Allard E. Dembe, Jamie S. Partridge, Elizabeth Dugan and Diane S. Piktialis
This study aims to evaluate whether employees consider employer‐sponsored elder‐care programs to benefit aging family members and whether those programs help employees with…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to evaluate whether employees consider employer‐sponsored elder‐care programs to benefit aging family members and whether those programs help employees with caregiving needs, stay productively employed.
Design/methodology/approach
A nationwide internet‐based survey was conducted between December 2008 and May 2009, eliciting information from 447 users of employer‐sponsored elder‐care services. Survey participants were employed individuals who had requested assistance from one of five national elder‐care service provider organizations (SPOs) during the preceding two years.
Findings
A majority of respondents reported that the services helped them to keep working productively (74.0 percent), avoid job absences (65.5 percent), stay employed (58.0 percent), and maintain a good family life at home (72.1 percent). Respondents were generally satisfied with the services provided by SPOs. However, most respondents did not feel that the services help minimize caregiving expenses.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first US study evaluating the usefulness of employer elder‐care programs, based on the perspectives of employees who have used the programs.
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Katie Elizabeth Mills and Jacklyn Bruce
This study seeks to understand one facet of leadership development among the newest members of a Greek Letter community at a southern university. New Members (NMs) of the Greek…
Abstract
This study seeks to understand one facet of leadership development among the newest members of a Greek Letter community at a southern university. New Members (NMs) of the Greek Community at North Carolina State University were administered the Socially Responsible Leadership Survey (SRLS Guidebook, 2005) during the Fall, 2011. Results indicate this population perceived themselves as open to and able to commit to organizations while not being as comfortable with the idea of change. However, it should be noted that none of the constructs measured in the neutral or negative range. Results of this study could be used to assist in driving the mandatory programming provided by North Carolina State University’s Administration and Greek Life staff in an effort to create more purposeful and directed programming.
Graziella Pagliarulo McCarron, Steven Zhou, Alec Campbell, Elizabeth Schierbeek and Kailee Kodama Muscente
The purpose of this study was to explore how variables such as student demographics, pre-college leadership activities, and perceived pre-college parenting behaviors predict…
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to explore how variables such as student demographics, pre-college leadership activities, and perceived pre-college parenting behaviors predict students’ leader self-efficacy (i.e., individuals’ confidence in themselves to lead and belief that others will support their leadership [Hannah et al., 2008]) in college and leader emergence (i.e., college-based leadership involvements [DeRue & Ashford, 2010]) in college. Undergraduate students (n = 420) at a large, public university in the Mid-Atlantic were surveyed to examine these relationships and data were analyzed using hierarchical and logistic regression, with appropriate controls and moderators. Findings included discovery that pre-college engagement with sports team positional leadership, community service, extracurriculars, and positive parenting behaviors, such as family routine and greater quality time with parents, predicted leader self-efficacy. Further, findings noted that pre-college community service, extracurriculars, peer tutoring and perceptions of parental quality time and proactive parenting predicted leader emergence. This study suggests that students’ leadership development is influenced by myriad systems across the lifespan and demonstrates that, as educators committed to student development, we must engage the full arc of our students’ leadership journeys and provide for intentional partnerships between higher education and the K-12 community.
Michael T. Dugan, Elizabeth H. Turner and Clark M. Wheatley
This paper aims to examine the association of accruals and disaggregated pension components with future cash flows and also to investigate whether investors distinguish between…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the association of accruals and disaggregated pension components with future cash flows and also to investigate whether investors distinguish between pension information that is recognized (SFAS 158) versus disclosed (SFAS 132).
Design/methodology/approach
Regression analysis is used with a proxy for expected future cash flows as the dependent variable, and the components of pension disclosures as well as controls for the 2008-2009 financial crisis as the independent variables.
Findings
The results reveal that incorporating disaggregated pension components increases the ability to predict future cash flows, and that investors attach different pricing multiples to the various components in the models. The authors also find that during the 2008-2009 financial crisis, the signs of the coefficients on these components changed. Finally, the results indicate that investors assign more significance to pension accounting information that is recognized, as opposed to disclosed, and that disclosure affects the allocation of pension assets.
Originality/value
The authors provide empirical support for the conjecture posited by Amir and Benartzi (1998) that the prediction of future cash flows will be enhanced by the incorporation of the components of pension assets and liabilities. Importantly from a standard setting perspective, the authors also find evidence that investors assign more significance to pension accounting information that is recognized in the financial statements than to pension information that is disclosed.
