[{"id":9429,"date":"2026-06-29T16:26:57","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T21:26:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/?post_type=tribe_events&p=9429"},"modified":"2026-06-29T16:27:04","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T21:27:04","slug":"natasha-abney-doctoral-project-defense-tuesday-july-7-2026-1100-am-central-time","status":"publish","type":"tribe_events","link":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/event\/natasha-abney-doctoral-project-defense-tuesday-july-7-2026-1100-am-central-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Natasha Abney Doctoral Project Defense, Tuesday, July 7, 2026 @ 11:00 am Central Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

COMMITTEE CHAIR<\/strong>: Dr. Abida Solomon<\/p>\n

TITLE<\/strong>: IMPROVING PROTOCOL ADHERENCE THROUGH STAFF EDUCATION: A QUALITY IMPROVEMENT INITIATIVE TO STANDARDIZE CHLORHEXIDINE GLUCONATE USE IN AN AMBULATORY OBSTETRIC CLINIC<\/p>\n

ABSTRACT: <\/strong>Introduction: Surgical site infections (SSIs) following cesarean delivery remain a significant challenge in obstetric care, contributing to increased maternal morbidity, prolonged hospital stays, and higher healthcare costs. However, chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) is recognized as an effective antiseptic agent for preoperative skin preparation; yet inconsistent nursing education and the lack of standardized protocols have contributed to suboptimal adherence and variable clinical outcomes. Purpose: This quality improvement project sought to implement and evaluate a structured preoperative skin care education protocol for obstetric (OB) nursing staff at a hospital-affiliated outpatient clinic in Texas. The overall aim was to determine whether implementing a structured education protocol could improve nursing knowledge and adherence to evidence-based SSI prevention practices compared with baseline practice. Method: The project was guided by the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) framework. A single-group pretest-posttest quality improvement design was conducted to evaluate the impact of an educational protocol on nursing staff adherence to preoperative skin care procedures. The intervention involved structured, in-person educational sessions that incorporated evidence-based best practices for preoperative skin cleansing and the consistent application of chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) antiseptic for patients scheduled for cesarean delivery. Educational content was delivered to all obstetric nursing staff (RNs and LVNs) in the clinic setting using standardized materials and included the implementation of a new Epic SmartPhrase to guide documentation. Outcomes were measured as improvements in nurse knowledge scores and adherence to preoperative CHG skin preparation protocols, as documented through electronic health record (EHR) audits. The primary outcome, change in knowledge, was assessed using the Surgical Site Infection Prevention Knowledge Assessment (SSI-PKA) survey, a validated instrument aligned with CDC and AORN guidelines. The secondary outcome, change in adherence, was evaluated through pre- and post-intervention EHR audits. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze demographic variables, and adherence rates were analyzed using the Pearson chi-square test to compare pre- and post-intervention adherence rates. Changes in knowledge scores were assessed using paired t-tests. Results: Twenty-nine nursing staff completed the project and were included in the final analysis. Mean knowledge scores on the Surgical Site Infection Prevention Knowledge Assessment (SSI-PKA) increased from 6.1 (SD = 1.2) pre-intervention to 9.0 (SD = 0.8) post-intervention, representing a statistically significant improvement, t(28) = 12.45, p < .001. Retrospective baseline EHR audits demonstrated documentation adherence rates of 48.9% in August 2024 and 51.3% in January 2025. Following implementation of the educational intervention and Epic SmartPhrase documentation tool, adherence increased to 98.9%, with 287 of 290 audited charts demonstrating full compliance with required documentation elements. Conclusions: Findings suggest that a structured CHG educational intervention, combined with standardized EHR documentation tools, can significantly improve nursing knowledge and adherence to evidence-based SSI prevention practices. Integration of the Epic SmartPhrase supported workflow standardization and enhanced documentation consistency. Continued monitoring of SSI rates and long-term adherence is recommended to evaluate sustainability and the potential impact on patient outcomes.<\/p>\n

Keywords<\/strong>: Antiseptics, cesarean section, chlorhexidine, infections, maternal morbidity, obstetric care, post-intervention, pre-intervention, preoperative skin care, povidone-iodine, surgical site infections<\/p>\n

Location Online:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Zoom Link<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

https:\/\/pvpanther.zoom.us\/j\/92300477924?pwd=oRKjHJFPAAUqIf2RHG1kbsIVpkLv9H.1<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":432,"featured_media":9430,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"rs_blank_template":"","rs_page_bg_color":"","slide_template_v7":"","_tribe_events_status":"","_tribe_events_status_reason":"","_tribe_events_is_hybrid":"","_tribe_events_is_virtual":"","_tribe_events_virtual_video_source":"","_tribe_events_virtual_embed_video":"","_tribe_events_virtual_linked_button_text":"","_tribe_events_virtual_linked_button":"","_tribe_events_virtual_show_embed_at":"","_tribe_events_virtual_show_embed_to":[],"_tribe_events_virtual_show_on_event":"","_tribe_events_virtual_show_on_views":"","_tribe_events_virtual_url":"","footnotes":""},"tags":[],"tribe_events_cat":[1296],"class_list":["post-9429","tribe_events","type-tribe_events","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tribe_events_cat-main-events","cat_main-events"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events\/9429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/tribe_events"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/432"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events\/9429\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9432,"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events\/9429\/revisions\/9432"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9429"},{"taxonomy":"tribe_events_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events_cat?post=9429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":9424,"date":"2026-06-29T16:20:38","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T21:20:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/?post_type=tribe_events&p=9424"},"modified":"2026-06-29T16:20:49","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T21:20:49","slug":"latonya-d-holman-doctoral-project-defense-tuesday-july-7-2026-1000-am-central-time","status":"publish","type":"tribe_events","link":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/event\/latonya-d-holman-doctoral-project-defense-tuesday-july-7-2026-1000-am-central-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Latonya D. Holman Doctoral Project Defense, Tuesday, July 7, 2026 @ 10:00 am Central Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

