Abstract Background: Addressing suicide in America's youth is imperative. Teachers play an essential role in identifying and intervening with adolescents experiencing psychological distress leading to suicide. Unfortunately, teachers and staff lack professional development in addressing the identification of students in psychological distress. Purpose:This project aimed to increase referrals to school counselors by integrating an evidence-based program for educators identifying adolescents at risk for suicide in a rural high school. Design Method: This quantitative quality improvement project with a pre-/post-test design was implemented with referrals to the school guidance counselors before and after the program's completion were analyzed. Conclusion: There was a significant increase in teachers and staff members' confidence in their ability to recognize when a student was exhibiting signs of psychological distress and their ability to talk to a student in psychological distress and help those students connect with the school guidance counselors. Implications for Nursing: This project showed that implementing an evidence-based professional development program helped build teachers' and staff's skills that support early identification and intervention with students experiencing psychological distress, leading to suicide.

ABSTRACTThis study explored institutional governance in an Alabama public two-year community college and investigated the perceptions of faculty and administrators within this sector. To answer the research questions for this study, a quantitative cross-sectional survey utilizing inferential analysis of the collected data was employed. To analyze the perceptions of Alabama community college faculty members and administrators regarding their interactions in institutional governance, three quantitative research questions were used. The research questions were analyzed based upon participant responses from the survey instrument. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was the statistical method used to determine if any significant differences in perception existed between faculty and administrators. The results of the study revealed that a significant difference existed between faculty and administrator perceptions with respect to institutional structure and shared governance, but no significant difference existed between faculty and administrators perceptions with respect to supervisory relationships. Considering the findings and conclusions of the present study, the researchers made recommendations related to institutional governance.

The $17.2 million Rural Community College Initiative (RCCI) demonstration grant program funded by the Ford Foundation which ran from 1994 to 2001 represents the largest philanthropic project specifically aimed at rural community colleges in United States history. While a good deal of literature has been published about this initiative, much was specifically commissioned by the foundation and can be seen as coming from a public relations perspective. This paper provides a historical perspective from an independent point of view. Its purpose is to create a documentary record for future community college leaders and potential funders interested in reaching the nation's 553 rural community colleges.

This article reviews recent literature on student financial aid as a retention tool at community colleges. Enrollment and tuition data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), and federal direct grant student aid data from the IPEDS Student Financial Aid Survey are used to analyze changes from 2000–01 to 2005–06. The new 2005 Carnegie Basic Classification of Associate's Colleges is used to reveal differences among rural, suburban, and urban community college types, and the Grapevine definition is used to reveal differences among states with local funding and those without significant local funding. A key finding is that the 40% increase in tuition and the 2.2 million new students enrolled in the past five years overwhelmed the very modest increases in federal direct grant student aid (Pell and Supplemental Education Opportunity Grants) over the same period, lessening the ability of student aid to positively impact retention at America's community colleges.

This study had two major purposes. The first purpose was to compare federal, state, and institutional direct grant aid, unmet needs, and headcount in 2000–2001 and 2005–2006. The second was to assess if any changes found related to the presence or absence of two key factors identified by experts as important to understanding the community college field: (a) type of Associate's College (rural, suburban, and urban) delineated by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching's 2005 Basic Classification, and (b) significant local funding, using the Grapevine definition that defines 25 states as having local tax appropriations accounting for more than 10% of total funding and 25 states without. Analyzing data from the National Center for Educational Statistics' Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, the study found that between 2000–2001 and 2005–2006, enrollment at Associate's Colleges grew by 30%, and while all categories of direct student aid also grew, the growth was overwhelmed by tuition increases averaging 40%. Analysis of descriptive data revealed stark differences between community colleges in states with the presence of local tax support, and those without, and by type of Associate's College (rural, suburban and urban). By 2005–2006, it was more difficult for low-income students to attend college without incurring debt. The paper concludes with discussion as to the impact on open access for students attending community colleges if these trends continue.

After reviewing each of the articles included in this special issue, we have come to four conclusions. First, the reaffirmation of accreditation, along with the selection of the quality enhancement...

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility, toxicity, and efficacy of the combination of weekly docetaxel and gemcitabine in patients with advanced non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who are either elderly or have poor performance status (PS). Patients with stage IIIB or IV NSCLC who had received no previous chemotherapy and were ≥ 70 years of age were eligible for this clinical trial. Patients < 70 years of age were also eligible if they had poor PS or were considered poor candidates for standard platinum-based combination chemotherapy regimens. All patients received chemotherapy with gemcitabine 800 mg/m2 and docetaxel 30 mg/m2, both drugs administered by 30-minute intravenous infusions on days 1, 8, and 15. Treatment courses were repeated every 28 days. Patients were reevaluated after completion of 2 treatment courses; responding patients continued treatment until disease progression or for a maximum of 6 courses. Between August 1999 and June 2000, 64 patients (73% with stage IV disease) were treated at 17 participating sites in the Minnie Pearl Cancer Research Network. Eighteen of 64 patients enrolled (28%) had objective response to treatment; an additional 25 patients (39%) had stable disease. Median survival was 7 months, with 1- and 2-year survival rates of 30% and 17%, respectively. Treatment was well tolerated by most patients. Grade 3/4 leukopenia occurred in 7 patients (11%), but no patient required hospitalization for neutropenia/fever. One patient developed fatal bilateral pneumonitis, which was possibly treatment-related. The combination of weekly docetaxel/gemcitabine is active and relatively well tolerated in most patients with advanced age or poor PS with advanced NSCLC. A randomized comparison of this regimen versus singleagent weekly docetaxel is in progress.