The Importance of Community and Its Impact on the Quality of Campus Life and Success for African American Students

“While we are accustomed to viewing special programs as efforts to ensure the success of underrepresented students, we may overlook that what these programs communicate about these students are part of the structure of higher education that they must struggle against.”

TOWARD A "NEW DIVERSITY" AND THE REVITALIZATION OF THE "CAMPUS SPIRIT:" A "BANDUNG 2000" CONFERENCE FOR STUDENTS, STAFF AND FACULTY

In this session, "New Diversity" programs are designed and proposed, aimed at enabling minority staff, stu¬dents and faculty the kind of "cultural inoculation" needed to be able to address the concerns which plague most campuses.

TDEM survey in urban environmental for hydrogeological study at USP campus in Sao Paulo city, Brazil

In this work, some TDEM (Time Domain Electromagnetic) results at USP (University of Sao Paulo) campus in Sao Paulo city, Brazil, are presented. The data were acquired focusing on two mains objectives: (i) to map geoelectrical stratigraphy of Sao Paulo sedimentary basin, emphasizing on hydrogeological studies about sedimentary and crystalline aquifers, and (ii) to analyze the viability of TDEM data acquisition use in urban environment. The study area is located in Sao Paulo basin border, characterized by Resende and Sao Paulo formations, which are constituted by sand-clays sediments over a granite-gneissic basement. Two equipments were used in order to acquire database: Protem47 (low power), and Protem57-MK2 (high power). Capacitive noise affect obtained data with Protem47 due to the presence of metal pipes buried at IAG/USP (Institute of Astronomy, Geophysics, and Atmospheric Science) test site at USP. On the other hand, capacitive noise did not affect acquired data with Protem57-MK2, and the data present high signal to noise ratio. Surveys helped in determining sedimentary and crystalline aquifers, characterized by a fracture zone with water inside basin basement (conductive zone). Results show good agreement with local geology obtained from lithological boreholes located in the study areas. Moreover, it shows that TDEM method can be used in urban environments with a countless potential in hydrogeological studies, offering great reliability. Studies showed that main TDEM-method limitation at USP was the lack of space for opening the transmitter loop. Results are very promising and open new perspectives for TDEM-method use in urban environments as this area remains unexplored. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Análise da produtividade científica dos docentes da Universidade Estadual Paulista, campus de Marília/SP

O objetivo do presente trabalho foi analisar/quantificar a produtividade científica dos docentes pertencentes à Universidade de Estadual Paulista (UNESP), campus de Marília/SP. Para cada professor, analisamos o número total de artigos na plataforma Lattes, no ISI Web of Science e no SCOPUS. Além disso, verificamos o total de livros publicados, capítulos de livros publicados e orientações em Programas de Pós-Graduação (PPG). A análise dos nove departamentos da Faculdade de Filosofia e Ciências (FFC) mostrou que o Departamento de Ciências Políticas e Econômicas possui uma média elevada (21,42) de artigos na Plataforma Lattes, quando comparado aos outros departamentos. Entretanto, o Departamento de Fonoaudiologia apresentou médias mais altas em artigos indexados pelo ISI (2,61) e SCOPUS (4,39), bem como o índice-h, nessas plataformas. Em relação aos programas de pós-graduação, o Departamento de Administração e Supervisão Escolar foi o que apresentou a maior média de orientações em andamento e/ou concluídas. O desempenho mais baixo, em relação aos artigos publicados pelo ISI e SCOPUS, pelos departamentos na área de Humanas/Humanidades pode estar associado às características do campo da concentração e da cobertura limitada do banco de dados ISI e SCOPUS, indicando que o índice-h é muito sensível ao campo de concentração.

User centered retrofit: The case of kadk campus, Copenhagen, (dk)

The following research thesis is about a retrofit project made in Denmark, Copenhagen, and carried out on one of the buildings belonging to the Royal Danish Academy. The key assumption and base of the entire research process is that, up to now, the standard procedure in retrofit cases like this provides as comparative method between de facto and design, the use of Energy Simulation software. These programs generally divide the space into different thermal zones, assigning to each of them different levels of employment, activities, set-point temperatures set for cooling and heating analysis and so on, but always providing average and constant values, usually taken in the middle point of the single thermal zone. Therefore, the project and its research path stems from the attempt to investigate the potentialities of this kind of designing for retrofit process, as previously anticipated not antithetical but complementary to that classic energy-based retrofit, thus passing from the building scale, and all its thermal zones, to the users' scale, related to humans and microclimates. The main software used in this process is Autodesk Simulation CFD. The idea behind the project is that in certain situations, for example, it will not be necessary to add throughout insulation layers (previously parameterized and optimized with Design Builder), and that even in Winter conditions, due maybe to the users' activities, the increased level of clothing (clo) and the heat produced by equipments, thermal comfort could be achieved also in areas characterized by considerably lower MRT. After the analysis of the State of Art and its simulations, the project has still been supported by the tool itself, the CFD Software, in an iterative process aimed at achieving visible improvements in terms of MRT, on spaces with different needs and characteristics, both in Winter and Summer regimes.