COMMITTEE CHAIR<\/strong>: Dr. Abida Solomon<\/p>\n

TITLE<\/strong>: EVALUATION OF A BREAST CANCER SCREENING PROGRAM FOR FEMALE VETERANS WITHIN PATIENT CARE ALIGNMENT TEAMS AT VETERANS AFFAIRS MEDICAL CENTER<\/p>\n

ABSTRACT: <\/strong>Breast cancer remains a significant health concern among women veterans and is a leading cause of cancer-related morbidity and mortality. Early detection through routine screening mammography is associated with improved outcomes; however, adherence to recommended screening guidelines remains a challenge within some healthcare settings. This variability underscores the need for ongoing evaluation of breast cancer screening programs to identify strengths, gaps, and opportunities for improvement in preventive care delivery. This quantitative descriptive program evaluation assessed breast cancer screening adherence and patient-reported screening experiences among women veterans receiving care within Patient Aligned Care Teams (PACTs) at a large, urban Veterans Affairs healthcare system. Guided by the Logic Model Framework, the evaluation examined whether the breast cancer screening program achieved the organizational benchmark of 75% screening adherence among eligible women veterans aged 40 to 74 years and assessed patient-reported experiences using the Breast Cancer Screening Experience Questionnaire. Data were obtained from Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) breast cancer screening reports, electronic health record (EHR) data, and questionnaire responses collected during the evaluation period. Monthly breast cancer screening adherence rates remained relatively stable throughout the evaluation period, ranging from 72.34% to 73.62%, and remained below the organizational benchmark of 75%. Patient experience was assessed using questionnaire responses from 132 women veterans. Findings indicated highly favorable perceptions of the breast cancer screening process, with mean scores ranging from 4.52 to 4.82 on a 5-point Likert scale. The highest ratings were observed for privacy, facility cleanliness and comfort, staff respect, and overall satisfaction. Comparatively lower ratings were observed for provider explanation of the importance of breast cancer screening, communication with the healthcare team, and provider responsiveness to questions, although these ratings remained favorable overall. The evaluation found that breast cancer screening adherence remained below the organizational benchmark throughout the evaluation period, indicating opportunities for continued improvement in screening participation. Conversely, patient-reported experience findings demonstrated successful achievement of the program objective related to positive screening experiences. Findings support the importance of access, patient engagement, communication, and care coordination in promoting participation in preventive screening services. These results provide evidence to inform quality improvement initiatives aimed at increasing breast cancer screening participation and enhancing patient-centered care among women veterans.<\/p>\n

Keywords<\/strong>: Breast cancer screening, Patient Aligned Care Teams, patient experience, program evaluation, screening adherence, Veterans Affairs, women veterans<\/p>\n

Location Online:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Zoom Link<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

https:\/\/pvpanther.zoom.us\/j\/95636880848?pwd=kHHBoGmvFyJJkOZeZdarCRwtDhu76j.1<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":432,"featured_media":9425,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"rs_blank_template":"","rs_page_bg_color":"","slide_template_v7":"","_tribe_events_status":"","_tribe_events_status_reason":"","_tribe_events_is_hybrid":"","_tribe_events_is_virtual":"","_tribe_events_virtual_video_source":"","_tribe_events_virtual_embed_video":"","_tribe_events_virtual_linked_button_text":"","_tribe_events_virtual_linked_button":"","_tribe_events_virtual_show_embed_at":"","_tribe_events_virtual_show_embed_to":[],"_tribe_events_virtual_show_on_event":"","_tribe_events_virtual_show_on_views":"","_tribe_events_virtual_url":"","footnotes":""},"tags":[],"tribe_events_cat":[1296],"class_list":["post-9424","tribe_events","type-tribe_events","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tribe_events_cat-main-events","cat_main-events"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events\/9424","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/tribe_events"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/432"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events\/9424\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9427,"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events\/9424\/revisions\/9427"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9424"},{"taxonomy":"tribe_events_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events_cat?post=9424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":9420,"date":"2026-06-29T16:08:44","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T21:08:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/?post_type=tribe_events&p=9420"},"modified":"2026-06-29T16:08:52","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T21:08:52","slug":"renika-atkins-dissertation-defense-saturday-july-11-2026-1230-pm-central-time","status":"publish","type":"tribe_events","link":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/event\/renika-atkins-dissertation-defense-saturday-july-11-2026-1230-pm-central-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Renika Atkins Dissertation Defense, Saturday, July 11, 2026 @ 12:30 pm Central Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

COMMITTEE CHAIR<\/strong>: Dr. Louis Ngamassi Tchouakeu<\/p>\n

TITLE<\/strong>: THE ROLE OF FINANCIAL RISK AVERSION IN SHAPING FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY AND ORGANIZATIONAL GROWTH AMONG BLACK LED NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS<\/p>\n

