Redefining Transformative Change in Higher Education

Introductio

Adolescent Civic Involvement and the Great Recession of 2008: Testing the Certainty of Employment

This study employs data from the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002 to investigate the relationship between the voluntary civic involvement of high school students and their subsequent employment status during the Great Recession of 2008. It also examines whether volunteering with a specific type of community organization relates to future employment. Such youth civic involvement offers experiential learning in which students use academic knowledge and skills to address specific community needs. Along the pathways to employment, students achieve learning objectives while experiencing real-world issues. Using SPSS, the authors conduct a logistical regression, and discuss the results using odds ratios. The authors also include gender, ethnicity, family composition, parents’ highest level of education, and family income as demographic variables

Building a Service Corps: Using Capacity Building Strategies to Promote Service-Learning and Social Entrepreneurship Within a Higher Education Consortium

This article entails a case analysis of a sample of schools from a higher education network or consortium in partnership with The Algernon Sydney Sullivan Foundation.  The Foundation seeks to empower students and communities through civic engagement and social entrepreneurship.  A primary mechanism for doing so is by developing and cultivating a network of 70 colleges and universities, thereby enabling the Foundation’s capacity to educate and prepare nearly 250,000 collegians for life-long and intentional careers in social change-making.  To assist with this endeavor, the Foundation commissioned this study to assess the existing service corps and social entrepreneurship framework of its partner institutions.  Using a capacity-building framework, the study includes findings from a survey of existing service-learning and social entrepreneurship programs and initiatives as well as recommendations for strengthening the Sullivan network or higher education consortium to provide more formal service-learning and social entrepreneurial experiences for collegians.

Evaluation of the Reproductive and Developmental Risks of Caffeine

A risk analysis of in utero caffeine exposure is presented utilizing epidemiological studies and animal studies dealing with congenital malformation, pregnancy loss, and weight reduction. These effects are of interest to teratologists, because animal studies are useful in their evaluation. Many of the epidemiology studies did not evaluate the impact of the “pregnancy signal,” which identifies healthy pregnancies and permits investigators to identify subjects with low pregnancy risks. The spontaneous abortion epidemiology studies were inconsistent and the majority did not consider the confounding introduced by not considering the pregnancy signal. The animal studies do not support the concept that caffeine is an abortafacient for the wide range of human caffeine exposures. Almost all the congenital malformation epidemiology studies were negative. Animal pharmacokinetic studies indicate that the teratogenic plasma level of caffeine has to reach or exceed 60 µg/ml, which is not attainable from ingesting large amounts of caffeine in foods and beverages. No epidemiological study described the “caffeine teratogenic syndrome.” Six of the 17 recent epidemiology studies dealing with the risk of caffeine and fetal weight reduction were negative. Seven of the positive studies had growth reductions that were clinically insignificant and none of the studies cited the animal literature. Analysis of caffeine's reproductive toxicity considers reproducibility and plausibility of clinical, epidemiological, and animal data. Moderate or even high amounts of beverages and foods containing caffeine do not increase the risks of congenital malformations, miscarriage or growth retardation. Pharmacokinetic studies markedly improve the ability to perform the risk analyses. Birth Defects Res (Part B) 92:152–187, 2011. © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc

Divided We Stand: Defying Hegemony in Global Public Relations and Practice?

The last decade has seen the world becoming increasingly complex. One way of dealing withcomplexity, according to Schwab (2010a), is to look for certainties or solutions that imposeorder by simplifying. The authors contend that this is a risk in public relations practiceand the academy. While recognizing their benefits they warn against attempts to produceglobal models which also seek to impose hegemony and argue for maintaining a diversitythat reflects reality. They take the cases of the UK and Singapore as respective exemplarswhere hegemony has arguably occurred and where it can still be resisted. They call for aprofessional and epistemological stand against hegemony

Reimagining the Student Evaluation: Using Democratic Frameworks & SWOT Analyses to Improve Teaching and Learning

Description / Abstract Student evaluations are among the most common assessments for teaching. Yet, they rarely provide substantive feedback on ways to enhance teaching and learning. This conceptual study seeks to address the issue by focusing its lens on the student evaluation and reimagining it through a SWOT framework to improve teaching and learning. The goal is to re-envision the student evaluation as more fluid and consistent, mutually beneficial for students and instructors, and seamlessly integrated into the fabric of the course. Presentation Format A tailored SWOT Analysis will be provided to outline (a) strengths which aid learning, (b) weaknesses which inhibit learning and inquiry, (c) opportunities for instructional and/or course improvement, and (d) instructional and/or course design threats to learning. The analysis can serve dual roles as an instructional assessment tool as well as a reflective learning tool for students and instructors alike. Building on the work of service-learning researchers concerning the democratic classroom, the presenter will outline an instructional framework which promotes democratic assessment and engagement through the recognition of students and instructors in mutually beneficial exchanges of teaching and learning within any classroom setting (i.e., undergraduate, graduate, traditional, online, or hybrid). Audience This presentation will benefit faculty seeking to develop their teaching skills while improving course delivery and student learning

Plenary Session: Conversation on LGBTQIA+ Campus Issues and Updates (P-20)

This plenary session explores institutional responses and best practices across a range of issues involving students and employees who identify as LGBTQIA+ in our schools, colleges, and universities, as well support for those who choose not to identify. Jaime Harker, Professor of English and Director of the Sarah Isom Center for Women and Gender Studies, University of MississippiBonita Coleman, Superintendent, Ocean Springs School District, Ocean Springs, MississippiPaul Watkins, Attorney, Mayo Mallette PLLC, Oxford, MississippiPhillis L. George (session moderator), Interim Chair and Associate Professor of Higher Education, Department of Higher Education, University of Mississipp

Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine knowledge, attitudes, and uptake in college students: Implications from the Precaution Adoption Process Model

<div><p>The purpose of this study was to examine human papillomavirus (HPV) and HPV vaccine knowledge, attitudes, and uptake in college students and to identify factors associated with vaccination status utilizing the Precaution Adoption Process Model (PAPM). The sample included 383 undergraduates from a public university who participated in February and March 2015. Students were emailed an anonymous online survey assessing knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions related to HPV and HPV vaccination, as well as their stage in the PAPM regarding vaccination completion. Significantly more females (47.3%) than males (15.8%) were vaccinated. While most students had basic knowledge of HPV, they had low perceptions of their susceptibility to contract HPV. Most unvaccinated students were in the early stages of decision-making related to vaccination. Campus health centers have an opportunity to increase HPV vaccination rates. This study indicates that students need prompts from providers, as well as education regarding susceptibility to HPV.</p></div

HPV knowledge by gender.

<p>HPV knowledge by gender.</p