Public Research University Research Articles

Hybrid logics in the resource strategies of US public research universities

ABSTRACT US public research universities face increasing pressures to compete in higher education, but receive fewer resources from their states than in previous eras. Prior research suggests that these institutions adopt market-driven mentalities and practices to generate revenues while eschewing their public missions. We posit that US public research universities may employ competition and profit-seeking (market mechanisms) to resource the campus as a whole and serve the broader society. As such, these institutions could potentially bend some industry-oriented principles and behaviors to bolster social goals, as reflected in their newer resource-centered organizational discourses and strategies. In this study, we apply theory of institutional logics to illuminate these discourses and strategies. The logics perspective focuses on underlying theories of action that shape organizational structures and processes. It informs, here, a qualitative document analysis of materials and longitudinal numeric data spanning 2000 to 2014 from three sampled universities. Findings suggest that the study universities amplify over time their appeals to the public good to justify market efforts. They also indicate a complex interplay among multiple logics. These blended, hybridized logics offer strategies and behaviors to reconcile conflicting organizational imperatives. We discuss prospects for research on the managerial tools used as instruments of good.

Preaching to the Choir: University Diversity Committees as Affective Communities

This paper asks, what significance do diversity committee meetings have for how diversity workers experience, make sense of, and navigate the challenges of diversity work at a large, public research university? Drawing on a sixteen‐month ethnography of diversity policy and practice, I analyze the practice of “preaching to the choir” among committee members and explore the different affective attachments that form between diversity workers, their works, and the objects of diversity interventions.

Student Success, Research Preeminence, and Unintended Consequences at Public Metropolitan Research Universities

This article extends a line of research on intentional change at public metropolitan research universities that aims to improve undergraduate student success (as measured by graduation and retention rates) while improving access (as measured by Pell and minority rates). Some of the issues that have emerged from this line of research involve the dynamics of various competing goals, such as (a) student success and student access and (b) student success with access and research preeminence. This article uses performance data to examine the challenges of improving success with access and research preeminence, simultaneously, at public metropolitan research universities. A case study offers an illustration of the challenges and clarifies the unintended consequences.

Transitioning Online Reference Staffing Models: Assessing and Balancing Needs of Patrons and Practitioners

ABSTRACTAs staffing models evolve for academic library service points, online chat reference services require strategic analysis to improve efficiency and effectiveness. This paper will examine the perception of chat reference before and after staffing changes from faculty librarians, staff, and graduate assistants to non-MLIS library professionals and graduate assistants at Florida State University’s a large, public research university library. Our survey explores satisfaction levels and perception of both patrons and library personnel before and after the staffing change.Our analysis of 197 patron survey results determined that patrons are equally satisfied with non-librarian provision of chat reference services and found chat interactions to be comparable in quality and timeliness to chats staffed by librarians. Our research into staffer survey results revealed a slight decrease in satisfaction with operation of the service, notably in terms of confidence after the staffing transition even though this was not reflected in the patron satisfaction levels. This assessment indicates that library workers are equally as competent in staffing chat reference services as librarians from patron perspectives. As academic libraries continue to measure the value of staffing service desks with librarians, this study will provide relevant insight into how patrons and staffers are affected by changes in staffing models.

Development of research integrity in France is on the rise: the introduction of research integrity officers was a progress

BackgroundImplementing responsible conduct of research and monitoring bad practices requires time and tact. In France, it was in 2015 that the wishes of those in charge of research proposed the appointment of research integrity officers (RIOs) in all universities, national higher education schools, and research institutions. Our objectives were to search for information to describe the RI development and to analyze the RIOs’ profiles.MethodsThe OFIS (Office Français de l’Intégrité Scientifique) website lists all public research institutions and universities (RIUs) and their designated RIOs. During the period between 6 and 14 October 2018, and on 2 May 2019 (updating), we entered two keywords (“plagiat” and “intégrité”) into the search engines on the RIU homepages and retrieved the relevant information (including “research” and “scientific” integrity when “intégrité” was entered). We consulted the governance and downloaded the organigram to determine whether the RIO positions and names were mentioned. We searched for the domains of expertise, sex, and age of the RIOs from their CVs (institutional websites), LinkedIn profiles, and various Google links.ResultsThe OFIS website lists 142 RIUs. Searching for the keyword “plagiarism” retrieved 25 RIUs; however, the web information was minimal, and consisted entirely of charters, interviews, and rare training modules. The keyword “integrity” turned up 23 RIUs. Nonetheless, there was little information available beyond notices for seminars, events, and a few training modules. Of the total 142 RIUs, 66.2% (n = 94) had named 96 RIOs. Furthermore, 29.2% RIOs (n = 28) were female and 70.8% (n = 68) were male; 38 RIOs were retired (> 65 years old) 58 were active (< 65 years old), and had a RIO function added to their usual laboratory activities.ConclusionThere is a lack of information about RI on the websites of French universities and research organizations, which may reflect a lack of information and commitment in the institutions themselves.

