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As young people are seeking degrees that will help them with employment and as universities seek ways to increase enrollment and retention, the emphasis of the value of higher education has emerged as an important aspect in achieving these goals. The focus of this particular study, where a paucity currently exists, was to examine the concepts of value in relation to undergraduate business education. A main aim of this study was to identify values (beyond economic), based on time since graduation, and the motivating factors that help to define those values. One of the key trends this study revealed was a cross-generational assessment of value.

The driving research question was regarding business undergraduate alumni's perceptions of value: Is there a relationship (based on time since graduation) in the value of an undergraduate degree? The Final Revised Survey was sent to 945 business college alumni, randomly selected from a list of 15,012 names. Quantitative data were disaggregated by groups: 0 = 3 years post-graduation (recent graduates), >3 = 6 years post-graduation (advanced graduates), >6 = 9 years post-graduation (experienced graduates) and >9 years (senior graduates) for analyses using Independent Samples T-Test, Simple Linear Regressions and Pearson's r Correlations tests.

Results of the Pearson's r Correlation tests showed significant findings in terms of strength of relationship between variables involved the following: (1) gender and average motivation (0.004) (2) time since graduation and average commitment (0.047), (3) gender and average value (0.045) and (4) age and average value (0.036). This suggests that gender has the strongest relationship between variables. Also, age and time since graduation seem to be correlated to how alumni value their undergraduate education and are willing to commit to continuing to support an organization. The averages of three types of groups of continuous data (value, motivation and commitment) were analyzed as the results related to ethnicity and time since graduation. When comparing ethnic outcomes based on two categories, non-Caucasian and Caucasian, although there were fewer respondents in the non-Caucasian category, those individuals' perception of value, motivation and commitment rated higher (8.87, 7.71 and 5.83 respectively) than their Caucasian counterparts (8.41, 6.58 and 4.96 respectively). Additionally, it is interesting to note that for both groups, the average commitment score was the lowest out of the three for both groups. Finally, for Caucasians, time since graduation seemed to increase their perception of value of their undergraduate business degree. Whereas, for non-Caucasians, the perception of value was less. This specific result could be since in the age group for non-Caucasians seven of the eight respondents were in the = 47 age group.

Results rested limited to opinions of undergraduate business alumni. Because the rate of return for the data results was limited, it is unlikely that a firm argument can be made solely on the results from the Pearson's r Correlation in terms of a conclusion for the research question for this study. However, based on the results of this study the responses can be generalized to the respondents, not the overall population. Therefore, the Null Hypothesis was rejected as preliminary findings, with the understanding that additional data could change this decision.

Practitioners (instructors and professional staff) in higher education can utilize the results of this study to align their decision making and engagement actions. For example, as the work of Starrett (2018) shows, in and out of classroom engagement, approachability and the ability to determine what their clients, (future students) are ways that practitioners can help to increase retention rates. For practitioners and policymakers alike, it is important that they work together to understand what today's potential students are looking for in their educational experience. In the past, extrinsic values such as fancy dorms and athletic facilities may have been key considerations. However, as this study has shown, today's potential students are seeking more intrinsic values from their college experiences such as a deeper connection with faculty and staff, a feeling of inclusion and belonging and commitment, on the part of a university, to their long-term success. Additionally, it is vitally important that both groups work together because everyone who works in higher education has a level of responsibility for enrollment and retention rates. This study provides information that will enable both groups to begin to meet those goals.

Social implications from this study surround better understanding of current and potential college students determine the value of higher educational degrees. Practitioners (instructors and professional staff) in higher education can utilize the results of this study to align their decision making and engagement actions. For example, as the work of Starrett (2018) shows, in and out of classroom engagement, approachability and the ability to determine what their clients, (future students) are ways that practitioners can help to increase retention rates. It is important that all work together to understand what today's potential students are looking for in their educational experience. In the past, extrinsic values such as fancy dorms and athletic facilities may have been key considerations. However, as this study has shown, today's potential students are seeking more intrinsic values from their college experiences such as a deeper connection with faculty and staff, a feeling of inclusion and belonging and commitment, on the part of a university, to their long-term success. Additionally, it is vitally important that both groups work together because everyone who works in higher education has a level of responsibility for enrollment and retention rates. This study provides information that will enable both groups to begin to meet those goals.

This information is important to universities because the results can act as a guide to aid them in revising their current individual recruitment and retention models for accuracy and relevancy. While a review of the current literature showed an abundance of theoretical information about economic value, it also showed a deficit in connecting alternative meanings of value as it relates to the university selection and commitment process. This study called attention to the need to examine this area to clarify higher education's other values to society.

Prior to the spring 2020, education in the United States looked very similar to how it had always looked … students attended brick-and-mortar schools, used technology in their classrooms and homes to supplement their learning, and relied on the support of teachers as needed or wanted. Parents, for their part, were involved in the traditional supportive roles of checking over homework, monitoring attendance, and providing encouragement as warranted, and worked to balance this role with professional and community obligations and responsibilities. The COVID-19 pandemic swept across the globe, and parents as well as teachers were suddenly thrust into different and less familiar roles, as teaching and learning transitioned to a virtual experience. In examining this transition, a team consisting of researchers from Florida and North Carolina sought to determine the effectiveness of the parent roles in schooling from the educator perspective. In this chapter, the findings of this study are explored and analyzed, with recommendations made for research moving forward in this area.

The purpose of this paper is to examine police officer perceptions about persons with intellectual disabilities.

In this study, 188 officers from three police districts in the Southeast USA were surveyed using a modified Social Distance Questionnaire.

