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Prospective Students
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Faculty and Staff
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Current Students
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Alumni and Friends
This study used an in-depth qualitative multi-interview approach to explore the lived experience of associate in applied science (AAS) students at a community college in North Carolina. The purpose of this study was to explore the aspirations of community college students enrolled in career-focused AAS programs to understand their stated goals, the social forces that influence them, and how that data might serve as implications for measuring institutional outcomes using an approach informed by Seidman (2019). After completing a series of interviews with each participant, all data were transcribed and synthesized using a six-phase thematic analysis approach (Braun & Clarke, 2006, 2012). This research features four themes that emerged across their responses. The generated themes highlighted how social interactions, socioeconomic conditions, and labor market requirements affected students' aspirations. The findings provide insight into where students stated goals may or may not involve earning a credential and instances when their goals align or not with existing performance funding outcome metrics. Labor market requirements played a substantial role in whether students desired to earn a credential. Participants were highly motivated to use community college education to explore possible careers and establish social networks. Three conclusions were reached: (1) labor market demands highly influence AAS student aspirations; (2) aspirations fluctuated based on whether students saw AAS training as an apex or stepping-stone; (3) students possessed personalized layered goals that partially aligned with performance funding and outcome metrics.
Resident CNS cells, such as astrocytes and microglia, are known to produce critical immune mediators following CNS infection due to the recognition of pathogen and damage-associated molecular patterns by specialized pattern recognition receptors (PRRs). Recently, multiple intracellular PRRs, including cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS), interferon gamma-inducible 16 (IFI16), absent in melanoma 2 (AIM2), and Z-DNA binding protein 1 (ZBP1), have been identified as cytosolic DNA sensors and play critical roles in glial immune responses to infectious agents. Intriguingly, some nucleic acid sensors have recently been shown to recognize endogenous DNA resulting from DNA damage and subsequently trigger immune responses in peripheral cell types, however, in the CNS, our understanding of these responses are limited. In this dissertation, we describe the functionality of the DNA sensors ZBP1, with regards to herpes simplex virus type-1 (HSV-1) infection in murine astrocytes and microglia, and cGAS with regards to DNA damage in human microglia.
It is estimated that close to 90% of outages in the electric power grid originate in the distribution system. Although the use of advanced metering infrastructure has increased situational awareness in the distribution system, current approaches to outage management are often reactive and do not fully leverage insights from outage prediction models for the service restoration process. Hence, this work aims to provide a holistic strategy for combining outage prediction and service restoration in the outage management process. First, a detailed analysis of an outage dataset is conducted in order to gain insights into the frequency and duration of outages in a distribution system. Two machine learning techniques, random forest and gradient boosting, are used to rank outage features, including outage causes, climate descriptions, and failed equipment, to determine which outage features have the greatest impact on average outage duration in a distribution system. Following that, this dissertation proposes a proactive topology optimization and service restoration framework that leverages forecasts from outage prediction models to mitigate the impacts of predicted outages in the distribution system. The proposed framework is formulated as a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) problem with the objectives of minimizing the load lost prior to the outage and maximizing the restorable load when the outage occurs at the predicted locations. The MILP model was simulated using the Python Optimization Modeling Objects (Pyomo) package, an open-source tool, and solved using the CPLEX solver. Using modified versions of the IEEE 13-node and 123-node test feeders, the framework considers three optimization cases: single outage, multiple outage, and weighted multiple outage. In addition, a sensitivity analysis based on the weighted multiple outage case is presented in order to determine the optimal topology to operate in given a range of probabilities for the possible outage locations in the distribution system. Furthermore, the MILP model used in this work is validated by comparing its power flow results with those obtained from OpenDSS, an open-source simulation tool for electric power distribution systems. The results show that the MILP model provides a reasonable approximation of the nonlinear power flow model. Overall, this dissertation provides a method for improving situational awareness within the distribution system. Using the proposed approach, distribution system operators can determine what topology to operate in ahead of predicted outages, thereby reducing the loads left out of service.
