Division of Teaching Excellence and Innovation

To address concerns about student veterans, including lagging BA attainment and troubling drop-out rates, researchers, policy-makers and practitioners would benefit from a more in-depth understanding of the processes student veterans undergo as they transition out of the military and into higher education. This paper synthesizes the literature related to the transition processes and post-secondary experiences of student veterans, nontraditional students, first-generation students, and under-represented minority students in order to identify points of convergence and divergence. These disparate literatures all recognize that the transition to higher education provides additional challenges, relative to the challenges faced by traditional students; however, over the past several decades a growing body of literature points to co-identity organizations – organizations that are centered around one aspect of a student's identity – as one factor that has potential to ease adjustment to higher education. By integrating existing research focused on the groups of students noted above with the burgeoning literature on student veterans, future researchers can conduct more informed research and policy-makers and administrators can be empowered to create more effective policies and programs.

Differences in contextual norms between the U.S. military and institutions of higher education mean that student veterans may experience difficulty integrating into the wider campus community, leading to educational inequity. However, this situation may be mitigated by the presence of a strong student veteran peer community. Previous studies of student veterans in higher education have shown that connecting with peers (particularly peers who have military experience) is an important part of the college experience; however, the nature of these peer connections has yet to be investigated. The current study examines the experiences of veterans at a Southern California community college's Veteran Resource Center to illuminate the role of peer community for veterans transitioning from military service into higher education. Results indicate the presence of a robust veteran peer community can play a pivotal role in veterans' transition to higher education.

Researchers of student veterans in higher education seek to understand how experiences during military service relate to veterans' roles as college students. Similarly, researchers of postsecondary student success assert that a more nuanced understanding of the student experience and student success requires attending to diverse populations. In the present study, I followed these charges by investigating the experiences of 22 student veterans at a southern California community college. My objective was to expand the scholarly conversation surrounding college student success and to learn what defines success for student veterans in higher education. Through the results of the present study, I indicated that completion, retention, and academic achievement were all valued by these student veterans. In addition, these student veterans considered other more unique factors as important markers of student success. These factors included using their educational benefits in an informed manner and developing the ability to help others, including other veterans, navigate the higher education system. Brandy M. Jenner

In recent years, “Personal Transportation Devices” (PTDs) have exploded onto streets and sidewalks. These small devices transport individual persons at slow speeds and are either human-powered or motorized. Examples include electric (kick) scooters, skateboards, e-skateboards, roller blades, and Segways. One key to successfully integrating PTDs into community streets will be the implementation of consistent and suitable regulations over user behavior: “rules of the road” for PTD riders.
To help local officials identify appropriate rules for rider behavior, this report documents and analyzes existing PTD regulations across 176 jurisdictions and then presents recommendations for a set of state-level “rules of the road” designed to balance safety and freedom of movement for all road users, including PTD riders.

To identify the current state of PTD rules of the road, we documented and analyzed the existing regulations at three levels of
government: all 50 states and 5 U.S. territories, 101 cities, and 20 college campuses. This review found that PTD users operate
in a murky regulatory environment, with rules often poorly defined, contradictory, or altogether absent. Results of this analysis, a literature review, and interviews with 21 stakeholders, were used to craft a model state-level regulatory code that aims to introduce consistent and well-grounded regulation of PTDs. The general philosophy underpinning the model legislation is that PTD rules should protect public safety, permit PTD use as a convenient travel option, be easy to understand and
remember, allow for new devices without new regulations, and be based on facts about PTD use and users. Working from these principles, core recommended elements of the recommended PTD regulations are as follows: states should set comprehensive regulations for PTD riders (with local governments given flexibility to limit certain uses when necessitated by local conditions); PTDs should be regulated as a class, not device-by-device; and PTD users should be permitted to ride on both streets and
sidewalks, subject to rules that protect safety and free movement for all travelers.

Dockless, shared, electric kick-scooters started popping up on U.S. city streets without warning in 2017. These batterypowered devices are motorized versions of kick-scooters. They have a long, narrow platform where riders stand, two small in-line wheels at the front and back, and a vertical pole at the front with handlebars, a throttle, and brake controls. The “shared” versions of these devices are owned by forprofit companies offering the scooters for short-term rental, and “dockless” refers to company policy that riders may leave the device at any destination, rather than requiring that the scooters be physically returned to a fixed set of docking stations. (Hereafter, we refer to dockless, shared, electric kick-scooters simply as “shared scooters.”)

To help communities identify appropriate rules to govern rider behavior, the authors documented and analyzed existing PTD regulations among the U.S. states and territories, local governments, and university campuses, and then developed a recommended set of state-level “rules of the road” designed to balance safety and freedom of movement for all road users, including PTD riders. Study Methods The first phase of the study entailed documenting and analyzing the existing regulations at three levels of government: the “states” (all 50 states and five U.S. territories), 101 cities, and 20 college campuses. For each entity, the authors reviewed relevant legal codes and other regulations to identify (1) definitions of all transportation modes that may include some form of PTD, and (2) all regulations that govern how a person shall operate a PTD.