Co-Curricular Learning at Research Universities: Results from the SERU Survey

We consider features of cocurricular activities as important learning environments outside of the classroom. Using survey data from seven large public research universities we investigated 17 specific learning opportunities that occur in student clubs and organizations. We found that cocurricular learning experiences are common and that students place high levels of importance on these opportunities. We also found that women, students with high GPAs, and upper-division students were more likely to report cocurricular learning experiences.

Early Academic Momentum: Factors Contributing to Community College Transfer Students’ STEM Degree Attainment

Guided by the notion of academic momentum, this study drew data from longitudinal transcript records at a large public 4-year research university and examined factors that specifically contribute to community college transfer students’ academic momentum. It also explored how early academic momentum along with students’ sociodemographic characteristics impact degree attainment in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields of study. This study conducted multinomial logistic regression analysis and found that certain students’ background characteristics (i.e., gender, age, and family income), community college academic achievement (i.e., associate degree completion, and number of community college credits accepted), and early academic performance at the 4-year university (math and English preparedness, number of credit hours attempted, and first-semester grade point average) were significantly related to transfer students’ likelihood of obtaining a STEM degree. The findings provide new knowledge about academic momentum and could be used to enhance the community college pathway to STEM degree completion.

Sponsored Research Indirect Costs: A Single-Site Case Study of Public Research University STEM Faculty Members’ Perspectives

This explanatory case study investigated the phenomenon of one institution’s public research university STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) faculty members’ perspectives on indirect cost recovery from research grant funding. The explanatory scheme incorporated organizational culture, faculty socialization, and political bargaining models in the conceptual framework. The analysis indicated that faculty socialization and organizational culture were the most dominant themes; political bargaining emerged as significantly less prominent. Public research university STEM faculty are most concerned about the survival of their research programs and the discovery facilitated by their research programs; they resort to conjecture regarding the utility of indirect cost recovery. The findings direct institutional administrators to consider less emphasis on compliance and hierarchical authority and focus on greater communication and clarity in budget processes and organizational decision-making when working with expert professionals such as science faculty; for higher education researchers, the findings indicate a need for more sophisticated models to understand organizational dependency on expert professionals.

Assessing Corporate Brand Equity of Public Universities

Brand equity studies focus heavily on the brands of profit-based organisations. Similarly in Malaysia, while there have been a number of studies on leading brands owned by profit-based organisations (e.g. Petronas, Air Asia and Maxis), few studies have explored branding in relation to not-for-profit organisations, such as public universities. Public universities tend not to place too high a priority on their brand development because they often lack an understanding of the significance of brand equity. The increased pressure on public universities to compete in the highly competitive higher education market, however, is slowly changing this perception. Therefore, this study will offer some preliminary insights into the dimensions contributing to the corporate brand equity of a public university in Malaysia, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). This study illustrates how metrics can be used to assess the brand of a public research university and can facilitate the development of corporate brand equity metric for institutions of higher education. Data collection was conducted using the survey method, distributing questionnaires to 400 students from eight local public universities. The findings of this study indicate that the dimensions of awareness, quality of service, trust and relevance have a positive relationship with USM’s corporate brand equity. These findings may help to guide future researchers in understanding the dimensions of brand equity in relation to public universities. Keywords : Branding, brand equity, university, Universiti Sains Malaysia, higher education institution.

Symbolizing while solving linear systems

Solving systems of linear equations is of central importance in linear algebra and many related applications, yet there is limited literature examining the symbolizing processes students use as they work to solve systems of linear equations. In this paper, we examine this issue by analyzing final exam data from 68 students in an introductory undergraduate linear algebra course at a large public research university in the United States. Based on our analysis, we expanded our framework (Larson & Zandieh, 2013) for interpretations of matrix equations to include augmented matrices and symbolic forms commonly used in solving linear systems. We document considerable variation in students’ symbolization processes, which broadly occurred along two primary trajectories: systems trajectories and row reduction trajectories. Row reduction trajectories included at least five symbolic shifts, two of which students executed with a great deal of success and uniformity. Students’ symbolizing processes varied more in relation to the other three shifts, and these variations were often linked to trends of variable renaming, variable creation, or imagined parameter reasoning. Students were more flexible in their solution strategies when solving systems involving lines than for systems involving planes.

