Can you get a job doing that?: Reimagining the Arts

Arguably the significance of a college degree is determined by the value it has in the market place. Rather than a critique of the commodification of education, this session offers strategies for the leadership in the arts and humanities to reimagine their programs in ways that will prepare their graduates for careers in and outside of the academy

An exploration of factors relating to variation among states in the frequency of due process hearings

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) establishes the due process hearing as a major component of the mechanism for conflict resolution between schools and parents regarding students eligible for special education services. Current research indicates that hearings are costly, both in financial terms and in terms of diminished relationships between schools and families. The purpose of this study was to explore whether various components of the comprehensive state plans and/or cultural factors were related to the frequency of due process hearings. The fifty states were grouped in terms of population and special education enrollment and subdivided by the number of hearings held in 1993. Three pairs of states were carefully chosen: each pair exhibiting a strong correlation in cultural factors while displaying marked differences in the number of hearings. Comprehensive state plans and information from Annual Reports to Congress were used to analyze state policies and practices regarding least restrictive environment, identification, and due process procedures. Data obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau and other sources, were used to explore cultural elements of the state including factors related to population, education, and socio-economics. The litigiousness of the states, or the inclination to resolve conflicts through the court systems, was also examined. Analysis of the data was performed on three levels: intra-spectively in terms of the individual states: inter-spectively in terms of paired states; and between groups of high and low due process states. As neither the probability nor chi square analysis could effectively differentiate significance among factors, a numerical analysis was based on marked deviations among percentages. The study uncovered three factors which clearly distinguished high and low due process states: 1) Least Restrictive Environment: High due process states placed a greater number of students In more restrictive environments and developed state plans containing a higher level of detail and elaboration; 2) Identification: High due process states used procedures other than a regression formula to Identify students with specific learning disabilities; and 3) Litigiousness: High due process states exhibited higher numbers in the three factors comprising litigiousness. Given the scope of this study, findings did not establish a causal relationship between the frequency of due process hearings and these factors. However, compelling questions for further research were raised. Further study is indicated comparing state policies and practices against the Issues presented at due process hearings, mediation practices and effectiveness, criteria for special education eligibility and for determining least restrictive environment, and case studies exploring local policies, practices, and attitudes regarding hearings. The replication of this study using a wider range of states would also contribute significantly to the knowledge base involving factors impacting due process litigation

Emotional Shared Experiences: A Phenomenological Qualitative Transcendental Study on the Shared Experiences of Ten Pastors in Rural Central Virginia Due to the COVID 19 Mandate That Closed Their Houses of Worship

The purpose of this qualitative transcendental phenomenological research study was to describe the shared emotional experiences of 10 senior pastors of Christian churches located in rural central Virginia due to the national COVID 19 mandate that forced them to close their houses of worship. Moreover, in the United States of America, a COVID 19 mandate was implemented that closed places of worship, which altered the American pastor’s routine schedule. Therefore, the central research question explicated in this research study was, “What are the personal emotions experienced by 10 senior pastors in rural Virginia during a phenomenon, the national COVID 19 mandate, that closed houses of worship?” To note, this research study journeyed to discover if these pastors experienced spiritual injury due to this COVID 19 mandate. Furthermore, to discover the influence of the COVID 19 phenomenon that affected these American pastors, this research study implemented a qualitative research method, which utilized the transcendental phenomenological qualitative research design to research their exposure to spiritual injury and to mental health anxiety disorder due to the COVID 19 mandate that closed their churches

The Irreducible Needs of Interprofessional Education – Creating and Sustaining an Institutional Commons for Health Professions Training

Leaders in health professions education schools and programs are under pressure to respond to new accreditation requirements for interprofessional education (IPE). The work of creating and sustaining an IPE program at an academic health center is in many ways analogous to the challenge of creating and sustaining a “commons”—a set of resources shared by many, but owned by none. In this Commentary, the authors borrow from the work of Nobel Laureate Elinor Ostrum to describe the “design principles” necessary to build and maintain the set of common resources needed to successfully implement and sustain an IPE program. They interpret these principles in the context of their own experiences implementing IPE programs and recommend three institutional structural elements necessary to build and sustain an IPE program: (1) a representative governance body, (2) an accountable director or leader, and (3) a structure supporting vertical and horizontal communication and authority

Determination of changes in pebble sphericity and roundness in a downstream direction in Clear Creek, Fairfield -- Hocking Counties, Ohio

Evaluation of the data obtained is used to show the relationships between roundness and sphericity of pebbles and the distance downstream these pebbles were collected, with lithology of the pebbles and glacial boundaries crossed by the stream taken into account. Evaluations are based on data taken from sixteen locations on Clear Creek and one location on the Hocking River in Fairfield-Hocking Counties, Ohio.No embarg

Changing the Newsroom Culture: A Four-Year Case Study of Organizational Development at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Yeshttps://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/manuscript-submission-guideline

OPSET Program for Computerized Selection of Watershed Parameter Values for the Stanford Watershed Model

The advent of high-speed electronic computer made it possible to model complex hydrologic processes by mathematical expressions and thereby simulate streamflows from climatological data. The most widely used program is the Stanford Watershed Model, a digital parametric model of the land phase of the hydrologic cycle based on moisture accounting processes. It can be used to simulate annual or longer flow sequences at hourly time intervals. Due to its capability of simulating historical streamflows from recorded climatological data, it has a great potential in the planning and design of water resources systems. However, widespread use of the Stanford Watershed Model has been deterred by difficulties in understanding and finding a computer sufficiently large to run the bulky program. More important, the estimation of values for key parameters was both time-consuming and subjective as it had to be done by trial and error. The objective of this study is to develop a computerized parameter optimization procedure, a self-calibrating watershed model, based on the FORTRAN version of the Stanford Watershed Model known as the Kentucky Watershed Model. This computerized procedure is named OPSET because its objective is to determine an optimum set of parameter values. The basic approach of OPSET is to match synthesized flows with recorded flows. The first step is by sensitivity studies to determine which key watershed para.meters are sensitive in the simulation of flows and are difficult to measure or estimate directly. The second step is to devise a scheme for adjusting numerical estimates of the selected key parameters systematically improving flow simulation until the best possible matching is achieved and to program this scheme into a streamlined Kentucky Watershed Model. Independent adjustment schemes are used for parameters associated with simulating runoff volumes, recession flows and flood hydrograph. The third step is to empirically test and improve this self-calibrating watershed model by applying it to a number of watersheds in Kentucky. OPSET estimates selected watershed parameters on a one water year basis, and the values of parameters best describing the watershed characteristics should be averaged from several OPSET-selected one-year-based values. In applying OPSET to over 20 Kentucky watersheds which represent quite a wide range of topographic and soil conditions, this model was found to be rather successful. It is able to simulate streamflows and find more consistently estimated para.meter values than the trial-and-error approach. The time spent on calibrating the watershed parameters is greatly reduced. The user does not have to spend so much time familiarizing himself with the program before he can properly use the Model. The program uses standardized criteria which reduce the subjectivity of estimating parameter values. The recommendation is ma.de that OPSET should be applied to areas where the climatological setting and geographical conditions differ from Kentucky in order to refine and modify it for a wider range of applicability. Also, the Model itself needs periodic updating in order to take advantage of subsequent empirical relationships or moisture accounting procedures