Public University Campus Research Articles

Multi-College Bystander Intervention Evaluation for Violence Prevention.

The 2013 Campus Sexual Violence Elimination Act requires U.S. colleges to provide bystander-based training to reduce sexual violence, but little is known about the efficacy of such programs for preventing violent behavior. This study provides the first multiyear evaluation of a bystander intervention's campus-level impact on reducing interpersonal violence victimization and perpetration behavior on college campuses. First-year students attending three similarly sized public university campuses were randomly selected and invited to complete online surveys in the spring terms of 2010-2013. On one campus, the Green Dot bystander intervention was implemented in 2008 (Intervention, n=2,979) and two comparison campuses had no bystander programming at baseline (Comparison, n=4,132). Data analyses conducted in 2014-2015 compared violence rates by condition over the four survey periods. Multivariable logistic regression was used to estimate violence risk on Intervention relative to Comparison campuses, adjusting for demographic factors and time (2010-2013). Interpersonal violence victimization rates (measured in the past academic year) were 17% lower among students attending the Intervention (46.4%) relative to Comparison (55.7%) campuses (adjusted rate ratio=0.83; 95% CI=0.79, 0.88); a similar pattern held for interpersonal violence perpetration (25.5% in Intervention; 32.2% in Comparison; adjusted rate ratio=0.79; 95% CI=0.71, 0.86). Violence rates were lower on Intervention versus Comparison campuses for unwanted sexual victimization, sexual harassment, stalking, and psychological dating violence victimization and perpetration (p<0.01). Green Dot may be an efficacious intervention to reduce violence at the community level and meet Campus Sexual Violence Elimination Act bystander training requirements.

INFLUENCE OF TALENT ATTRACTION ON ORGANISATIONAL PERFORMANCE IN PUBLIC UNIVERSITY CAMPUSES IN COUNTY GOVERNMENT OF NAKURU, KENYA

ABSTRACTPublic universities in Kenya are operating in an environment which is faced with a lot of competition. This is because over the years the number of Universities has drastically increased and there has been advancement in technology bringing about shortage of talent. Institutions are increasingly looking at talent as a unique asset that can provide sustainable competitive advantage and superior performance. This research sought to establish the influence of talent attraction on organizational performance. The study was guided by Maslows theory. The target population for the study was; managers, academic staff and non-academic staff in campuses of public universities in county government of Nakuru, Kenya. Stratified random sampling and simple random sampling techniques were used to determine the sample of each stratum of various sub population of total sample unit size of 102. Structured questionnaire was used to collect data. The instrument was pilot tested to ascertain the reliability of the research instrument using Cronbach Alpha. The reliability of the research instrument was found to be 0.794 which was considered reliable. The study employed both descriptive and inferential statistics to present and analyze the data. The Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) a computer programme for windows aided the data analysis.  The study established that talent attraction showed strong positive relationship against organizational performance in Public University Campuses in County Government of Nakuru with correlation of (r = 0.640, p &lt; 0.05) . The study recommends that HR departments to be responsive to needs and constantly changing requirements of workforce in order to improve programmes and policies as need may be. It is also important that institutions adopt talent management to improve on its  performance. The study also recommends that further research could be carried out in private universities to establish the differences

The politics of student housing: Student activism and representation in the determination of the user-price of a public–private partnership residence on a public university campus in South Africa

South African universities have been facing a critical shortage in the provision of studenthousing for several years now, and the establishment of public–private partnerships(PPPs) is seen as part of the solution to address the shortage (Rensburg, 2011). Thisarticle investigates the effectiveness of the Students’ Representative Council (SRC) ofthe University of the Western Cape (UWC) in representing student interests during itsnegotiations with university management to reduce the user-price per student for the newKovacs Residence, a PPP student housing complex on the UWC campus. It thus highlightssome of the complexities involved in public–private collaborations on student housingprovision, including the tension between profitability, affordability and equity in the face oforganised student power.The article shows that, considering the various initiatives taken by the SRC to engageuniversity management, and the resulting reduction of the user-price per annum, students’interests were effectively represented by the SRC, even if this view does not correspondwith the perceptions of students. Our analysis uncovers many deficiencies in studentrepresentation processes both within student structures and university management. It issupported by data from in-depth interviews and a focus group discussion. Interviews wereconducted with SRC members and university management, and a focus group discussionwas facilitated with students in residences.

