Large Campus Research Articles

Breaking ground: librarians working outside the library

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe the rationale and purpose by which librarians have been assigned to a “computer commons” outside the traditional library building on a large campus of a community college.Design/methodology/approach – The approach takes the form of a literature review and commentary on this topic that is now being addressed by cost‐conscious colleagues.Findings – Usage of the library building is increasing and therefore a reasonable response needed to be developed.Originality/value – The value in addressing this issue is to encourage discussion on other community college campuses.

Organisational challenges when enabling ease of access for the elderly around a large acute hospital campus

This paper describes one of several projects undertaken in a large acute care hospital under the banner of 'TOPIC7' The Older Person and Improving Care. It was conducted between January and November 2008. Although driven by the Royal Adelaide Hospital Nursing Service it was undertaken within a multidisciplinary framework. Large city-based tertiary hospitals, nearly without exception, are usually large sprawling campuses having evolved over time from buildings designed and constructed for lower populations and less traffic issues. Parking facilities may or may not be available on-site. In addition, drop-off points are located on the peripheries of the campus at often congested areas. These elements present a particular challenge to the elderly patient. Aims The purpose of this project was twofold: first, to investigate the challenges faced by older people when making their way from access points such as drop-off points and car parks through to hospital departments and second, to review potential solutions. Methods The multidisciplinary project team used a variety of knowledge translation tools and strategies to focus on areas of concern in relation to access for the elderly. They conducted a series of audits to guide practice improvement activities. This led to a reconsideration of currently planned strategies and planning of new initiatives to improve access for the elderly. Results The project was able to define clearly and prioritise the many challenges facing the older person trying to negotiate their way into hospital buildings and the barriers to them successfully reaching their destination in a safe and timely manner. At the beginning of the project it was apparent that a specific solution (an electric courtesy buggy) was in the process of being implemented. This intervention was reviewed in terms of consumer support and implementation feasibility. As a result of the comprehensive audit process, the 'courtesy buggy' was determined to not be the ideal solution and an alternative solution (wheelchair bank) is now being planned for implementation. Conclusions This project highlighted the challenges of working within a large and complex organisation with multiple key stakeholders and the need for clear pathways that clinician groups can follow to avoid duplication of effort and potential implementation of suboptimal strategies.

Alcohol Price and Intoxication in College Bars

Many population studies find that alcohol prices are inversely related to alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems, including among college students and young adults. Yet, little is known about the "micro-level" effects of alcohol price on the behavior of individual consumers in natural drinking settings such as college bars. Therefore, we assessed patron's cost per gram of ethanol consumed at on-premise drinking establishments and its association with intoxication upon leaving an establishment. On 4 consecutive nights during April 2008, data were collected from 804 patrons exiting 7 on-premise establishments in a bar district located adjacent to a large university campus in the southeastern United States. Anonymous interview and survey data were collected as well as breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) readings. We calculated each patron's expenditures per unit of ethanol consumed based on self-reported information regarding the type, size, number, and cost of consumed drinks. A multivariable model revealed that a 10-cent increase in cost per gram of ethanol at on-premise establishments was associated with a 30% reduction in the risk of exiting an establishment intoxicated (i.e., BrAC > or = 0.08 g/210 l). The results are consistent with economic theory and population-level research regarding the price elasticity of alcoholic beverages, which show that increases in alcohol prices are accompanied by less alcohol consumption. These findings suggest that stricter regulation of the drink discounting practices of on-premise drinking establishments would be an effective strategy for reducing the intoxication levels of exiting patrons.

Process Improvement in Hospitals

To improve processes in hospitals, a case study was conducted at a German university hospital, which consists of more than 30 clinics and institutes on a large campus. The case study focused on the analysis of the patient flow and of machine utilization in the radiology department. Radiological devices are spread over the campus and located in different buildings. Patients with restricted mobility have to be transported by a vehicle transportation service across the campus. However, a vehicle transport can considerably influence the patients' punctual arrival to their appointments. The observations of the case study showed that the current organization of the radiology department results in high patient waiting times and machine idle times. The university hospital is planning to conduct significant organizational changes, especially with regard to the organization of the radiology department. This case study was conducted to support the planning processes of the clinic and to reveal and estimate optimization potential. To analyze the patient flow, a discrete event multicriteria simulation model was designed and implemented. By modeling different scenarios, it was possible to easily compare and assess distinct alternatives. This led to improved machine utilization and reduced waiting times.

