2018 Nebraska Water Leaders Academy - Final Report

Nineteen participants completed the 2018 Water Leaders Academy bringing the total number of graduates to 120 since the inception of the program in 2011. Assessment of participants’ transformational leadership skills, champion of innovation skills, water knowledge and engagement, civic capacity, and entrepreneurial leadership behaviors showed a significant increase over the course of the year, from both participants’ and their raters’ perspectives. Feedback from participants was highly positive and constructive. Participant concerns were addressed, and only minor changes are planned for the 2019 Academy curriculum. Results of the program assessment indicate that the curriculum is meeting Academy objectives. Most importantly, Alumni have emerged as leaders in their communities and beyond

Improving Science Student Retention: A Survey Tool to Measure First-year Students’ Likelihood to Remain at UNL

Purpose •Develop, test, and share a first-year college student retention instrument that can be used to both assess students’ likeliness to remain enrolled at UNL and the effectiveness of courses and instructional methods on student retention. •Focus on those working most directly with students (i.e. advisors, instructors, etc.), less institutional focu

Improving Science Student Retention: A Survey Tool to Measure First-year Students’ Likelihood to Remain at UNL

Purpose •Develop, test, and share a first-year college student retention instrument that can be used to both assess students’ likeliness to remain enrolled at UNL and the effectiveness of courses and instructional methods on student retention. •Focus on those working most directly with students (i.e. advisors, instructors, etc.), less institutional focu

Assessing Retention in Two Freshman Natural Resource Orientation Courses

Many university programs have implemented freshman orientation courses to improve student retention. This two‐year study explored the relationship between student evaluations of instruction in relation to student learning objectives of two recently developed freshman natural resource orientation courses and predictors of college student retention identified by Davidson, Beck, and Milligan (2009) and Cuseo (2007). The five instructional objectives were Developing a Sense of Community, Reviewing Issues Related to Natural Resources, Evaluating Courses and College Activities, Exploring Careers in Natural Resources, and Developing Resources in the Department. Ninety‐five freshman students participated in this study. All five evaluations of instruction in relation to course instructional objectives shared a significant positive variance with the three predictors of college student retention identified by Davidson et al. (2009). The instructional objectives Evaluating Courses and College Activities, Exploring Careers in Natural Resources and Developing Resources in the Department shared a significant positive variance with all seven predictors of college student retention identified by Cuseo (2007). The instructional objectives Reviewing Issues Related to Natural Resources and Developing a Sense of Community shared a significant positive variance with six of the seven predictors of retention identified by Cuseo (2007). First and second year retention rates of students in these orientation courses exceed department and campus wide retention rates. The results of this study support a method that instructors of freshman orientation courses can use to assess the effectiveness of their instruction and gauge student intention to remain in college. Instructors can use this information to direct attention to students at risk of not returning to school

Understanding Cigarette Butt Littering Behavior on a Public Beach: A Case Study of Jekyll Island

Conservation of natural resources and promotion of family-friendly tourism activities are vital to Jekyll Island. As it is stated in the Jekyll Island Authority (JIA) Master Plan “Jekyll Island is a unique, state-owned barrier island that balances conserving and preserving natural, historic, and cultural resources with providing accessible, affordable recreation, vacation, and education opportunities for the people of Georgia and beyond” (Jekyll Island Authority, 2014b, p. 4). The JIA has reported approximately 1 million people visit the island annually (Jekyll Island Authority, 2015). As such, tourism is instrumental to Jekyll Island’s economy, and that tourism contributes to the overall economy of Glynn County. According to a report put out by Glynn County (2014) the unemployment rate in the county is consistently within one point of the rest of the state, primarily due to tourism

Boundary spanning: Its role in trust development between stakeholders in integrated water resource management

This study sheds light on the importance of boundary spanners in developing the conditions that foster trust between stakeholders in integrated water resource management (IWRM). Boundary spanners routinely reach across organizational borders to build interconnections and interdependencies in order to manage complex problems, inform policy, and encourage knowledge sharing. The importance of the boundary spanning role has been shown in organizational business practices, urban planning, and higher education yet little research exists on its impact in IWRM. The mixed methods approach used in this study involved surveying and interviewing individuals with previous experience with IWRM in Nebraska. The results of the survey indicated that boundary spanning behavior predicted a large percentage of the variance in conditions that build trust between stakeholders. Further exploration revealed that boundary spanning, cooperation, power imbalance, and scale mismatch were predictors of trust building conditions. In addition, authentic leadership, autonomy, and trustworthiness were predictors of boundary spanners\u27 ability to establish trust building conditions between stakeholders,with trustworthiness being the strongest predictor. The qualitative phase included interviewswith thirteen individuals who participated in the online survey and scored high in boundary spanning behaviors. The interview analysis resulted in seven themes, which strongly support the promising role that boundary spanners play in fostering conditions that build trust between stakeholders within IWRM. This paper reflects on the importance of a boundary spanner within integrated water management, demonstrates the effectiveness of boundary spanning on the development of trust building conditions, and encourages more research on how to better identify and train boundary spanners to assist in the co-production of knowledge

2016 Nebraska Water Leaders Academy - Final Report

The effective management of Nebraska’s water resources is evermore challenged by variations in weather, climate, technology, socioeconomic policies, and regulation. Anthropogenic climate change, declining water tables and stream flows, increasing demands on freshwater, aging water infrastructure, fiscal constraints, and impacts on aquatic organisms are particularly imminent challenges in Nebraska and around the world (Pahl-Wostl et al., 2013; Pittock et al., 2008; USACE, 2010). Sustaining freshwater ecosystem services in the face of emerging environmental threats presents an immense societal dilemma worldwide (Pittock et al., 2013; Rockström et al., 2009, Millenium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005). The rapidly changing conditions of water resources in Nebraska demands knowledgeable and skilled leaders (Burbach, et al., 2015; Lincklaen Arriëns & When de Montalvo, 2013; Morton & Brown, 2011). McIntosh and Taylor (2013) assert that in order to meet future water challenges, “leadership is needed to initiate and drive change, enable innovation (both incremental and radical), build shared visions for a more sustainable water future, and deliver these visions through aligning resources and building commitment to collective success” (p. 46). Building leadership capacity is required to drive the necessary change (Brasier et al., 2011; Morton et al., 2011; Pahl-Wostl et al., 2011; Redekop, 2010; Taylor et al., 2012). Recognizing this critical need for future leaders in water resources, the Nebraska State Irrigation Associatio