Health and Fitness App Use in College Students: A Qualitative Study

Background: College students experience weight gain that can contribute to serious health issues. Health education efforts with college students are increasingly utilizing new technologies. Smartphone applications (apps) in particular are growing in popularity and use in all young adults. Purpose: Formative research was conducted to describe how college students in the southwestern United States use health/fitness apps to change behavior. Method: College students (n = 27) ages 18-30 reporting use of health/fitness apps were recruited on a large public university campus and participated in interviews about app choice, behavioral goals, features, and reasons for continued use. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed for themes using a 4-person coding team and the qualitative research software NVivo. Results: Most participants downloaded an app to meet a goal and felt that the app helped them meet it. Two distinct groups emerged, those who used apps to support an established behavior and those who used them to adopt a new behavior. The majority of participants reported that acceptable apps were free, easy to use, provided visual/auditory cues, and had game-like rewards. Most participants strongly opposed linking their social media with apps and did not use those features. Discussion: College students use apps to meet different goals such as developing an exercise routine or improving eating habits. Examining what influences health/fitness app choices among college students may provide important insights for future interventions developed to promote app use over long periods of time. Translation to Health Education Practice: Health education programming may benefit from the use of apps, because college students are already adopting these technologies. Features that are important such as ease of use and game-like rewards can help health educators choose appropriate apps for college student programs.

“It’s not them, it’s me”: competing discourses in one aspiring teacher’s talk

In this paper, we deploy M.M. Bakhtin’s notions about how language works to understand aspiring teachers’ struggles about the intersecting roles race, class, gender, language background, and sexual orientation play in students’ school lives and learning. Through life-history interviews and document analysis, we investigated the authoritative and internally persuasive discourses one aspiring teacher brought with her and took from a 15-week long course on a predominantly White Midwestern public university campus. Ideas she encountered in the course and its required tutoring component challenged her thinking about how various facets of people’s lives (such as those we list above) and the contexts in which they live, work and are schooled, affect how they are perceived, what they know, and can do.

The Development and Implementation of a Student-Led Farmers’ Market on a Public University Campus

Farmers’ markets are increasingly promoted for their potential to improve access to healthful foods. University campuses are strategic settings for farmers’ markets, because they could improve access to fresh, local produce for large and diverse communities—including college students, who are at risk for poor dietary intake. Universities also offer resources that facilitate farmers’ markets, such as built-in communication channels, common areas, and student volunteers. However, literature describing how to establish campus-based farmers’ markets is limited. We describe the process of developing and operating a student-driven, campus-based farmers’ market at a public university in the Appalachian region of the United States.

Students’ Satisfaction with Module II Academic Programs Offered by Public Universities in Mombasa: A Comparative Study

Expansion of public universities through satellite campuses has burgeoned nationwide in Kenya. The promise of increased financial returns as a result of the subsequent increase in fee-paying students has proved irresistible to universities. However, the growth of these programs is carried out against a backdrop of few qualified teaching personnel, thereby increasing the lecturer-to-students ratio tremendously, amongst other key issues. The main objective of this study was to find out the comparative satisfaction levels of students enrolled in the Module II programs of public universities in Mombasa. The population of interest in this study was comprised of university students enrolled in the Module II program in public university satellite campuses in Mombasa, Kenya. The target population included all cadres of students including diploma, undergraduate, and post-graduate students from Kenyatta University, University of Nairobi, Moi University, and Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology. From the study findings, students were generally satisfied with the services offered by the various campuses of public universities in Mombasa. There was a general consensus that the lecture delivery process across the various satellite campuses was flawless, and was conducted by experienced qualified personnel. There were minor differences in perceived levels of lecturer competence noted between members of various varsities. The findings further reveals that as much as the campuses offered good customer services at their libraries, plus the convenient timings for library use, the libraries were not fully stocked-up with enough learning resources. The study recommends that the universities make the following changes: Update their teaching/learning equipment with modern reliable ones for better service delivery. The study also recommends that the campuses upgrade their online journal systems to ensure easy and reliable access.