ABSTRACT: <\/strong>Black-led nonprofit organizations play a vital role in addressing social and economic inequities, yet many operate within funding environments characterized by persistent financial constraints and limited access to unrestricted resources. Although prior research has explored nonprofit financial management and organizational performance, limited empirical evidence exists regarding how financial risk aversion influences financial sustainability and organizational growth within Black-led nonprofit organizations. The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to examine the relationship between financial risk aversion, financial sustainability, and organizational growth among Black-led nonprofit organizations. Guided by Prospect Theory, Resource Dependence Theory, and Leadership Identity Theory, the study sought to better understand how leadership approaches to financial decision-making influence organizational outcomes in resource-constrained environments. The study addressed the following research questions: (1) What is the relationship between financial risk aversion and financial sustainability among Black-led nonprofit organizations? and (2) What is the relationship between financial risk aversion and organizational growth among Black-led nonprofit organizations? Data were collected through an online survey administered to nonprofit leaders with financial decision-making authority. Following data screening procedures, the final analytic sample consisted of 87 Black-led nonprofit organizations. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to evaluate the measurement model and test the hypothesized relationships among the study constructs. The measurement model demonstrated acceptable reliability and validity through assessments of internal consistency, convergent validity, and discriminant validity. Structural model results revealed statistically significant negative relationships between financial risk aversion and both financial sustainability and organizational growth. Organizations reporting higher levels of financial risk aversion also reported lower levels of financial sustainability and organizational growth. The findings suggest that excessive financial caution may limit an organization’s willingness to invest in infrastructure, revenue diversification, organizational capacity, and strategic opportunities that support long-term success. This study contributes to the nonprofit leadership and financial management literature by providing empirical evidence that leadership approaches to financial decision-making are associated with important organizational outcomes and offers practical insights for nonprofit leaders seeking to strengthen organizational resilience, sustainability, and growth.<\/p>\n

Keywords<\/strong>: Financial risk aversion, financial sustainability, organizational growth, Black-led nonprofit organizations, nonprofit leadership, Prospect Theory, Resource Dependence Theory, Leadership Identity Theory<\/p>\n

Room Location: <\/strong>Northwest Campus, Room 205<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/u><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":432,"featured_media":9421,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"rs_blank_template":"","rs_page_bg_color":"","slide_template_v7":"","_tribe_events_status":"","_tribe_events_status_reason":"","_tribe_events_is_hybrid":"","_tribe_events_is_virtual":"","_tribe_events_virtual_video_source":"","_tribe_events_virtual_embed_video":"","_tribe_events_virtual_linked_button_text":"","_tribe_events_virtual_linked_button":"","_tribe_events_virtual_show_embed_at":"","_tribe_events_virtual_show_embed_to":[],"_tribe_events_virtual_show_on_event":"","_tribe_events_virtual_show_on_views":"","_tribe_events_virtual_url":"","footnotes":""},"tags":[],"tribe_events_cat":[1296],"class_list":["post-9420","tribe_events","type-tribe_events","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tribe_events_cat-main-events","cat_main-events"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events\/9420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/tribe_events"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/432"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events\/9420\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9423,"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events\/9420\/revisions\/9423"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9420"},{"taxonomy":"tribe_events_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events_cat?post=9420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":9416,"date":"2026-06-29T15:48:20","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T20:48:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/?post_type=tribe_events&p=9416"},"modified":"2026-06-29T15:48:30","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T20:48:30","slug":"chioma-ike-doctoral-project-defense-wednesday-july-8-2026-100-pm-central-time","status":"publish","type":"tribe_events","link":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/event\/chioma-ike-doctoral-project-defense-wednesday-july-8-2026-100-pm-central-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Chioma Ike Doctoral Project Defense, Wednesday, July 8, 2026 @ 1:00 pm Central Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

COMMITTEE CHAIR<\/strong>: Dr. Chloe Gaines
\nCOMMITTEE CO-CHAIR<\/strong>: Dr. Shannon Chopp<\/p>\n

TITLE<\/strong>: INCREASING HUMAN PAPILLOMAVIRUS (HPV) VACCINATION RATES AMONG ADOLESCENTS IN THE PRIMARY CARE SETTING: A QUALITY IMPROVEMENT PROJECT<\/p>\n

