Adult Learner Considerations in Admissions and Enrollment

As national focus on retention and student success increases, many states and institutions are looking for ways to increase the number of students who ultimately earn degrees. Many are realizing that the non-traditional adult student population is a historically untapped demographic that can provide almost instant, positive changes in graduation rates. This group is often considered low-hanging fruit and can be targeted to quickly complete unfinished degrees. This is especially true for institutions that have a large number of non-completers with high numbers of earned hours. Many non-returners have 90 or more earned hours and simply need some encouragement and proper guidance to start down the path to degree completion. In West Virginia, as in many other states, institutions have recently increased their focus on student retention and success. One of the outcomes of this increased focus was the creation in 2011 of the statewide DegreeNow program to encourage degree completion by adults with previously earned college credit. DegreeNow is aimed at non-traditional students who have a significant amount of earned college credit—typically 90 or more semester hours—and who therefore can complete their degrees with minimal time and effort. To facilitate the success of DegreeNow, the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission partnered with Dr. Marguerite M. Culp and the National Association of Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education (NASPA) to create the Leveraging DegreeNow training project. Sponsored by a grant from the Lumina Foundation, the project focuses on teaching theoretical frameworks that support adult learners; strengthening partnerships between academic affairs and student affairs; creating a culture of evidence in student affairs; and identifying other ways to assist adult learners during their college experience

Collaborating Across Campus to Advance Open Access Policy Compliance

In 2018, the Data and Scholarly Communication Services Unit (DSCS) at the University of Colorado Boulder began implementing two open access (OA) policy workflows with the aim of increasing content in the institutional repository CU Scholar, expanding awareness of the campus OA policy that was passed in 2015, and decreasing the burden on researchers for participation in the policy. DSCS leveraged collaborative relationships with other library departments and campus units in order to mobilize the data, infrastructure, procedures, and documentation to execute these workflows. The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) workflow identifies existing open access publications by CU Boulder faculty and mediates deposit in order to make them available in CU Scholar. The liaison outreach workflow partners with liaison librarians to request from faculty preprints and author’s final manuscripts of publications in which the publisher version may have copyright restrictions. At present, the DOAJ workflow has resulted in 754 articles deposited in CU Scholar, and the liaison outreach workflow has resulted in 91 articles deposited. Each of these workflows pose challenges that have required flexibility, experimentation, and clear communication between stakeholders. This case study, which includes detailed descriptions of both open access policy workflows, initial results, and plans for future implementation, may serve as a guide for other institutions wishing to adopt and/or adapt institutional repository workflows and forge collaborative relationships to further open access initiatives in their local context

Academic Library Behaviors and Perceptions of a Community College’s Distance Learners

Over 1,200 community colleges nationwide enroll over ten million students each year, with more than one in four of these students taking some of their courses at a distance. Many of these post-secondary institutions also struggle to retain and graduate students enrolled as distance learners. In a continuing effort to address college completion gaps, research attempts to identify barriers to success and provide insights on how to decrease college completion gaps. Given post-secondary education’s increased focus on students’ use of resources beyond the classroom, a logical line of exploration is the link between academic library usage and library aptitudes and attitudes. This study sought to examine the academic library behaviors and perceptions of a community college’s distance learners. Of interest is the relationship among inexperience, apathy, and anxiety in general as well as differences, if any, among demographic variables of gender, race/ethnicity, and distance from their college. Ninety-two distance learners completed an abbreviated thirty-item version of the Multidimensional Library Scale developed by D. J. Van Kampen-Breit in 2016. Results were analyzed using well Pearson’s r, independent sample t-tests, and ANOVA using the composite factors of inexperience, apathy, and anxiety. The most compelling finding in relation to race and to the study was that White students were significantly more experienced than Asian students. Correlations suggest that as student becomes more experienced with how to use the library and its resources, anxiety in and apathy toward using the library will decrease

