INTEGRATING PERSUASIVE MESSAGING STRATEGIES INTO HIGHER EDUCATION EARLY ALERT INTERVENTIONS TO IMPROVE STUDENT ACADEMIC BEHAVIORS

Higher Education is at a critical juncture as both public and private institutions seek to attract, retain, and graduate students. Institutions of higher education have traditionally developed communication and engagement strategies that become part of early warning/alert systems intended to increase student positive academic behaviors and improve student success. Persuasion can be a powerful tool in improving communication—especially when persuasive messages are deployed within the complex and ever-changing media landscape. Communication and persuasion scholars, for example, have applied persuasive messaging interventions in a variety of contexts but have yet to substantially apply these persuasive tactics in a higher education setting. The current study seeks to overcome this deficit by applying Cialdini’s (2001) persuasion principles of consensus and authority, along with Kaptein’s (2009) susceptibility to persuasion construct, to determine whether higher education early alert systems can improve positive student academic behaviors. As such, the current study uses a 2 (susceptibility to persuasion) X 2 (message consensus) X 2 (message authority) factorial design to test whether the integration of persuasion principles into intervention messages improves the efficacy of an early alert intervention. A total of 622 undergraduate students were recruited in fall of 2020 from a research one university in the southeastern United States and completed an only survey. Results revealed two significant main effects: one for susceptibility to persuasion and a second for message authority. Individuals high on susceptibility to persuasion reported greater intentions to engage in positive academic behaviors. The second main effect revealed that individuals who received the high authority alert message expressed greater intentions to engage in positive academic behaviors. No significant main effect was reported for consensus messages. Likewise, no significant interaction effects were revealed for any of the three variables operating in tandem. Implications are discussed as they relate to higher education administrators who are considering new messaging strategies and tactics for improving undergraduate academic early alert systems before acknowledging limitations associated with the current study. This dissertation concludes with an exploration of future directions that involve additional persuasion principles (beyond authority and consensus) to determine how they might potentially improve persuasion attempts across contexts both inside and outside of higher education

Preliminary Research on a COVID-19 Test Strategy to Guide Quarantine Interval in University Students

Following COVID-19 exposure, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends a 10–14-day quarantine for asymptomatic individuals and more recently a 7-day quarantine with a negative PCR test. A university-based prospective cohort study to determine if early polymerase chain reaction (PCR) negativity predicts day 14 negativity was performed. A total of 741 asymptomatic students in quarantine was screened and 101 enrolled. Nasopharyngeal swabs were tested on days 3 or 4, 5, 7, 10, and 14, and the proportion of concordant negative results for each day versus day 14 with a two-sided 95% exact binomial confidence interval was determined. Rates of concordant negative test results were as follows: day 5 vs. day 14 = 45/50 (90%, 95% CI: 78–97%); day 7 vs. day 14 = 47/52 (90%, 95% CI: 79–97%); day 10 vs. day 14 = 48/53 (91%, 95% CI:79–97%), with no evidence of different negative rates between earlier days and day 14 by McNemar’s test, p \u3e 0.05. Overall, 14 of 90 (16%, 95% CI: 9–25%) tested positive while in quarantine, with seven initial positive tests on day 3 or 4, 5 on day 5, 2 on day 7, and none on day 10 or 14. Based on concordance rates between day 7 and 14, we anticipate that 90% (range: 79–97%) of individuals who are negative on day 7 will remain negative on day 14, providing the first direct evidence that exposed asymptomatic students ages 18–44 years in a university setting are at low risk if released from quarantine at 7 days if they have a negative PCR test prior to release. In addition, the 16% positive rate supports the ongoing need to quarantine close contacts of COVID-19 cases

Carbon capture from pulverized coal power plant (PCPP): Solvent performance comparison at an industrial scale

Coal is the most abundant fossil fuel on the planet. However, power generation from coal results in large amounts of greenhouse gas emissions. Solvent-based carbon capture is a relatively mature technology which can potentially mitigate these emissions. Although, much research has been done on this topic, single-point performance analysis of capture plant and ignoring operational characteristics of the upstream power plant may result in unrealistic performance assessments. This paper introduces a new methodology to assess the performance of CO2 capture solvents. The problem is posed as retrofitting an existing pulverized coal power plant with post-combustion carbon capture using two solvents: CDRMax, a recently developed amine-promoted buffer salt (APBS) solvent by Carbon Clean Solutions Limited (CCSL) and the monoethanolamine (MEA) baseline solvent. The features of interest include model development and validation using pilot plant data, as well as integrated design and control of the capture process. The emphasis is on design and operation of the capture plant, when integrated with the upstream coal-fired power plant, subject to variations in the electricity load. The results suggest that optimal design and operation of capture plant can significantly mitigate the energetic penalties associated with carbon capture form the flue gas, while providing effective measures for comparing solvent performances under various scenarios

Data-Driven Birth Outcomes Objectives for a Community Health Improvement Plan

Purpose: To identify factors associated with poor birth outcomes in four Montgomery County, Ohio zip codes identified as priority areas for public health intervention. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using data from zip codes 45415 (N=267), 45416 (N=158), 45417 (N=1,104) & 45426 (N=571) in Montgomery County, Ohio from 2013 – 2015. The outcome was birth weight. Predictor variables included maternal demographics and behavioral variables. Multiple linear regression was used to test for associations. Results: Children of White mothers had greater mean birth weight compared to children of non-White mothers in all four zip codes; it was statistically significant in three of the zip codes (45415, 45416, 45417). A greater mean number of cigarettes smoked during pregnancy was relatively associated with a decrease in mean birth weight across the four zip codes; this association was statistically significant in zip code 45417. Although Apgar scores and breastfeeding status were statistically significantly associated with changes in mean birth weight, they were found to be un-fit predictors of birth weight as they both occur after a child’s birth. Maternal age, education level, marital status, WIC participation, payment method for birth of child, month prenatal care began and type of doctor attending to birth were not significantly associated with birth weight. Conclusion: Maternal race and smoking are significantly associated with changes in birth weight; these significant associations can be used to guide the development of birth outcomes-related Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) objectives and funding allocations to improve birth outcomes

Attract, Engage and Enroll – Marketing a MOOC

With many institutions offering open online courses, certificates, and specializations, fulfillment of enrollment goals has become center of focus. A greater need exists for universities to promote, market, and communicate with prospective students in open course offerings using both traditional and innovative digital communication technique