Civic and Community Engagement Commons^™

Connections: Social Media And Parents Raising Children With Profound Multiple Disabilities, Amy Ann Terra

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Parenting plays an important role in many adult lives. Parenting a child with profound multiple disabilities results in a distinct parenting experience. This qualitative phenomenological study examined the role of social media in the lives of parents raising children with profound multiple disabilities. Five parents raising children with profound multiple disabilities were interviewed, and resulting themes were identified.

Consistent with previous research, parents described the initial adaptation to their child’s disability-related needs as the most challenging period of their parenting to date. Adaptation was followed by an acclimation to a new normal of their parenting experience. Parents described moving from …

Informing Social Impact: Enabling Everyday Changemakers Through Research, Marissa Getts

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Despite a lack of expertise regarding social impact, laypeople make many important decisions about social good by starting or supporting organizations or social businesses, voting for or against legislation and policymakers, or spending their money and time on volunteering or service trips. Unfortunately, many people base their interventions or analysis of interventions for any given social issue on overly simplistic understanding or incorrect information regarding social impact. This keeps them from developing interventions with positive, sustainable impact. Ballard Brief is a publication based on a framework intended to inform the layperson about social issues and interventions.

This thesis is comprised …

How Scholarship Programs Facilitate First-Generation College Students’ Involvement, Maria C. Restrepo Chavez

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

As a first-generation college student, I am interested in the on-campus involvement and experiences of other first-generation college students. First-generation college students are those whose parents did not receive a university degree and tend to come from low-income families. This project explores programs designed to support and enrich the experiences of such students. The Centennial Scholars Program at James Madison University and the Presidential Scholarship Initiative at Virginia Tech aim to increase the socio-economic diversity on each campus. These programs provide students with full funding for four years, mentorship, professional development and social benefits, among others. In turn, students become …