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Many authors regard education as a way of increasing civility in society, and some have implemented interventions to improve civility in schools. However, very little empirical data exist on the extent and nature of students' civil behavior. The present study systematically gathered data from 251 school professionals regarding their perceptions of students' civil and uncivil behaviors. Participants perceived students' civil behaviors as occurring more frequently than uncivil behaviors; however, they also indicated a need to increase civil behavior in schools. They provided suggestions on how to accomplish this goal, which include providing direct instruction, modeling civil behavior, incorporating positive behavior support, and setting rules and expectations. Implications of this study and directions for future research are included., The increased focus of public education on academics may have minimized the teaching of civil behavior, which was once prevalent in schools (Peck, 2002). Many suggest that civility is fading [...]

University and college campuses are not immune to acts of violence. Unfortunately there is limited information regarding violence in the academic setting among women employees. As such, the purpose of [...]

The current study reports on a study examining the safety concerns of male and female staff members on a small university campus. A 160-item questionnaire was distributed to 231 staff [...]

To date, most research on travel behavior has been limited to studying utilitarian appraisals of car users and users of public transport. Studies on affective experiences are usually limited to commuter stress. A survey among university employees revealed that in support of previous research, car commuters find their journey more stressful than other mode users. The main sources of this stress are delays and other road users. Users of public transport also 'complain' about delays; however, this results in stress as well as boredom. Walking and cycling journeys are the most relaxing and exciting and therefore seem the most optimum form of travel from an affective perspective. The affective appraisals of the daily commute are related to instrumental aspects, such as journey time, but also to general attitudes toward various travel modes. These findings have implications for sustainable transport policy initiatives that aim to persuade people to abandon their car. Keywords: mode choice; affective appraisals; commuting; stress

The objectives of this study were to describe the extent, nature, and enforcement of school competitive food policies in Pennsylvania public high schools and to determine if there are differences between school foodservice directors' and principals' perceptions of the existence and enforcement of these policies. A survey was distributed to 271 school foodservice directors and 100 principals in a representative, random sample of high schools. Two hundred twenty-eight school foodservice directors (84%) and 79 principals (79%) returned surveys. Descriptive statistics, [chi square] analyses, and a proportions test were done using SPSS statistical software (SPSS base 11.5 for Windows, 2002, SPSS Inc, Chicago, IL). Few nutrition policies were reported related to setting nutritional standards for competitive foods (0.5% to 15.0%). Respondents' reporting of existence of policies not always enforced ranged from 0% to 12.8%. School foodservice directors reported uncertainty about existence of several policies outside their direct domain, but with potential effect on school meals participation. Differences were found between school foodservice directors' and principals' reporting of policies, with principals more often reporting policy existence and enforcement. These findings suggest the need for communication, both about existence of policies and chain of command in enforcement of policies. Given the local wellness policy provision of the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004, opportunities exist for nutrition professionals to contribute to development of policies that influence the nutritional quality of school foods. J Am Diet Assoc. 2006;106:271-276.

Although functional behavior assessment (FBA) has been widely recognized as a promising practice for providing proactive interventions with students exhibiting challenging behaviors in typical schools, questions persist as to how [...]

Research was conducted to examine and describe the attitudes and beliefs among teachers and school health care providers working with adolescents regarding obesity. A sample of 115 health, science, physical education and home economics teachers and social workers in a major school district in the St. Paul, MN, area participated in the mailed survey. Results indicate that school staff are inclined to believe that obesity is due to multiple factors such as behavioral and biological.

This paper is an attempt to study the issues of Electronic Information Resources Awareness, Attitude and Use by Academic staff members of University of Lagos, Nigeria with a view to survey the exposure of Academics to electronic information resources. Also, it aims to highlight the challenges faced by the users and suggests some corrective measures for its improvement. A test-retest reliability method of two weeks interval was conducted, response obtained were subjected to Pearson Product Moment Correlation method and a reliability co-efficient of 0.81 was obtained. The Random Sampling Technique together with a Questionnaire was used for data collection on 120 out of a population size of 1,200 academic staff members and only 113 responded giving a response rate of 94.1 percent. Descriptive Statistics including Frequencies count and Percentages were used in reporting the findings. The study confirmed that 55% of academic staff members indicated that the level of awareness of the subscribed electronic information resources by the Library Management is rather low. The paper records that the reasons why academic staff members of University of Lagos use electronic information resources are; research activity, Paper writing for publication, and teaching. It suggests further for an improvement in the access facilities with high Internet speed and subscription to more e-resources by the University Library., Introduction Roberson (2005) defined a library as an institution that manages the intellectual products of society and processes them in such a manner that the individual can readily gain access [...]

Hepatitis B Vaccination for At-Risk School Personnel Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a disease of low endemicity in the U.S. with a carrier rate of 0.1%-0.5% and an estimated [...]

The study assesses the hiring criteria for principals in Iowa to determine if school districts are looking for characteristics of second-order change as described by the Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning's Balanced Leadership Framework (McREL). Results show little congruence between hiring criteria and the characteristics of second-order change.

A 2008 survey finds that 26 per cent of university staff want to continue working beyond the age of 65, but are unaware of their rights under the U.K.'s age discrimination laws.

