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An interim president has to perform a particularly difficult balancing act. He or she shoulders the burdens from--or legacy of--the previous president and must also provide a foundation of stability for the new president. Throughout the process, effective communication--both internally and externally--is critical to ensuring a smooth transition. Although interim leadership is not necessarily a growing trend in academe, there will always be a need for temporary leadership at colleges and universities. The demand on an interim leader is intense, particularly at the outset of the presidency. Nearly any new interim president will have external audiences clamoring for his or her time, whether it's the media, elected officials, or campus constituencies. But in the beginning, the campus community--students, faculty, and staff members--is the most important audience to address. And because the role of interim president is often the result of a significant change on campus, most leaders will want to start by communicating the stability that still exists within the institution. While communication with the campus community is a top priority, outside stakeholders, from alumni and donors to the media and elected officials, should get plenty of attention also. For entering interim leaders, meeting early with the communications staff is critical for crafting an appropriate communications strategy. No matter how smooth the transition from leader to leader, permanent or interim, communications challenges will always exist. However, by maintaining--even increasing--the communication between the president and internal and external audiences, communications professionals can help interim leaders put the institution on a strong footing for the next president. Interim presidents can--and should--make it clear that the institution continues to advance its mission. They can do that with communication that is clear, constant, and easy to understand.

No Child Left Behind, Section 1118, Title I is devoted solely to parental involvement. Section 1118 requires school districts receiving Title I funds to develop and implement a written plan for parent involvement. Parental involvement is examined through teachers' responses concerning their engagement of parents in student achievement. Results indicate that parental involvement decreases as students progress through school. District public relations departments and administrators have an obligation to develop a plan to train teachers in effectively working with parents, which will ultimately increase student achievement.

This article investigates the importance of parent and community engagement in curriculum development, along with curriculum leadership, engaging stakeholders, and the importance of curriculum. Parent and community member engagement is examined in light of curriculum committee participation as reported by Missouri superintendents. Survey responses indicated that 72% to 75% of superintendents do not engage either parents or community members in the evaluation or review of curriculum development or approval of written curriculum or resources.

Teach for America (TFA) is perceived as a major player in the education wars over the future of public schools, and a key ally of those who disparage teacher unions and schools of education, and who are enamored of entrepreneurial reforms that bolster the privatization of a once-sacred public responsibility. But what exactly is TFA's role in these education wars? Who is directing the organization and to what ends? More importantly, what is TFA's role in improving urban education? In two decades, the organization's approach to eliminating educational inequality has not changed: Recruit smart, hard-working graduates from Ivy League and other highly competitive universities, and ask them to take a hiatus from their future careers to commit two years to teaching in a low-income urban or rural school. But leaving aside issues such as poverty and inadequate school funding, it is universally acknowledged that one of the biggest problems in low-performing schools is the revolving door of inadequately prepared teachers. Does TFA's two-years-and-out commitment feed into this problem and thus exacerbate educational inequity? In this article, the author explores TFA. (Contains 1 endnote.)

In a world of high tech and low touch, it is easy for public relations programs to stray from tried-and-true interpersonal strategies long associated with solid communication planning. New technologies allow communications professionals to quickly send e-mails and telephone calls to selected groups. Social media sites provide users immediate information, including video and photos from an endless variety of sources. The list of technology options grows and grows. However, even with so many technology tools available to communicators, formal plans must include strategies using important person-to-person research and targeted communications. For the Ritenour School District, such plans, incorporating high technologies and high touch, resulted in significant improvements.

After a failed tax levy in 2004, the Ladue School District in Missouri realized that it had to significantly change its communication methods. A new superintendent was hired in July 2004 to work with the Board of Education to reestablish relationships and increase effective communications with parents and community members. As such, we are the communication professionals who led the district leadership through the development and implementation of a strategic communications plan. We used the RACE planning model, promoted by the National School Public Relations Association. Although community trust has been reestablished, we continue the journey of constantly reevaluating and refining our plan.

This article provides a community relations professional the rationale and background regarding the use of Universal Instructional Design in classrooms. It also provides community relations specialists with a communication plan for educating the public on Universal Instructional Design via a teaching and modeling approach. Results of a recent study of Missouri public school teachers indicate that Universal Instructional Design is a fairly new concept to K-12 educators and should thus be explored as well as communicated to parents and community so that it can become an accepted method of instruction to aid in student success.

Defines the principal role and global function of public relations practitioners as perceived by the most senior communications executives in agencies or corporations in central United States. (PD)

An informal statewide coalition of institutions from Missouri, Missourians for Higher Education (MHE), undertook a 2-year, $250,000 public information campaign. MHE focused on four goals: to elevate state support of higher education; to increase gifts from private sources; to develop new markets for Missouri's institutions; and to stimulate enrollment. (MLW)

By means of a case study of the Saint Louis, Missouri school desegregation and reorganization program, administrative procedures for avoiding desegregation or creating an appearance of compliance are discussed. The strategies used include public relations, inbreeding of staff, coopting and/or dividing citizen action, and stalling for time. (MH)

