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The Equifax data breach in 2017 provides an interesting case for analyzing effective crisis communication. Unlike other data breaches, victims who were potentially damaged in this breach were not customers of Equifax. Benoit's (1995) Image Restoration Theory (IRT) and Coomb's (2007, 2015) Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) are used to analyze effective communication strategies in print media. Critical discourse analysis method is used to evaluate quotes from Equifax' spokespersons published in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post from September 2017 through July 2019. The choice of well-known business news media outlets and a time frame with immediate temporal proximity to the data breach serves to enhance the reliability and the completeness of the quotes from Equifax spokespersons. Select financial data from Equifax is also analyzed as tangible evidence of the success (or failure) of strategic communication responses in this crisis. Equifax lacked consistency by using deny strategies with diminish or rebuilding strategies and the company failed to use rebuilding strategies throughout the crisis period. Equifax effectively used the adjusting information strategies. Although Equifax did not perform as well as a main competitor, its stock market performance was still higher than the Standard and Poors 500 (S&P 500) market average in the years following the crisis. Keywords: Image Restoration Theory (IRT), Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT), strategic communication response, Equifax, data breach, In September 2017, Equifax publicly announced a data breach within their company that would eventually end up affecting approximately 147 million consumers (Equifax Data Breach Settlement, 2020). Hackers stole Social [...]

Retention rates of students in a business school Freshman Year Experience (FYE) course were compared to overall University retention rates for two successive years. Slightly higher retention was experienced by the business FYE students than for the University overall. Student responses to exit survey questions were compared to retention activity to assess any potential relationships. Contrary to existing theoretical models, no significant correlations existed between measures of academic skill building and retention, and between student connectedness and retention. Significant correlation did exist between student academic expectations and intention to return.

AbstractFacilitating racial dialogue in higher education is challenging and taxing for instructors and students. Race, racism, implicit bias, and microaggressions are all topics that evoke strong emotions in a classroom. This can be especially challenging at a predominantly white institution. Facilitators must develop and assess pedagogical approaches for navigating these contentious spaces. This paper assesses an implicit bias lesson plan designed to educate, foster dialogue, and cultivate inclusive spaces. The lesson plan, Association Awareness, utilizes the Harvard Implicit Association Test to measure implicit attitudes. We use the Bias Awareness Scale to measure the effectiveness of the lesson plan and present findings on mood, bias awareness, explicitly stated racial preferences, and implicit racial associations. Results suggest that participation in the Association Awareness lesson significantly increased bias awareness in predominantly white undergraduates without negatively impacting their mood. Implications for action and future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ObjectivesTo examine the moderating effects of gender, grade level, and ethnicity on the associations between violence exposure and adolescents' internalizing symptoms and externalizing behavior and to explore whether such relationships persist over time.MethodA survey of adolescents' exposure to violence, internalizing symptoms, and externalizing behavior was administered to 2 cross-sectional samples of 6th, 8th, and 10th graders (N = 2,748 in 1994 and 2,600 in 1996) in an urban school system. Approximately 1,100 adolescents participated in both surveys and served as the longitudinal sample.ResultsStructural equation models indicated that violence exposure was closely associated with both externalizing behavior (r = 0.74-0.79) and internalizing symptoms (r = 0.36-0.38). The strength of association was similar across gender and ethnic groups. However, violence exposure was more closely related with internalizing symptoms for younger adolescents than their older counterparts. The longitudinal analysis suggested that exposure to violence reported at time 1 was related to adolescents' internalizing symptoms and externalizing behavior 2 years later.ConclusionsThese results document high levels of violence exposure for urban youths and indicate links to a range of psychiatric symptoms and indicators of poor adjustment. Such findings carry implications for direct clinical work with young people, as well as for program development and public policy.

Objective: To confirm factor structure of the teacher Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and to compare teacher and student reports in Russian youth. Method: The SDQ and psychopathology measures were completed by teachers in a representative sample of urban adolescents (N = 528). The factor structure was examined on two randomly selected split-halves of the sample, and using a gender split. The functional impairment score was predicted by the SDQ problem scales. Results: The fit for all models was acceptable. The fit did not decrease when applying increasing constraints in the random-split model, but became significantly worse for the gender model, suggesting lack of measure invariance. SDQ problem scales explained 37% of functional impairment variance. Significant scale interaction (emotional problems*peer problems and conduct problems*hyperactivity) suggest that combination of these problems produces an additional impact on functioning. Conclusions: The SDQ teacher report may represent a potentially useful screener for children and youth. (Contains 5 tables and 1 figure.)