Browsing by Author "Rolston, Holmes, III, committee member"
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Item Open Access Evaluation of student engagement assessment in Colorado State University's Warner College of Natural Resources(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2013) Holman, Debra Kaye, author; Timpson, William M., advisor; Vaske, Jerry J., advisor; Makela, Carole, committee member; Newman, Peter, committee member; Rolston, Holmes, III, committee memberThe purpose of this mixed methods study was to conduct a participatory program evaluation of student engagement assessment in Colorado State University's (CSU) Warner College of Natural Resources (WCNR). The college requested the evaluation after completing two pilot studies of undergraduate engagement which led them to consider establishing the Milestones Assessment Program of Student Engagement (MAPSE). WCNR leadership sought to determine (a) the mission, goals, and objectives of assessing WCNR student engagement; (b) how the goals and objectives aligned with CSU's and WCNR's strategic plans; (c) the variables, measures, and outcomes of student engagement assessment in natural resources at CSU; (d) how electronic and classroom survey administrations of WCNR undergraduate student engagement compared; and (e) the operational elements required to support MAPSE. The evaluation was to address these five areas, determine whether an electronic or classroom survey format was best suited for administration in the college, and recommend what survey interval ought to be observed. In conducting the evaluation, administrations of electronic and classroom surveys generated assessment data that were analyzed as an extension of the study. It was found that WCNR was well-positioned to go forward with establishing MAPSE. The college had mission, goals, and objectives for assessment of student engagement which aligned with CSU and WCNR strategic plans. The evaluation identified practices, indices, and themes of WCNR student engagement for use in MAPSE surveys, and survey findings provided college leadership baseline data to develop outcomes for undergraduate engagement. Both electronic and classroom survey administrations produced acceptable samples for assessment of WCNR student engagement, with the electronic survey having a more representative sample of students by department and the classroom survey having a more representative sample of students by sex. The electronic survey incurred fewer direct costs of time and human resources. It was recommended that either survey be administered under MAPSE and survey intervals not interfere with other campus-wide survey administrations at CSU. Analyses of the survey data revealed that WCNR students found the college's practices of engagement important and satisfying. As student satisfaction with course opportunities, faculty advising, and development as natural resource professionals increased, their intent to persist and sense of success in the college and their majors increased. Student satisfaction on development as natural resource professionals was the only variable to consistently influence student persistence and sense of success in the college and their majors. Study findings indicated that besides educationally purposeful activities associated with student engagement, professionally purposeful activities influence natural resource student persistence and success.Item Open Access Immigration ethics: creating flourishing, just, and sustainable societies in a world of limits(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2018) Phillips, Addison, author; Cafaro, Philip, advisor; Shockley, Ken, committee member; Shulman, Steven, committee member; Rolston, Holmes, III, committee memberMost political liberals and academics hold that the proper ethical stance on immigration is one of expansive policies or even open borders. It is assumed that it is unjust to limit the movement of humans who are merely attempting to improve their lot in life by seeking to make an honest living in a new country. This thesis argues that a considered ethical view on immigration in our overpopulated and environmentally overexploited world must take the ethical import of limits seriously. In the first chapter, I argue that the right of a nation's citizens to exercise self-determination and pursue the creation of a flourishing society justifies limiting immigration to the degree that is required to secure various societal goods necessary to a flourishing society, such as the maintenance of mutual regard and a robust welfare state. In the second chapter, I argue that present ecological, economic, and social circumstances demand that developed nations exercise that right and limit immigration from the developing world, due to significant and pressing threats to their near and long-term prospects for flourishing. Mass immigration will never solve the issues the developing world currently faces, but it sends the false signal that it will solve these issues and fails to signal to developing nations the cost of their often extremely high fertility rates. Meanwhile, mass immigration burns financial and political capital in the developed world that should be spent on sustainable development aid and family planning services. Finally, I provide a detailed rebuttal of a potential counterargument that the rights of immigrants overrule considerations about limits and flourishing, arguing that the present regime of national parks and protected natural areas provides a precedent for the type of limits I propose.