Academic Library Use is Positively Related to a Variety of Educational Outcomes

A Review of:&#x0D; Soria, K. M., Fransen, J., &amp; Nackerud, S. (2017). Beyond books: The extended academic benefits of library use for first-year college students. College &amp; Research Libraries, 78(1), 8-22. https://doi.org/10.5860/crl.78.1.8&#x0D; Abstract&#x0D; Objectives – To consider the relationship between academic library use and four specific outcomes: academic engagement, engagement in scholarly activities, academic skills development, and grade point average.&#x0D; Design – Hierarchical regression analysis.&#x0D; Setting – A large, public research university in the Midwest US.&#x0D; Subjects – 1,068 non-transfer, first-year students who voluntarily completed the Student Experience in the Research University (SERU) survey.&#x0D; Methods – The SERU survey results were analyzed alongside student data derived from institutional records and 10 library usage variables generated from library systems. Velicer’s minimum average partial (MAP) method was employed to develop a factor analysis. Hierarchical regression analyses measured the relationships between independent variables (demographic characteristics, collegiate experiences, and libraries use) and dependent variables (students’ academic engagement, academic skills, engagement in scholarship, and fall semester grade point average).&#x0D; Main Results – Students’ use of academic libraries was reported to have a positive relationship with all four dependent variables, above and beyond those explained by pre-college and collegiate experiences: academic engagement (R2∆= .130, p &lt; 0.001), academic skills development (R2∆= .025, p &lt; 0.001), fall semester grade point average (R2∆= .018, p &lt; 0.001), and engagement in scholarship (R2∆= .070, p &lt; 0.001). Use of books and web-based library resources had the most positive relationships with academic outcomes; workshop attendance and use of reference services had limited positive relationships with academic outcomes; and use of library computer workstations had no significant effects on academic outcomes.&#x0D; Conclusion – Undergraduate student use of the academic library is positively associated with diverse academic outcomes. Although the explanatory power of library use was relatively low, ranging from 1.8 to 13.0 percent of final variance in the dependent variables, library use is nonetheless reported to contribute significantly to academic outcomes.

German Goes Global Studies

Both of the participants in this dialogue are professors of German, and both were involved in recent efforts to develop Global Studies programs at their institutions. While one teaches at a small, private, liberal arts college and the other at a large, urban, public research university, both participated in these projects with the pragmatic desire to help boost enrollments in German classes and with the humanistic goal of situating deep cultural knowledge of German‐speaking countries and the German language within a broader global context. In their discussion, they address how their institutions came to the idea of creating a Global Studies program, the process involved in designing it, the sources of help and resistance they encountered along the way, and how Global Studies is now benefitting their German programs.

Digesting “the Worm's Share”: Administrative Authority and Faculty Strategies in the Humanities

Background/ContextResearch on academic capitalism often maps changing conditions in which faculty work occurs without explaining the mechanisms by which change occurs. We use Fligstein and McAdam's theory of fields to posit that the changing conditions in which humanities faculty members work reflect activities in overlapping (the academic profession more generally) and proximate (university administration) fields. We seek to illuminate the ways in which humanities faculty experience heightened administrative authority and strategically respond.Research QuestionsWe ask: 1) How do faculty members in the humanities understand the changes in their field? 2) How do faculty members in the humanities understand their relationships to members of overlapping (e.g., faculty in other areas) and proximate (e.g., administrators) fields? and 3) How do faculty members in the humanities strategize to improve their positions?ParticipantsWe conducted semistructured interviews with 46 faculty members in humanities fields with various appointments (tenured, tenure-track, non-tenure-track). Faculty participants were mainly housed in English and history, two of the largest humanities departments at many institutions, but also in philosophy and religion departments.Research DesignOur multiple case study design took place at two public research universities to understand how faculty respond to changing conditions. The research sites, typical of many public research universities, experienced declining direct government support and therefore conditions in which academic capitalist processes occur were present at both. Humanities departments contributed a large portion of student credit-hour production at both research sites, yet such funds were centralized and allocated by university administration.Data Collection and AnalysisOur interview protocol focused on faculty perceptions of resource allocation within the institution, allocation of work within the department, perceptions of the department relative to others, and how faculty structured their time and careers in response to various pressures inside and outside of their university. Semistructured interviews ranged from 25 and 90 minutes and were recorded and transcribed. We analyzed data using a priori and emergent codes which were grouped into broad themes reflecting faculty responses to changing conditions.ResultsThree strategic responses emerged among humanities faculty members we interviewed: utilizing lower status faculty members, exploiting weaker units in the field, and forming alliances.Conclusions/RecommendationsStrategies result in the improved status of some individual faculty members but do not arrest the diminishing status of the humanities as a field. Our analysis suggests that field-level analyses entail implications for the study of academic work and processes in the academic capitalism tradition.

