Rethinking Higher Education: A Case Study of Institutional Transformation

U.S. public higher education faces increasing challenges, including changing models of educational delivery, declining state funding, alternative credentialing, demographic shifts in student populations, questions concerning the relevancy of the curriculum, increased cost, and increasing competition. This paper presents a case study of one of the most comprehensive higher education redesign efforts at an urban research university. reTHINK PSU, a presidential initiative at Portland State University (PSU), is a campus-wide effort to deliver an education that serves more students with better outcomes, while containing costs through curricular innovation, community engagement, and effective use of technology. reTHINK PSU projects follow a well-designed roadmap for developing solutions for challenges facing PSU. The initiative used the principles of open innovation, design thinking, project management, and the creation of innovation platforms to launch a series of successful projects. This paper will summarize these efforts and will outline an organizational transformation strategy that may be replicated by other institutions wanting to innovate and redesign their operations. Keywords: Innovation, Higher Education, Design Thinking, Crowdsourcin

Table of Contents and Prologue

Editorial board, Table of contents, and Prologue, an introduction to volume 1

An observational cross-sectional study to assess knowledge, attitude and practice of resident doctors and nursing professionals regarding pharmacovigilance in a tertiary care teaching hospital in Central India

Background: Adequate knowledge, positive attitude and motivated practice of pharmacovigilance are the building pillars of ADR reporting. This study was conducted to evaluate the knowledge and attitude towards pharmacovigilance and adverse drug reaction reporting among the resident doctors and nursing staff in AIIMS Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India.Methods: This cross-sectional questionnaire based study was carried out in a tertiary care centre. The survey was carried out using a pre-validated questionnaire that included 20 questions to evaluate the participant’s knowledge, attitude and practice.Results: Answers to knowledge based questions were given correctly by around 82.6% (95% CI 0.7576 to 0.8794) of resident doctors and 74% (95% CI 0.6033 to 0.8424) nursing professionals. The difference of basic knowledge about pharmacovigilance between resident doctors and nursing professionals was insignificant (p-value is 0.7967). The most common reason for underreporting was unawareness, which was opted by 69% (95% CI 0.6153-0.7617) of resident doctors, while among the 58% (95% CI 0.4422-0.7064) nursing staff, the major factor was non-feasible ADR monitoring system in hospital. The suggestion of conducting training and awareness programme to promote ADR reporting given by resident doctors and nursing staff were 85% (95% CI 0.7872-0.0957) and 80% (95 % CI 0.6677-0.8895) respectively.Conclusions: The participants were well aware of pharmacovigilance and adverse drug reaction reporting. They had expressed the positive attitude towards pharmacovigilance and ADR reporting. But the routine practice of reporting ADRs is lacking. Hence there is need for increasing awareness and building positive attitude and practices among the health care professionals

Case Report Bortezomib Induced Hepatitis B Reactivation

Background. It has recently been reported that hepatitis B (HBV) reactivation often occurs after the use of rituximab and stem cell transplantation in patients with lymphoma who are hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) negative. However, clinical data on HBV reactivation in multiple myeloma (MM) is limited to only a few reported cases. Bortezomib and lenalidomide have remarkable activity in MM with manageable toxicity profiles, but reactivation of viral infections may emerge as a problem. We present a case of MM that developed HBV reactivation after bortezomib and lenalidomide therapy. Case Report. A 73-year-old female with a history of marginal cell lymphoma was monitored without requiring therapy. In 2009, she developed MM, presenting as a plasmacytoma requiring vertebral decompression and focal radiation. While receiving radiation she developed renal failure and was started on bortezomib and liposomal doxorubicin. After a transient response to 5 cycles, treatment was switched to lenalidomide. Preceding therapy initiation, her serology indicated resolved infection. Serial monitoring for HBV displayed seroconversion one month after change in therapy. Conclusion. Bortezomib associated late HBV reactivation appears to be a unique event that requires further confirmation and brings to discussion whether hepatitis B core positive individuals would benefit from monitoring of HBV activation while on therapy

Stimulated Reporting of Adverse Events Following Immunization with COVID-19 Vaccines