Bridging a community need: development and sustainability of a crime victim service organisation on a university campus

While most university systems encourage and emphasise community service to faculty, staff and students, few university systems create space on their campuses for local, non-profit community organisations that are not religiously or educationally related (i.e., schools, pre-school, day care, etc.). Resources on university campuses can be instrumental in developing and sustaining local grass roots organisations to address specific community needs. This service can provide numerous benefits to both the community and the university with minimal cost to the university. The specific focus of this paper is to answer these questions: a) Does a partnership between a university system and a small, non-profit organisation hinder or enhance the resiliency of the community organisation?; b) Does the reciprocity of benefits to the university offset the cost of resources? A case study analysis of a private community non-profit organisation established on a mid-size public university campus to meet a grassroots need that has a sustained 30 year history will be featured to explore these questions. A history of the organisation including its raison d’etre for creation will be discussed and its life span analysed via organisational theory. Attention also will be given to the partnership benefits for both the non-profit organisation and the university.

As passagens de Cesar Lattes e de Leite Lopes pela Ilha do Fundão

Em 2012, ano do centenário da descoberta dos raios cósmicos por Victor Hess, é oportuno descrever dois projetos independentes de Cesar Lattes e de José Leite Lopes na Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. Esses pioneiros da física das partículas elementares brasileira foram professores da Faculdade Nacional de Filosofia (FNFi) do Rio de Janeiro e atuaram na formação de pesquisadores no Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Físicas (CBPF). Durante o regime militar das décadas de 1960 e 1970, atos oficiais atingiram os quadros docentes de estabelecimentos do ensino superior. Um desses atos foi específico para instituições federais de ensino superior do Rio de Janeiro, que foram incorporadas na atual UFRJ, determinando sua transferência para o campus da Ilha do Fundão. Esses atos oficiais, alterando o quadro de pessoal docente, e deslocando os campi de universidades públicas, têm uma longa história, comentada nesse artigo. Na primeira parte dessas Notas são apresentadas algumas evidências da tentativa de Lattes, em 1968, de instalar um laboratório de pesquisa na Ilha do Fundão, iniciativa pouco conhecida porque os arquivos de Lattes estão hoje na UNICAMP. Na segunda parte, serão comentadas as atuações de José Leite Lopes no Instituto de Física da Universidade do Brasil, atual Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, UFRJ, e, em particular, do seu projeto de aquisição de um acelerador que seria instalado na Ilha do Fundão; essas atuações de Leite Lopes são mais conhecidas porque foram documentadas em seus livros e depoimentos. Na parte final dessa contribuição apresentam-se alguns comentários sobre o envolvimento do autor com os episódios mencionados acima.

Tattoos, Piercings, and Sexual Activity

In this study, I examined the correlation between having a tattoo and/or body piercing and the time at which sexual activity began. Data were gathered from a convenience sample of 2,080 students, who were recruited by approaching them on the campuses of public universities in France. Tattooed and/or pierced students reported earlier experiences of sexual intercourse than did nonpierced and nontattooed students. This effect was found with both males and females, and was reinforced when respondents had both piercings and tattoos.

The Rights of Student Religious Organizations after Christian Legal Society v. Martinez

In Christian Legal Society v. Martinez, a sharply divided Supreme Court held that officials at a public institution in California might require an on-campus religious group to admit all students, including those who disagree with its beliefs, as a condition of being recognized. Although Christian Legal Society has severe negative implications, it does not destroy the rights of student religious groups on public university campuses. To the contrary, student religious groups retain significant rights—the right to express their beliefs, the right to receive benefits from the university, and, in some circumstances, to exclude those individuals who do not share their faith.