College Success Among Students From Disadvantaged Backgrounds: “Poor” and “Rural” Do Not Spell Failure

The popular view of students reared in poverty is that they fall short across a wide range of domains relative to their more advantaged peers. In this ongoing longitudinal study, we follow a cohort of college students who come from poverty and were awarded full financial support for four years at a large public research university. The results after two full academic years are striking for the lack of difference in dropout rate and grade point average between these economically disadvantaged students and their college peers. We suggest that it is not poverty per se that leads to poorer college academic performance in such students but rather the demand on their time and energy to meet ongoing financial needs.

Student Sensemaking of Learning Analytics Dashboard Interventions in Higher Education

An instrumental case study was conducted at a large, public research university in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States to understand undergraduate use of learning analytics dashboard (LAD)...

Using the Lean Six Sigma Methodology to Reduce Mouse Cage Sanitation Time for Animal Care and Use Programs.

Although efficient sanitization is a high priority for Animal Care and Use Programs (ACUP), the cage sanitation process for animals used in biomedical research can be labor-intensive. To increase the efficiency of sanitation services provided by ACUP, the current project used the Lean Six Sigma methodology to reduce the time to sanitize mouse cages by implementing countermeasures to reduce causes of waste within this process for the Animal Care Operations (ACO) group at a leading public research university. Lean Six Sigma was selected for use in this project given its goal to make organizations' routine operations flow as smoothly and efficiently as possible and its applicability to biomedical and research settings as discussed in the literature. Through observation of the ACO's existing mouse cage sanitation process and brainstorming sessions with the ACO staff, the existing process was mapped, a baseline measurement of the current process performance was established, the process was analyzed to identify potential causes of waste, and appropriate countermeasures were implemented to improve the process. These countermeasures involved actions specifically targeted at reducing process delays, which included implementing new procedures, clarified schedules, and visual controls. As a result of this project, ACO's average mouse cage sanitation process cycle time was reduced by 35 min, and the time saved was reinvested within the ACO to provide technicians additional time to complete other valuable tasks and thus support animal research endeavors at this university.

Scale Evaluating the Information Literacy Self-Efficacy of Medical Students Created and Tested in a Six-Year Belgian Medical Program

A Review of:&#x0D; De Meulemeester, A., Buysse, H., &amp; Peleman, R. (2018). Development and validation of an Information Literacy Self-Efficacy Scale for medical students. Journal of Information Literacy, 12(1), 27-47. Retrieved from https://ojs.lboro.ac.uk/JIL/article/view/PRA-V12-I1-2&#x0D; Abstract&#x0D; Objective – To create and validate a scale evaluating the information literacy (IL) self-efficacy beliefs of medical students.&#x0D; Design – Scale development.&#x0D; Setting – Large, public research university in Belgium.&#x0D; Subjects – 1,252 medical students enrolled in a six-year medical program in the 2013-2014 academic year.&#x0D; Methods – Ten medical-specific IL self-efficacy questions were developed to expand a 28-item Information Literacy Self-Efficacy Scale (ILSES) (Kurbanoglu, Akkoyunlu, &amp; Umay, 2006). Medical students in Years 1 – 5 completed the questionnaire (in English) in the first two weeks of the academic year, with students in Year 6 completing after final exams. Respondents rated their confidence with each item 0 (‘I do not feel confident at all’) to 100 (‘I feel 100% confident’). Principal Axis Factoring analysis was conducted on all 38 items to identify subscales. Responses were found suitable for factor analysis using Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity and the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure (KMO). Factors were extracted using the Kaiser-Gutmann rule with Varimax rotation applied. Cronbach’s alpha was used to test the internal consistency of each identified subscale. Following a One-way-ANOVA testing for significant differences, a Tamhane T2 post-hoc test obtained a pairwise comparison between mean responses for each student year.&#x0D; Main Results – Five subscales with a total of 35 items were validated for inclusion in the Information Literacy Self-Efficacy Scale for Medicine (ILSES-M) and found to have a high reliability (Chronbach’s alpha scores greater than .70). Subscales were labelled by concept, including “Evaluating and Processing Information” (11 items), “Medical Information Literacy Skills” (10 items), “Searching and Finding Information” (6 items), “Using the Library” (4 items), and “Bibliography” (4 items). The factor loading of non-medical subscales closely reflected studies validating the original ILSES (Kurbanoglu, Akkoyunla, &amp; Umay, 2006; Usluel, 2007), suggesting consistency in varying contexts and across time. Although overall subscale means were relatively low, immediate findings among medical students at Ghent University demonstrated an increase in the IL self-efficacy of students as they advance through the 6-year medical program. Students revealed the least confidence in “Using the Library.”&#x0D; Conclusions – The self-efficacy of individuals in approaching IL tasks has an impact on self-motivation and lifelong learning. The authors developed the ILSES-M as part of a longitudinal study protocol appraising the IL self-efficacy beliefs of students in a six-year medical curriculum (De Meulemeester, Peleman, &amp; Buysse, 2018). The ILSES-M “…could give a clear idea about the evolution of perceived IL and the related need for support and training” (p. 43). Further research could evaluate the scale’s impact on curriculum and, conversely, the impact of curricular changes on ILSE. Qualitative research may afford additional context for scale interpretation. The scale may also provide opportunities to assess the confidence levels of incoming students throughout time. The authors suggested further research should apply the ILSES-M in diverse cultural and curricular settings.

