. They often experience compounded marginalization at the intersection of disability, religion, and cultural identity, which often leads to exclusion and underrepresentation in employment contexts. The purpose of the study was to explore the lived experiences while pursuing and retaining employment in the United States of deaf Muslims in United States workplaces. In this qualitative study, a self-designed, semistructured interview protocol with open-ended questions was used to explore these experiences. The sample of 12 participants was selected based on their self-identification as deaf American Muslims with at least 30 …

Multiple Perspectives On Inclusion In Science For Students Receiving Support From The Learning Center (Tlc) Program, Jeremy C. Adams

Dissertations

Almaden Country Day School (ACDS) is a small, independent private school located in the Almaden Valley neighborhood of south San Jose, California. Currently serving over 400 students, the school has been in operation for over 43 years. Nan Hunter, its founder, set out to build a school community that could “discover the gifts in every child.” As part of this mission, the school sought to support neurodiverse students with accommodations as part of its general education program. In September of 2017, the school’s leaders committed more deeply to this aspect of the school’s mission when they opened The Learning Center …

Out Of The Briar Patch: Storying Resistance Among Black Male Survivors Of Childhood Sexual Abuse And Its Impact On Their Educational Experiences, Anthony Animuntu

Dissertations

This study examines the lack of support within educational settings for Black boys who are survivors of childhood sexual abuse (CSA). Despite growing attention to trauma-informed practices, the experiences of Black male survivors remain largely absent from educational research. Using a qualitative, phenomenological approach informed by critical autoethnography, semi-structured interviews were conducted with five African American men reflecting on their schooling experiences as CSA survivors. Axial analysis revealed four central themes: silence as survival and strategic invisibility, shame and internalized distress, institutional misrecognition, and the transformative role of relational care and educational kinship. Findings indicate that participants’ trauma was often …

Can Curriculum Improve Confidence? Examining The Impact Of The Implementation Of The California Math Framework On Math Anxiety Levels Of Preservice Teachers In California, Amanda Lubbs

Dissertations

In 2010, the state of California adopted the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) as an effort to ensure students were graduating high school as college and career ready. Shortly after, in 2013, the California Board of Education adopted the California Math Framework (CMF) as a tool for schools to implement the CCSS for Mathematics (CCSSM). Its recommendations incorporated research-based techniques to alleviate math anxiety through the use of explorative learning experiences that help students understand math skills in applied contexts, and by de-emphasizing rote practice and memorization. This study inquires about the framework’s effectiveness in mitigating math anxiety among pre-service …

An Untouched Gem: Understanding Parental Perceptions On Community College Attendance, Harshdeep Singh Nanda

Dissertations

Community colleges serve as critical entry points into higher education, yet they continue to carry stigma, particularly within affluent communities where four-year institutions are often positioned as the expected pathway. While existing research has examined student and public perceptions, little attention has been given to how parents in affluent regions shape and transmit these narratives. This study investigated how parents in an affluent region of the San Francisco Bay Area perceive community college as a starting point for their children’s academic careers and how parents may contribute to shifting those perceptions. Using a convergent parallel mixed methods design, survey data …

Breaking The Glass Ceiling From The Ground Floor: Bipoc Women Classified Professionals’ Journey In California Community Colleges, Lusyna Kim Narvaez

Dissertations

This phenomenological study examined how women in classified professional positions navigate institutional barriers and access professional development within California community colleges. Using Critical Liberatory Feminist Pedagogy, Critical Race Feminist Theory, and Challenging Leadership Theory as analytical frameworks, the study explored the lived experiences of 18 participants across five Northern California community colleges through individual interviews and focus groups. Findings revealed three central themes: strategic communication as a survival mechanism, institutionalized exhaustion, and professional development as gatekeeping. Participants described employing calculated communication strategies to navigate workplace dynamics while minimizing personal and professional risk. The study illuminated how institutional structures create systemic …

Leadership, Identity, And Black Joy: The Career Trajectories And Experiences Of Black Administrators In The California State University System, Uchechukwu C. Ogamba

Dissertations

This study explores the experiences of Black mid- and upper-level administrators within the California State University (CSU) system, with a focus on career trajectories, institutional barriers, support systems, and mentorship. Black administrators are essential but continue to be underrepresented in higher education leadership and limited research focuses on their professional pathways and sustainability within the higher education systems. Guided by Black Joy Theory and Professional Identity Theory, this study uses survey data (n = 24) and semi-structured interviews (n = 8) to explore how Black administrators navigate leadership and create meaning within institutional environments. Quantitative findings highlight the importance of …