Self-measured blood pressure monitoring (SMBP), the regular measurement of blood pressure by a patient outside the clinical setting, plus additional support, is a proven, cost-effective but underutilized strategy to improve hypertension outcomes. To accelerate SMBP use, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) funded the National Association of Community Health Centers, the YMCA of the USA, and Association of State and Territorial Health Officials to develop cross-sector care models to offer SMBP to patients with hypertension. The project aimed to increase the use of SMBP through the coordinated action of health department leaders, community organizations and clinical providers. From 1/31/2017 to 6/30/2018, nine health centers in Kentucky, Missouri, and New York partnered with seven local Y associations (local Y) and their local health departments to design and implement care models that adapted existing primary care SMBP practices by leveraging capacities and resources in community and public health organizations. Nine collaborative care models emerged, shaped by available community assets, strategic priorities, and organizational culture. Overall, 1421 patients were recommended for SMBP; of those, 795 completed at least one cycle of SMBP (BP measurements morning and evening for at least three consecutive days). Of those recommended for SMBP, 308 patients were referred to a local Y to receive additional SMBP and healthy lifestyle support. Community and public health organizations can be brought into the health care delivery process and can play valuable roles in supporting patients in SMBP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Breast cancer screening combined with follow-up and treatment reduces breast cancer mortality. However, in the study clinic, only 12 % of eligible women ≥40 years received a mammogram in the previous year. The objective of this project was to implement patient navigation, in our partner health clinic to (1) identify women overdue for a mammogram; and (2) increase mammography utilization in this population over a 2-year period. Women overdue for a mammogram were identified. One patient navigator made navigation attempts over a 2-year period (2009-2011). Navigation included working around systems- and individual-level barriers to receive a mammogram as well as the appropriate follow-up post screening. Women were contacted up to three times to initiate navigation. The proportion of women navigated and who received a mammogram during the study period were compared to women who did not receive a mammogram using Chi square tests for categorical variables and t tests for continuous variables with an α = 0.05. Barriers to previous mammography were also assessed. With 94.8 % of eligible women navigated and 94 % of these women completing mammography, the implementation project reached 89 % of the target population. This project was a successful implementation of an evidence-based patient navigation program that continues to provide significant impact in a high-need area. Cost was the most commonly cite barrier to mammography. Increasing awareness of resources in the community for mammography and follow-up care remains a necessary adjunct to removing structural and financial barriers to accessing preventive services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2008, the faculty of the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis designed a Master of Public Health program centered on transdisciplinary problem solving in public health. We have described the rationale for our approach, guiding principles and pedagogy for the program, and specific transdisciplinary competencies students acquire. We have explained how transdisciplinary content has been organized and delivered, how the program is being evaluated, and how we have demonstrated the feasibility of this approach for a Master of Public Health degree. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined cultural mistrust of mental health professionals among Black males who are transitioning from the foster care system ( N = 74) and its relationship to their level of satisfaction with child welfare services and the frequency of negative social contextual experiences. Results of hierarchical regression analysis showed that the level of satisfaction with child welfare services moderated the relationship between negative social contextual experiences and cultural mistrust of mental health professionals. Specifically, more frequent negative social contextual experiences were related to greater cultural mistrust of mental health professionals for Black males reporting low satisfaction with child welfare services, but not for those reporting high satisfaction with child welfare services. Implications for service delivery are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose — To provide an overview of how corporate sponsorships can be successfully used by libraries. Design/methodology/approach — Using successful examples from St Louis Public Library, the topic of corporate sponsorships and their value to libraries is presented. Findings — Corporate sponsorship of services and events can be a valuable source of support for libraries. However, it is important to accurately determine what project costs are, and what the value of the partnership is for the corporation. Originality/value — Not everyone agrees that corporate sponsorships are a good idea for libraries, but getting involved in them does not mean that you have to compromise the library's mission. With proper planning and partnering, a win-win outcome is possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research in University of Missouri at St. Louis is often treated with contempt and is often contemptible, with results that are unfortunate for the metropolitan area and for the people who live here. This vice is not endemic to St. Louis alone, although sometimes it seems that theirs is an exaggerated case. The unfortunate tendency of much of the U.S. government and business-sponsored research is to produce not information and analysis on which decisions are to be based but, rather, testimonial advertising to justify decisions already made on other than well-researched grounds. Research is confused with public relations and selling, and consequently lacks objectivity, seriousness, and, at times, even basic intellectual honesty. Most importantly, this kind of research activity is radically incorrigible and ultimately discredits the use of research and those involved in it. The responsibility for fostering this state of affairs rests primarily with the federal government. Its lavish funding of a lush growth of ill-considered planning activities stimulated a boom both in "planning" and planners. Initially, this might have appeared to be a welcome if crude attempt to introduce a modicum of rationality into the management of local affairs. In the long run, however, it has been almost as much of a disaster as the Poverty Program. The government's planning money has proved corrupting and poisonous, and, like the Poverty Program, hasn't even proved a stable source of income to those it has enlisted.

Process requires far more time and energy than staff anticipated. Benchmarking processes lead to environment of continuous improvement. Data collection tool organized around current critical issues.

Saint Joseph Health Center's new outpatient facility in Kansas City looks like a mall, sounds like a mall, smells like a mall. But it's also a state-of-the-art medical facility designed with the patient uppermost in the planning. Take the escalator to your next appointment.

This article addresses some of the issues involved in developing a policy/procedure for handling patients who are found in possession of illicit drugs--i.e., cocaine, crack, marijuana.

All persons who serve the Lord through their work in a health care facility should be considered healers and need to be made aware of the special charisms in healing. Among the means of accomplishing this are pastoral department input into new staff orientation, periodic workshops recalling the Church's commitment to healing, special days of recollection, Masses, Bible services, scriptural sharings, and prayer groups. Especially meaningful may be a ceremoney in which individuals are anointed with oil to dedicate them to the charisms of their particular tasks.