Effects of Recent Television Signal Changes on Rural Nebraskans

In mid-February 2009, some television stations in the country started broadcasting only in digital signal. All were required to switch to digital only signal this past June. This change did not affect households that currently receive their television signal from a cable or satellite TV provider, only those that receive their signal over-the-air through an antenna or rabbit ears. The 2009 Nebraska Rural Poll included questions related to television viewing, providing a picture of how rural Nebraskans prepared for this change and the effect this change has had on 2,852 randomly selected non-metropolitan Nebraskans. Not all television stations had made the digital conversion when this survey was in the field. Thus, the effects of the change in some areas of the state are not reflected in these results

Engaged Citizenship through Campus-Level Democratic Processes: A Librarian and Graduate Student Collaboration on Open Access Policy Adoption

INTRODUCTION While faculty votes to establish open access (OA) policies leverage one particular campus- level democratic mechanism in the name of advancing scholarly communication, other processes, including student government actions, can also play significant roles in OA policy adoption and related efforts. As early career researchers, graduate students are particularly well-poised to engage with campus-level democratic institutions in order to bring about change in scholarly communication. DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM This case study details a multi-year collaboration between librarians and graduate students at the University of Colorado Boulder aimed at the development and adoption of a campus OA policy. Librarians and graduate students worked together to plan for and sustain momentum throughout the process of building formal support for the policy through student government and faculty assembly resolutions, drafting policy language, and shepherding the proposed policy through numerous meetings and committees all the way up to and including its formal adoption. This collaboration through engaged citizenship at the campus level also led to a number of unintended benefits to both librarians and graduate students involved. NEXT STEPS AND CONCLUSIONS Ultimately, the CU Boulder collaboration between librarians and graduate students led to significant scholarly communication achievements largely through the utilization of campus-level democratic processes. The case study concludes with a look at next steps for implementing the OA policy across campus as well as a discussion of the labor involved in such efforts, including implications for graduate student involvement in scholarly communication initiatives

Vale Eric Carle: Creator of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, A Story of Hope ... and Holes

Eric Carle, author and illustrator of beloved children’s book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, died on Sunday — the same day his famous caterpillar is born: 'One Sunday morning, the warm sun came up — and pop! — out of the egg came a very tiny and hungry caterpillar'. Described by author Mo Willems as a 'gentleman with a mischievous charm', Carle might have appreciated the irony. All living things grow and change and die. But while a caterpillar’s life is spectacularly short, Carle lived for 91 years. He wrote more than 70 books. His most celebrated, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, is frequently cited as one of the best picture books of all time. With just 224 words, it has sold roughly a copy per minute since its publication in 1969

Comparison of Yearling Steer Gains in Early Summer Under Season-Long native, Season-Long Crested Wheatgrass and June-Deferred Native Grazing Systems

Season-long native, season-long crested wheatgrass and June-deferred native grazing systems were compared with regard to average daily gains, gains per acre and total gains. Due to drought conditions, the typical 4-month spring-summer season was reduced to a season of approximately 2 months beginning in June. Few differences were detected between the systems for ADG in each month or over the season. Gains per acre were greatest (P\u3c.05) on crested wheatgrass pastures (33.75 Ib/acre), but no differences were detected between native pastures (1 0.61 -1 6.61 Ib/acre) regardless of whether they had been grazed for 2 months or one (using similar stocking rates). This study indicates that, using weight gain data from 1989 and a 2-month grazing season, the greatest potential gain for the season is realized with a system where cattle graze crested wheatgrass in June and native pastures in July. If this system was applied on 320 acres crested wheatgrass and 640 acres excellent condition native pasture, it would have the potential to produce approximately 23,196 Ib of gain on yearling steers compared with season-long (June-July) production of 9,408 Ib on @I0 acres and 14,112 Ib on 960 acres native pasture

