Are university widening participation activities just-in-time or just-out-of-time? Exploring the (mis)alignment between the timing of widening participation activities and university decision-making among students from low socioeconomic backgrounds

When is the best time to engage high school students in widening participation (WP) activities? With qualitative data from 46 university students at six Australian universities who are from low socioeconomic status (LSES) backgrounds, this study explored WP’s timeliness. It was found that a) the timing of the decision to go to university can occur at any point in compulsory schooling; b) LSES students experienced the bulk of WP in senior high school, being the years after they have selected the university stream; c) students in the university stream were exposed to WP activities while those in the non-university stream were excluded; and d) participants recommended that WP should begin earlier and be concentrated in the lead up to the forced streaming decision that occurs in Year 10. Overall, earlier WP exposure that is synchronised with high school streaming processes would optimise WP activities aimed at increasing LSES university participation

Conceptualising a social marketing approach to widening participation in Australian higher education

Education is transformative. Education delivers benefits to individuals, their families and communities; and it is this far-reaching impact that compels further rsearch into understanding why under-participation by peopel from low socio-economic status (LSES) backgrounds occurs and finding new ways to attenpt to assuage the situation. This paper is novel in many ways, most notably as it synthesises two similar yet different domains, being social marketing and wideing participation. Drawing on a transdisciplinary body of knowledge and practices, we present a different lens through which to view the seemingly perennial issue of under-participation in higher education by people from LSES backgrounds. We present a conceptual model that reframes LSES participation in the social marketing Model of Goal-directed Behaviour. Our conceptual model provides fresh insights for use by researchers and practitioners alike

Alliance of Genome Resources Portal: unified model organism research platform

The Alliance of Genome Resources (Alliance) is a consortium of the major model organism databases and the Gene Ontology that is guided by the vision of facilitating exploration of related genes in human and well-studied model organisms by providing a highly integrated and comprehensive platform that enables researchers to leverage the extensive body of genetic and genomic studies in these organisms. Initiated in 2016, the Alliance is building a central portal (www.alliancegenome.org) for access to data for the primary model organisms along with gene ontology data and human data. All data types represented in the Alliance portal (e.g. genomic data and phenotype descriptions) have common data models and workflows for curation. All data are open and freely available via a variety of mechanisms. Long-term plans for the Alliance project include a focus on coverage of additional model organisms including those without dedicated curation communities, and the inclusion of new data types with a particular focus on providing data and tools for the non-model-organism researcher that support enhanced discovery about human health and disease. Here we review current progress and present immediate plans for this new bioinformatics resource

Alliance of Genome Resources Portal: unified model organism research platform

The Alliance of Genome Resources (Alliance) is a consortium of the major model organism databases and the Gene Ontology that is guided by the vision of facilitating exploration of related genes in human and well-studied model organisms by providing a highly integrated and comprehensive platform that enables researchers to leverage the extensive body of genetic and genomic studies in these organisms. Initiated in 2016, the Alliance is building a central portal (www.alliancegenome.org) for access to data for the primary model organisms along with gene ontology data and human data. All data types represented in the Alliance portal (e.g. genomic data and phenotype descriptions) have common data models and workflows for curation. All data are open and freely available via a variety of mechanisms. Long-term plans for the Alliance project include a focus on coverage of additional model organisms including those without dedicated curation communities, and the inclusion of new data types with a particular focus on providing data and tools for the non-model-organism researcher that support enhanced discovery about human health and disease. Here we review current progress and present immediate plans for this new bioinformatics resource

Global urban environmental change drives adaptation in white clover

Urbanization transforms environments in ways that alter biological evolution. We examined whether urban environmental change drives parallel evolution by sampling 110,019 white clover plants from 6169 populations in 160 cities globally. Plants were assayed for a Mendelian antiherbivore defense that also affects tolerance to abiotic stressors. Urban-rural gradients were associated with the evolution of clines in defense in 47% of cities throughout the world. Variation in the strength of clines was explained by environmental changes in drought stress and vegetation cover that varied among cities. Sequencing 2074 genomes from 26 cities revealed that the evolution of urban-rural clines was best explained by adaptive evolution, but the degree of parallel adaptation varied among cities. Our results demonstrate that urbanization leads to adaptation at a global scale