As schools adapt curriculum and learning environments to better prepare students for entry into an increasingly globalized society, cultivating intercultural competencies in K-12 in-service educators is of heightened importance. The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a new instrument designed to assess these competencies called the Intercultural Competency Measure for Educators (ICME). Byram (1997) defines intercultural competencies as the ability to effectively communicate, understand, and work with people from diverse cultural backgrounds. Deardorff (2006) adds to this a call for action, which lends itself to the critical cosmopolitanism framework that guides this study. A pilot study was used to develop a four-factor theoretical intercultural competencies framework through a process defined in this study. Reliability and validity were examined using data collected from K-12 in-service educators at schools in the United States and Canada. An Exploratory Factor Analysis suggested a revision of the constructs to include five factors: Curriculum, Diverse Student Inclusion, Cross-Cultural Openness, Collaboration and Adaptation, and Systematic Awareness. Construct validity was tested using Confirmatory Factor Analysis and supported by examining demographic data using parametric tests. The emergence of a factor related to systematic awareness highlights teachers' increased role in addressing the root causes of inequity in schools. The five-factor model provides a framework for schools wishing to further develop and assess intercultural competencies growth in teachers.
Students struggle with mental health needs. Student support staff are, within the school, regularly the first employees to encounter and respond to the students’ specific mental health needs. It is not uncommon for students’ mental health needs to be professionally undiagnosed and professionally unsupported. Barriers to professional treatment are plentiful and when students lack support for their mental health needs, academic and social issues are exacerbated. For these and other reasons, schools struggle to respond to students’ mental health needs. The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand the lived experiences of student support staff (school counselors, school social workers, and school nurses) who work in small magnet high schools as they work to support students with mental health needs. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven student support staff from three different small magnet high schools within a public school district in North Carolina. After coding the transcribed interviews, four themes emerged from the data: 1) Magnet school student support staff are not professional therapists. 2) Magnet school student support staff struggle to perform their duties/roles. 3) Academic rigors and expectations in magnet high schools contribute to students' mental health needs. 4) Barriers to students abound and some are unique to the magnet school experience. Utilization of existing support structures such as Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) and/or 504 Plans and the Multi-tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) framework is recommended in conjunction with research-based mental health support programs to assist student support staff and schools in supporting students’ mental health needs.
The goal of this qualitative research study was to understand middle school principals’ perceptions of leading a transition from traditional grading to standards-based grading (SBG). Using a multiple case study approach six middle school principals who work in a school district that had successfully implemented SBG in elementary school, but not in middle schools, participated in the study. This study took place during the COVID-19 pandemic, thus the study also sought to understand how principals perceived the impacts from COVID-19 on their leadership of SBG. A demographic survey was sent to each participant that collected demographic data, and semi-structured interviews were conducted with each principal. Using the constant comparison method, four themes emerged: (a) misalignment between PLC practices and individual teachers’ grading practices exists, (b) a lack of district level SBG report card grading progressions from elementary school to middle school has created confusion and frustration, (c) parents and teachers expect traditional grading in middle school to prepare adolescents for high school, and (d) leading SBG was not a priority following the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings of this study also used Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) as a framework to understand how principals’ self-efficacy impacts that of their teachers and how collective efficacy can be improved by increasing the principals’ self-efficacy as an instructional leader. Implications of this study include suggestions for principals to increase their knowledge and self-efficacy through professional development, collaboration, and district level supports. The unique role of middle school culture, including grading practices is discussed.
