Institutionalization and Sustainability of the National Science Foundation's Advanced Technological Education program

This three-year study closely examined six ATE projects and four national centers. The analysis was specifically concerned with the ability of the ATE projects and centers to meet the program's goal of having a significant and permanent influence on the host colleges and on the system of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education (STEM) in general. Thus, the report discusses (1) the institutionalization of the projects and centers--the extent to which their activities are becoming incorporated into the normal, ongoing activities of the host community colleges; and (2) their sustainability--the extent to which the major activities of the ATE program continue after the NSF grant expires. The report concludes that the ATE program has an impressive record of accomplishment, particularly in the influence it has had on curriculum and professional development, and on bringing together community colleges, universities, high schools, businesses, and other groups in a unique initiative to improve the education of our nation's STEM technicians

The use of cluster analysis in typological research on community college students

This chapter provides an introduction to the family of partitional cluster analytical methods, with specific attention to research on community college students. Key decision points and common approaches in the use of cluster analysis are described.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/89487/1/417_ftp.pd

The Academic Mission of Community Colleges: Structural Responses to the Expansion of Higher Education

This paper traces evidence of the impact of expansion on 15 colleges participating in CCRC's National Field Study, including changes in enrollments and demography, changes in structure with respect to the full-time faculty of the colleges, and evidence from interviews about how community colleges personnel see their institutions as changing to meet the evolving needs of society. This paper was prepared for presentation for the paper session "Emerging Issues for Community Colleges" at the 2004 Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association

Analyse genre-sensible de la prédisposition des agriculteurs à adopter les services d’assurance agricole en zone vulnérable aux changements climatiques

The predisposition to adopt agricultural insurance refers to farmers' willingness to take out insurance to protect their farms against agricultural risks, particularly climatic risks. The aim of the study was to analyse the factors influencing farmers' decisions on whether or not to take out agricultural insurance. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire from 318 randomly selected households in ten (10) districts of the commune of Dassa-Zoumé (central Benin). Binary logistic regression with the logit link was performed using R statistical analysis software. The results show that the correlation between gender and predisposition to adopt agricultural insurance is not significant. On the other hand, the correlation was significant with the type of farmer. Farmers producing for commercial purposes (88.25%) are more predisposed to adopt agricultural insurance than those producing for subsistence. Also, the perceived complexity of insurance exerted a significant negative influence on the predisposition to adopt. These results indicate that the higher the probability of occurrence and the magnitude of the financial damage associated with the risk, the greater the farmer's willingness to adopt agricultural insurance, provided that the mechanism for setting up the insurance system is simple.   Key words: predisposition, adoption, gender, agricultural insurance, Benin. Classification JEL : G22, J16, N50 Paper type : Empirical ResearchLa prédisposition à l'adoption de l'assurance agricole renvoie à la volonté des agriculteurs à souscrire à une assurance pour protéger leurs exploitations des risques agricoles, notamment climatiques. L’objectif de l’étude était d’analyser les facteurs qui influenceraient la décision des agriculteurs d’adopter ou non l’assurance agricole. Les données ont été collectées au moyen d’un questionnaire structuré auprès de 318 ménages répartis dans dix (10) arrondissements de la commune de Dassa-Zoumé (centre du Bénin) et choisies de manière aléatoire. La régression logistique binaire avec le lien logit a été réalisée dans le logiciel d’analyses statistiques R. Les résultats montrent que la corrélation entre le sexe et la prédisposition à adopter l’assurance agricole n’est pas significative. En revanche, la corrélation est significative avec le type d’agriculteur. Les agriculteurs produisant à des fins commerciales (88,25 %) sont plus prédisposés à adopter l’assurance agricole que ceux produisant pour la subsistance. Aussi, la complexité perçue de l'assurance exerce une influence significative négative sur la prédisposition à adopter. Ces résultats indiquent que plus la probabilité de survenance et l’ampleur des dégâts financiers liés au risque sont élevées, plus l’agriculteur est disposé à adopter l’assurance agricole si tant est que le mécanisme de mise en place du système d’assurance est simple.   Mots clés : prédisposition, adoption, genre, assurance agricole, Bénin. JEL Classification : G22, J16, N50 Type du papier : Recherche empiriqu

Institutional Research and the Culture of Evidence at Community Colleges

This report presents findings from a study on how well prepared today’s community colleges are in moving toward the greater use of data and research to improve student success. Data for the study were drawn from two major sources: first, an e-mail survey of college administrators responsible for IR, and, second, case studies of 28 community colleges. The study finds that community colleges wanting to expand the role of IR face several challenges in terms of resources, data collection, and institutional priorities. It also suggests that college leadership is a key component in making the necessary investment in IR capacity and in promoting changes in organizational practice that are required to embrace a strategy for using data to improve institutional performance

ATE Regional Centers: CCRC Final Report

As part of the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program, ATE regional centers work with community colleges and businesses in a single region to improve technical education and better meet current and future workforce demands of local economies. The CCRC study reported here analyzes how effective ATE regional centers have been in meeting these goals. Fieldwork for the study involved site visits and interviews at eight regional centers. Findings suggest that regional centers are indeed viable and useful for the NSF ATE program

