An Assessment of the Institutional Vision of Catholic Colleges and Universities

Institutional vision is a philosophical template”a concept of what, at its best, a college or university is like and the kinds of human beings that institution is attempting to cultivate. A content analysis of the institutional vision of a nation-wide sample of Catholic schools was performed and key linguistic components found to constitute a well conceived, viable, and easily diffused mission and vision were isolated. The prevalence of these components in comparison to other types of religious schools and secular four-year institutions is discussed. Findings suggest that Catholic schools are vision-driven institutions that communicate their priorities and defining characteristics by employing clear, highly optimistic, and inspirational language. They do little to articulate effectively a unification among the community of students, faculty, and staff, or coordinate their vision of the institution with that of the administration. They are less likely than other types of religious and secular schools to address the pragmatic benefits of their education

An Assessment of the Institutional Vision of Catholic Colleges and Universities

Institutional vision is a philosophical template”a concept of what, at its best, a college or university is like and the kinds of human beings that institution is attempting to cultivate. A content analysis of the institutional vision of a nation-wide sample of Catholic schools was performed and key linguistic components found to constitute a well conceived, viable, and easily diffused mission and vision were isolated. The prevalence of these components in comparison to other types of religious schools and secular four-year institutions is discussed. Findings suggest that Catholic schools are vision-driven institutions that communicate their priorities and defining characteristics by employing clear, highly optimistic, and inspirational language. They do little to articulate effectively a unification among the community of students, faculty, and staff, or coordinate their vision of the institution with that of the administration. They are less likely than other types of religious and secular schools to address the pragmatic benefits of their education

Blinded by Love

While young people today expect gender equity in relationships, inequality persists. In this article, we use interviews with 25 young adults (ages 22 to 32) to investigate the link between gender meanings, age meanings, and continued inequality in relationships. Middle-class young adults tell relationship stories in a gender and age context that both reflect and perpetuate ideas about adult masculinity and femininity. While women often tell stories of poor treatment in relationships, they are able to reclaim agency over their experiences and believe that they can solve their relationship problems by understanding their experiences as part of the normative path to adult womanhood. In contrast, men are able to explain their bad relationship behavior by attributing that behavior to youth and immaturity. By telling these stories, both women and men imagine that growing up will fix gender inequalities, obfuscating the persistence of gender inequalities in later adulthood. This work sheds light on the way narratives of age contribute to the persistence of gender inequality in romantic relationships.</jats:p

Institutional Vision at Proprietary Schools: Advising for Profit

A college or university's general approach to students and student support services, as reflected in its institutional vision, can serve to advocate the adoption of one type of advising structure, approach, and delivery system over another. A content analysis of a nationwide sample of institutional vision statements from NACADA-membership colleges and universities was performed. Findings suggest that for-profit institutions are driven by an outcome-oriented, pragmatic mission statement rather than the complex, compelling vision statement often employed by traditional nonprofit institutions. The customer-service model of the former places priority on student affairs, but in the form of highly centralized prescriptive academic-advising operations. Implications for all academic institutions are discussed.Relative Emphasis: research, practice, theory</jats:p

Charting the Verbiage of Institutional Vision: Implications for Academic Advising

Whether and to what extent a college or university vision is embraced, transformed into action, and dispersed to the campus community by academic advisors is largely dependent on the rhetoric of the vision statement. Through a content analysis of a nation-wide sample of vision and mission statements from NACADA-membership institutions, we isolated key linguistic components that constitute a well-conceived, effective, and easily diffused institutional vision. The prevalence of these components and the types of academic institutions most likely to possess them are discussed. Ways in which this information can be used by advising supervisors to evaluate their own institution's vision and the vision of their advising operation are presented.Relative Emphasis: theory, research, practice</jats:p

The Trickle-Down Effect of Institutional Vision: Vision Statements and Academic Advising

A description of the kinds of educated humans to be cultivated at a particular institution can be found in the college or university vision statement. The extent that vision is reflected in the governing models of advising operations, known by personnel, and transformed into day-to-day activities was assessed through a NACADA membership survey. Findings suggest a significant disconnect between the lofty educational aspirations and priorities stated in vision statements and the pragmatics of academic advising operations. The trickle-down effect of institutional vision through advising units is further impeded by a lack of access to and familiarity with vision statements, particularly at large, public institutions. Increased advising-supervisor access to upper administration and more carefully crafted vision statements can make visions actionable.Relative Emphasis: theory, practice, research</jats:p

Platelet releasates mitigate the endotheliopathy of trauma.

BACKGROUND: Platelets are well known for their roles in hemostasis, but they also play a key role in thromboinflammatory pathways by regulating endothelial health, stimulating angiogenesis, and mediating host defense through both contact dependent and independent signaling. When activated, platelets degranulate releasing multiple active substances. We hypothesized that the soluble environment formed by trauma platelet releasates (TPR) attenuates thromboinflammation via mitigation of trauma induced endothelial permeability and metabolomic reprogramming. METHODS: Blood was collected from injured and healthy patients to generate platelet releasates and plasma in parallel. Permeability of endothelial cells when exposed to TPR and plasma (TP) was assessed via resistance measurement by electric cell-substrate impedance sensing (ECIS). Endothelial cells treated with TPR and TP were subjected to mass spectrometry-based metabolomics. RESULTS: TP increased endothelial permeability, whereas TPR decreased endothelial permeability when compared with untreated cells. When TP and TPR were mixed ex vivo, TPR mitigated TP-induced permeability, with significant increase in AUC compared with TP alone. Metabolomics of TPR and TP demonstrated disrupted redox reactions and anti-inflammatory mechanisms. CONCLUSION: Trauma platelet releasates provide endothelial barrier protection against TP-induced endothelial permeability. Our findings highlight a potential beneficial action of activated platelets on the endothelium in injured patients through disrupted redox reactions and increased antioxidants. Our findings support that soluble signaling from platelet degranulation may mitigate the endotheliopathy of trauma. The clinical implications of this are that activated platelets may prove a promising therapeutic target in the complex integration of thrombosis, endotheliopathy, and inflammation in trauma