Relationship marketing in Australian higher education: The impact of relationship perceptions on the retention intentions of first year students in regional, new universities

"Relationship marketing (RM) represents a possible marketing strategy for regional, new universities in Australia. Universities have been interested in student retention for many reasons other than marketing. However, now faced with increased domestic competition and the adoption of a student customer focus, the need to stem first year student attrition has become more pronounced. RM is an attractive strategy for regional, new universities as the key outcome of RM is the retention of current customers. However, RM thoery remains fragmented with many gaps in the literature..." -- abstract. Relationship marketing (RM) represents a possible marketing strategy for regional, new universities in Australia. Universities have been interested in student retention for many reasons other than marketing. However, now faced with increased domestic competition and the adoption of a student customer focus, the need to stem first year student attrition has become more pronounced. RM is an attractive strategy for regional, new universities as the key outcome of RM is the retention of current customers. However, RM theory remains fragmented with many gaps in the literature. Accordingly, the research problem investigated was: How do first year students' perceptions of their relationship with the regional, new, Australian university in which they are enrolled impact upon their retention intentions (to complete their current degree) for a higher education service product? Two research questions were developed to address two primary theoretical concerns. Firstly, this research was concerned with the further development of four specific RM themes, these being: relationship desire, relational benefits, relationship satisfaction and relationship strength. Secondly, this research was concerned with the interrelationships between these four RM themes and their subsequent impact upon relationship-based retention intentions. A two-stage methodological approach was used. An exploratory study using interviews and focus groups was undertaken first. In concert with the literature review, the exploratory study formed the basis for the development of the main study questionnaire survey. The questionnaire was then administered at three regional, new universities and provided quantitative data about the research questions and hypotheses. The data generated by the 334 useable questionnaires were analysed with SPSS and AMOS 4.0 with structural equation modelling the primary data analysis technique. In addressing the research problem, this research makes contri-butions to RM theory. Firstly, theoretical contributions were made to each RM theme, thus adding to the understanding of relationship desire, relational benefits, relationship satisfaction and relationship strength. Primarily, this research found that: 1) a customer's desire for a relationship impacts upon their perceptions of relational benefits and relationship satisfaction; 2) there are three context-specific categories of relational benefits, namely learning environment, motivation and assessment confidence; 3) relationship satisfaction is the primary influencer of relationship-based retention intentions; and 4) there are three categories of context-specific relationship strength dimensions, namely bene-volence, care and feedback. The second contribution to theory made by this research was the model of RM theme interrelationships, which empirically identified the links between the four RM themes and their impact upon relationship-based retention intentions. This research also has practical implications for higher education marketing. The findings of this research provide useful and meaningful practical information about first year students' perceptions of their relationship with their university, and the impact of these relationships upon their retention intentions. As such, the findings of this research may assist in the adoption, design and implementation of RM strategies by regional, new universities. The overall conclusion of this research was that for some first year students, relationships are an important retention criterion, for other first year students relationships are a retention consideration but of lesser importance, while for the remaining first year students, relationships are inconsequential to their retention decisions. As such, RM remains a potential marketing strategy for regional, new universities to enhance the retention of some, but not all, of their first year student consumers

Embedding relationship cues in written communication

Purpose Building and maintaining strong customer relationships has been suggested as a means for gaining a competitive advantage. Despite this, few studies have examined the link between written communication and relationship perceptions. Yet understanding the establishment of this link is a necessary precursor for the development of concrete relationship management strategies. This paper aims to test the effectiveness of wellknown and cited written communication elements in enhancing relationship perceptions. The paper specifically seeks to identify which elements of written communication are relationally conducive by examining the impact of these elements on customers' perceptions of the relationship they have with their service provider. Design/methodology/approach The paper reports the results of an empirical survey of 422 distance education customers in which customers were asked to assess relationally conducive written communication elements and the importance of these elements on relationship development. Findings It was found that four components of written communication – message clarity, aesthetics, accuracy and physical features – were perceived by customers as relational cues that influence their relationship with the service organisation. Originality/value These findings are of value to service managers developing written communication that is conducive to relationship development. The contribution of the paper is that it empirically establishes a link between written communication and service relationships; an untested link that has been presumed in the literature. This basic empirical foundation is a necessary first step in the development of this research area