Preservice elementary teachers’ perceptions of their understanding of inquiry and inquiry-based science pedagogy: Influence of an elementary science education methods course and a science field experience

Results of this study suggest that when multiple inquiry-based experiences, from guided to open inquiries, that challenge preservice teachers’ learning in a constructivist environment are integrated into the elementary science methods course, ePSTs not only develop an understanding of inquiry-based science instruction but also develop an appreciation for the benefits of teaching and learning science through inquiry in a constructivist environment, indicating comfort with using inquiry-based science teaching strategies in their own classroom practice when they become practicing teachers. Additionally, having ePSTs concurrently involved in field experiences which reinforce inquiry-based science pedagogy taught in the elementary science methods course helps preservice teachers conceptualize their own pedagogy in science and helps them start defining and accepting their changing role as a facilitator as envisioned in theNSES (NRC, 1996, 2000). However, even though the majority of the ePSTs in this study indicated their intent to use inquiry-based strategies to teach science in their classrooms and even though there is evidence in literature suggesting that a mathematics methods courses can change preservice teachers’ beliefs and attitudes to be more consistent with the current reform movement in mathematics (Wilkins & Brand, 2004), a follow-up study is needed to explore how many of these ePSTs actually incorporate inquiry-based science teaching into their classes. p ]This research study was limited in that it examined the perceptions of ePSTs regarding their understanding of scientific inquiry and inquiry-based science pedagogy after concurrently completing a traditional eSEM course and its associated science field experience at only one large Midwestern university campus. Not all campuses offer the eSEM course and the science field experience in the same semester. Also, this study did not examine the effect of gender, socioeconomic factors, or ethnicity on ePSTs’ understanding of inquiry or inquiry-based pedagogy to teach science as all of the participants were White females from upper middle class backgrounds.

Tailored Messaging And Its Effect On Health And Lifestyle Improvement

The rising cost of healthcare has driven employers to develop effective health education and communication strategies designed to improve health outcomes. There is growing evidence for the use of computer-tailored, online behavioral health interventions. PURPOSE: To determine the effectiveness of a computer-tailored, online behavioral health intervention promoting healthy lifestyle changes. METHODS: Participants were recruited staff from a large mid-western college campus to participate in the computer-tailored wellness program. Information collected was based on epidemiological need, stage of change, motivation, self-confidence, barriers and demographics, the automated system recruits participants into follow-up behavior change interventions. Self-reported baseline and follow-up biometric, health risk behaviors, lifestyle scores, quality of health and life, motivation, and self efficacy data were analyzed using either CHI squared (χ2) for categorical variables or t tests for continuous variables. RESULTS: Of the 432 employees enrolled, 23.8% (n = 129) completed the one-year follow up health risk assessment. The participants in this study were predominately women (78%), middle-aged, white/non-Hispanic and college graduates. At 1yr follow up, body mass index (BMI) data showed proportionally fewer men in extremely obese (-5.6%), and overweight categories (-5.5%) and more men in the obese category (5.6%). Women showed little proportional change in the BMI risk category expect for the significant increase in the extremely obese category (4.6%, p<0.05). Physical activity, nutrition, weight management, skin protection and mental health were the 5 behaviors with the highest risk at enrollment and there were strong trends toward improving health in these areas at year end. The lifestyle scores indicated a significant shift towards a healthier lifestyle. However, perceived quality of health and life did not significantly change with participation. Overall motivation and self-efficacy to change risk behaviors showed a strong positive trend. CONCLUSION: Participation in the computer-tailored wellness program resulted in a moderate shift towards a healthier lifestyle. The low program retention contributed to the suboptimal program performance on risk modification.