3 - University Expansion and the Challenges to Social Development in Kenya: Dilemmas and Pitfalls

The phenomenal expansion of public and private universities in Kenya in recent years has opened access to thousands of knowledge-thirsty stu- dents to achieve their ambitions. Public universities in particular have been forced to diversify their programmes, establish flexible learning schedules and set up campuses away from their traditional locations. But how do cur- rent trends in higher education expansion in Kenya place the institutions in good stead to stem social exclusion and contribute to social development? To what extent is the expansion of public universities in Kenya accompanied by equity considerations and new ways of articulating the issues of class, gender and ethnicity? From being ivory towers and national development projects that were solely seen in terms of workforce development, universi- ties throughout Africa have dispersed to the rural areas both as a strategy to expand access and position themselves as business entities. However, this expansion has not been driven by the public sector. Rather, it has been driven by the private sector, with branch campuses of public universities in rural areas sometimes serving as private income generation units, outside strict public sector oversight. This article traces these developments in Kenya, pointing out the new challenges in terms of equity, quality and the existence of universities as national social institutions that have to be at the centre of social development. The article is based on a critical desk review of pub- lished and grey literature on current trends and implications of public university expansion in Kenya.

The Danforth Chapel Program on the Public American Campus

The Danforth Chapel Program on the Public American Campus Margaret M. Grubiak (bio) Click for larger view View full resolution Figure 1. Danforth Chapel, Colorado State University, James M. Hunter, Fort Collins, Colorado, 1954–55. Photograph by Margaret Grubiak. In an evaluation of the American college chapel published in the late 1950s, religious historian Martin Marty celebrated Colorado State University’s Danforth Chapel and eight other college and university chapels as outstanding examples of a new era in church building. He believed these chapels, with their modernist, progressive architecture, could make religion relevant to the modern age, becoming “the magnet of students who before this never knew that the Christian faith was addressing itself to them as children of the twentieth century.”1 In its stark form and small size, the Danforth Chapel at Colorado State exemplified the kind of worship space that turned a focus to simple and intimate worship (Figure 1). The Colorado State University Danforth Chapel was remarkable as a religious monument on a public university campus, and despite Marty’s identification of it as a Christian space, its architecture directly engaged [End Page 77] the mid-century emphasis on nonsectarianism on the university campus. In declaring the “demise” of the individual architectural patron on campus in the same article, Martin Marty overlooked the donor of the very chapel he celebrated: industrialist William H. Danforth (Figure 2). Marty contended that colleges and universities had themselves become the new patrons of progressive modern architecture, employing outstanding architects like Frank Lloyd Wright, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and Eero Saarinen for chapel projects. But over a twenty-year period from about 1937 to 1957, William Danforth and his foundation funded some fifteen chapels on colleges and university campuses, some revivalist in their architecture but many modernist, across the United States. More importantly, Danforth implemented the last major religious building program on the public campus, constructing eleven of his chapels at tax-supported universities. The Danforth Chapels compose a widespread religious landscape united by the Danforth name, which challenged the conception of a strict separation of church and state in the mid-twentieth century. Click for larger view View full resolution Figure 2. William H. Danforth in 1954, standing in the Colorado State University Danforth Chapel in front of the dedication plaque and Christ in the Garden of Gesthemane painting required for each Danforth Chapel. From The Colorado Aggie Alumnus (May–June 1954): cover. Courtesy Colorado State University, University Historic Photograph Collection, Archives and Special Collections. The Danforth Chapel program also contributed to a new university chapel type: the nondenominational meditation chapel. The Danforth Chapels’ identity as nondenominational spaces was critical to their inclusion within public universities. But even this nonsectarian claim was distinct from later twentieth-century notions of multifaith spaces. The chapels’ religious iconography required by the Danforth Foundation skewed toward a Christian emphasis even while professing an accommodation for Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish worship. This frank celebration of Christianity and simultaneous welcoming of other faiths was not contradictory at mid-century. The chapels’ small size and limited use ensured they were not shades of sectarian parish churches but distinctive spaces for meditation refocused on the sanctuary. The Danforth Chapel program offered an early model of how to make religion available within communities that needed to respect religious difference. The Problem and Promise of Religion in the Public University The place of religion on the public university campus has a complex history. Whereas private and denominational institutions could take whatever stance they wished on religion, state-supported institutions were to obey their own state constitutions as well as hold two aspects of the United States Constitution in balance: the Establishment Clause in the First Amendment forbids states to endorse a particular religion, while the Free Exercise Clause ensures free practice of religion in state institutions. In theory, publicly funded colleges and universities were to be neutral to religion, accommodating all beliefs and discriminating against none. In practice, public colleges and universities [End Page 78] in the late nineteenth century were infused with a Christian culture. In 1890, University of Michigan President James B. Angell, himself a Congregationalist, gave a description of religion in state universities to allay concerns...