Women And The Epistemologies Of Pleasure: An Analysis Of Female Sexual Appetites And Practices At Bucknell University

Using an epistemological and feminist lens, this thesis analyzes the political and social forces that actively construct both knowledge and ignorance around female sexual pleasure. It draws from interviews and a focus group, all conducted at Bucknell Unviersity to explore the journeys that women take to gain knowledge about sexual pleasure, and how the sources and cultural mores that women in the twenty-first century rely on or go up against in order to gain such knowledge are often limited, unauthorized or phallocentric. This aids in the construction and perpetuation of ignorance. This thesis looks at how women feel shame or enact self-censorship, regardless of their assertion of knowledge concerning their sexual appetites, which results in consequential ambivalence. For this reason, it concludes that more informed and educational conversations between peers, parents and partners need to take place. These conversations will help to ignite change and to raise awareness about the knowledge and ignorance surrounding female sexual pleasure, which would allow for more pleasurable experiences to take place generally and with a brief over view on Bucknell's campus specifically.

A study of high solids anaerobic digestion of Bucknell University food waste followed by aerobic curing

Anaerobic digestion of food scraps has the potential to accomplish waste minimization, energy production, and compost or humus production. At Bucknell University, removal of food scraps from the waste stream could reduce municipal solid waste transportation costs and landfill tipping fees, and provide methane and humus for use on campus. To determine the suitability of food waste produced at Bucknell for high-solids anaerobic digestion (HSAD), a year-long characterization study was conducted. Physical and chemical properties, waste biodegradability, and annual production of biodegradable waste were assessed. Bucknell University food and landscape waste was digested at pilot-scale for over a year to test performance at low and high loading rates, ease of operation at 20% solids, benefits of codigestion of food and landscape waste, and toprovide digestate for studies to assess the curing needs of HSAD digestate. A laboratory-scale curing study was conducted to assess the curing duration required to reduce microbial activity, phytotoxicity, and odors to acceptable levels for subsequent use ofhumus. The characteristics of Bucknell University food and landscape waste were tested approximately weekly for one year, to determine chemical oxygen demand (COD), total solids (TS), volatile solids (VS), and biodegradability (from batch digestion studies). Fats, oil, and grease and total Kjeldahl nitrogen were also tested for some food waste samples. Based on the characterization and biodegradability studies, Bucknell University dining hall food waste is a good candidate for HSAD. During batch digestion studies Bucknell University food waste produced a mean of 288 mL CH4/g COD with a 95%confidence interval of 0.06 mL CH4/g COD. The addition of landscape waste for digestion increased methane production from both food and landscape waste; however, because the landscape waste biodegradability was extremely low the increase was small.Based on an informal waste audit, Bucknell could collect up to 100 tons of food waste from dining facilities each year. The pilot-scale high-solids anaerobic digestion study confirmed that digestion ofBucknell University food waste combined with landscape waste at a low organic loading rate (OLR) of 2 g COD/L reactor volume-day is feasible. During low OLR operation, stable reactor performance was demonstrated through monitoring of biogas production and composition, reactor total and volatile solids, total and soluble chemical oxygendemand, volatile fatty acid content, pH, and bicarbonate alkalinity. Low OLR HSAD of Bucknell University food waste and landscape waste combined produced 232 L CH4/kg COD and 229 L CH4/kg VS. When OLR was increased to high loading (15 g COD/L reactor volume-day) to assess maximum loading conditions, reactor performance became unstable due to ammonia accumulation and subsequent inhibition. The methaneproduction per unit COD also decreased (to 211 L CH4/kg COD fed), although methane production per unit VS increased (to 272 L CH4/kg VS fed). The degree of ammonia inhibition was investigated through respirometry in which reactor digestate was diluted and exposed to varying concentrations of ammonia. Treatments with low ammoniaconcentrations recovered quickly from ammonia inhibition within the reactor. The post-digestion curing process was studied at laboratory-scale, to provide a preliminary assessment of curing duration. Digestate was mixed with woodchips and incubated in an insulated container at 35 °C to simulate full-scale curing self-heatingconditions. Degree of digestate stabilization was determined through oxygen uptake rates, percent O2, temperature, volatile solids, and Solvita Maturity Index. Phytotoxicity was determined through observation of volatile fatty acid and ammonia concentrations.Stabilization of organics and elimination of phytotoxic compounds (after 10–15 days of curing) preceded significant reductions of volatile sulfur compounds (hydrogen sulfide, methanethiol, and dimethyl sulfide) after 15–20 days of curing. Bucknell University food waste has high biodegradability and is suitable for high-solids anaerobic digestion; however, it has a low C:N ratio which can result in ammonia accumulation under some operating conditions. The low biodegradability of Bucknell University landscape waste limits the amount of bioavailable carbon that it can contribute, making it unsuitable for use as a cosubstrate to increase the C:N ratio of food waste. Additional research is indicated to determine other cosubstrates with higher biodegradabilities that may allow successful HSAD of Bucknell University food waste at high OLRs. Some cosubstrates to investigate are office paper, field residues, or grease trap waste. A brief curing period of less than 3 weeks was sufficient to produce viable humus from digestate produced by low OLR HSAD of food and landscape waste.