ABSTRACT: <\/strong>BACKGROUND: Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States. It is the most common viral infection of the reproductive system, and it is responsible for most cervical cancer cases worldwide. Many HPV related cancer deaths can be prevented with the simplest intervention of vaccination which is most effective when administered before exposure to the virus. Despite the HPV vaccine’s proven safety and efficacy, its uptake remains suboptimal. PURPOSE: This quality improvement (QI) project aimed to train providers at a pediatric and family clinic in an effective communication strategy to increase HPV vaccination uptake among adolescents. It ensured that every adolescent\u2019s encounter delivers a unified, confident message about HPV vaccination. PICOT QUESTIONS: For providers in a primary care setting (P), does the training on the \u201cSame-Way Same-Day\u201d approach, with automated reminders and education for patients\/parents (I), compared to current practices with automated reminders and education for patients\/parents (C), increase the adolescents\u2019 HPV vaccination initiation rate (O) within three months (T)? METHOD: A single-group, pre- and post-intervention design was employed to assess changes in practice, measured by the number of HPV vaccines initiated in the medical records of adolescents in the three-month period post-intervention compared to the three-month period pre-intervention. The intervention involves training the providers on an effective communication strategy using the \u201cSame-Way Same-Day\u201d approach. The primary outcome was an increase in the HPV vaccination initiation rate, assessed using the chi-square test for independence. RESULTS: The post-intervention analysis demonstrated that provider training in effective communication, using the Same-Way Same-Day approach, increased adolescents’ initiation rates for HPV vaccination. In the pre-intervention period, 37% of adolescents received their initial HPV vaccine compared to 83% post-intervention. This amounts to a 46% increase in the number of HPV-vaccinated adolescents during the post-intervention period. IMPLICATIONS: This project reinforced the critical role of primary care providers in promoting preventive healthcare and reducing the long-term burden of HPV-related cancers. CONCLUSION: This DNP QI project validated that training providers in effective communication for HPV vaccination increased adolescents\u2019 initiation rates in a primary care setting.<\/p>\n

Keywords<\/strong>: Human papillomavirus, vaccination, HPV vaccine, pre-intervention, post-intervention, adolescents, providers, initiation rate, effective communication, primary care setting<\/p>\n

Location Online:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Zoom Link<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

https:\/\/pvpanther.zoom.us\/j\/99720747436?pwd=maP4T401BEFSVHF4rbVitAsFpoMqel.1<\/a><\/p>\n

Meeting ID<\/strong>: 997 2074 7436<\/p>\n

Passcode<\/strong>: 234877<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":432,"featured_media":9417,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"rs_blank_template":"","rs_page_bg_color":"","slide_template_v7":"","_tribe_events_status":"","_tribe_events_status_reason":"","_tribe_events_is_hybrid":"","_tribe_events_is_virtual":"","_tribe_events_virtual_video_source":"","_tribe_events_virtual_embed_video":"","_tribe_events_virtual_linked_button_text":"","_tribe_events_virtual_linked_button":"","_tribe_events_virtual_show_embed_at":"","_tribe_events_virtual_show_embed_to":[],"_tribe_events_virtual_show_on_event":"","_tribe_events_virtual_show_on_views":"","_tribe_events_virtual_url":"","footnotes":""},"tags":[],"tribe_events_cat":[1296],"class_list":["post-9416","tribe_events","type-tribe_events","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tribe_events_cat-main-events","cat_main-events"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events\/9416","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/tribe_events"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/432"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events\/9416\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9419,"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events\/9416\/revisions\/9419"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9416"},{"taxonomy":"tribe_events_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events_cat?post=9416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":9412,"date":"2026-06-29T15:35:36","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T20:35:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/?post_type=tribe_events&p=9412"},"modified":"2026-06-29T15:35:53","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T20:35:53","slug":"jasmine-major-dissertation-defense-tuesday-july-14-2026-1000-am-central-time","status":"publish","type":"tribe_events","link":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/event\/jasmine-major-dissertation-defense-tuesday-july-14-2026-1000-am-central-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Jasmine Major Dissertation Defense, Tuesday, July 14, 2026 @ 10:00 am Central Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

COMMITTEE CHAIR<\/strong>: Dr. Stacie Defreitas<\/p>\n

TITLE<\/strong>: DEVELOPING AND ASSESSING AN ADLERIAN PLAY THERAPY K-5TH MENTAL HEALTH CURRICULUM USING QUALITATIVE METHODS<\/p>\n

ABSTRACT: I<\/strong>n the United States, 33% of students exhibit internalizing or externalizing behaviors in academic settings. These behaviors can impact student engagement and performance by disrupting affected students\u2019 and their classmates\u2019 ability to tend to academic material. Because students spend a significant amount of time in school settings, schools have been identified as important sites for mental health prevention and intervention. One tool that can reduce students\u2019 use of externalizing and internalizing behaviors in classroom environments is Adlerian play therapy (AdPT). AdPT is an evidence-based practice that specializes in addressing youth\u2019s social, emotional, and behavioral challenges. This study seeks to increase the utilization of AdPT in schools by developing a school-based K-5th mental health curriculum that can be implemented in classes. Developing a structured curriculum for class use will increase student access to AdPT and may provide further evidence that AdPT reduces internalizing and externalizing behaviors while also improving socioemotional and behavioral outcomes. Research questions include: 1) According to subject matter experts certified in Adlerian play therapy, how well do the mental health curricular modules reflect Adlerian play therapy concepts and principles? 2) Based on information from credentialed play therapists who use Adlerian play therapy methods in K-5th settings, which aspects of the mental health curriculum do participants find most and least helpful to support the established learning objectives? 3) Based on information from credentialed play therapists who use Adlerian play therapy methods in K-5th settings, to what extent can the mental health curriculum be implemented as designed within a school setting with K-5th students? This[JM1.1][SD1.2] study utilized a qualitative cross-sectional research design. Qualitative data was gathered through an expert review panel comprised of certified Adlerian play therapists and through focus groups with credentialed play therapists who use Adlerian play therapy methods in K-5th settings. The researcher then conducted a thematic analysis using data from three 60-minute individual interviews with certified experts and five 90-minute focus groups with 12 participants. Findings from data analysis suggest that, while the preliminary mental health curriculum would likely have a positive impact on K-5th students, there are some barriers to feasible implementation in school settings.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Keywords<\/strong>: Adlerian play therapy, school-based mental health interventions for children, play therapy in education, externalizing behaviors, internalizing behaviors<\/p>\n