Institutional betrayal occurs when an organization perpetrates wrongdoing against an individual who depends on that system. There are serious known consequences of healthcare institutional betrayal including patient disengagement from care and healthcare organization distrust (Smith, 2017). The aim of this study was to examine specific reparative actions following institutional betrayal to determine the effect of repair behaviors on institutional betrayal, trust, expectations for future healthcare encounters, and intentions to avoid or disengage from healthcare. Undergraduate participants (N=198; 58% women; 53% White) read a vignette depicting institutional betrayal in a healthcare setting. They then completed measures of institutional betrayal, trust in healthcare, healthcare avoidance/disengagement, and expectations for future healthcare encounters. Next, participants were randomly assigned to one of four repair vignettes and completed measures a second time. As predicted, participants who were randomly assigned to one of the repair conditions (vs. control) reported significantly lower institutional betrayal scores at post-test, higher positive expectations for future healthcare encounters, and higher levels of trust. Overall, results from this study indicate that reparative actions following healthcare institutional betrayal influenced participants’ self-reported beliefs about the healthcare system. Given the documented negative sequelae to healthcare institutional betrayal, this study’s finding that relatively small actions can facilitate individual-system repair is clinically meaningful.
This study represents North Carolina community college student experience with food insecurity. Two-year students have a wide variety of challenges as they make their way to finishing a credential. One such challenge, hunger, has always been a component; awareness and discourse have not. The purpose of the research is to understand the narratives of students experiencing hunger by using a qualitative, semi-structured, brief biographic narrative approach to understand the lived experiences of community college students facing hunger. Using a qualitative interview-based approach, 15 North Carolina community college students were interviewed to know how they manage hunger while working, studying, parenting, and succeeding in school. Several seminal theories such as Bronfenbrenner (1981a), Engle and Tinto, (2008); Tinto (1989); Tinto (2017), in combination with Chickering, 1969; Chickering and Reisser, (1993); Maslow (1943); and Erikson (1963) were used in this study to provide foundations for this research. The findings suggest that community colleges need to implement programs such as basic needs assessments, additional support services, and policies drawing upon student experience with hunger. What also emerged were stories of life-long extreme hardships for the participants. These students tell the tale of their struggles, sacrifices, and tenacity to better their lives through education.
Firms must continually adapt themselves to survive and outperform competition during rapidly changing environments, both predictable and unpredictable. The dynamic capabilities theory provides a framework for firms to renew and adapt their organizational competencies and capabilities to achieve congruence with the changing market environment. Research has shown that this leads to sustained competitive advantage and superior firm performance. However, resilience during a disruptive event requires the firms to intentionally deviate from their patterned capability-building strategies to respond differentially to turn a challenging environment into a growth opportunity. There is a gap in the literature to empirically examine this resilience phenomenon and the extent to which dynamic capabilities gained during typical business environments assist in achieving resilience during disruption. In addition, the role of digital maturity in leveraging technology for transforming the business and social capital gained through extracting value from business ties needs to be better understood. This study empirically investigates these gaps by integrating dynamic capabilities and organizational resilience theories. The data was collected through a quantitative survey from senior executives of established, mid-to-large firms within the United States, and the results provide theoretical and practical contributions.
Within established organizations, employee innovative behavior is vital for the long-term survival of firms. Employee individual entrepreneurial orientation (IEO) represents tendencies by an individual toward innovativeness, proactiveness, and risk-taking behaviors. IEO is an emerging construct in the entrepreneurship domain, and while an important construct, contextual factors can influence the employee’s demonstration of innovative work behavior (IWB). The degree of IEO similarity or fit between an employee and their supervisor is theorized to amplify the employee’s innovative work behavior. To guide this research, person-supervisor fit (P-S fit) theory and strategic consensus theory provided a theoretical framework to investigate the relationships between these constructs. Drawing on a sample of employees across all levels of an established firm, two sets of data were analyzed: perceptions of supervisor IEO fit (n = 265) and matched pairs of IEO between employee-supervisor dyads (n = 132). Results suggest that employees’ levels of innovativeness and proactiveness are positively associated with IWB. Additionally, the data suggest that the level of proactiveness and risk-taking fit have mixed findings, suggesting that the supervisor IEO fit magnifies the IEO-IWB relationship when the employee has low levels of proactiveness and risk-taking tendencies. This research has theoretical and practical implications by examining individual level EO, within the context of supervisor fit, in promoting innovative behavior in the workplace.