Understanding The Impact Of Transfer Orientation Leadership: Student Leader Perspectives At A Mid-Sized California University, Kaci Taylor Turpin

Dissertations

Community college transfer students represent a vital source of diversity for public four-year institutions; at the same time, declining enrollments heighten the need for stronger, more functional transfer pathways between community colleges and four-year universities, especially given the significant vertical transfer gap and the unique barriers transfer students face in student leadership roles. This semi-structured interview study explored the experiential knowledge of 14 first-generation transfer student orientation leaders to understand how they navigate institutional barriers in their on-campus employment. Findings reveal that these leaders navigated institutional barriers by relying on peer networks and drawing heavily on their navigational capital. Furthermore, …

Rethinking Learning From Incidents In Healthcare: A Safety-Ii Model Integrating Work-As-Imagined, Work-As-Done, And Work-As-Experienced, Nawal Khattabi, Axel Ros, Matt Carey, Aled Jones

School of Nursing and Midwifery

Healthcare organizations increasingly investigate patient safety incidents using systems thinking. However, even investigations that claim to adopt a systems approach frequently revert to linear, event-focused reasoning concluding on deviations and recommending further training. A foundational question remains unresolved: when an incident review identifies a "deviation", does this represent exceptional behavior or the system's typical mode of operation that generally succeeds under varying conditions but occasionally fails? Without this distinction, explanations for incidents tend to focus on individual non-compliance rather than understanding the everyday adaptations that enable care delivery in a complex adaptive system. Consequently, incident reviews that promote system learning …

Reskilling And Retraining The Water Technology Workforce: An Agentic Generative Ai Framework For Water Purification, Nano‑Mems, And Curriculum Development, Satyadhar Joshi, Noor Zulfiqar

Harrisburg University Other Works

The rapid digitalization of water infrastructure is bringing artificial intelligence, advanced sensing, and membrane materials science into routine water treatment practice. At the same time, utilities, regulators, and training institutions face a persistent workforce challenge: many operators, engineers, and managers are being asked to adopt data-driven tools without a coherent educational pathway that links AI literacy to real treatment workflows. This article synthesizes recent literature on agentic generative AI, reinforcement learning, smart sensing, nano-enabled membranes, and digital twins for water systems, then translates those developments into a structured reskilling model for the water sector. The proposed framework is organized around …

Third Amended Chapter 11 Plan Filed By The Official Committee

Catholic Dioceses in Bankruptcy

No abstract provided.

Intouch Week Of July 27, 2026, New York Medical College

InTouch

• NYMC Receives $2.7 Million HECap Award
• The Inquiring Minds of Student Research
• Grasslands Garden Blooms into a Community Gathering Space
• Incoming M.D. Students Celebrate Completion of Pre-Matriculation Program
• White Plains Youth Bureau Explore Health Care Careers at NYMC
• Hispanics with Met-ALD Face Higher Rates of Serious Liver Complications
• TCDM Welcomes Class of 2030
• Faculty Spotlight: Jin Li, M.D., Ph.D. ’01: A Lifetime Dedicated to Neurology, Education, and Community Service

Fsec Meeting Minutes July 27, 2026, University Of Rhode Island Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Executive Committee Minutes

No abstract provided.

Construct Overlap Inflates Apparent Economic-Capacity Alignment: Evidence From A Hebei City Panel, 2014–2023, Shuo Pang, Jianguang Hou, Danlin Yu

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Index-based urban sustainability studies often ask whether urban resilience and economic development evolve harmoniously, but the answer is unreliable when the two constructs contain the same economic indicators. A targeted audit of recent Chinese coupling studies shows that economic variables are commonly embedded in urban-resilience systems without a reported construct-overlap weight check. Using Hebei, China, as a measurement-validity test rather than as another provincial economic-growth case, this study analyzes a balanced 2014–2023 panel of 11 prefecture-level cities. Duplicated economic concepts account for 44.4% of the baseline resilience-index entropy weight and 88.2% of the baseline economic-index weight, indicating substantial mechanical exposure …

A Tropically Hot Late Jurassic North American Sundance Sea: Evidence For The Oxfordian Warm Interval, R. W. Reynolds, R. Jerrett, A. Marca, M. Davies, S. M. Bernasconi, R. B. Paxton, G. Nowell, P. Dennis, U. Balthasar, G. D. Price