I want to be my own person: the meaning-making and psychosocial processes of legacy students at Bucknell University

This study examined the meaning-making and psychosocial processes of five female legacy students at Bucknell University, each of whom having had at least one parent graduate from the institution. With a research philosophy, design, and methodology rooted in qualitative inquiry and phenomenology, inductive data analysis led to three primary categories that underscored legacy identity development. The first, Paradox of Influence and Identity, revealed through six themes nuanced experiences of separation-individuation. Second, Teaching and Learning, comprised of five themes, illuminated the impact of family — and of Bucknell parent alumni in particular — on their children’s internal working models. Lastly, Bucknell — the Environmental Contextand the five themes grouped therein highlighted the contributions of University community members, and of the campus culture and climate itself, to the co-construction of psychosocial formation. A tentative outline of grounded theory was offered, which explored categorical relationships; Paradox of Influence and Identity emerged as thedominant phenomenon, informing and being reinforced by the data of Teaching and Learning and Bucknell — the Environmental Context. Provisional intervention strategies for student affairs practice, in the contexts of academics, residential life, and career development, were discussed. Further, triangulated research is needed to substantiate and evolve the findings and theoretical model of this thesis.

Locational and Temporal Risk Associated With Campus Sexual Assault

The present study investigates the rates of victimization of sexual assault reported by undergraduates at Bucknell University. Specifically, the study aimed to determine where and when sexual assault took place, in order to pinpoint both temporal risks and locational risks associated with certain events on campus. Results of the survey were analyzed for victimization rates across class year, time of year, where victimization took place, as well as where victims and perpetrators met. Data for the study was gathered by means of anonymous survey, sent out to 1752 randomly selected undergraduates via email. Participants filled out the survey which asked if they had ever been sexually assaulted or committed a sexual assault during their past year studying at Bucknell. The results of the survey indicated that dormitories, fraternity houses, and off-campus student houses displayed significantly higher rates of victimization than other locations. In addition, increased risk of unwanted sexual contact in the fall semester was shown to be statistically significant. Moreover, results of the current study support that parties were statistically significant locations for meeting perpetrators of sexual assault. The results suggest that it may be beneficial to direct special attention towards campus sexual assault, specifically to certain locations, times of the year, and campus activities.

Preparing writing centers and tutors for literacy mediation for working class campus-staff