Every weekday morning in San Francisco’s SoMa district, a stream of workers disembark from the city’s commuter rail station carrying an assortment of small, wheeled devices—kick scooters, electric skateboards, hoverboards, and more—which they then use to roll on to their offices. These “personal transportation devices” (PTDs)—also called micromobility or microtransit— encompass a growing set of devices that provide lowspeed, flexible mobility for individual travelers. In recent years, the number of PTD types and their use has exploded with the introduction of new devices (see figure at left).

When COVID-19 swept into the United States in early 2020, it upended two patterns of behavior critical to transportation funding: how people traveled and where economic activity occurred. This study explored how, one year into the pandemic, experts in California believed that the COVID-19 pandemic was impacting local transportation budgets. We interviewed 34 funding experts who represented local transportation and public works departments, state officials, and municipal finance experts. In these conversations, conducted from December 2020 to March 2021, we asked interviewees how they saw COVID-19 impacting their overall local transportation budgets in the short and long term as well as which specific revenue sources were particularly effected. Key findings were as follows: the transportation revenue impacts from COVID-19 varied greatly by place, mode, and type of local government; public transit was the mode that experienced the most drastic change in transportation revenues; federa...

To assess the perceived role and ability of centers for teaching and learning (CTLs) in supporting faculty in a time of crisis, we asked the following research questions: (1) how did CTL staff view their involvement in the process of responding to the coronavirus pandemic and shifting to virtual instruction; and (2) how did CTL staff perceive their capacity to help instructors transition to remote instruction. In pursuit of these questions, we conducted a content analysis of open-ended survey responses from 143 unique CTL staff participants. Our findings indicate that participants in CTLs who were highly involved in the pandemic response experienced active engagement (e.g., being at the table with decision-makers), frequent communication (e.g., regularly attending transition task force meetings), and recognition (e.g., feeling as though their expertise and input was valued and seen). CTL staff that did not feel involved in the process tended to frame their experiences as responding to top-down demands (e.g., fulfilling task-oriented roles rather than comprehensive engagement with decision-makers), navigating poor communication (e.g., receiving important information late in the process through email), and feeling undervalued (e.g., feeling taken for granted).  CTL staff that felt prepared to respond to virtual instruction discussed having extensive expertise and/or strategies outlined for success, previouslyprepared and/or robust programming for faculty support in place, and collaborations with other departments or centers on and off campus. However, CTL staff that felt less able to address the needs of faculty expressed problems with being understaffed and illequipped (e.g., having inadequate expertise). Across all respondents, CTL staff discussed working additional hours to address greater responsibilities and/or faculty demand. To maximize the CTL’s ability to support faculty, we suggest that institutions bolster opportunities for CTLs to be involved in the decision-making process (even if an advisory role) about policies impacting instruction and communicate frequently and openly with CTL directors. If unable to devote additional  resources for staffing, we recommend that administrators foster collaborative partnerships across departments (e.g., Office of Information Technology)  to leverage cross-institutional expertise. Furthermore, CTLs should work to develop relationships with faculty and institutional partners through continual programming, in order to build expertise, create relationships with faculty, and embed themselves within the larger institutional framework.

The Association of American Colleges and Universities calls for improvements in teaching preparation in graduate programs as a transferable skill for future faculty. However, the amount of institutional and faculty support for these programs is limited. For the relatively few programs that exist, rarely do they have their outcomes assessed in a data-driven manner. This is disconcerting considering that participation in professional development can improve work-life balance, and graduate students often work long hours, suffer from mental health issues, and face increasing career competition. In this case study, we explore how two teaching development programs impacted pedagogical knowledge, perceived quality of life, and sense of community in graduate students at the University of California, Irvine. Using a mixed methods approach, we demonstrate that participants in our introductory quarter-long Developing Teaching Excellence course increased their pedagogical knowledge, and partici...

As higher education shifts toward a culture of evidence-based teaching practices, future faculty are seeking opportunities to develop their pedagogical knowledge and skills. Many centers for teaching and learning (CTLs) have not proportionally grown in resources to meet the demand for graduate student and postdoctoral scholar programming (e.g., teaching certificates and pedagogy seminars). This article presents a model of a wide-ranging, coherent pipeline of educational development for graduate students and postdoctoral scholars managed by a CTL with modest staffing.

We incorporated trauma-informed principles into the design of a synchronous, online Religion and Politics course and then evaluated impacts on student learning through qualitative methods. Using a novel approach, students self-evaluated their learning throughout the course in weekly reflections. Using content analysis and directed coding techniques, we analyzed students' reflection assessments for themes of trauma-informed principles: safety, trustworthiness, choice, collaboration, and empowerment. We found that students co-developed a sense of safety by engaging in respectful peer dialogue; established trustworthiness through self-disclosure of personal beliefs; collaborated with peers to develop a deeper understanding of course content; and acquired transferable skills through choice in assessments. In addition, students experienced empowerment by recognizing their growth in four primary areas: (1) their personal beliefs and perspectives; (2) their understanding of the course material; (3) their learning; and (4) their ability to use academic tools. Our findings extend and support existing research on the efficacy of trauma-informed practices; furthermore, our research suggests that incorporating trauma-informed principles into course design can support students in their learning as well as bolster their capacity to succeed in other areas inside and outside of the classroom (e.g., engaging in difficult conversations, seeking out support, using transferable skills in other contexts, applying course content to their own lives). Finally, our case study presents innovative approaches for assessing how students engage with trauma-informed course design.