The Influence of Public Health Faculty on College and University Plans During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The purpose of this study was to explore whether the institutional presence of public health expertise within colleges and universities was associated with operational plans for the fall semester of 2020. Using cross-sectional data collected by the College Crisis Initiative of Davidson College, six levels of instructional modalities (ranked from least to most restrictive) were compared between Council on Education of Public Health (CEPH)-accredited and non-CEPH-accredited 4-year institutions. Institutions with CEPH-accredited schools and programs were more likely to select some restrictive teaching modalities: 63.8% more likely to use hybrid/hyflex or more restrictive and 66.9% more likely to be primarily online (with some in person) or more restrictive. However, having CEPH-accredited programs did not push institutions to the most restrictive modalities. COVID-19 cases in county, enrollment, and political affiliation of the state governor were also found to be associated with instructional modality selection. While any ecological study has certain limitations, this study suggests that college and university fall plans may have been influenced by the presence of CEPH-accredited schools and programs of public health, and/or the input of their faculty. The influence of relevant faculty expertise on institutional decision-making can help inform college and university responses to future crises.

William Golding

Sir William Gerard Golding (1911–1993), the writer of Lord of the Flies (LOTF), occupies a pivotal position within the post–World War II canon of writers. Though Golding does not seem to belong to any particular “school” or movement of fiction writers who wrote at the height of Cold War and its aftermath per se, he is a staple in high school, college, and university curricula all over the globe. His magnum opus, Lord of the Flies (1954), transformed him into a writer who commands worldwide attention. In the book he attacked the belief in any stable notions of civilization, society, and culture, and was keen to show the innate depravity of the human spirit. His trilogy To the Ends of the Earth, which comprises Rites of Passage (1980), Close Quarters (1987) and Fire Down Below (1989), further explores his themes of the civilizing process and class consciousness, while the travelogue An Egyptian Journal (1985) shows his fascination for the ancient land and his journey there after he won the Nobel Prize in 1983. His famous quote about humanity, “Man produces evil as a bee produces honey,” speaks of his disbelief in the progress and the health of modern civilization and any stable notions of human progress. His Nobel Prize citation stated it was given “for his novels which, with the perspicuity of realistic narrative art and the diversity and universality of myth, illuminate the human condition in a world of today,” thus summarizing his lifelong mission as a writer. Golding’s themes are class consciousness, human society (particularly what happens to it in isolation), modern and postmodern trauma with respect to human dreams and aspirations, and, lastly, the entire notion of “civilization” itself. His fiction has been analyzed with recourse to anthropology, psychoanalysis, postmodernism, narratology, trauma studies, and queer scholarship. Critical commentary on Golding continues to grow, especially around LOTF, due to its continued relevance owing to themes of violence, totalitarianism, queer studies, and its apocalyptic vision. It should be stressed, however, that compared to LOTF, his only play, The Brass Butterfly (1958), his Poems (1934) and his other nonfiction, such as A Moving Target (1982) and The Hot Gates (1965), the three short narratives in The Scorpion God (1971), and even his posthumous The Double Tongue (1995), have received scant attention. Though the themes of the essential drama of human conflict played against the backdrop of morality, human choice, and postmodern trauma that remain foundational to human existence might be applied to any 20thcentury writer, they are particularly germane to Golding’s works.

Antimicrobial Stewardship in College and University Health Settings: A Public Health Opportunity

Antimicrobial resistance poses a significant threat to public health and safety across the globe. Many factors contribute to antibiotic resistance, most especially are the concerns of excessive prescribing and misuse of antibiotics. Because patient expectations for antibiotics may contribute to prescriber pressures, experts recommend targeting antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) education efforts towards prescribers as well as patients in outpatient settings. Undergraduate university students are a unique and promising target population for AMS efforts because they are in a transformative life stage of social, cognitive, and physical development in which they are learning to independently care for themselves without the presence or influence of parents. By introducing AMS education during this transition, university students may adopt positive antibiotic use behaviors that they will carry throughout their lives. Not only will their personal health be improved, but widespread adoption of AMS in university settings may have a broader effect on public health of present and future generations. Despite public health opportunities, minimal research has examined AMS in university health settings. This article explores current evidence on knowledge, attitudes, and use of antibiotics among university students and discusses opportunities for AMS initiatives in college and university health settings.

