Research shows a direct correlation between thriving cities and high levels of college-level learning. Regions with robust levels of educational attainment have stronger economies, greater individual earning power, and better quality of life. The Lumina Foundation is actively supporting large-scale efforts in 55 metro regions--to help adults…

This paper details community engagement activity of an academic library coordinated within a broader university strategic plan. The Anderson Library at Indiana University Northwest (IU-Northwest) supports a service called the Northwest Indiana Center for Data and Analysis. Created in 1996 with funding made available from the Indiana University…

Strategies to institutionalize service-learning are well documented (Furco 1996; Holland, 2000). Using Kecskes (2009) Community-Engaged Department Rubric we evaluated service-learning institutionalization within a school at a metropolitan campus. As a result, we propose adding an additional dimension, social return on investment. This added…

In a period such as this, marked by extreme political partisanship and apparent gridlock at the federal level, it would be tempting to throw up one's hands in frustration. But this is just the time that a foundation like Joyce can add the most value--because the Joyce team members are non-partisan, not subject to the pressures of political and…

The predictive relations between social capital depth (high-quality relationships across contexts) and breadth (friendship network extensivity) and early-adult life adjustment outcomes were examined using data from a prospective longitudinal study. Interviews at age 22 yielded (a) psychometrically sound indexes of relationship quality with…

The purpose of this study was to measure perceived professional and personal life satisfaction of Indiana Workplace Specialist I (WS I) faculty and their mentors. Workplace Specialist I teachers are all first-year career and technical education (CTE) faculty who must complete the WS I training program to be eligible for the Workplace Specialist II…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between nursing home staffing level, care received by individual residents, and resident quality-related care processes and functional outcomes. Design and Methods: Nurses recorded resident care time for 5,314 residents on 156 units in 105 facilities in four states (Colorado,…

Sociologists have documented how important place is in people's lives. C. Wright Mills (1959) argued that people must understand that they do not exist in a vacuum, but that their values, beliefs, and behaviors are influenced by the particular time and place in which they themselves exist. The development of this "sociological…

This article presents findings from a qualitative study of 120 undergraduate students from seven schools in the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities. Using in-depth individual and focus group interviews, we explored participants' perceptions of salient indicators of integration of faith and learning (IFL) in the classroom. Findings…

Indiana 4-H Youth Programs are being used to enhance the quality of life for troubled adolescents in residential group homes and economically disadvantaged urban areas and to provide summer-school programs for children of migrant farm workers. Four basic types of program delivery modes exist in Indiana: clubs, junior leader program activities,…

Two empirical studies were conducted in Indiana to ascertain the types of contributions residents of small towns and rural areas feel their community can perform for their subjective well being and to determine the degree to which these contributions are comparable among elderly and younger rural and urban residents. An "individual level…

During the farm crisis of the 1980s, many midwestern farm families suffered financial distress, but by 1989 an uneven financial recovery was under way. This report summarizes data collected from 337 Indiana farm operators (a 24% response rate) and 289 spouses (a 21% response rate) as part of a large survey conducted in 12 North Central states. The…