3,284 research outputs found
A Phenomenological Inquiry of Leadership Competency Perceptions among Community College Leaders in South Central Appalachia
Combined with other economic development challenges in the region, this context presents unique challenges for community college leaders in this part of Appalachia. The American Association of Community College Six Competencies for Community College Leaders are considered within this context to explore how those leading community colleges in the region feel about the competencies, what is unique to leading in Appalachia, and their most useful professional development experiences. Those competencies are: organizational strategy, resource management, communication, collaboration, community college advocacy, and professionalism.
The Appalachian Regional Commission subdivides Appalachia into several regions which share similar topographical, demographic, and economic characteristics. South Central Appalachia, includes the mountainous Appalachian regions of Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. To explore this topic, data were collected via interviews with 18 presidents and vice-presidents in the South Central Appalachian Region were interviewed and a document analysis of publicly available documents was conducted. The study utilized a qualitative approach and phenomenological research design. 10 presidents and 8 vice-presidents were interviewed.
The following major themes were identified: (1) Leaders in South Central Appalachia see value in all of the leadership competencies, but especially value collaboration, communication, and resource management; (2)Leaders in South Central Appalachia feel that the ability to adapt to regional and organizational culture is an imperative skill which is not addressed by the AACC competencies and there are special concerns for adapting to the culture at rural colleges in South Central Appalachia; (3) Leaders in South Central Appalachia cite on-the-job training and formal academic experiences as most valuable for their professional development, but those who have had entrepreneurial experiences feel strongly that those experiences better prepared them than other experiences could; and (4) many leaders who are not native to Appalachia commented that even after many years they are still viewed as outsiders or “being from off”.
This study has implications for leaders currently serving or aspiring to leadership roles in Appalachia, hiring managers, search committees, boards of trustees or others responsible for finding institutional leaders, leadership development programs, and scholars with an interest in rural community colleges, community colleges of Appalachia, and leadership development in community colleges
Self-Sustaining Oscillations in Complex Networks of Excitable Elements
Random networks of symmetrically coupled, excitable elements can
self-organize into coherently oscillating states if the networks contain loops
(indeed loops are abundant in random networks) and if the initial conditions
are sufficiently random. In the oscillating state, signals propagate in a
single direction and one or a few network loops are selected as driving loops
in which the excitation circulates periodically. We analyze the mechanism,
describe the oscillating states, identify the pacemaker loops and explain key
features of their distribution. This mechanism may play a role in epileptic
seizures.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures included, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let
Quasar outflow energetics from broad absorption line variability
Quasar outflows have long been recognized as potential contributors to the
co-evolution between supermassive black holes (SMBHs) and their host galaxies.
The role of outflows in AGN feedback processes can be better understood by
placing observational constraints on wind locations and kinetic energies. We
utilize broad absorption line (BAL) variability to investigate the properties
of a sample of 71 BAL quasars with PV broad absorption. The
presence of PV BALs indicates that other BALs like CIV
are saturated, such that variability in those lines favours clouds crossing the
line of sight. We use these constraints with measurements of BAL variability to
estimate outflow locations and energetics. Our data set consists of
multiple-epoch spectra from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and MDM Observatory.
