Emergency Text Messaging Systems and Higher Education Campuses: Expanding Crisis Communication Theories and Best Practices

Recent public safety threats affecting college and university campuses during episodes of natural disasters and mass violence have exposed numerous challenges and opportunities in crisis and risk communication. The evacuation of college campuses during natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and episodes of mass violence such as the shootings at the University of Alabama-Huntsville in 2010, among others, have revealed how even the most well-developed campus communication plans leave room for improvement during actual crisis events (Catullo, Walker, & Floyd, 2009). Through in-depth interviews (N=10) of crisis communication managers at U. S. colleges and universities, as well as document reviews of media coverage (N=36) of the events surrounding previous natural and manmade campus emergencies, the purpose of this paper is to examine how colleges and universities have integrated a relatively new communication technology, emergency text messaging, into their planned crisis communication response to disseminate emergency information to stakeholders, such as students, faculty, staff, and parents, during crises affecting their campuses. Through grounded theory, data systematically obtained and analyzed offer: (1) a running theoretical discussion using conceptual categories and their properties related to crisis communication adaptations of existing theories and models, including chaos theory, power, theory, and complexity theory, and (2) additional best practices for integrating emergency text messaging with other communication channels that can be applied in a university setting to increase the likelihood of a successful emergency response

Treating Mentoring Programs as a Scholarly Endeavor

The author discusses mentoring programs for pharmacy school faculty and the research literature around forming these programs

"Employee knowledge of a managed pharmacy benefit in a large corporation"

Michael J. Miller is Assistant Professor of Social and Administrative Sciences in Pharmacy (Pharmacy Practice) in the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. He can be contacted at [email protected] about prescription drug benefits is necessary for consumers to choose appropriate health benefits plans in a consumer-directed health plan market. The objective of this study was to describe employees' knowledge of their prescription drug benefits. A one-group, cross-sectional survey of full-time university employees with a tiered pharmacy benefit was performed. Correct responses to knowledge questions were described individually and as an aggregate index score. Respondent understanding of pharmacy benefits was low to moderate. Specifically, knowledge of pharmacy benefits was most limited with respect to formulary management, cost sharing, and financial implications of out-of-network use and the selection of a branded or generic medication. Future research should refine methods for assessing knowledge of pharmacy benefits, explore knowledge of pharmacy benefits in diverse samples, and assess the consequences associated with variations in knowledge of prescription drug benefits.Copyright 2005 by Medicom International. All rights reserved

Emergency Text Messaging Systems and Higher Education Campuses: Expanding Crisis Communication and Chaos Theory

Recent public safety threats affecting college and university campuses during episodes of natural disasters and mass violence have exposed numerous challenges and opportunities in risk and crisis communication. This study addresses how colleges and universities have incorporated emergency text messaging systems into their crisis communication plans; how these institutions have tested such emergency notification systems; and what, if any, prevalent gaps exist between audience expectations and actual practices. Using grounded theory, the data collected in this study through in-depth phone interviews (N=10) of university public relations practitioners, as well as a document analysis of media coverage of campus crises (N=36), offered a humanistic and constructivist perspective about circumstances related to emergency text message alert systems that few researchers have explored. The analysis of the data also revealed and confirmed that chaos theory can play a role as a significant theory and potentially guiding paradigm of crisis communications research

Laptop Versus Longhand Note Taking in a Professional Doctorate Course: Student Performance, Attitudes, and Behaviors

Objective: To determine the relationship between longhand note taking versus laptop note taking on pharmacy students’ examination performance and identify differences in attitudes and behaviors as it relates to the note taking process. Methods: A small group of students consented voluntarily to take longhand notes, doing away with their laptops during portions of the course administered by study investigators. Analyses were conducted on block examination performance, with each student’s score on the first examination serving as a performance benchmark to assess change. Laptop and longhand note takers completed a survey regarding various aspects of their note taking attitudes and behaviors, and also included open text comments to capture qualitative experiential data. Results: Based upon a relatively small number of participants in the longhand cohort (n=11), the differences between the groups on subsequent examinations was approximately 3.5 percentage points in favor of the longhand note-takers. There were significant differences observed between the two groups on several survey items, with longhand note takers less likely to be distracted in class and more likely to agree that other students ask to review their notes due to the quality of those notes. Conclusions: Longhand note taking might facilitate more accurate recall or retrieval in test situations, thus producing improved test scores for certain types of students in certain types of courses; however additional research is needed. Faculty may consider whether modifying students’ classroom note taking practices may contribute to an improved learning experience