A Field Study of Bar-Sponsored Drink Specials and Their Associations With Patron Intoxication

The study examined associations between bar-sponsored drink specials and alcohol intoxication at the patron level. Data were collected in a college bar district located in a large campus community in the southeastern United States. Random and self-selected samples of patrons were interviewed after exiting college bars at night on four different nights (N=383). Anonymous interview and questionnaire data were collected as well as breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) readings. Significant gender differences existed in patron drinking practices. Women were more likely to take advantage of drink specials, whereas men reported greater alcohol expenditures, consumed more drinks, and drank for longer periods of time. Gender differences in BrAC were very small and not meaningful. Patrons who did not take advantage of drink specials reported consuming more drinks before bar entry than patrons who did participate in these promotions. Participation in "all-you-can-drink" promotions was significantly associated with higher BrAC readings after adjusting for covariates and random effects attributable to drinking establishment. Other drink specials did not have significant associations with alcohol intoxication. The all-you-can-drink special may be the specific discounting practice with the greatest potential for boosting patron intoxication and thus may need to be a stronger focus of alcohol-control policies aimed at improving the beverage service of drinking establishments.

Detecting Network-Wide and Router-Specific Misconfigurations Through Data Mining

Recent studies have shown that router misconfigurations are common and can have dramatic consequences to the operations of a network. Misconfigurations can compromise the security of an entire network or even cause global disruptions to Internet connectivity. Several solutions have been proposed. They can detect a number of problems in real configuration files. However, these solutions share a common limitation: they are based on rules which need to be known beforehand. Violations of these rules are deemed misconfigurations. As policies typically differ among networks, these approaches are limited in the scope of mistakes they can detect. In this paper, we address the problem of router misconfigurations using data mining. We apply association rules mining to the configuration files of routers across an administrative domain to discover local, network-specific policies. Deviations from these local policies are potential misconfigurations. We have evaluated our scheme on configuration files from a large state-wide network provider, a large university campus and a high-performance research network. In this evaluation, we focused on three aspects of the configurations: user accounts, interfaces and BGP sessions. User accounts specify the users that can access the router and define the authorized commands. Interfaces are the ports used by routers to connect to different networks. Each interface may support a number of services and run various routing protocols. BGP sessions are the connections with neighboring autonomous systems (AS). BGP sessions implement the routing policies which select the routes that are filtered and the ones that are advertised to the BGP neighbors. We included the routing policies in our study. The results are promising. We discovered a number of errors that were confirmed and corrected by the network administrators. These errors would have been difficult to detect with current predefined rule-based approaches.

Characteristics of YouTube network traffic at a campus network – Measurements, models, and implications

User-Generated Content has become very popular since new web services such as YouTube allow for the distribution of user-produced media content. YouTube-like services are different from existing traditional VoD services in that the service provider has only limited control over the creation of new content. We analyze how content distribution in YouTube is realized and then conduct a measurement study of YouTube traffic in a large university campus network. Based on these measurements, we analyzed the duration and the data rate of streaming sessions, the popularity of videos, and access patterns for video clips from the clients in the campus network. The analysis of the traffic shows that trace statistics are relatively stable over short-term periods while long-term trends can be observed. We demonstrate how synthetic traces can be generated from the measured traces and show how these synthetic traces can be used as inputs to trace-driven simulations. We also analyze the benefits of alternative distribution infrastructures to improve the performance of a YouTube-like VoD service. The results of these simulations show that P2P-based distribution and proxy caching can reduce network traffic significantly and allow for faster access to video clips.

Citation patterns of online and print journals in the digital age

The research assesses the impact of online journals on citation patterns by examining whether researchers were more likely to limit the resources they cited to those journals available online rather than those only in print. Publications from a large urban university with a medical college at an urban location and at a smaller regional location were examined. The number of online journals available to authors on either campus was the same. The number of print journals available on the large campus was much greater than the print journals available at the small campus. Searches by author affiliation from 1996 to 2005 were performed in the Web of Science to find all articles written by affiliated members in the college of medicine at the selected institution. Cited references from randomly selected articles were recorded, and the cited journals were coded into five categories based on their availability at the study institution: print only, print and online, online only, not owned, and dropped. Results were analyzed using SPSS. The age of articles cited for selected years as well as for 2006 and 2007 was also examined. The number of journals cited each year continued to increase. On the large urban campus, researchers were not more likely to cite journals available online or less likely to cite journals only in print. At the regional location, at which the number of print-only journals was minimal, use of print-only journals significantly decreased. The citation of print-only journals by researchers with access to a library with a large print and electronic collection appeared to continue, despite the availability of potential alternatives in the online collection. Journals available in electronic format were cited more frequently in publications from the campus whose library had a small print collection, and the citation of journals available in both print and electronic formats generally increased over the years studied.