Perceptions of Well-Being Among Rural Nebraskans

Nebraska’s economy has been relatively stable during the past year. However, some rural areas continue to be economically challenged. How do rural Nebraskans perceive their quality of life? Do their perceptions differ by community size, the region in which they live, or their occupation? This report details 2,482 responses to the 2006 Nebraska Rural Poll, the eleventh annual effort to understand rural Nebraskans’ perceptions. Respondents were asked a series of questions regarding their individual well-being. Trends for these questions are examined by comparing data from the ten previous polls to this year’s results. In addition, comparisons are made among different respondent subgroups, that is, comparisons by age, occupation, region, etc. Based on these analyses, some key findings emerged: • More rural Nebraskans report being satisfied with their job opportunities this year as compared to previous years. After reaching a low of 34 percent in 2004, the proportion satisfied with their job opportunities increased to 42 percent this year (the highest proportion in all 11 years). (page 5) • Persons with the highest household incomes are more likely than persons with lower incomes to feel they are better off compared to five years ago, are better off compared to their parents when they were their age, and will be better off ten years from now. For example, 52 percent of respondents with household incomes of $60,000 or more think they will be better off ten years from now. However, only 22 percent of respondents with household incomes under$20,000 believe they will be better off ten years from now. (page 6) • More rural Nebraskans believe people are powerless to control their own lives this year as compared to past years. The proportion that either strongly agree or agree with the statement that people are powerless to control their own lives each year has averaged about 34 percent. The proportion agreeing with the statement increased slightly, to 38 percent this year, which matches the highest proportion in the 11 years of the Poll (1997 and 1999 were the other two years). (page 4) • Persons with lower education levels are more likely than persons with more education to believe that people are powerless to control their own lives. Forty-six percent of persons with a high school diploma or less education agree that people are powerless to control their own lives. However, only 25 percent of persons with a four-year college degree share this opinion. (page 9) • Rural Nebraskans continue to be generally positive about their current situation. Except in 2003, each year the proportion of rural Nebraskans that say they are better off than they were five years ago has been greater than the proportion saying they are worse off than they were five years ago. Approximately 36 percent each year have reported that they were better off than they were five years ago. This year, 35 percent believe they are better off then they were five years ago and 21 percent think they are worse off. (page 2) • Similarly, rural Nebraskans continue to be generally positive about their future. The proportion that say they will be better off ten years from now has always been greater than the proportion saying they will be worse off ten years from now (although the two were virtually identical in 1996). The proportion stating they will be better off ten years from now has generally remained about 36 percent. This year, the proportion was 34 percent. Twenty-one percent believe they will be worse off ten years from now. (page 3) • Following trends in previous years, rural Nebraskans are most satisfied with their marriage, family, friends, religion/spirituality and the outdoors. They continue to be less satisfied with job opportunities, current income level and financial security during retirement. (page 5

Adapting to the Current Economic Climate in Non-Metropolitan Nebraska

The national economy has faltered during the past year. While Nebraska’s economy has also faltered, it has not seen the level of job losses and mortgage foreclosures that have occurred in other parts of the country. Given these conditions, what do rural Nebraskans think about the current economic climate? How has their household been impacted during the past year? What changes have they made because of concerns about the economy? How concerned are they about financial matters? This paper provides a detailed analysis of these questions. This report details 2,852 responses to the 2009 Nebraska Rural Poll, the fourteenth annual effort to understand rural Nebraskans’ perceptions. Respondents were asked a series of questions about the current economic climate. For all questions, comparisons are made among different respondent subgroups, that is, comparisons by age, occupation, region, etc

Effect of Late Season Protein and Energy Supplementation on Performance of Yearling Steers Grazing Mixed Native Range or Cool Season, Crested Wheatgrass Pastures

Seventy-two yearling, black baldy steers were utilized in a grazing experiment to study the effect of late summer, early fall protein (2.33 Ib., 40% all natural, fed each Monday, Wednesday and Friday) or energy (4.4 Ib. corn fed daily) supplementation on average daily gain. Two pasture types, mixed native range and crested wheatgrass, were also examined. Cattle were purchased in May as part of a larger group and gained an average of 2.16 Ib. per head daily prior to initiation of the study on September 9, 1988. Average daily gain was significantly greater (P = .012) for cattle grazing crested wheatgrass than for steers grazing native range (1.38 vs .62 Ib. per head daily, respectively). Differences in daily gain due to supplement fed were not statistically significant (P = .298). Daily gains for the control, corn and protein group across both pasture types were .77, 1.02 and 1.22 Ib. per head daily, respectively