Location Online:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Zoom Link<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

https:\/\/us02web.zoom.us\/j\/84619257871?pwd=CrpRxoI6xHhbsAx4pxYlFbbFLDCua8.1<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":432,"featured_media":9413,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"rs_blank_template":"","rs_page_bg_color":"","slide_template_v7":"","_tribe_events_status":"","_tribe_events_status_reason":"","_tribe_events_is_hybrid":"","_tribe_events_is_virtual":"","_tribe_events_virtual_video_source":"","_tribe_events_virtual_embed_video":"","_tribe_events_virtual_linked_button_text":"","_tribe_events_virtual_linked_button":"","_tribe_events_virtual_show_embed_at":"","_tribe_events_virtual_show_embed_to":[],"_tribe_events_virtual_show_on_event":"","_tribe_events_virtual_show_on_views":"","_tribe_events_virtual_url":"","footnotes":""},"tags":[],"tribe_events_cat":[1296],"class_list":["post-9412","tribe_events","type-tribe_events","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tribe_events_cat-main-events","cat_main-events"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events\/9412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/tribe_events"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/432"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events\/9412\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9415,"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events\/9412\/revisions\/9415"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9412"},{"taxonomy":"tribe_events_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events_cat?post=9412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":9409,"date":"2026-06-29T14:44:04","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T19:44:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/?post_type=tribe_events&p=9409"},"modified":"2026-06-29T14:44:04","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T19:44:04","slug":"jacobie-backstrom-dissertation-proposal-defense-thursday-july-2-2026-1200-pm-central-time","status":"publish","type":"tribe_events","link":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/event\/jacobie-backstrom-dissertation-proposal-defense-thursday-july-2-2026-1200-pm-central-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Jacobie Backstrom Dissertation Proposal Defense, Thursday, July 2, 2026 @ 12:00 pm Central Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

COMMITTEE CHAIR<\/strong>: Dr. Fred Bonner<\/p>\n

TITLE<\/strong>: MORE THAN BELONGING: HOW AFRICAN AMERICAN MALE VERTICAL TRANSFER STUDENTS USE COMMUNITY CULTURAL WEALTH TO NAVIGATE PREDOMINANTLY WHITE INSTITUTIONS<\/p>\n

ABSTRACT:<\/strong> Vertical Transfer students who are Black Male, remain to face disproportionately low graduation rates at predominantly White Institutions (PWIs), even while community colleges have had a historical impact expanding opportunities and access into the field of higher education for minority students Center for Community College Student Engagement et al., 2025). Researchers McCall and Castles (2020), indicated through their observations of research that there is limited scholarship on Black Male transfer students at PWIs, including studies that analyze both populations altogether are particularly rare or how they utilize cultural assets impact their path to graduation. This qualitative \u2013 phenomenological study is defined through the lens of the Community Cultural Wealth Model (Yosso, 2005). This study aims to examine how Black Male vertical transfer employ familial, aspirational, linguistic, resistance, navigational, and social capital. This research engages 8 \u201312 African American\/ Black males transfer students who will participate in a semi-structured interviews conducted via Webex. Through content analysis, open coding, and reflexive theme analysis. This study explains how this specific population interprets their lived experiences, utilize their cultural assets, microaggressions, structural inequities, and react to racialized climates. Findings aim to uncover and deepen the depth of understanding of how Black male vertical transfer students formulate their identity development, sense of belonging, and institutional mobility, to ensure that higher education practitioners, administrators, policymakers, and board of regents are creating an educational environment that is culturally responsive and equity-centered for all students. In an effort to center the voices of Black male vertical transfer students, this study contributes to insights that are needed to strengthen programming and equity driven support systems, transfer pathways, to increase graduation rates amongst underserved communities of students.<\/p>\n

Keywords<\/strong>: Black, Male, Vertical, Transfer<\/p>\n

Room Location: <\/strong>Delco Building, Room 228<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":432,"featured_media":9410,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"rs_blank_template":"","rs_page_bg_color":"","slide_template_v7":"","_tribe_events_status":"","_tribe_events_status_reason":"","_tribe_events_is_hybrid":"","_tribe_events_is_virtual":"","_tribe_events_virtual_video_source":"","_tribe_events_virtual_embed_video":"","_tribe_events_virtual_linked_button_text":"","_tribe_events_virtual_linked_button":"","_tribe_events_virtual_show_embed_at":"","_tribe_events_virtual_show_embed_to":[],"_tribe_events_virtual_show_on_event":"","_tribe_events_virtual_show_on_views":"","_tribe_events_virtual_url":"","footnotes":""},"tags":[],"tribe_events_cat":[1296],"class_list":["post-9409","tribe_events","type-tribe_events","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tribe_events_cat-main-events","cat_main-events"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events\/9409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/tribe_events"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/432"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events\/9409\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9411,"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events\/9409\/revisions\/9411"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9409"},{"taxonomy":"tribe_events_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events_cat?post=9409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":9387,"date":"2026-06-25T22:27:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T03:27:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/?post_type=tribe_events&p=9387"},"modified":"2026-06-25T22:27:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T03:27:13","slug":"casiah-evans-masters-thesis-defense-friday-july-3-2026-1000-am-central-time","status":"publish","type":"tribe_events","link":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/event\/casiah-evans-masters-thesis-defense-friday-july-3-2026-1000-am-central-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Casiah Evans Master\u2019s Thesis Defense, Friday, July 3, 2026 @ 10:00 am Central Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