“It's Like . . . a Confronting Issue”: Life-Changing Narratives of Young People

In this article, the authors report on the narrative accounts given in interviews by 27 first-year university students in New South Wales, Australia, regarding their experiences of loss. The students were drawn from four campuses: a large city campus, a smaller urban campus, one outer metropolitan campus, and one rural campus. From participants' accounts, the researchers found that it was important for these students to organize their experience and make sense of it. In making sense, these students imposed meaning on their experiences and thereby constructed and reconstructed stories of loss to make better sense of their experience. The researchers recognized that within the interviews, they were positioned as an audience and that they were part of a reexperiencing of the narrative. In this sense, they were collaborators in the retelling of the narrative of a lived experience.

Quieting Weinberg 5C: A case study in hospital noise control

Weinberg 5C of Johns Hopkins Hospital is a very noisy hematological cancer unit in a relatively new building of a large medical campus. Because of the requirements for dealing with immuno-suppressed patients, options for introducing sound absorbing materials are limited. In this article, a case study of noise control in a hospital, the sound environment in the unit before treatment is described, the chosen noise control approach of adding custom-made sound absorbing panels is presented, and the impact of the noise control installation is discussed. The treatment of Weinberg 5C involved creating sound absorbing panels of 2-in.-thick fiberglass wrapped in an anti-bacterial fabric. Wallpaper paste was used to hold the fabric to the backing of the fiberglass. Installation of these panels on the ceiling and high on corridor walls had a dramatic effect. The noise on the unit (as measured by the equivalent sound pressure level) was immediately reduced by 5 dB(A) and the reverberation time dropped by a factor of over 2. Further, this drop in background noise and reverberation time understates the dramatic impact of the change. Surveys of staff and patients before and after the treatment indicated a change from viewing the unit as very noisy to a view of the unit as relatively quiet.

Bursting out of the box

PurposeThis article aims to summarize recent outreach efforts at The Washington State University Libraries. Taking outreach beyond the traditional library liaison relationship produced unexpected partnerships across campus with such diverse groups as New Student Programs and Residence Life.Design/methodology/approachThe Library Instruction Department at Washington State University was looking for areas where expanded efforts would be most beneficial to the majority of its students. Connection was resumed with liaison areas, which had been previously established, to bring a focus to student needs. Offices centered on student life, such as Residence Life and New Student Programs, were the focal point of these efforts.FindingsWSU's Library Instruction Department was welcomed as a partner program most everywhere it went. Consequently new areas of outreach have been established where none had existed previously and the library's reputation has been boosted campus‐wide.Practical implicationsResults include a more visible library presence across campus as well as opportunities for future collaborative relationships that bring research, education and university life together. Discussion of various programs and activities provide details about the challenges of making these connections and the rewards in making new contacts that publicize library services in non‐traditional means.Originality/valueBecause so much is on the web, marketing the academic library in a personalized manner has become increasingly important on a large university campus. Establishing alternative marketing strategies geared towards the primary student audience will help build relationships across campus and consequently bring students through the doors.

Assessment of university campus café service: The students' perceptions

This paper presents the results of a study conducted to examine the important attributes in food service provision on a large Australian university campus. Ten café outlets (A to J to maintain anonymity of the café outlets) positioned across a large university campus located in an urban residential area were surveyed. A total of 410 students participated in the survey. Based on the frequency of patronage to the cafés results showed that five of the ten café outlets were more frequently visited in a given week. These were Café A, Café B, Café H, Café F, and Café I; however, the focus of this paper would be on Café A, which was just recently opened for business. Results indicated that students considered quality, price and service as the most important attributes in patronizing a particular café on campus. Results also indicated that students were most satisfied with important attributes such as convenience, ambience and quality during their visit to the café. Paired samples' t-test results showed statistically significant differences between the perceived importance and level of satisfaction with all attributes except the opening hours attribute. Results are discussed with possible implications and suggestions for further research.

An analysis of TCP reset behaviour on the internet

This paper presents a one-year study of Internet packet traffic from a large campus network, showing that 15-25% of TCP connections have at least one TCP RST (reset). Similar results have also been observed from measurements of other Internet links. The results in this paper show that reset connections arise from local events such as network outages, attacks, or reconfigurations, as well as from global trends in TCP usage. In particular, we identify application-level Web behaviour as the primary contributor to the global trend in reset TCP connections. The most prevalent anomaly is the absence of the normal connection termination handshake. Instead, connections are often reset by the client. We believe that particular implementations of HTTP/TCP connection management cause this global trend.