Evaluation of the seroprevalence of influenza A(H1N1) 2009 on a university campus: a cross-sectional study

BackgroundHuman infection with influenza A(H1N1) 2009 was first identified in the United States on 15 April 2009 and on 11 June 2009, WHO declared that the rapidly spreading swine-origin influenza virus constituted a global pandemic. We evaluated the seroprevalence of influenza A(H1N1) 2009 virus on a large public University campus, as well as disparities in demographic, symptomatic and vaccination characteristics of participants.MethodsUsing a cross-sectional study design, sera was collected from volunteers and then tested for the presence of antibodies to the virus using a ≥ 1:40 dilution cut-off by hemagglutination inhibition assay. In conjunction, participants were asked to complete a questionnaire allowing us to estimate risk factors for infection in this population, as well as distinguish artificially derived antibodies from naturally derived antibodies.Results300 total participants were recruited and tested. 158 (52.6%) tested positive for influenza A(H1N1) 2009 via hemagglutination inhibition assay using a ≥ 1:40 dilution cut-off. 86 people (54.4%) tested positive for H1N1 but did not report experiencing symptoms during the pandemic meeting the May 2010 CDC definition of influenza-like illness. Furthermore, of those individuals who reported that they had received the H1N1 vaccine, 16% did not test positive.ConclusionsOverall, 52.7% of the total study population tested positive for influenza A(H1N1) 2009. 54.4% of those who tested positive for influenza A(H1N1) 2009 using the ≥ 1:40 dilution cut-off on the hemagglutination inhibition assay in this study population did not report experiencing symptoms during the pandemic meeting the May 2010 CDC definition of influenza-like illness. 16% of those who reported receiving the H1N1 vaccine did not test positive by HAI. We also found that vaccination coverage for H1N1 vaccine was poor among Blacks and Latinos, despite the fact that vaccine was readily available at no cost.

Sustainable Campus Design in Malaysia: An Evaluation of Student’s Perception on Four Research University Campuses

The issue of sustainability has been around for a long time. However, it has become a hot issue after the Earth Summit taking place in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro and in 2002 in Johannesburg. Conference in 1992 led to the formulation of Agenda 21, an action plan containing broad principles to help governments and other institutions in carrying out the policies and programs for sustainable development in their respective countries. The aim of this research was to examine the effectiveness of campus physical development planning in Malaysia in creating a sustainable living on campus by assessed the problems that exist. The study was conducted in four public university campuses and limited to only the campus physical planning. Selected campuses are the research universities campus. The case studies were conducted on each campus. The methodology used in this study is qualitative and quantitative techniques. Quantitative technique involves collecting data using questionnaires distributed among 100 respondents for each campus. Meanwhile, the qualitative technique involves collecting comments and opinions from the respondents obtained from questionnaires, behavioral observation and visual research. The results were then compared for each campus for an explanation of the problem. The findings revealed that all campuses had a similar problem. However, there are some differences about the extent or severity of the problems based on campus physical development plan that is different. The result showed that there are minimal problems occurs on the campus that planned more compact compare to a wide and dispersed campus. It also indicates that a compact campus tend to create a sustainable life on campus.