The Organizational Efficiency of Multiple Missions for Community Colleges

The list of community college missions now goes well beyond the core degree granting programs. Activities include developmental education, adult basic education, English as a second language, education and training for individuals facing serious barriers to employment, customized training for specific companies, preparation of students for industry certification exams, non-credit instruction, and small business development. This paper first explains why community colleges continue to pursue an organizational form based on comprehensiveness. We argue that the political and fiscal environments in which the colleges operate provide strong incentives for colleges to expand their activities. While the comprehensive strategy is effective from an organizational point of view, we do not conclude that this approach leads to the best education, or that it is in the best interest of the students. However, given the environment in which the colleges operate, comprehensiveness makes sense for the institution and calls for organizational simplification will not be successful without changes in incentives structures, or without much more empirical evidence of the disadvantages of complexity. In the second part of this paper, we explore one approach to increasing organizational efficiency: improve coordination and integration of these apparently disparate missions. We conclude that such coordination is extremely difficult to achieve and that political and fiscal incentives militate against it. The costs associated with combining functions appear to outweigh any perceived benefits. We end with recommendations for how colleges and policymakers should think about, and respond to, issues associated with the growing mission diversification at community colleges

Connaissances Paysannes Et Prédisposition À Adopter Une Innovation En Agro-Alimentaire : Cas Du Décorticage Mécanique Et De La Fortification En Fer Du Sorgho Dans Le Nord-Bénin

The consumption of meals prepared from unshelled sorghum derivatives is a factor favoring iron deficiency anemia among consumers. Mechanical dehulling and iron fortification of sorghum appears as a palliative solution. This study has a dual purpose. First of all, it is a question of assessing consumers' knowledge of sorghum meals with regard to anemia and its causes. Descriptive statistics have been used for this purpose. Then, it was discussed to analyze the determinants of the predisposition of these consumers to adopt mechanical dehulling and iron fortification of sorghum. To do this, the Logit econometric model was used. According to the results, anemia is caused by factors such as malaria, malnutrition, witchcraft, non-respect of fetishes, etc. In addition, households' propensity to adopt innovation is positively influenced by the income of the chef-cuisine, the perception that it has of its social status after the adoption of innovation and the compatibility of it with norms and values of the household. However, it is negatively influenced by the participation of the chef-cuisine in the experimentation phase and by the perceived complexity of the innovation

Consentement À Payer Et Rentabilité D'une Innovation En Agro-Alimentaire : Cas Du Décorticage Mécanique Et De La Fortification En Fer Du Sorgho Dans Le Nord-Bénin

The purpose of this study is twofold. Firstly, it is a question of assessing the determinants of the willingness to pay (WTP) of farming households in Thian, a village located in northern Benin, exposed to the risk of anemia, to benefit from an agro-food innovation aimed at reduce these risks : dehulling and iron fortification of sorghum. Secondly, there was talk of evaluating the financial profitability of this innovation. To do this, socioeconomic and financial data were collected from 90 chef-kitchens prepared to adopt the innovation, the operator in charge of shelling and fortification services, the supplier of shelling equipment and the supplier of iron. The contingent valuation method was used to collect respondents' WTP and the linear regression model to identify the determinants of these WTP and calculate their mean value. In addition, the cash flow method was used to assess the financial profitability of de-hulling and fortification services. The results reveal that the WTP (whose average is 24.4 FCFA) is negatively influenced by the fact that the respondent belongs to the pilot phase of the project and the average quantity of sorghum devoted to the consumption of dibou (sorghum paste). In a context where the monetary discount rate is 12%, mechanical shelling and iron fortification of sorghum as an economic activity is not profitable

Inner ear hair cells produced in vitro by a mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2007. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of National academy of Sciences for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 104 (2007): 16675-16680, doi:10.1073/pnas.0704576104.Sensory hair cell loss is a major contributor to disabling hearing and balance deficits that affect >250 million people worldwide. Sound exposures, infections, drug toxicity, genetic disorders, and aging all can cause hair cell loss and lead to permanent sensory deficits. Progress toward treatments for these deficits has been limited, in part because hair cells have only been obtainable via microdissection of the anatomically complex internal ear. Attempts to produce hair cells in vitro have resulted in reports of some success, but have required transplantation into embryonic ears or co-culturing with other tissues. Here we show that avian inner ear cells can be cultured and passaged for months, frozen, and expanded to large numbers without other tissues. At any point from passage 6 up to at least passage 23, these cultures can be fully dissociated and then aggregated in suspension to induce a mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition that reliably yields new polarized sensory epithelia. Those epithelia develop numerous hair cells that are crowned by hair bundles, comprised of a single kinocilium and an asymmetric array of stereocilia. These hair cells exhibit rapid permeance to FM1-43, a dye that passes through open mechanotransducing channels. Since a vial of frozen cells can now provide the capacity to produce bona fide hair cells completely in vitro, these discoveries should open new avenues of research that may ultimately contribute to better treatments for hearing loss and other inner ear disorders.Supported by NIH grants DC00200 and DC006182to J.T.C