Objectives. We studied school personnel involved in the review of student's immunization status to determine whether personnel training, immunization-related knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs, use of alternative medicine, and sources of vaccine information were associated with the vaccination status of school children. Methods. Surveys were mailed to a stratified and random sample of 1000 schools in Colorado, Massachusetts, Missouri, and Washington. School personnel reported their training and perceptions of disease susceptibility/ severity, vaccine efficacy/safety, key immunization beliefs, use of alternative medicine, confidence in organizations, sources, and credibility of vaccine information, and the rates of vaccine exemptors in their schools. Logistic regression analysis was used to explore associations between personnel factors and beliefs (independent variables) with the likelihood of a child having an exemption (dependent variable). Regression models were adjusted for clustering of children in schools, type of school (public versus private), and state. Results. Surveys were returned by 69.6% of eligible participants. A child attending a school with a respondent who was a nurse was significantly less likely to be have an exemption than a child attending a school with a respondent who was not a nurse (odds ratio [OR]: 0.39; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.28-0.56). The majority of respondents believed that children (95.6%) and the community (96.1%) benefit when children are vaccinated. Nurses were more likely than nonnurses to hold beliefs supporting the utility and safety of vaccination. Greater perceived disease susceptibility and severity and vaccine efficacy and safety were associated with a decreased likelihood of a child in the school having an exemption. Vaccine misconceptions were relatively common. For example, 19.0% of respondents were concerned that children's immune systems could be weakened by too many immunizations, and this belief was associated with an increased likelihood of a child in the school having an exemption (OR: 1.51; 95% CI: 1.00-2.28). Most respondents had a moderate amount or great deal of confidence in state health departments (91.4%), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (93.9%), local health departments (88.8%), health care providers (88.5%), the Food and Drug Administration (73.6%), and the health care system (65.2%). Fewer respondents had a moderate amount or great deal of confidence in the media (17.4%). A child attending a school with a respondent who had a moderate amount or great deal of confidence in local and state health departments was less likely to have an exemption (OR: 0.47 and 0.44; 95% CI: 0.27-0.80 and 0.25-0.80, respectively) than a child attending a school with a respondent who did not have a moderate amount or great deal of confidence in local and state health departments. Confidence in other groups was not associated with the likelihood of a child in the school having an exemption. Nearly half (45.5%) of the respondents or their immediate family members had used some form of alternative medicine in the last 5 years. A child attending a school with a respondent who had (or had a family member[s] who) used an alternative medicine practitioner was more likely to have an exemption than a child attending a school with a respondent who had not used an alternative medicine practitioner. There were significant associations between sources used and perception of reliability for vaccine information with the likelihood of a child in the school having an exemption. Use of professional organizations, government resources, vaccine companies, and pharmacists for vaccine information were associated with a decreased likelihood of a child in the school having an exemption. Perceiving health departments and the CDC as a good or excellent source for vaccine information was associated with a decreased likelihood of a child in the school having an exemption. Conclusions. The training, knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs of school personnel who work with parents on immunization issues were associated with the likelihood of a child in the school having an exemption. Although respondents generally believed in vaccinations, misconceptions were common. Many school personnel seem to be unaware of the seriousness of some vaccine-preventable diseases and that unimmunized children are highly susceptible to diseases. These misperceptions were associated with an increased likelihood of a child having an exemption. This study of associations cannot determine causal associations. Nonetheless, the frequency of vaccine misconceptions among school personnel warrants vaccine communication programs for school employees who work with parents on immunization issues. An intervention study could determine whether such programs have an impact on parental decisions to claim exemptions for their children. Personnel without formal health care training who advice parents on immunization issues could be passing on misinformation to parents. Nurses or properly trained health personnel should be the primary school contacts for parents on immunization issues. Health departments and health care providers were used most often by school personnel for vaccine information. Providers, professional organizations, health departments, and the CDC were considered most credible. The CDC may be an underutilized source, given its high credibility; only 58.1% of respondents reported using the CDC for vaccine information. Greater visibility of CDC on vaccine information statements and communication efforts from the CDC directly to school personnel will likely be well received. Respondents who do not consider health departments and the CDC as credible sources were associated with a greater likelihood of a child in their school having an exemption. The CDC may need to consider working with other reliable sources to communicate with these personnel. Studies are needed to understand why some parents choose to forgo vaccination for children who do not have true medical contraindications to vaccines. School personnel trained in vaccine safety may serve as a valuable source of vaccine information for parents. Parents who have misconceptions about vaccines would likely benefit from discussions with health care providers. Additional public-information campaigns regarding misconceptions and the value of vaccination may be needed. Pediatrics 2004;113:e552-e559. URL: http://www.pediatrics.org/cgi/ content/full/113/6/e552; immunization, vaccination, public health, nurse, law.

LAST MONTH, in conjunction with the release of the new LEAP report, College Learning for the New Global Century, AAC & U released findings from two surveys of senior-level employers [...]

Research by the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (Ucea) in the U.K. has revealed that pay rises in higher education are still linked to years of service rather than performance. Very few, just about a quarter of institutions introduced performance management arrangements.

The majority of respondents to the Association of University Teachers' (AUT) online survey of casual staff at UK universities were on fixed-term contracts, of which 64 percent were full-time. One teaching-only academic on an hourly-paid contract at Birkbeck, University of London, saud that for both quality of life and income 'I would be better off working at Tesco'.