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

The Late Jurassic greenhouse climate was characterized by elevated atmospheric CO₂ (pCO₂) at 600–1,000 ppm and sea-surface temperatures substantially warmer than today. These conditions peaked during the Oxfordian, when extensive epicontinental seaways, including the North American Sundance Sea, dominated mid-latitude paleoceanography. We present clumped isotope (Δ₄₇) and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr analyses of Oxfordian belemnite and Gryphaea fossils from the Sundance Sea to reconstruct paleotemperatures (tΔ₄₇) and assess the balance between open ocean and terrestrial inputs. The data reveal (a) a mean tΔ₄₇ of 30.6°C (±1.6 1SE), or 27.6°C (±1.6 1SE) if …

Most Praise Maine As Place To Live But Many Find It Unaffordable, Prefer Lower Cost Of Living & Taxes Elsewhere 7/27/2026, Unh Survey Center

All UNH Survey Center Polls

Nearly three-quarters of Maine residents rate the state as a very good or good place to live with Republicans and Northern Mainers more downbeat. Only a quarter of Mainers describe the state as affordable. Three in ten say they are likely to move out of Maine within the next five years, including half of Republicans, with lower housing costs, cost of living, and taxes frequently sought after, along with a different political or social environment. If they were to leave the state, Mainers are most likely to say they would move to New Hampshire or Massachusetts.

Ndls Communicator: Week Of 07.27.26, Notre Dame Law School

NDLS Communicator

The Latest News

• Religious Liberty Summit
• Religious Liberty Clinic, Bellwether International, and Lantos Foundation publish report reviewing campaign that contributed to release of prisoner of conscience
• Notre Dame Legal History Colloquium to Begin Third Year of Meetings

Alumni News

• Shivani Prakash ‘24 J.D.
• Jared Huber ‘24 J.D.
• Dennis Wieboldt '26 J.D.
• Justice Mary Yu ’93 J.D.

Student News

• J.S.D. candidate Valentina Salazar and Pablo González Domínguez '16 J.S.D.
• J.S.D. candidate and Kellogg Ph.D. fellow Valentina Salazar

Faculty Briefs

• Nicole Garnett
• Joh Meiser
• Roger alford 
• Diane Desierto
• Emily Bremer
• Haley Proctor
• Carter Snead
• Susan Azyndar
• Yan Yu
• Cindy Tian
• Vincent Phillip …

Childcare Center Administrators’ Leadership Practices To Foster Childcare Worker Retention In Non-Residential Childcare Centers, Rebecca Dececco

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Though staff retention is essential for children's stability and security in childcare settings, there remains a gap in knowledge about the leadership practices in childcare that have implications for retaining staff. The problem addressed in this study was the need for information about the influence of leadership practices on childcare teacher retention in the United States. Grounded in Bandura’s social cognitive theory, the purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore the leadership practices of childcare center administrators who retain childcare staff. For this basic qualitative design, semistructured interviews were conducted with 12 childcare center administrators who worked directly …

Beyond Histone Demethylation: Mechanisms Of N-Alkyl Consecutive Oxidations By The Non-Heme Fe(Ii)/2-Oxoglutarate Oxygenase Kdm6b, Simahudeen Bathir Jaber Sathik Rifayee, Sudheesh Devadas, Midhun George Thomas, Bhargav Varada, Ethan Sommer, Cassandra Talaba, Christopher Schofield, Christo Christov

Michigan Tech Publications

The nonheme Fe(II)/2-oxoglutarate (2OG)-dependent histone demethylase KDM6B (JMJD3) has demonstrated a capacity for diversity in the oxidative transformations of N^ε-alkylated lysine residues in histone H3 peptides; however, the mechanisms of such dealkylations, compared with standard KDM-catalyzed demethylations, remain unexplored. We implemented molecular dynamics and quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics to investigate the catalytic strategies for the sequential oxidation reactions of KDM6B with different N-alkylated forms of lysine K27 in the H3 peptide chain, that is N^ε, N^ε-methyl ethyl lysine (Lys(Me/Eth)) and N^ε-isopropyl lysine (Lys(iPr)). The results for sequential oxidations, which yield alcohol, aldehyde, and …

352-54 W. 48th St. Hous. Dev. Fund Corp. V. Tineo

All Decisions

In this HDFC holdover for nonprimary residence and illegal sublet, court granted respondent's motion for spoliation sanctions under CPLR § 3126, finding petitioner's duty to preserve building security camera footage arose when the notice to cure was served in October 2015. Court declined drastic sanctions but precluded petitioner from introducing any testimony about the destroyed footage or any surviving footage (which had been selectively preserved), finding ordinary negligence sufficient to trigger spoliation sanctions.