In India, up until December 2021, Covishield and Covaxin vaccines against COVID-19 were being used for mass vaccination programs. In view of the urgency of fighting the ongoing pandemic, many vaccines have been granted emergency use approval while phase 2/3 clinical trials were still underway. Even for vaccines that have completed phase 3 trials, safety data may not be comprehensive. This retrospective observational study was conducted at a designated Regional Training Centre for Pharmacovigilance cum Adverse Drug Reaction Monitoring Centre (AMC) under the Pharmacovigilance Programme of India. The data sources were stimulated spontaneous reports of Adverse Events Following Immunization (AEFI) due to the COVID-19 vaccines from 10 January to 31 December 2021. A total of 51,010 COVID vaccine doses were administered during the study period. There were 330 AEFI reported (AEFI rate: 0.65%). Six AEFI were serious events among which three were Adverse Events of Special Interest. The majority of the AEFI were systemic, reported after the first dose, and with an onset between 1 and 24 h after vaccination. On comparing Covishield and Covaxin, there were no statistically significant differences in the AEFI reported with either vaccine in terms of gender, seriousness, lag period, duration, recovery, causality, treatment received for AEFI, presence of co-morbidity, or history of COVID-19 infection. Overall, the rates of AEFI was uncommon, and serious AEFI were rare with both Covishield and Covaxin, with a higher rate after the first dose. Whether immunological tolerance or allayed anxiety was responsible for the lower AEFI risk with the second dose remains to be investigated

Delivering on the Promise of Democracy

"Many educators can recite the faults of their schools or universities, but far fewer can recognize and develop existing strengths to benefit a wider audience. Sukhwant Jhaj has crafted a refreshing new look at how imaginative leadership and a shift in perspective can propel institutions to reach at-risk or underrepresented members of their communities. Delivering on the Promise of Democracy pulls back the curtain on seven high-performing universities to reveal which daily decisions, including listening to the community, embracing conflict, and implementing effective strategies through routine, guide administrators in achieving exceptional results. Through in-depth interviews that offer a close look at these seven universities, Jhaj traces a new trajectory for higher education: a call to question a university's effectiveness through its accessibility to the community it serves. Jhaj's book will inspire anybody interested in widening access to education with its call to renew their institution's mission through powerful and effective leadership.

Delivering on the Promise of Democracy

"Many educators can recite the faults of their schools or universities, but far fewer can recognize and develop existing strengths to benefit a wider audience. Sukhwant Jhaj has crafted a refreshing new look at how imaginative leadership and a shift in perspective can propel institutions to reach at-risk or underrepresented members of their communities. Delivering on the Promise of Democracy pulls back the curtain on seven high-performing universities to reveal which daily decisions, including listening to the community, embracing conflict, and implementing effective strategies through routine, guide administrators in achieving exceptional results. Through in-depth interviews that offer a close look at these seven universities, Jhaj traces a new trajectory for higher education: a call to question a university's effectiveness through its accessibility to the community it serves. Jhaj's book will inspire anybody interested in widening access to education with its call to renew their institution's mission through powerful and effective leadership.

Designing Student Services: A Case Study Of Design Thinking At A University

This research project examined how an organization facing significant challenges could design projects vital to strategic renewal by using design thinking to deploy the idea of the design value chain. This study validated an existing design thinking framework, using a service design process at a postsecondary institution as the site for the study, thereby addressing an important gap in empirical research on the use of design thinking to improve faculty and staff (employee) engagement in the design of work, workplace, and workplace tools to enhance institutional service quality and enact strategic renewal at a postsecondary institution. This project used a case-study approach, drawing on publicly available artifacts from the redesign of academic and career advising at Portland State University, a single postsecondary site that used design-thinking techniques and employee engagement in the design of services. Materials were analyzed using document analysis and time-series analysis. The research findings suggest that employee engagement in design of services can be structured using a design methodology organized into six steps: (a) project initiation, (b) understanding user need, (c) reframing the problem, (d) visualizing change, (e) experimentation, and (f) design. This work is significant as it validates the use of design thinking both as a theoretical framework and a process to be deployed by non-designers in the design of student services

Delivering on the Promise of Democracy: Visual Case Studies in Educational Equity and Transformation (PDF)

Many educators can recite the faults of their schools or universities, but far fewer can recognize and develop existing strengths to benefit a wider audience. Sukhwant Jhaj has crafted a refreshing new look at how imaginative leadership and a shift in perspective can propel institutions to reach at-risk or underrepresented members of their communities. Delivering on the Promise of Democracy pulls back the curtain on seven high-performing universities to reveal which daily decisions, including listening to the community, embracing conflict, and implementing effective strategies through routine, guide administrators in achieving exceptional results. Through in-depth interviews that offer a close look at these seven universities, Jhaj traces a new trajectory for higher education: a call to question a university's effectiveness through its accessibility to the community it serves. Jhaj's book will inspire anybody interested in widening access to education with its call to renew their institution's mission through powerful and effective leadership