Pedestrian behaviors at and perceptions towards various pedestrian facilities: an examination based on observation and survey data

This paper presents findings from an observational study of pedestrian behaviors at various urban crosswalks and a pedestrian user survey which sought pedestrian perceptions toward various pedestrian facilities in a divided urban boulevard located next to a large university campus, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA. Such facilities included signalized and unsignalized intersection crosswalks, unsignalized marked and non-striped midblock crosswalks, physical barriers (vegetation and two-foot high concrete wall), midblock crosswalk shelters, colored paving (red brick pavement) at medians and curbs, and pedestrian warning signs at midblock crossing locations, messaging “cross only when traffic clears.” Pedestrian behavior data were obtained from the reduction of video images of pedestrian movements recorded throughout the study site. Pedestrian perceptions information was obtained through a user survey completed by pedestrians using the study site. It was found that unsignalized midblock crosswalks were the treatment of preference to pedestrians (83% reported a preference to cross) and also showed high crossing compliance rate of pedestrians (71.2%). It was also evident that the crosswalk location, relative to the origin and destination of the pedestrian, was the most influential decision factor for pedestrians deciding to cross at a designated location (90% said so). Proper traffic control can further encourage pedestrian crossings at designated locations since the effect of the availability of pedestrian signal to influence pedestrians’ decisions to cross at a specific location was quite high (74% said so). Moreover, vegetation and concrete barriers influenced the decision to cross of a significant number of pedestrians surveyed (65%). It is expected that the findings from this study will help traffic engineers, urban planners and policy makers understand pedestrian behaviors and attitudes at/towards pedestrian crosswalks.

Library Databases as Writing-Course Anthologies

At the University of Colorado Libraries, thousands of students are using a collection of readings drawn from our full text online databases. These readings were prepared in close collaboration with a large campus writing program. They are used in place of, or in addition to, a course textbook. Other libraries may want to consider similar projects, which will allow them to make use of the rich resources available from the library, familiarize students with library resources, and foster collaboration with campus programs. Projects like this encourage outreach from libraries to the university community, and help build strong ties with potential campus allies. This project may also have implications for course packs, e-re-serves, and student textbook sales.

Perspectives and Experiences of Muslim Women Who Veil on College Campuses

Conducted prior to the terrorism of September 11, 2001, this qualitative study explored the perceptions and experiences of 7 women who veiled on a large college campus in the Midwest. With national origins ranging from Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, to the United States, some participants reevaluated and subsequently unveiled due to their college experiences.

Applying communication theories to prevent dangerous drinking among college students: The Ru sure campaign

This article describes the design, implementation, and evaluation of a dangerous drinking prevention campaign on a large university campus. Members of the target audience, first‐year students, are particularly susceptible to misperceptions of drinking norms on campus given their previous experiences and environmental messages communicated to them through the media. Thus, this campaign was designed using the Socially Situated Experiential Learning (SSEL) Model (Lederman & Stewart, 1999) that builds on a framework of interpersonal communication theories, social norms theory, and experiential learning theory. Results demonstrate the effectiveness of a health communication campaign that combines both a traditional media campaign with experiential learning activities conducted by upper‐level students who serve as disseminators of campaign messages as well as role models for the target audience.

The Bakery: a cross-functional case study for introductory managerial accounting

Abstract This instructional case is designed to achieve four educational objectives: (1) to give students a more complete appreciation of the importance of considering accounting information along with marketing and economics-related information, avoiding a myopic focus on accounting data, (2) to give students practice in pricing, cost volume profit analysis (CVP) and outsourcing decisions, (3) to help students learn to build spreadsheets that are capable of what-if analysis, and (4) to provide an active learning experience that engages introductory accounting students. The Bakery is a non-profit organization whose primary function is to sell baked goods and beverages to students in a large campus residence hall complex. In completing the case, students utilize information provided about the costs and previous pricing structure of The Bakery, along with information they collect about competitors' product offerings, prices, and accompanying services, and their own knowledge of The Bakery's customers, college students and their parents, as a basis for making pricing decisions. Once they have completed the pricing analysis, students use the resulting variable costing income statement to perform CVP and to analyze a decision to potentially outsource The Bakery's operations.