COMMITTEE CHAIR<\/strong>: Dr. Temilola Salami<\/p>\n

TITLE<\/strong>: FAITH IN THE STRUGGLE: RELIGIOUS COPING AS A MODERATOR BETWEEN RACE-RELATED STRESS AND WELL-BEING IN BLACK COLLEGE STUDENTS<\/p>\n

ABSTRACT: <\/strong>The current study explored the relationship between race-related stress and psychological well-being among Black college students moderated by religious coping. By examining these processes within a Historically Black College and University (HBCU) setting, this study extends prior research by linking race-related stress to negative psychological outcomes among an HBCU sample (Odafe et al., 2017; Utsey & Ponterotto, 1996). HBCUs embody educational environments that are culturally affirming while simultaneously shaping a students\u2019 experience and response to race-related stress, therefore, making this setting ideal for understanding coping mechanisms that are culturally grounded. This study employed a moderation analysis to assess whether religious coping decreases the association between race-related stress and two forms of well-being (eudaimonic and hedonic). Participants\u2019 ages ranged from 18 to 51 years. The sample consisted of 42 males and 201 females. Results revealed that race-related stress was significantly associated with hedonic well-being, such that higher levels of race-related stress were associated with lower levels of hedonic well-being. Although race-related stress was positively correlated with eudaimonic well-being, was not significantly associated with eudaimonic well-being in the final regression model. Religious coping did not significantly moderate the association between race-related stress and meaning in life or hedonic well-being. Collectively the results underscore the multifaceted relationship between race-related stress and well-being while emphasizing the significance of exploring the experiences for this underserved population, Black college students.<\/p>\n

Keywords: <\/strong>Race-related stress, religious coping, Black college students, well-being, eudaimonic, hedonic, HBCU<\/p>\n

Location Online:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Zoom Link: <\/strong>https:\/\/teams.microsoft.com\/meet\/264674752840021?p=AIk8W4pKREV6w0wuZg<\/a>
\nMeeting ID<\/strong>: 264 674 752 840 021
\nPasscode<\/strong>: CG6cg3ek<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":432,"featured_media":9388,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"rs_blank_template":"","rs_page_bg_color":"","slide_template_v7":"","_tribe_events_status":"","_tribe_events_status_reason":"","_tribe_events_is_hybrid":"","_tribe_events_is_virtual":"","_tribe_events_virtual_video_source":"","_tribe_events_virtual_embed_video":"","_tribe_events_virtual_linked_button_text":"","_tribe_events_virtual_linked_button":"","_tribe_events_virtual_show_embed_at":"","_tribe_events_virtual_show_embed_to":[],"_tribe_events_virtual_show_on_event":"","_tribe_events_virtual_show_on_views":"","_tribe_events_virtual_url":"","footnotes":""},"tags":[],"tribe_events_cat":[1296],"class_list":["post-9387","tribe_events","type-tribe_events","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tribe_events_cat-main-events","cat_main-events"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events\/9387","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/tribe_events"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/432"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events\/9387\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9388"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9387"},{"taxonomy":"tribe_events_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events_cat?post=9387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":9385,"date":"2026-06-25T22:24:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T03:24:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/?post_type=tribe_events&p=9385"},"modified":"2026-06-25T22:24:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T03:24:09","slug":"april-white-masters-thesis-defense-thursday-july-2-2026-1000-am-central-time","status":"publish","type":"tribe_events","link":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/event\/april-white-masters-thesis-defense-thursday-july-2-2026-1000-am-central-time\/","title":{"rendered":"April White Master\u2019s Thesis Defense, Thursday, July 2, 2026 @ 10:00 am Central Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

COMMITTEE CHAIR<\/strong>: Dr. Temilola Salami<\/p>\n

TITLE<\/strong>: PARASOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS AND COMPLEX TRAUMA AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF INTERPERSONAL FACTORS<\/p>\n

ABSTRACT: <\/strong>Exposure to repeated traumatic events, specifically interpersonal in nature, can increase both the need for interpersonal relationships and the challenges that arise within these relationships. Individuals who have experienced complex trauma can develop a dysfunctional interpersonal schema, leading to increased anxiety, decreased trust, and feelings of rejection in close relationships. Paradoxically, complex trauma increases the need for social relationships. Supportive social relationships can buffer the development of posttraumatic stress symptoms. However, those who experience complex trauma are less likely to develop healthy, satisfying, and supportive interpersonal relationships. As Black college students are at an increased risk of complex trauma exposure and inadequate social support, they may seek alternative means to meet their social support needs. Parasocial relationships are the pseudo-relationships people develop with preferred media characters. The influx of technology has created a media-rich environment that fosters attachment between media personae and viewers. Though this concept has been examined in communication studies, particularly with TV viewership, there is an increased need to study these relationships at an individual level, particularly given the rise in social media influencers. This study examined parasocial relationship development among college students, attending a Historically Black University (HBCU), who have experienced complex trauma. Due to interpersonal problems and the need for social support, it was hypothesized that individuals who have experienced complex trauma would show an increase in parasocial relationships. The Social Surrogacy theory was used to explain these concepts related to parasocial relationship development. Specifically, the following hypotheses were assessed: HBCU college students who have experienced complex trauma are more likely to have interpersonal problems and have less perceived social support. Interpersonal problems and lack of perceived social support are associated with parasocial relationship engagement, and the association between complex trauma and parasocial relationship engagement are mediated by both interpersonal problems and perceived social support. Survey data was collected from a sample of 120 HBCU students (90 women, 26 men, and 4 unidentified gender). Participants completed a series of surveys including the Complex Trauma Exposure Screen, Audience Persona Interaction (API) scale, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), and Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IPP). The results highlight the relationship between complex trauma exposure and unsatisfactory social support and an increase in interpersonal problems. However, results demonstrated that neither complex trauma, interpersonal problems nor perceived social support predicted increased engagement in parasocial relationships. These findings highlight the complex nature of parasocial relationship development and use among this student population.<\/p>\n