Testing a Warmth-Based Instruction Intervention for Reducing Library Anxiety in First-Year Undergraduate Students

Abstract&#x0D; Objective – This study aimed to test the efficacy of a warmth-based library instruction intervention in reducing rates of library anxiety in first-year undergraduate students. "Warmth" is a concept that is commonly discussed within literature on library anxiety, but to date no studies have explicitly tested the application of a warmth-based instruction intervention. First-year students are ideal targets for this intervention because they are the most likely to experience library anxiety.&#x0D; Methods – A quasi-experiment was conducted examining library anxiety rates in first-year undergraduate students at a public research university in the U.S. South. A one-shot warmth-based instruction session focusing on the emotional dimensions of library use was compared to a standard one-shot instruction session. Library anxiety was measured using a modified version of Bostick's Library Anxiety Scale as a pretest and posttest.&#x0D; Results – Results indicated that both warmth-based and standard library instruction were associated with a decrease in participants' library anxiety rates without significant differences between the types of instruction. However, warmth-based instruction was correlated with greater reductions in areas of library anxiety related to interactions with library workers. Though library anxiety rates decreased significantly after experiencing library instruction, participants exhibited low levels of library anxiety before their library instruction session occurred.&#x0D; Conclusion – Though warmth-based instruction did not have a significantly different impact than standard library instruction on general library anxiety, the intervention tested in this study suggests strategies that could be used to increase student comfort with library workers. This study also demonstrates a successful method to include emotional factors such as library anxiety in academic libraries' regular assessment programs. Focusing assessment on students' skills and knowledge alone risks ignoring an important aspect of student engagement and missing opportunities for academic libraries to connect with students. Assessment of emotional components of library instruction initiatives is especially crucial to ensure and demonstrate that libraries are using their resources effectively to maximize student success.

Providing an Oral Examination as an Authentic Assessment in a Large Section, Undergraduate Diversity Class

This study reflects on the development and implementation of mid-term oral examinations in large-scale lecture courses at a large, public research university; specifically, this work examines the implications of oral exams for fostering student engagement and concept-based comprehension in addition to institutional and course commitments to diversity. This research traces the development of an effective method for administering oral midterms and assesses the advantages and challenges of utilizing oral examinations for student assessment by detailing student feedback and TAs’ reactions to administering this examination format. Findings reveal that oral examinations provided a chance for students to develop skills through a different means of engaging material and to foster a concept-based learning approach. In a discussion of student and TA reactions, this paper reports a predominantly positive assessment by both groups while noting the challenges and disadvantages of this format.

Resident Students’ Perception of Safety in On-Campus Residential Facilities: Does Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) Make a Difference?

ABSTRACTOne practical, yet less touted, approach to school safety is the use of security provisions that conform with the principles of Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED). Beyond preventing crime, the approach offers the potential benefit of improving perceptions of safety among campus occupants which is important for revenues and establishing effective learning environments. Although CPTED has shown promise in reducing crime elsewhere, research has only begun to empirically assess the extent to which it is compatible with campus facilities and whether it improves students’ safety perceptions. This study reports on a quantitative comparative assessment of student (N = 100) safety perceptions from two, differently designed residential facilities on a large public research university in the Southeastern United States. Findings indicate that residents of the high CPTED facility had higher safety perceptions than the low CPTED facility’s residents. Site observations supported differences between design features of the two facilities.