Private-sector and public-sector organizations have increasingly built specific business units for securing company assets, reputation, and lives, known as "security operations centers" (SOCs). Depending on the organization, these centers may also be referred to as global security operations centers, "cybersecurity" operations…

Claiming that free speech is dying on American campuses, a conservative think tank has led an effort to push states to adopt a model bill that, in the name of defending campus free speech, risks undermining it. This report seeks to understand the context and content of the "campus free-speech" movement, to track its influence within…

The 2007 mass shooting at Virginia Tech is one part of a decades-long increase in the frequency of gun violence on U.S. college and university campuses (Drysdale, Modzeleski, & Simons, 2010; Ferraro, 2015). The events at Virginia Tech also served as a catalyst for the spread of so-called "campus-carry" laws, or acts of state policy…

The purpose of this dissertation was to study perceptions of faculty and administrators at institutions of higher education on copyright ownership of faculty-created digital course content. The central question for this study was: Who had copyright ownership rights of faculty-created digital content and in what manner was copyright ownership…

This study investigated the prevalence of increasingly popular animal-assisted stress relief programs at higher education institutions across the United States. Although research on animal-assisted programs is increasing, there is still a lack of information documenting implementation of these programs. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to…

The "IDRA Newsletter" serves as a vehicle for communication with educators, school board members, decision-makers, parents, and the general public concerning the educational needs of all children across the United States. The theme of this issue is "Purposeful Governance." Contents include: (1) New IDRA CEO Carries on IDRA's…

Legal decisions about affirmative action in higher education do more than impact how admissions policies are structured. The discourse produced in these decisions structures how race is talked about, understood, and enacted in the context of higher education and beyond. However, critique of affirmative action rhetoric in the legal realm tends to…

American higher education institutions, specifically public universities and colleges, have reached a key point in their histories and it is within this moment that these institutions must transform operations, deliver education in new ways, and demonstrate unquestionable social and economic impact. Universities and colleges must increase…

U.S. public university system policies were examined to learn how credit hours were determined for asynchronous online education. Findings indicated that (a) credit hour meaning and use are not consistent, (b) primary responsibility for credit hour decisions was at the local level, and (c) no policies exist to guide credit hour application for…

It is clear that the tragic events at Virginia Tech and other institutions of higher education (IHEs) have brought threat assessment to the forefront of higher education literature and increased public concern for campus safety. IHEs have a profound duty to learn from the Virginia Tech tragedy and to recognize their responsibility in providing a…

Higher-education institutions in Texas are increasingly exploring innovative approaches to structuring and delivering degree programs. Several institutions have developed competency-based degree programs, which aim to offer new pathways for students to obtain postsecondary credentials and to reduce higher-education costs for students by focusing…

The decision to leave a successful career and great earning potential to start over as a novice with new surroundings and expectations is not made without consideration of a wide array of variables. Making the transition to higher education was not an easy one and the transition itself has presented various other challenges and joys that I have…

The Texas Advisory Committee on Women and Minority Faculty and Professional Staff sought to identify strategies that would increase the number of women and minority faculty and professional staff at institutions of higher education in Texas. The work of the Committee was divided into four subcommittees: (1) Pipeline/Pool; (2) Recruitment; (3)…

This report presents conclusions and recommendations of a study of possible criteria to define educationally underserved populations in Texas in light of the 1994 Court decision (Hopwood v. Texas) ending the use of racial quotas. The study identified qualitative variables related to social and cultural factors and 10 quantitative criteria (such as…