Results indicate that the majority of police officers surveyed had little or no training with regard to disabilities and that most are willing to interact socially with individuals with intellectual disabilities. Further, this study found that female officers had significantly greater positive attitudes toward individuals with intellectual disabilities than male respondents and that white respondents were more knowledgeable about these individuals than those from minority backgrounds.

While these results are significant, it should be noted that the number of female and minority participants was relatively low.

The paper includes recommendations for professional development for police officer and criminal justice training programs.

As individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities are increasingly integrated into society, their vulnerability to mishandling by the criminal justice system and police officers intensifies. This paper allows police officers and those within the field of criminal justice an opportunity to examine perceptions as they seek to understand how police and general societal perceptions impact the way that people interact with persons with intellectual disabilities.

This paper fulfills a need to examine attitudes of police officers toward citizens with intellectual disabilities in the communities in which they live. These attitudes often affect the way that police officers interact with citizens and identify additional training needs to better prepare officers for diverse individuals they may will encounter.

Using literature as the catalyst for change is grounded in Freirean pedagogy. In the case of the Oaks Leadership Scholars, leadership educators are crafting an environment for building transformative leadership skills using texts calling for the enactment of justice and equity as a starting point for capacity building and self-reflection. Students read the texts individually, then in conjunction with workshop-style instruction, discuss the texts in formal sessions. To extend their thinking, students have the opportunity to attend optional reading circles (including a formal lesson and informal discussion) designed to enhance their critical thinking and development. Discussions in these reading circles often move in directions that allow for meaning-making beyond the narrow text focus into broader, real-world applications. Project co-directors report that the texts and subsequent discussion have energized students to act and engage.

Given that formal training on autism is still a relatively infrequent occurrence for police officers, the objective of this study is to expose and describe the formal and informal, nonorganizationally based means police officers receive on-the-job training regarding interactions with autistic individuals.

Using personal networks and snowball sampling, the authors interviewed 19 police officers from multiple US police departments who reported having known contact with an autistic individual while on duty. Interviews were transcribed and coded to identify themes describing formal training and informal means to learn about autistic persons during interactions.

The authors find that many officers received formal training on mental health, though few received specific training about autism. Most commonly, officers with a personal connection to autism (e.g. a child or loved one), passed down information and techniques to other officers on how to have positive encounters with autistic individuals. Officers also passed along field knowledge of known autistic individuals in patrol areas/beats to help others have positive interactions. Lastly, community members often assisted officers by sharing information about find where an individual may be located, may live or known personal characteristics/preferences.

Scholars examining police contact with autistic individuals infrequently detail the point of view and needs of officers in successfully interacting with this population. This work adds to this growing discussion by exposing how officers use personal experience, informal training and community members’ assistance as a stopgap for their general lack of training on how to interact with autistic individuals successfully and positively.

Autistic youth face higher risks for experiencing mental health crises. To develop and test a county-level social network measure of care coordination between police departments and other systems that support autistic youth experiencing suicidal crisis.

To measure the structure of care coordination for autistic youth experiencing suicidal crisis, the authors created a roster of all police departments and youth servicing organizations in two East Coast counties in the United States. They met or exceeded the whole network recruitment threshold of 70% completion in both counties. From the data, the authors created a directed matrix for each county of all reported connections, which they used to create sociograms and calculate standard network measures, including indegree, outdegree and total degree for each organization in the network. Data management and processing were done using R-programming and ORA.

Social network findings indicated that about half of all police departments surveyed coordinate care for autistic youth in suicidal crisis. Coordination varied by county, with nonpolice organizations acting as connectors between police and other nonpolice organizations. Two structural configurations were found, including a nonpolice organizational hub structure and a lead police structure. More research is needed to determine how different police integration structures shape care coordination for autistic youth.

Limitations include the small number of counties included in the study. A larger sample of counties is required for generalizable results.

This article introduces new tools and approaches to assist police in building their capacity to measure and improve their coordination of care with other community systems during crisis situations for youth on the autism spectrum. Network science (e.g. matrix and graph theoretic algebra methods) can be used to measure the configuration of relationships police departments have with complex multi-level healthcare systems.

Implications for findings include the consideration of police integration across systems in ways that produce new collaboration possibilities to support autistic youth experiencing suicidal crisis.

While police departments play a critical role in coordinating care for youth in suicidal crisis, little is known if or how police departments collaborate with other systems to provide assistance for autistic youth during a suicidal crisis. Improving care continuity within and between systems could potentially address clinical and structural challenges and reduce risk for autistic youth experiencing a suicidal crisis.

Patients with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) present with specific assessment, specific difficulties, needs and therapeutic issues and therefore are a challenging group for forensic services. Given the challenge that individuals with ASD present to forensic services, the suggested increase in the number of this group within this setting and the relatively little amount of research which suggests they face a number of difficulties within the prison environment, the purpose of this paper is to identify and review all the studies which have been carried out investigating any aspect of ASD in relation to secure hospital settings.

Seven internet-based bibliographic databases were used for the present review. The review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines.

A total of 12 studies were included in this review; 3 looked at the prevalence of ASD in secure psychiatric hospitals. One study evaluated the clinical utility of the AQ screening tool to assess self-reported autistic traits in secure psychiatric settings. Three explored any type of characteristics of patients with ASD detained in secure psychiatric hospitals. One study investigated the experiences or quality of life of patients with an ASD detained in secure psychiatric care. Two studies investigated awareness, knowledge and/or views regarding patients with ASD held by staff working within secure psychiatric hospitals. Lastly, three studies (one of which was also included in the prevalence category above) looked at the effectiveness of interventions or treatment of patients with ASD in secure psychiatric hospitals. Clinical recommendations and future research directions are discussed.

To the author’s knowledge, this is the first review to explore what research has been carried out looking specifically at patients with ASD in relation to secure forensic settings.