Writing centers work with writers; traditionally services have been focused on undergraduates taking composition classes. More recently, centers have started to attract a wider client base including: students taking labs that require writing; graduate students; and ESL students learning the conventions of U.S. communication. There are very few centers, however, which identify themselves as open to working with all members of the campus-community. Michigan Technological University has one such center. In the Michigan Tech writing center, doors are open to “all students, faculty and staff.” While graduate students, post docs, and professors preparing articles for publication have used the center, for the first time in the collective memory of the center UAW staff members requested center appointments in the summer of 2008. These working class employees were in the process of filling out a work related document, the UAW Position Audit, an approximately seven-page form. This form was their one avenue for requesting a review of the job they were doing; the review was the first step in requesting a raise in job level and pay. This study grew out of the realization that implicit literacy expectations between working class United Auto Workers (UAW) staff and professional class staff were complicating the filling out and filing of the position audit form. Professional class supervisors had designed the form as a measure of fairness, in that each UAW employee on campus was responding to the same set of questions about their work. However, the implicit literacy expectations of supervisors were different from those of many of the employees who were to fill out the form. As a result, questions that were meant to be straightforward to answer were in the eyes of the employees filling out the form, complex. Before coming to the writing center UAW staff had spent months writing out responses to the form; they expressed concerns that their responses still would not meet audience expectations. These writers recognized that they did not yet know exactly what the audience was expecting. The results of this study include a framework for planning writing center sessions that facilitate the acquisition of literacy practices which are new to the user. One important realization from this dissertation is that the social nature of literacy must be kept in the forefront when both planning sessions and when educating tutors to lead these sessions. Literacy scholars such as James Paul Gee, Brian Street, and Shirley Brice Heath are used to show that a person can only know those literacy practices that they have previously acquired. In order to acquire new literacy practices, a person must have social opportunities for hands-on practice and mentoring from someone with experience. The writing center can adapt theory and practices from this dissertation that will facilitate sessions for a range of writers wishing to learn “new” literacy practices. This study also calls for specific changes to writing center tutor education.

Cervical cancer screening in Hispanic women as compared with other ethnic groups on an urban campus

Although Pap screening has decreased morbidity and mortality from cervical cancer, reported statistics indicate that among ethnic groups, Hispanic women are one of the least likely to follow screening guidelines. Human papillomavirus (HPV), a major risk factor for cervical cancer, as well as pre-cancerous lesions, may be detected by early Pap screening. With a reported 43% prevalence of HPV infection in college women, regular Pap screening is important. The purpose of this descriptive, cross-sectional survey was to examine self-reported cervical cancer screening rates in a target population of primarily Mexican-American college women, and to discover if recognized correlates for screening behavior explained differences in screening rates between this and two other predominant groups on the University of Houston Downtown campus, non-Hispanic white and African-American. The sample size consisted of 613 women recruited from summer 2003 classes. A survey, adapted from an earlier El Paso study, and based on constructs of the Health Belief Model (HBM), was administered to women ages 18 and older. It was found that although screening rates were similar across ethnic groups, overall, the Hispanic group obtained screening less frequently, though this did not reach statistical significance. However, a significant difference in lower screening rates was found in Mexican American women ages <25. Additionally, of the predicted correlates, the construct of perceived barriers from the HBM was most significant for the Mexican American group for non-screening. For all groups, knowledge about cervical cancer was negatively correlated with ever obtaining Pap screening and screening within the past year. This implies that if health counseling is given at the time of women's screening visits, both adherence to appropriate screening intervals and risk factor avoidance may be more likely. Studies such as these are needed to address both screening behaviors and likelihood of follow-up for abnormal results in populations of multicultural, urban college women. ^

Freshman Friendship and University Connection

The purpose of this study is to understand better the support systems available to freshmen students at the University of Connecticut and how those support systems impact their connection to the university. The study involves two questionnaires, one distributed at the beginning of their first semester and a second follow-up questionnaire at the end of that same semester. Two main research questions are the focus of this study. The first question is whether freshmen who make friends on campus feel more connected than freshmen who report having fewer friends. The second question concerns whether freshmen who feel more connected to the university report stronger feelings of support than freshmen who do not feel connected to the university. This study has found that support at the university level needs to be more focused on individual students because freshmen who make friends at the university report experiencing greater levels of support. Parents, faculty, and counselors need to reexamine the way in which they provide support in order to reach those students who are not connecting with friends. The First Year Experience Program could better serve freshmen students by focusing on the relationship between students, instructor, and mentor to build friendships within the FYE class, which will foster friendships and support.

Aligning Library Strategy and Structure With the Campus Academic Plan: A Case Study

Colleges and universities’ missions are typically comprised of educating students, training professionals, engaging in scholarship and research, promoting creative activity, improving healthcare, and providing public service. Academic libraries exist to support these core functions, yet most academic libraries are organized based on library functions rather than the primary missions of their college or university. This paper describes one academic library’s attempt to align library strategy and structure with its university’s academic plan.

Campus of Excellence: The Power of Diversity in Engineering Education

This paper presents the results of a strategy to modernise the Spanish University system through the establishment of an International Campus of Excellence (CEI). The current, ambitious but realistic, project is a joint initiative of a number of institutions located in the Moncloa Campus, amongst them the Complutense and the Technical Universities, as well as CIEMAT, CSIC and INIA. The aim of the project is to transform the Moncloa Campus into an international point of reference with regard to research, education and innovation. This paper describes the project and presents the qualitative and quantitative results.