Keywords: <\/strong>Parasocial relationship, complex trauma, social support, social media<\/p>\n

Location Online:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Zoom Link:
\n<\/strong>https:\/\/pvpanther.zoom.us\/j\/4218392943?pwd=ek9Tb0VMdk1wZTJIYXJ0ZDBIeUVUUT09&omn=91683950466<\/a><\/p>\n

Meeting ID<\/strong>: 421 839 2943
\nPasscode<\/strong>: 264359<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":432,"featured_media":9386,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"rs_blank_template":"","rs_page_bg_color":"","slide_template_v7":"","_tribe_events_status":"","_tribe_events_status_reason":"","_tribe_events_is_hybrid":"","_tribe_events_is_virtual":"","_tribe_events_virtual_video_source":"","_tribe_events_virtual_embed_video":"","_tribe_events_virtual_linked_button_text":"","_tribe_events_virtual_linked_button":"","_tribe_events_virtual_show_embed_at":"","_tribe_events_virtual_show_embed_to":[],"_tribe_events_virtual_show_on_event":"","_tribe_events_virtual_show_on_views":"","_tribe_events_virtual_url":"","footnotes":""},"tags":[],"tribe_events_cat":[1296],"class_list":["post-9385","tribe_events","type-tribe_events","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tribe_events_cat-main-events","cat_main-events"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events\/9385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/tribe_events"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/432"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events\/9385\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9385"},{"taxonomy":"tribe_events_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events_cat?post=9385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":9375,"date":"2026-06-23T00:10:56","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T05:10:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/?post_type=tribe_events&p=9375"},"modified":"2026-06-23T00:10:56","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T05:10:56","slug":"natalie-anderson-doctoral-project-defense-tuesday-june-30-2026-1100-am-central-time","status":"publish","type":"tribe_events","link":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/event\/natalie-anderson-doctoral-project-defense-tuesday-june-30-2026-1100-am-central-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Natalie Anderson Doctoral Project Defense, Tuesday, June 30, 2026 @ 11:00 am Central Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

COMMITTEE CHAIR<\/strong>: Dr. Chloe Gaines<\/p>\n

TITLE<\/strong>: IMPROVING HOT DEBRIEF COMPLETION RATES AFTER RAPID RESPONSE TEAM EVENTS THROUGH QR CODE ACCESS AND DIGITAL REMINDERS: A QUALITY IMPROVEMENT PROJECT<\/p>\n

ABSTRACT: <\/strong>Background: Childhood obesity is a significant public health concern associated with metabolic, cardiovascular, and psychosocial complications. Despite evidence-based recommendations, adherence to pediatric obesity management guidelines remains inconsistent in primary care settings. Purpose: The purpose of this evidence-based quality improvement project was to determine whether provider education on the 2023 American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Clinical Practice Guideline for the Evaluation and Treatment of Children and Adolescents with Obesity, combined with implementation of an electronic health record (EHR) clinical decision support prompt, improved provider knowledge and adherence to guideline-recommended obesity management practices. Methods: A quasi-experimental pre-post design was conducted in a privately owned pediatric primary care clinic in Northwest Houston, Texas. The intervention consisted of a provider education session and implementation of an EHR prompt that activated when a patient’s body mass index (BMI) was at or above the 95th percentile. Provider knowledge was assessed using pre- and post-test surveys. Adherence was evaluated through retrospective chart reviews comparing pre-intervention and post-intervention outcomes for pediatric patients with obesity. Results: Provider knowledge improved following the educational intervention. Mean knowledge scores increased from 7.33 on the pre-test to 9.00 on the post-test, with a mean difference of 1.67 points and a large effect size (Cohen’s d = 1.29). Adherence among patients aged 10 years and older increased from 7.7% (3\/39) during the pre-intervention period to 12.5% (4\/32) during the post-intervention period. Adherence among patients younger than 10 years remained 0.0% during both periods. Although adherence increased following implementation, Fisher’s exact test indicated no statistically significant association between time period and adherence to AAP guideline recommendations (p = .701). Cohen’s h was 0.119, indicating a small effect size. Conclusion: Provider education combined with EHR clinical decision support improved provider knowledge and was associated with a very small increase in adherence to evidence-based pediatric obesity management guidelines. Although statistically significant improvements in adherence were not observed during the three-month implementation period, the intervention demonstrated feasibility within a pediatric primary care setting and showed potential to support guideline-concordant obesity management. Continued implementation and ongoing monitoring may further improve adherence and support sustainable practice change.<\/p>\n