Campus Sustainability: Student's Perception on Campus Physical Development Planning in Malaysia

Campus physical development plan is an effective tool to shaping campuses’ life, especially among students to promote a sustainable living community. The purpose of this study is to asses and evaluates student's perception about the physical development planning of their campuses. The case study conducted in four public research university campuses. The quantitative and qualitative methods have been use in this study. Quantitative method involved data collection by using questionnaire distributed to 100 students for each campus. While the qualitative methods involved behavioural observation and visual study. The findings from qualitative methods clarified the quantitative data. The overall findings revealed that all campuses had a similar typical problem. However, there are differences about the extent or severity of the problems in each campus. The result shows that the most compact campus (USM) among these campuses, have a minimal problems in term of physical development planning that affect student's life compared to others campuses.

Reducing alcohol-related harm and social disorder in a university community: a framework for evaluation

BackgroundIn New Zealand and other middle to high income countries, university student are at high risk of alcohol-related injury and other problems due to their typical pattern of episodic heavy...

A systematic review of evidence for the added benefits to health of exposure to natural environments

BackgroundThere is increasing interest in the potential role of the natural environment in human health and well-being. However, the evidence-base for specific and direct health or well-being benefits of activity within natural compared to more synthetic environments has not been systematically assessed.MethodsWe conducted a systematic review to collate and synthesise the findings of studies that compare measurements of health or well-being in natural and synthetic environments. Effect sizes of the differences between environments were calculated and meta-analysis used to synthesise data from studies measuring similar outcomes.ResultsTwenty-five studies met the review inclusion criteria. Most of these studies were crossover or controlled trials that investigated the effects of short-term exposure to each environment during a walk or run. This included 'natural' environments, such as public parks and green university campuses, and synthetic environments, such as indoor and outdoor built environments. The most common outcome measures were scores of different self-reported emotions. Based on these data, a meta-analysis provided some evidence of a positive benefit of a walk or run in a natural environment in comparison to a synthetic environment. There was also some support for greater attention after exposure to a natural environment but not after adjusting effect sizes for pretest differences. Meta-analysis of data on blood pressure and cortisol concentrations found less evidence of a consistent difference between environments across studies.ConclusionsOverall, the studies are suggestive that natural environments may have direct and positive impacts on well-being, but support the need for investment in further research on this question to understand the general significance for public health.

Using Social Self-Identification in Social Marketing Materials Aimed at Reducing Violence Against Women on Campus

Bystander-focused in person sexual violence prevention programs provide an opportunity for skill development among bystanders and for widening the safety net for survivors. A social marketing campaign was designed modeling prosocial bystander behavior and using content familiar to target audience members by staging and casting scenes to look similar to the people and situations that the target audience regularly encounters. We refer to this sense of familiarity as social self-identification. In this exploratory study, we attempt to understand how seeing oneself and one's peer group (e.g., social self-identification) in poster images affects target audience members' (e.g., college students) willingness to intervene as a prosocial bystander. The posters in the social marketing campaign were displayed throughout a midsize northeastern public university campus and neighboring local businesses frequented by students. During the last week of the 4-week poster display, the university's homepage portal featured an advertisement displaying a current model of an iPod offering undergraduate students an opportunity to win the device if they completed a community survey. We found that among students who had seen the posters, those who indicated that the scenes portrayed in the posters looked like situations that were familiar to them were significantly more likely to contemplate taking action in preventing a situation where sexual violence had the potential to occur. Furthermore, students who indicated familiarity with the poster content were more likely to indicate that they had acted in a manner similar to those portrayed in the poster. Future directions based on findings from this exploratory study are discussed.

America's Financial Future, Civic Engagement, and the Public University: Editor's Introduction

In July of 2008, the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AACSU) selected a handful of public universities to begin an initiative to promote civic engagement among students, faculty, and wider communities regarding the issues of the national debt and budget deficit issues. Named the America's Future Initiative, the project developed pilot programs on university campuses as part of AASCU's American Democracy Project, an effort to promote civic engagement on America's public university campuses. Moreover, the initiative linked the participating universities to Public Agenda, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization aimed at raising awareness about a number of public policy issues. The universities selected to participate in the America's Future Initiative varied tremendously in terms of geographic location and student enrollment.