Crossing the Cultural Chasm and the Power of Listening: How We Wrote a New Tenure Code

Revising the Tenure Code of an institution of higher learning may be among the most challenging of the processes it undertakes, especially when there is a commitment to shared governance by its Board of Trustees and Faculty. At Mitchell Hamline School of Law, we recently experienced this process - both difficult and ultimately satisfying - following the combination of two law schools. In 2016, Mitchell Hamline School of Law became an independent institution formed through the combination of independent William Mitchell College of Law and Hamline School of Law, a school of Hamline University, both based in St. Paul, Minnesota. In the early years, implementing the combination agreement consumed trustee and faculty attention, requiring significant work that included integrating faculty from each school, organizing administrative structure, filling staff positions, adding staff where necessary, and creating annual and capital budgets. Numerous challenges had to be addressed immediately following the combination. A particularly critical one was determining the Tenure Code to be used for the new school. At the time of the combination, each school had its own Tenure Code, but neither one was seen as appropriate for the new law school. In particular, there was a strong belief that the William Mitchell Tenure Code created a severe imbalance of governance and authority between the Faculty and Trustees. But because of the new law school\u27s location in the William Mitchell building, we thought we could use the William Mitchell Tenure Code temporarily, merely as a placeholder. No one imagined it would be in place for the next six and a half years. In hindsight, however, no one should have been surprised that the shortcomings of the original William Mitchell Tenure Code would become increasingly obvious and frustrating for the faculty of the new Mitchell Hamline School of Law. While each school considering a tenure code revision will face issues that are uniquely its own, the Mitchell Hamline School of Law experience confirms that when shared governance is the foundation of the tenure code review process, trust can be built, issues can be resolved, and a new tenure code can be unanimously adopted by the Faculty and the Board of Trustees

An Electromyographic Study of the Quadriceps and Hamstrings Recruitment during Two Closed Kinetic Chain Activities

Knee pain and injury are a commonly seen diagnosis in physical therapy practice. Closed kinetic chain activities are frequently used to treat these diagnoses, because of their safety and functional properties. However isolation of specific muscles is difficult with closed kinetic chain exercises. The researchers chose to further study closed kinetic chain exercises in order to compare traditional closed kinetic chain exercises with a recently developed closed kinetic chain device. The purpose of this study is to assess EMG activity of the quadriceps and hamstrings during two different closed kinetic chain activities of the knee, one a traditional method and the other a new, untested device. The first is a traditional wall slide, consisting of the participant leaning with the back on the wall and squatting. The second is a squat using a closed kinetic chain device (CCD) that holds the leg below the knee stationary. Seventeen healthy subjects between the ages of 22-26 years of age, mean age of 23.5, performed a maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) and 2 trials of each exercise. EMG activity of the quadriceps (vastus medialis and vastus lateralis) and hamstrings (semitendinosus and biceps femoris) was recorded through surface electrodes. This data was then normalized to percent MVC by comparing the muscle activity in the trial with the muscle activity in the reference MVC. Results of this study showed a significant difference in % MVC between exercises in the vastus medialis, vastus lateralis, and semitendinosus. There was no significant difference in the % MVC for the biceps femoris. In conclusion, the CCD resulted in a higher % MVC in the quadriceps than the wall slide. It also resulted in a decrease in the % MVC of the semitendinosus as compared to the wall slide

Painting the ideal home: using art to express visions of technologically supported independent living for older people in North East England

This paper describes the investigation of the development of future technological products to support older people in everyday living through the agency of a community art group. Recent research has identified a number of challenges facing designers seeking to use traditional participatory design approaches to gather technology requirements data from older people. Here, a project is described that sought to get a group of older people to think creatively about their needs and desires for technological support through the medium of paint. The artistic expression technique described in this article allowed the identification of issues that had also been found by previous research that used a range of different techniques. This indicates that the approach shows promise, as it allows information to be gathered in an environment that is comfortable and familiar using methods already known by the participants and which they find enjoyable. It provides a complement (or possible alternative) to standard protocols and has the potential benefit of extracting even richer information as the primary task for participants is enjoyable in its own right and is not associated with an interrogative process. Furthermore, it is argued that some of the key risks of traditional approaches are lessened or removed by the naturalistic setting of this approach

Conducting Evaluation Research with Exercise Referral Schemes as an Insider

The case study aims to highlight key methodological and ethical challenges faced whilst conducting mixed methods evaluation research as an insider with a senior position in an exercise referral organization. This case derives from a PhD study exploring the expectations and experiences of participants in an exercise referral scheme for people with non-communicable diseases in northeast England. This case focuses mainly on the qualitative element of the evaluation and gives insight into the value of longitudinal semi-structured interviews as a research tool and the use of a framework approach to analyse the data. It explores some the benefits and dilemmas involved in conducting insider research, and discusses how using a reflective diary can raise awareness of bias; help develop research skills and aid analysis