Enriching Summer Work: An Evaluation of the Summer Career Exploration Program

To determine the impact of the Summer Career Exploration Program (SCEP), a privately funded summer jobs program for low-income teens, P/PV examined the lives of over 1700 applicants. These youth were randomly assigned to participate or to not participate in SCEP in the summer of 1999, and their outcomes were compared at four and twelve months after program application. Researchers found that implementation was strong, but program impacts were less impressive. While SCEPs participants got summer jobs at a substantially higher rate (92%) than the control group (62%), the programs ability to translate this large and immediate summer employment impact into intermediate gains (in terms of future plans, college enrollment, work success, sense of self-efficacy or reduced criminal activity) proved to be negligible. Although impacts were short lived, the report concludes that SCEP and similar programs have an important place in the larger mosaic of supports, programs and opportunities for young people

Collaborating at a Distance

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An Examination of the Impact of Organizational Restructuring on Identification Within Extension

Many Extension organizations enjoy strong Organizational Identification (OI) among personnel. But organizational change may negatively influence identification, and many Extension organizations have been changing the way they serve their publics. To examine the impact of change on OI, we compared Extension personnel\u27s OI scores following a major restructuring to OI scores gathered during a period of relative stability reported in previous research from another Extension organization. Findings indicated that OI scores were slightly lower following restructuring; however, the pattern of scores across four targets (Extension, program area, counties, and centers) remained constant, suggesting personnel will rarely identify with mid-level targets

Is the New Ecological Paradigm Scale Stuck in Time? A Working Paper

The most frequently used environmental attitude scale – the New Environmental Paradigm scale – may be woefully dated. The scale was designed to measure adherence to a paradigm of environmentally focused ethics and beliefs. However, scale items drawn on a not-yet-solidified worldview have led to issues of reliability and validity

Effect of Sample Handling and Storage on Ergovaline Concentration in Fresh Tall Fescue Samples

Ergovaline is an ergot alkaloid produced by an endophyte (Neotyphodium coenophialum Morgan-Jones and Gams), found in tall fescue (Schedonorus arundinacea=Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) and causes a range of disorders across livestock species. The concentration of ergovaline within a plant can vary by variety, management, time of year, location and weather conditions (Smith et al. 2009). Due to the significant economic impact of fescue toxicity in livestock, many samples are tested every year in research and diagnostic laboratories. Ergovaline is known to be unstable and affected by many variables; therefore sample handling is critical to obtaining accurate and consistent results. Currently, a number of laboratories in the United States can perform ergovaline analysis, but there is little information in the literature on how these results are affected by sample handling from the pasture to the laboratory or during storage of samples at the laboratory

Enriching Summer Work: An Evaluation of the Summer Career Exploration Program (Executive Summary)

This document summarizes the key findings of the Summer Career Exploration Program evaluation

The Mammalian Phenotype Ontology as a tool for annotating, analyzing and comparing phenotypic information

The Mammalian Phenotype (MP) Ontology enables robust annotation of mammalian phenotypes in the context of mutations, quantitative trait loci and strains that are used as models of human biology and disease. The MP Ontology supports different levels and richness of phenotypic knowledge and flexible annotations to individual genotypes. It continues to develop dynamically via collaborative input from research groups, mutagenesis consortia, and biological domain experts. The MP Ontology is currently used by the Mouse Genome Database and Rat Genome Database to represent phenotypic data

Voices Beyond Bars: A Qualitative Study Examining Occupational Participation for Formerly Incarcerated Women

This capstone project addressed the research question: “What are the systemic, societal, and personal barriers and facilitators to occupational participation and engagement that formerly incarcerated women experience in Texas?” The project aimed to advocate for formerly incarcerated women living in Texas by interviewing and collaborating with them to create an advocacy booklet highlighting their lived experiences. Following USAHS IRB approval, recruitment, and screening, 20 participants engaged in a semi-structured interview via Zoom. Insights on their experience post-incarceration in Texas regarding housing, employment, family, healthcare, and change were explored. The data obtained was analyzed and codes and themes were identified. When examining the results of the study, occupational participation and engagement for formerly incarcerated women were influenced by factors on personal, societal, and systemic levels. The Participatory Occupational Justice Framework was used when collaborating with formerly incarcerated women to reflect and collaborate on how to address occupational injustices of occupational imbalance, occupational alienation, and occupational deprivation, as mentioned previously. Through the interview process, the formerly incarcerated women provided incredible insight and reflection on their experience post-incarceration and the changes that need to occur to properly address the occupational injustices they face. The advocacy booklet serves as the mode of collaboration between the participant and the researchers, as it creates an avenue for the voices of the participants to be amplified.https://soar.usa.edu/otdcapstonesspring2024/1044/thumbnail.jp