College Administrator Experiences: A Phenomenological Study of Higher Education Leadership in American Prisons

Higher education for the incarcerated (HEP) is a re-energized phenomenon in the age of criminal justice reform and social change. Following the 2015 Second Chance Pell Grant Experimental Initiative (SCP), which granted select colleges tuition funding for prisoners, HEP grew exponentially. The successes of the SCP laid the groundwork for the 2020 FASFA Simplification Act. In July 2023 the 2020 FSA begins, and all those imprisoned within America may access Pell Grant Funds for higher education. Despite momentous efforts to bring higher education to the incarcerated, HEP grapples with continued challenges and lacks unified, evidence-based competency equal to normative higher education. For this new movement to be successful it needs stronger foundations for its new growth. This study presumes that HEP leaders of the SCP Era have vital leadership experiences to lend to the journey ahead of HEP. This transcendental phenomenological research study explores the dynamics of the HEP leader experience, gathers their experiences within HEP leadership, and investigates what they believe is important for HEP’s future. Thirty-five HEP leaders were interviewed to provide evidence related to their perceptions of the HEP experience and what is best for its expansion. The data equated to collective experiences dominated by Department of Corrections culture, practicalities of day-to-day needs in HEP leadership, a wealth of positive experiences that are vital to the profession and the need for foundational philosophes that guide HEP. The study revealed a style of persistent leadership that is required for HEP success and the future of its impending evolution

Education And Spiritual Internalization

A growing body of research has addressed the relationship between religiousness and spirituality. In addition, recent research focuses on the variations in definition and operationalization of the two concepts. Most of this literature examines spirituality as a construct under religion. Conceptualizing those who are spiritual but non-religious has received far less attention. This study uses recent data from the General Social Surveys to assess the relationship of those who are spiritual but not religious with education and a number of socio-demographic variables. The analysis shows that there is a positive relationship between one identifying as someone who is spiritual but secular and educational attainment. Directions for future research are discussed

Comparative OBSI Testing in Northern California: The Davis Rodeo

The report describes a series of comparative on-board sound intensity (OBSI) tests performed on 19 different pavement sections by three different teams and vehicles using five different tires to determine variations among them for noise testing. The testing considered the tires’ rubber durometer hardness, tread depth, and accumulated mileage, and measured sound levels using the on-board sound intensity method. The results of these measurements are compared with similar testing performed earlier, and showed that the average differences measured by the teams were smaller and the maximum OBSI ranges were larger than those made in earlier testing

Magnetic Measurements on Superconductors and Heavy Fermions.

Magnetization and de Haas - van Alphen (dHvA) measurements have been made on the high temperature superconductor Ba\sb{0.6}K\sb{0.4}BiO\sb3 and the heavy fermion CeB\sb6. First ever observations of the dHvA effect in Ba\sb{0.6}K\sb{0.4}BiO\sb3 are reported. Two dHvA spectrometers (pulsed field and field modulation) were used to measure two samples. Four frequencies are found in the field modulation data with the 11.6 kT orbit in good agreement with band structure calculations. The three lowest frequencies were measured with the pulsed field spectrometer. All dHvA measurements were made in the superconducting mixed state. These measurements indicate that Ba\sb{0.6}K\sb{0.4}BiO\sb3 has a Fermi surface. Magnetization measurements on Ba\sb{0.6}K\sb{0.4}BiO\sb3 suggest a superconducting to normal state phase transition of an order greater than two given that both the specific heat and susceptibility discontinuities across T\sb{c} and H\sb{c2} are zero. All thermodynamic critical fields exhibit a positive curvature as the temperature approaches zero. The present measurements suggest that the value of H\sb{c2}(T = 0) is higher than previously thought with the possibility that it diverges at zero temperature. Measurements on CeB\sb6 at temperatures as low as 25 mK and in fields as high has 50 T reveal that the dHvA frequency of the belly orbit in the (100) direction changes as a function of field, decreasing in frequency with increasing applied field. This is evidence that the Fermi surface of CeB\sb6 is polarized. Fermi surface polarization together with the observed magnetic field dependence of the cyclotron mass adequately account for the measured frequency shift. Additionally, the observed frequency shift can be modeled with a form of the Lifshitz-Kosevich equation modified to allow for the effects of strong correlations

The Effect of Summer Enrollment in The Boys and Girls Club on Adolescent Peer Attachment

The formation of friendships is an important developmental step for adolescents. Peer attachment is an attachment relationship that adolescents develop with their closest friends. Research studying peer attachment has divided it into three major categories: trust, communication, and alienation, the later of which is an inverse measure of peer attachment. Youth organizations like the Boys and Girls Club of America (BGCA) offers places outside of school where adolescents can socialize with their peers. This study measured whether the BGCA had a significant impact on increasing peer attachment, trust, and communication while reducing alienation. Adolescents were tested at a local BGCA using the peer portion of the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment. Adolescents were tested again after attending the BGCA for a summer period. One-way t tests were used to calculate the change in IPP A scores. There was no significant change in scores on total peer attachment; t (7) = .129, ns or on any of the three subscales, communication; t (7) = .842, ns, alienation; t (7) = 1.383, ns, and trust; t (7) = .437, ns. A Pearson correlation revealed a two-month test-retest reliability of .844. This is very consistent with the original test-retest reliability provided in the norming sample. Several factors may have influenced the lack of significant results: the small sample size, untrustworthy responses, the young age of the sample, and the possibility that peer attachment is a relatively stable trait

Determinants of Adoption of Improved Maize Varieties and Chemical Fertilizers in Mozambique

In Mozambique, adoption of improved maize seed and chemical fertilizers is still limited. This study assessed farmers’ attitudes towards hybrid maize SC513, Nitrogenous (N) Phosphorous (P) Potassium (K), (NPK 12-24-12) and urea fertilizers in highlands and lowlands of the Manica District. The study determined the influence of farmers’ characteristics, attitudes, sources of information, and agro-ecological conditions on adoption of these technologies during 1995 through 2005. A questionnaire was administered during April and May 2006 with a randomly selected sample of 293 households. In general, farmers held positive attitudes towards improved maize varieties and chemical fertilizers, but the strength of attitudes towards fertilizers, in particular, varied by source of information. Farmers who learned about fertilizers from extension had stronger positive attitudes than farmers who learned about fertilizers from neighbors, although with hybrid seeds adoption, there was no significant difference between key sources. Overall, the number of farmers using SC513 was higher than the number of farmers using NPK and urea. Farmers’ decision to adopt SC513 was positively associated with agro-ecological conditions, knowledge, production traits and marketability of the maize. Agro-ecological conditions, knowledge of fertilizer application, and extension contact influenced adoption of chemical fertilizers. The results differentiate a simpler process of adoption of new seed from a more complex process of adoption of fertilizers which demands greater knowledge of timing and soils as well as basic computational skills. Factors determining adoption of hybrid maize varieties and chemical fertilizers should be considered when designing extension programs for these technologies