Use Of Outcome Measures To Modernize Curricula

In the current environment in higher education of trying to substantiate and justify that you are doing a great job as a department educating your students to be prepared for the “real world”, outcomes assessment is a major player.  But as many departments have found, “once you have received the feedback, now what do you do with it?”  Our paper will discuss how some of the outcome measurements that we use at Northwest Missouri State University in the Finance discipline become our decision drivers in course content and curricular reformation

Personal Financial Coaching, Part I: Basics The Public Needs To Know

In the course of our university service to the community in outreach activities, we have gravitated toward providing occasional group sessions in personal financial planning.  On the surface, the content of these financial coaching events may appear elementary to the casual observer.  But to the contrary, we have found that personal financial planning is a sorely needed skill set for many in our region.  Our typical session touches on the basic elements of family budgeting, retirement planning, goal setting and behavior modification.  Those contemplating establishment of a similar program of study may benefit from our field experience

Personal Dashboards: A Cutting Edge Faculty Performance Evaluation System

Northwest Missouri State University, a two-time winner of the Missouri Quality Award and two-time finalist for the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award, has a long history of quality in higher education.  Dr. Dean Hubbard, university President for the last 20 years, has pioneered the quality movement in higher education.  Northwest’s Seven-Step Planning Process has become a benchmark process that many other institutions have mimicked through the years.  Quality is truly the guiding force for our institution.  Many years ago, President Hubbard and his staff brainstormed the most important indicators of quality at the institutional level.  These indicators are continuously monitored and revised through a data management device that became known as the University’s “Dashboard” system, not dissimilar in concept to the dashboard of indicators one can find in any automobile or aircraft.  We have taken this institutional approach of driving and managing quality, and applied it to individual faculty performance measurement.  We have developed a series of job performance indicators designed to help faculty continuously improve their own performance, and to help administers monitor, track and reward high-achievers, and motivate those in need of assistance.&nbsp

Building A Business Incubator: A Teaching Case Study

The purpose of this case study is to discuss the feasibility of a business incubation facility in an agricultural region of the United States. The paper explains some of the unique characteristics of this environment, and discusses what an incubator might look like in this region. Our research to date indicates that a business incubator facility can not only be a strong engine for economic development and job creation, even rurally, the incubator model creates an environment that greatly improves a new enterprise’s chance for success. In small-town America, those successes are incredibly important for economic growth

Major Field Achievement Test In Business - Guidelines For Improved Outcome Scores - Part I

Outcomes measurements have always been an important part of proving to outside constituencies how you “measure up” to other schools with your business programs. A common nationally-normed exam that is used is the Major Field Achievement Test in Business from Educational Testing Services. Our paper discusses some guidelines that we are “pilot testing” to see if we can improve not only our lowest score, marketing majors in the finance area, but all of our overall outcome scores in the eight (8) segmented areas covered in the exam. If we are going to use the MFAT, let us try to make sure that the “input” from our students is the best we can get so that our “output” scores are truly meaningful

The Evolution of the Galaxy Cluster Luminosity-Temperature Relation

We analyzed the luminosity-temperature (L-T) relation for 2 samples of galaxy clusters which have all been observed by the ASCA satellite. We used 32 high redshift clusters (0.3<z<0.6), 53 low redshift clusters (z<0.3), and also the combination of the low and high redshift datasets. We assumed a power law relation between the bolometric luminosity of the galaxy cluster and its integrated temperature and redshift (L_{bol,44}=C*T^alpha*(1+z)^A). The results are consistent, independent of cosmology, with previous estimates of L$\sim$T$^3$ found by other authors. We observed weak or zero evolution.Comment: 20 pages, Latex, 11 figures, GIF forma

The Mountain Ungulate Research Initiative: A Collaborative Effort To Advance Understanding Of Bighorn Sheep And Mountain Goat Ecology

Bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) and mountain goats (Oreamnos americanus) are important components of the faunal assemblage of Montana’s mountainous ecosystems representing high-profile large mammals that garner substantial public interest. While population restoration, augmentation, and introductions have traditionally been the predominant conservation activities associated with these species in Montana, basic ecological research has been limited. A new research initiative has been developed and funded to study bighorn sheep and mountain goat spatial and population ecology in a number of ecological settings within the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. The aspiration of the collaborators is to develop a long-term research program that could expand to other populations of these species in Montana if we are successful. Primary objectives of the studies include 1) understanding the ecological interactions between sympatric populations, 2) developing and refining habitat suitability models, 3) documenting spatial dynamics within and among populations and identifying important movement corridors, 4) collecting vital rate data to better understand population dynamics, and 5) investigating potential responses of bighorn sheep and mountain goats to gradual changes in the regional climate. The presentation will describe the collaboration and ongoing efforts to consolidate all available data on bighorn sheep and mountain goats in the GYE. These data are used to describe mountain goat range expansion within the GYE over the past half century and to conduct initial habitat modeling efforts. We will also describe our plans for initiating field studies in the near future