We detect significant (4) BAL variations from 10 quasars in our sample
over rest frame time-scales between < 0.2-3.8 yr. Our derived distances for the
10 variable outflows are nominally < 1-10 pc from the SMBH using the
transverse-motion scenario, and < 100-1000 pc from the central source using
ionization-change considerations. These distances, in combination with the
estimated high outflow column densities (i.e. > 10
cm), yield outflow kinetic luminosities between ~ 0.001-1 times the
bolometric luminosity of the quasar, indicating that many absorber energies
within our sample are viable for AGN feedback.Comment: 19 pages, 3 figures, 4 tables, 1 supplementary figure, accepted to
MNRA
Development, simulation validation, and wind tunnel testing of a digital controller system for flutter suppression
Flutter suppression (FS) is one of the active control concepts being investigated by the AFW program. The design goal for FS control laws was to increase the passive flutter dynamic pressure by 30 percent. In order to meet this goal, the FS control laws had to be capable of suppressing both symmetric and antisymmetric flutter instabilities simultaneously. In addition, the FS control laws had to be practical and low-order, robust and capable of real time execution within the 200 hz. sampling time. The purpose here is to present an overview of the development, simulation validation, and wind tunnel testing of a digital controller system for flutter suppression
Constraining FeLoBAL outflows from absorption line variability
FeLoBALs are a rare class of quasar outflows with low-ionization broad
absorption lines (BALs), large column densities, and potentially large kinetic
energies that might be important for `feedback' to galaxy evolution. In order
to probe the physical properties of these outflows, we conducted a
multiple-epoch, absorption line variability study of 12 FeLoBAL quasars
spanning a redshift range between 0.7 and 1.9 over rest frame time-scales of
approximately 10 d to 7.6 yr. We detect absorption line variability with
greater than 8 sigma confidence in 3 out of the 12 sources in our sample over
time-scales of 0.6 to 7.6 yr. Variable wavelength intervals are associated with
ground and excited state Fe II multiplets, the Mg II 2796, 2803 doublet, Mg I
2852, and excited state Ni II multiplets. The observed variability along with
evidence of saturation in the absorption lines favors transverse motions of gas
across the line of sight (LOS) as the preferred scenario, and allows us to
constrain the outflow distance from the supermassive black hole (SMBH) to be
less than 69, 7, and 60 pc for our three variable sources. In combination with
other studies, these results suggest that the outflowing gas in FeLoBAL quasars
resides on a range of scales and includes matter within tens of parsecs of the
central source.Comment: 21 pages, 6 figures, 2 supplementary figures (attached at the end of
the manuscript), accepted to Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical
Societ
Analysis of Nonlinear Synchronization Dynamics of Oscillator Networks by Laplacian Spectral Methods
We analyze the synchronization dynamics of phase oscillators far from the
synchronization manifold, including the onset of synchronization on scale-free
networks with low and high clustering coefficients. We use normal coordinates
and corresponding time-averaged velocities derived from the Laplacian matrix,
which reflects the network's topology. In terms of these coordinates,
synchronization manifests itself as a contraction of the dynamics onto
progressively lower-dimensional submanifolds of phase space spanned by
Laplacian eigenvectors with lower eigenvalues. Differences between high and low
clustering networks can be correlated with features of the Laplacian spectrum.
For example, the inhibition of full synchoronization at high clustering is
associated with a group of low-lying modes that fail to lock even at strong
coupling, while the advanced partial synchronizationat low coupling noted
elsewhere is associated with high-eigenvalue modes.Comment: Revised version: References added, introduction rewritten, additional
minor changes for clarit
Collaborative multidisciplinary learning : quantity surveying students’ perspectives
The construction industry is highly fragmented and is known for its adversarial culture, culminating
in poor quality projects not completed on time or within budget. The aim of this study is thus to
guide the design of QS programme curricula in order to help students develop the requisite
knowledge and skills to work more collaboratively in their multi-disciplinary future workplaces.
A qualitative approach was considered appropriate as the authors were concerned with gathering an
initial understanding of what students think of multi-disciplinary learning. The data collection
method used was a questionnaire which was developed by the Behaviours4Collaboration (B4C)
team.
Knowledge gaps were still found across all the key areas where a future QS practitioner needs to be
collaborative (either as a project contributor or as a project leader) despite the need for change
instigated by the multi-disciplinary (BIM) education revolution.
The study concludes that universities will need to be selective in teaching, and innovative in
reorienting, QS education so that a collaborative BIM education can be effected in stages, increasing
in complexity as the students’ technical knowledge grows. This will help students to build the
competencies needed to make them future leaders. It will also support programme currency and
delivery
- …