Countermeasures Against Job Burnout Among College and University Administrators from the Perspective of Psychological Contract Theory

Administrators are the implementers of the management in colleges and universities; however, their job scopes are relatively boring and complicated, with heavy workload and high work pressure, causing some of them to be less active and slack off in their careers. Therefore, under the guidance of psychological contract theory, colleges and universities should adopt various measures to deal with job burnout among college and university administrators. In this paper, the main causes of job burnout among college and university administrators are analyzed, and specific countermeasures are proposed from the perspective of psychological contract theory, hoping to help college and university administrators improve their work enthusiasm.

State of the Research on Artificial Intelligence Based Apps for Post-Secondary Students with Disabilities

We conducted a general Google search and a scoping review of various types of artificial intelligence (AI) based technology – mobile, web-based, software, hardware – used by college and university students to do schoolwork. The main findings indicate that (1) there is no generally agreed upon definition of AI, and (2) there is a huge discrepancy between the popular press articles that are behind the AI hype and the scientific literature. The popular press provides an overview of the AI tools available to students with disabilities and discusses how students can use these tools. The scientific literature is primarily devoted to tool development and has poor methodology. We conclude that the potential of AI for post-secondary students with disabilities is enormous, but that informed research about these tools is scant, with a profound lack of demonstrated scalability. Research needs to address “real-world” uses of AI-based tools by post-secondary students with disabilities.

Indigenous Student Experience in Higher Education

Higher education today is faced with many challenges. However, behind some of those challenges are potential opportunities. One in particular is the focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion, and especially the unpacking of systems and processes that are increasingly becoming more prevalent in higher education's ecosystem of support, mainly for Indigenous students. This is due in large part to the global shift in the rising diverse student populations across college and university campuses. Indigenous students are entering today's evolving college landscape with a clear sense of purpose. To take advantage of this opportunity, institutions are pivoting their support structures to also facilitate their diverse student populations and learning outcomes. They are developing programs to make sense of the Indigenous student experiences, issues, challenges, and are paying special attention to strategies and infrastructures designed to safeguard their student success.

Conducting Consequential Research

This article examines the value undergraduate research adds to writing centers in their role as anchor institutions within English and across college and university campuses. It focuses on a pilot project conducted by a team of mentored peer tutors who researched the accessibility of writing at Marquette University. Their successes and failures show how, beyond research findings, undergraduate research experience can be consequential for practitioners and their communities.

Distance Learning Programmes as Alternative Learning

This study aims to understand the satisfaction and experience of programme-seeking students in a community college in the United States. In order to improve the satisfaction, experience, and teaching and learning procedures of distance learning courses and programmes, it is important to understand the students' feedback and ideas. Based on the case study methodology, the researcher collected data from 1,857 inductive surveys and 11 focus group activities. This research allowed the researcher to gain knowledge and understanding about students' satisfaction, experience, and potential enrolment in degree programmes during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. More importantly, the results provide recommendations to school leaders, instructors, government leaders, and policymakers about current and future college and university development regarding changes in teaching and learning behaviours.

Satisfaction of visually disabled users with California educational websites

BACKGROUND: College and university websites in the United States are legally required to meet accessibility standards to promote equal opportunity in education for blind and visually disabled students. Web Content Accessibility Guidelines are the recognized standard for website accessibility. OBJECTIVE: Determine how satisfied blind and visually disabled college and university students are with college and university websites in California, and whether compliance with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines is a good predictor of that satisfaction. METHODS: A random sample of websites from California colleges and universities was evaluated for accessibility compliance. A stratified sample of six websites was taken from the initial sample. Thirty blind or visually disabled students performed a prescribed series of tasks on each of the six websites, then answered a Likert-format survey regarding their satisfaction with each website. RESULTS: Sixty-three percent of websites did not meet the first priority accessibility criteria. Participant responses showed a majority were satisfied with websites, both compliant and non-compliant, and a strong correlation between satisfaction and accessibility compliance. CONCLUSIONS: Despite legal requirements, a majority or large minority of college and university websites in California do not meet accessibility guidelines, indicating a significant opportunity to improve the accessibility of those websites.