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Elizabeth A. Foreman and Michael S. Retallick
This study examined the relationship between extracurricular involvement and leadership outcomes among traditional-age college seniors in the College of Agriculture and Life…
Abstract
This study examined the relationship between extracurricular involvement and leadership outcomes among traditional-age college seniors in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Iowa State University. We collected data related to quantitative (i.e., how much time a student spends on an activity) and qualitative (i.e., how focused the student is on the activity) aspects of involvement in extracurricular organizations. We measured leadership, as an outcome, using the individual values scale of the Socially Responsible Leadership Scale (SRLS-R2). The number of clubs in which a student participated and served as an officer was associated with higher leadership scores. We identified a threshold of involvement that suggests the optimum number of clubs or organizations to be actively involved in is three to four.
Elizabeth Castillo and Roslyn Roberts
The purpose of this study is to assess how higher education anchor institutions (HEIs) voluntarily report their non-economic impacts. Its goals are to quantify the ease of public…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to assess how higher education anchor institutions (HEIs) voluntarily report their non-economic impacts. Its goals are to quantify the ease of public access to this information; strengthen the conceptual foundation for HEI impact reporting; and provide guidance for making HEI voluntary disclosures more accessible, comparable and systematic.
Design/methodology/approach
Using an exploratory mixed methods design and purposeful sampling, this study analyzed voluntary public disclosures of 41 anchor institution universities in the USA to assess how they communicate their public value creation to stakeholders. Data sources included impact reports, donor reports, annual reports and sustainability reports. The study also analyzed the accessibility of this information by timing how long it took to locate.
Findings
The sampled US anchor institutions communicate their non-economic impact to stakeholders in myriad ways using a variety of formats. Time required to find the reports ranged from 37 to 50 min, with an average of 42.30 min. Disparate reporting formats inhibit comparability.
Research limitations/implications
Only 41 anchor institutions were examined. The small sample may not be representative of the broader landscape of higher education institutions.
Practical implications
Findings offer guidance for improving voluntary nonfinancial disclosures to increase public confidence in higher education institutions while advancing community and global resilience. To strengthen voluntary disclosure practices, the study recommends using a standardized reporting format, framing HEI impact through socio-ecological resilience indicators, integrating reports and obtaining some form of assurance. These changes would enhance the credibility and comparability of the disclosures.
Originality/value
This research provides some of the first empirical insight into how US higher education anchor institutions report their value creation to the public. Its application of socio-ecological systems theory outlines an actionable conceptual foundation for HEI reporting by linking organizational, community and global resilience.
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Little is known about how assistive technology standards have been implemented in preservice teacher preparation. This chapter provides a review of the literature concerning the…
Abstract
Little is known about how assistive technology standards have been implemented in preservice teacher preparation. This chapter provides a review of the literature concerning the importance of evidence-based practice and the research base supporting assistive technology in order to set the context for reporting the results of a comprehensive national study of the status of assistive technology state standards for teachers in all of the 50 states (plus Washington, DC). This chapter includes the findings of the study, the research that the study was based upon, and a review of relevant research in the fields of assistive technology, educational technology, and evidence-based practice. Only six states reported having AT standards and six states reported having AT competencies. Three states reported having both standards and competencies, yielding nine unique states (out of 51) with AT standards and/or AT competencies. Regression analyses to determine the relationship between the study variables and national reading and math performance of students with disabilities were inconclusive. The implications of the study findings and recommendations for future research are presented.
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Elizabeth Choinski and Michelle Emanuel
To describe the design and use of an outcomes assessment tool for one‐shot library instruction classes that is objective, quantitative, easy to use, and flexible.
Abstract
Purpose
To describe the design and use of an outcomes assessment tool for one‐shot library instruction classes that is objective, quantitative, easy to use, and flexible.
Design/methodology/approach
An “outcomes” assessment tool was created based on the ideas of the one‐minute paper and student reflection papers. The tool was administered to classes in Spanish and Biology that had one shot library sessions.
Findings
The assessment tool was helpful in pointing out areas where librarians need to improve instruction in their one shot classes. The tool was useful, easy to use, and fulfilled our objectives.
Research limitations/implications
The tool's use may be limited to institutions where there is excellent rapport between librarians and course instructors or to libraries with a staff large enough to find volunteers to grade the papers outside of the course librarian.
Practical implications
The tool developed provides one more weapon for the outcomes assessment arsenal.
Originality/value
This contribution is unique; there is no other outcomes assessment tool for one‐shot classes in the library literature. Because one‐shot sessions are the majority of library instruction appearances and because outcomes assessment is very important, this tool should be of great practical help to instruction librarians.
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Paula N. Warnken and Victoria L. Young
Library instruction has become a public services program at most academic libraries. As such, it has the potential of being a library's most innovative and visible program. Yet…
Abstract
Library instruction has become a public services program at most academic libraries. As such, it has the potential of being a library's most innovative and visible program. Yet, no matter how innovative, such a program cannot become visible without the support of the entire university community. Librarians, administrators, faculty members, and students alike must perceive a need and value for an instructional program if it is to be implemented successfully.