Non-Profit Organizations in a Down Economy: The Financial Performance of Higher Education Institutions in the New England Area

An economic recession affects an entire economy, including the non-profit sector. The impact could result from changes in government support, a decrease in donations, investment income, service fees or a combination. Many private universities and colleges, which rely on tuition and endowment, have been affected by a dip in enrollments, while their endowments shrink because of the recession and declining stock values. This study will examine how an economic recession can affect non-profit organizations, focusing on private, four-year higher education institutions in New England. Different types and sizes of schools will be affected differently. Since the large, well-known schools have more diverse income sources than small, less-recognized ones, the former will be less affected during an economic recession. This study will identify and define the main income sources for higher education institutions and conclude with some recommendations for ways these schools can weather the economic storm

Dynamic studies of guest molecules in Metal-Organic Frameworks using Solid-State NMR

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are a new class of porous materials that possess large three-dimensional voids in their structures. In this work, Solid-state NMR (SSNMR) is used to examine the dynamics of guest molecules at various temperatures in MOFs that possess different types of channels. Chapter 2 introduces the 13CO2 adsorption behavior in α-Mg formate studied by 13C SSNMR in conjunction with molecular dynamic simulation. 1H-13C cross polarization technique has successfully determined the adsorption sites of CO2 in this type of MOF to be hydrogen atoms. The dynamic analysis detects that at low temperature, all of the adsorbed CO2 undergo a combined motion consisting of a localized rotation upon a single hydrogen site and a non-localized two-sites hopping between two hydrogen sites, whereas at high temperature, a small portion of the adsorbed CO2 molecules obey only a localized rotation while the majority still follow the combined motion. Chapter 3 studies the ethylene adsorption behavior in α-Mg formate and CPO-27-M (M = Mg and Zn) by means of 2H SSNMR. Two types of ethylene are found in α-Mg formate following distinct motions. The majority of the adsorbed ethylene undergoes a combined motion of localized rotation and non-localized two-sites hopping, whereas the minority follows a localized rotation only. In CPO-27-M, all the adsorbed ethylene follows a combined motion of a localized rotation upon the unsaturated metal sites and a simultaneous non-localized hopping between six unsaturated metal sites. The affinity of ethylene towards CPO-27-Mg is found to be stronger than in CPO-27-Zn