Youth suicide and related behaviors continue to be a significant public health concern in the USA. Multiple approaches across settings, including schools, are required to address this multi-faceted public health concern. The Texas Suicide Safer Schools Report recommended that districts post suicide prevention information on their websites as one…

In August 2022, the U.S Department of Education (ED) announced it would invoke the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act of 2003 (HEROES Act) to cancel up to $20,000 of federal student loan debts for borrowers who fell below certain income thresholds. The HEROES Act authorizes the Secretary to "waive or modify" statutory…

Objective: To investigate influenza vaccination rates and perceptions underlying vaccine noncompliance. Participants: Participants included undergraduate students (N = 365) at a rural, medium-sized university in Texas. Methods: Students were anonymously surveyed in the spring of 2018 on demographics, insurance status, perceived barriers of…

This qualitative phenomenological study explored strategies utilized by risk management leadership to encourage positive behaviors in student organizations at a four-year mid-size higher educational institution in Texas. Through semi-structured interviews, participants described various protective behavioral strategies implemented to encourage…

The 1999 Texas A&M University Bonfire collapse killed 12 students and injured dozens. Response to this event involved a number of campus administrators, lasted for many years, and led to the emergence of new risk management standards. Nearly 20 years later, researchers explored how campus leaders experienced the tragedy and reflected on their…

Having the ability to assess pest problems in schools is essential for a successful integrated pest management (IPM) program. However, such expertise can be costly and is not available to all school districts across the United States. The web-based IPM Calculator was developed to address this problem. By answering questions about the condition of…

It's a familiar narrative in both real life and fiction, from news reports to television storylines: a young person is bullied online, or targeted by an online predator, or exposed to sexually explicit content. The consequences are bleak; the young person is shunned, suicidal, psychologically ruined. In this book, Jacqueline Ryan Vickery argues…

This is the final report of a large-scale independent evaluation of the Building Assets and Reducing Risks (BARR) model in ninth grade in eleven high schools in Maine, California, Minnesota, Kentucky, and Texas. This sample of schools included large and small schools in urban, suburban, and rural areas, serving students from a wide range of…

Providing a comprehensive approach for achieving the goal of a safe environment where the priority can be teaching and learning is vital to every district's success. To attain this goal, school districts must educate students, staff, and the community and provide tools that help anticipate potential problems and prevent them from escalating into…

Whether the donations are from once-friendly foreign governments now scorned or from famous entrepreneurs subsequently convicted of fraud, gifts gone bad "are the kinds of things that keep every chief advancement officer awake at night." A tainted gift can put an institution's integrity on the line but doesn't have to with the right…

Purpose: The prevailing theory of action underlying accountability is that holding schools and students accountable will increase educational output. While accountability's theory of action intuitively seemed plausible, at the point of No Child Left Behind's national implementation, little empirical research was available to either support or…

This qualitative research study focuses on crisis events affecting university international populations. It explores how seven directors of university international offices at seven different geographical locations in Texas respond to those events. The study findings shed light on the current state of crisis preparedness in higher education from…

To stem the tide of students dropping out, many schools and districts are turning to early warning systems (EWS) that signal whether a student is at risk of not graduating from high school. While some research exists about establishing these systems, there is little information about the actual implementation strategies that are being used across…

It is clear that the tragic events at Virginia Tech and other institutions of higher education (IHEs) have brought threat assessment to the forefront of higher education literature and increased public concern for campus safety. IHEs have a profound duty to learn from the Virginia Tech tragedy and to recognize their responsibility in providing a…

Higher education has become more accessible than ever before, although students from some demographic groups still face challenges in attending college. To help improve access to higher education for minority and low-income students, Titles III and V of the Higher Education Act, as amended, provide grants to strengthen and support institutions…