Adult Learner Considerations in Admissions and Enrollment

As national focus on retention and student success increases, many states and institutions are looking for ways to increase the number of students who ultimately earn degrees. Many are realizing that the non-traditional adult student population is a historically untapped demographic that can provide almost instant, positive changes in graduation rates. This group is often considered low-hanging fruit and can be targeted to quickly complete unfinished degrees. This is especially true for institutions that have a large number of non-completers with high numbers of earned hours. Many non-returners have 90 or more earned hours and simply need some encouragement and proper guidance to start down the path to degree completion. In West Virginia, as in many other states, institutions have recently increased their focus on student retention and success. One of the outcomes of this increased focus was the creation in 2011 of the statewide DegreeNow program to encourage degree completion by adults with previously earned college credit. DegreeNow is aimed at non-traditional students who have a significant amount of earned college credit—typically 90 or more semester hours—and who therefore can complete their degrees with minimal time and effort. To facilitate the success of DegreeNow, the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission partnered with Dr. Marguerite M. Culp and the National Association of Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education (NASPA) to create the Leveraging DegreeNow training project. Sponsored by a grant from the Lumina Foundation, the project focuses on teaching theoretical frameworks that support adult learners; strengthening partnerships between academic affairs and student affairs; creating a culture of evidence in student affairs; and identifying other ways to assist adult learners during their college experience

Children 'in need of care' or in need of cash? Questioning social security provisions for orphans in the context of the South African AIDS pandemic

Joint working paper of the Children's Institute and Centre for Actuarial Research, University of Cape Town

The Status of Women In Missouri: A Comprehensive Report of Leading Indicators and Findings

The status of women in Missouri reflects the status of women throughout the United States. Missouri women have the same opportunities, but also face similar challenges. The Institute of Public Policy, in concert with an academic advisory committee at the University of Missouri, has worked diligently to examine existing data, analyze actionable steps at the state level, and understand women's successes and challenges through a series of focus groups across the state. These focus groups gave the researchers the opportunity to hear from very engaged and diverse groups of women, and also a group of men

Halogen Bonds Form the Basis for Selective P-TEFb Inhibition by DRB

SummaryCdk9, the kinase of the positive transcription elongation factor b, is required for processive transcription elongation by RNA polymerase II. Cdk9 inhibition contributes to the anticancer activity of many Cdk inhibitors under clinical investigation and hence there is interest in selective Cdk9 inhibitors. DRB (5,6-dichlorobenzimidazone-1-β-D-ribofuranoside) is a commonly used reagent for Cdk9 inhibition in cell biology studies. The crystal structures of Cdk9 and Cdk2 in complex with DRB reported here describe the molecular basis for the DRB selectivity toward Cdk9. The DRB chlorine atoms form halogen bonds that are specific for the Cdk9 kinase hinge region. Kinetic and thermodynamic experiments validate the structural findings and implicate the C-terminal residues of Cdk9 in contributing to the affinity for DRB. These results open the possibility to exploit halogen atoms in inhibitor design to specifically target Cdk9

Poor neuro-motor tuning of the human larynx:A comparison of sung and whistled pitch imitation

Vocal imitation is a hallmark of human communication that underlies the capacity to learn to speak and sing. Even so, poor vocal imitation abilities are surprisingly common in the general population and even expert vocalists cannot match the precision of a musical instrument. Although humans have evolved a greater degree of control over the laryngeal muscles that govern voice production, this ability may be underdeveloped compared with control over the articulatory muscles, such as the tongue and lips, volitional control of which emerged earlier in primate evolution. Human participants imitated simple melodies by either singing (i.e. producing pitch with the larynx) or whistling (i.e. producing pitch with the lips and tongue). Sung notes were systematically biased towards each individual’s habitual pitch, which we hypothesize may act to conserve muscular effort. Furthermore, while participants who sung more precisely also whistled more precisely, sung imitations were less precise than whistled imitations. The laryngeal muscles that control voice production are under less precise control than the oral muscles that are involved in whistling. This imprecision may be due to the relatively recent evolution of volitional laryngeal-motor control in humans, which may be tuned just well enough for the coarse modulation of vocal-pitch in speech

Hydrographic Surveys for Six Water Bodies in Eastern Nebraska, 2005–07

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality, completed hydrographic surveys for six water bodies in eastern Nebraska: Maskenthine Wetland, Olive Creek Lake, Standing Bear Lake, Wagon Train Lake and Wetland, Wildwood Lake, and Yankee Hill Lake and sediment basin. The bathymetric data were collected using a boat-mounted survey-grade fathometer that operated at 200 kHz, and a differentially corrected Global Positioning System with antenna mounted directly above the echo-sounder transducer. Shallow-water and terrestrial areas were surveyed using a Real-Time Kinematic Global Position¬ing System. The bathymetric, shallow-water, and terrestrial data were processed in a geographic information system to generate a triangulated irregular network representation of the bottom of the water body. Bathymetric contours were interpolated from the triangulated irregular network data using a 2-foot contour interval. Bathymetric contours at the conser¬vation pool elevation for Maskenthine Wetland, Yankee Hill Lake, and Yankee Hill sediment pond also were interpolated in addition to the 2-foot contours. The surface area and storage capacity of each lake or wetland were calculated for 1-foot intervals of water surface elevation and are tabulated in the Appendix for all water bodies

Former Youth Care Workers\u27 Experiences in Residential Treatment

AbstractAs juvenile crime increases across the United States, so do the costs to support incarceration programs. Youth care workers play a pivotal role in supporting the rehabilitation of youth. The effectiveness of a youth residential program is critical for the long-term employment of a youth care worker. The purpose of this qualitative transcendental phenomenological study was to obtain the lived experiences of young and departed youth care workers in residential settings about leaving employment. Pragmatism was the ontology that helped to guide this study with the aim of understanding how individuals’ reality was shaped by relational dynamics that contributed to varying outcomes for youth care workers. Using semistructured interviews of 10 African American former youth care workers at youth residential treatment facilities, the transcendental phenomenological research data analyses included the use of the modified van Kaam method. Four themes appeared: (a) education of youth care workers, (b) issues with administration, (c) frustration with low pay, and (d) enjoyment from working with youth. This study may contribute to positive social change by prompting policy makers and managers to consider increasing supportive professional development and compensation for supervisors and care workers to promote the longevity of youth care staff, resulting in improved supports for at-risk youth