Oil and Gas Resource Atlas Series: OffShore Northern Gulf of Mexico

The goal of the Oil and Gas Resource Atlas Series: Offshore Northern Gulf of Mexico is to develop an atlas of hydrocarbon plays that integrates data for oil and gas reservoirs with large-scale patterns of basin fill and age. During the second year of the 4-year program, tasks centered on program management and analysis of reservoir data. Approximately 140 plays have been identified in the Federal OCS and Texas State waters. Plays in Texas State waters are gas-prone and structurally trapped in rollover anticlines. In the Federal OCS, highly productive structural styles include growth-faulted rollover anticlines and salt domes. Lower Miocene plays are characterized by progradational and submarine-fan reservoirs of Lenticulina and Siphonina davisi chrono zones. Middle Miocene plays are characterized by progradational and retrogradational depositional styles. Upper Miocene plays are dominated by progradational depositional style, and Plio-Pleistocene plays include abundant progradational and submarine-fan reservoirs.Bureau of Economic Geolog

Moving the needle—what does RSAP look for and what does it aim to do?

Peer reviewe

Atlas of Northern Gulf of Mexico Gas and Oil Reservoirs - Volume 1. Miocene and Older Reservoirs, Play Analysis Procedures

This report summarizes activities conducted during the second year of the Northern Gulf of Mexico Oil and Gas Resource Atlas Series program. Funded by the Gas Research Institute, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the U.S. Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service, investigations began in October 1992, with the Bureau of Economic Geology as the lead technical contractor. The objective of this program is to develop an atlas of hydrocarbon plays by integrating geologic and engineering data for oil and gas reservoirs with large-scale patterns of depositional basin fill and geologic age. The oil and gas atlas of the Gulf of Mexico will provide a critically compiled, comprehensive reference, which is needed to more efficiently develop reservoirs, to extend field limits, and to better assess the opportunities for intrafield exploration. The play atlas series will provide an organizational framework to aid development in mature areas and to extend exploration paradigms from mature areas to frontier areas deep below the shelf and into deep waters of the continental slope. In addition to serving as a model for exploration and education, the offshore atlas will aid resource assessment efforts of State, Federal, and private agencies by allowing for greater precision in the extrapolation of variables within and between plays. Classification and organization of reservoirs into plays have proved to be effective in previous atlases produced by the Bureau, including the Texas oil (Galloway and others, 1983) and gas atlases (Kosters and others, 1989), the central and eastern Gulf Coast gas atlas (Bebout and others, 1992), and the Midcontinent gas atlas (Bebout and others, 1993).Bureau of Economic Geolog

Pharmacy Technician-Administered Vaccines: On Perceptions and Practice Reality

Doucette and Schommer recently surveyed U.S. community pharmacy technicians on their willingness to perform tasks including the administration of vaccines. They found that 47.1% of technicians reported they were “unwilling” to administer a vaccine, although this finding must be placed into proper context. The first nationwide survey of U.S. pharmacist perceptions on immunizations in 1998 revealed only 2.2% of pharmacist respondents had administered adult vaccines and only 0.9% had administered childhood vaccines. They also found pharmacists to be “slightly negative on administering immunizations” with many perceived barriers. Nonetheless, pharmacist-provided immunizations have been an unqualified public health success. The theory of planned behavior (TPB) predicts intention from attitude and perceived behavioral control, among other factors. Given low involvement, exposure, and perceived behavioral control to administer vaccinations, technicians’ attitudes or willingness to participate from the Doucette and Shommer study can be regarded as quite positive. Given the results of a successful pilot project in Idaho and that subjective norms and perceived behavioral control will likely shift upward, one can only expect technicians’ willingness to participate in vaccinations to become more favorable and ultimately become a success