Keywords: <\/strong>Childhood obesity management, provider education, electronic health record prompt, guideline adherence<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Location Online:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Zoom Link<\/strong>: https:\/\/pvpanther.zoom.us\/j\/93479828577?pwd=inkUMW0Ajr8tuCmjFE4fxzWVVlU2T6.1<\/p>\n

Meeting ID<\/strong>: 934 7982 8577<\/p>\n

Passcode<\/strong>: 955076<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":432,"featured_media":7549,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"rs_blank_template":"","rs_page_bg_color":"","slide_template_v7":"","_tribe_events_status":"","_tribe_events_status_reason":"","_tribe_events_is_hybrid":"","_tribe_events_is_virtual":"","_tribe_events_virtual_video_source":"","_tribe_events_virtual_embed_video":"","_tribe_events_virtual_linked_button_text":"","_tribe_events_virtual_linked_button":"","_tribe_events_virtual_show_embed_at":"","_tribe_events_virtual_show_embed_to":[],"_tribe_events_virtual_show_on_event":"","_tribe_events_virtual_show_on_views":"","_tribe_events_virtual_url":"","footnotes":""},"tags":[],"tribe_events_cat":[1296],"class_list":["post-9375","tribe_events","type-tribe_events","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tribe_events_cat-main-events","cat_main-events"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events\/9375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/tribe_events"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/432"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events\/9375\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9375"},{"taxonomy":"tribe_events_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events_cat?post=9375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":9374,"date":"2026-06-22T20:39:31","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T01:39:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/?post_type=tribe_events&p=9374"},"modified":"2026-06-22T20:39:39","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T01:39:39","slug":"parthiv-debnath-masters-thesis-defense-tuesday-july-7-2026-1100-am-central-time","status":"publish","type":"tribe_events","link":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/event\/parthiv-debnath-masters-thesis-defense-tuesday-july-7-2026-1100-am-central-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Parthiv Debnath Master\u2019s Thesis Defense, Tuesday, July 7, 2026 @ 11:00 am Central Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

COMMITTEE CHAIR<\/strong>: Dr. Lin Gong<\/p>\n

TITLE<\/strong>: DISTRIBUTED COORDINATION AND OPTIMIZATION OF UTILITY-SCALE BATTERY ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEMS VIA MULTI-AGENT REINFORCEMENT LEARNING<\/p>\n

ABSTRACT: <\/strong>The increasing integration of renewable energies into modern power systems has created significant operational challenges, including transmission congestion, renewable energy curtailment, and increased real-time supply-demand variability, which makes effective coordination and optimization of multiple distributed Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) across power systems a critical problem, a useful solution, yet an unresolved challenge. Existing centralized optimization methods require perfect future information and are incompatible with the confidentiality constraints of deregulated electricity markets, while rule-based approaches fail to capture the multi-objective complexity of real-world power grid operations. This thesis proposes a Multi-Agent Proximal Policy Optimization (MAPPO) framework with Centralized Training and Decentralized Execution (CTDE) to coordinate multiple utility-scale BESS agents placed at strategic locations across large-scale power systems. The proposed framework is trained using an enhanced eighteen-dimensional observation space and an eight-component reward function that simultaneously captures price arbitrage, congestion relief, curtailment mitigation, and battery degradation objectives, while a Gurobi-based Mixed-Integer Quadratic Program (MIQP) solver with perfect foresight about the future electricity market and operating information serves as a benchmark to establish a theoretical performance upper bound. During training, the CTDE approach employs a centralized critic that observes the complete global state of all agents, enabling accurate advantage estimation and stable multi-agent learning, while each actor operates fully independently at deployment using only local information with no inter-agent communication. The synthetic Texas 2000-bus grid is studied as a representative of the Independent System Operator (ISO)-level power systems to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed methods. Experimental results show that the proposed MAPPO framework achieves 80.5% of the Gurobi-based optimal benchmark performance with a Sharpe ratio of 5.53 compared to 2.19 for the best rule-based baseline, with the remaining 19.4% optimality gap representing the fundamental value attributable to the perfect foresight of future LMP trajectories and system-wide operating states that the conventional optimization solver exploits but no real-time policy can really achieve. The numerical studies demonstrate that the proposed MAPPO framework can achieve high-quality and computationally efficient BESS coordination while maintaining full operational feasibility, which outperforms the conventional optimization approach and the evaluated rule-based baseline methods.<\/p>\n

Keywords: <\/strong>Power System Operations, Battery Energy Storage Systems, Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning, Distributed Optimization<\/p>\n

Room Location: <\/strong>Electrical Engineering Conference Room 315D<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":432,"featured_media":7636,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"rs_blank_template":"","rs_page_bg_color":"","slide_template_v7":"","_tribe_events_status":"","_tribe_events_status_reason":"","_tribe_events_is_hybrid":"","_tribe_events_is_virtual":"","_tribe_events_virtual_video_source":"","_tribe_events_virtual_embed_video":"","_tribe_events_virtual_linked_button_text":"","_tribe_events_virtual_linked_button":"","_tribe_events_virtual_show_embed_at":"","_tribe_events_virtual_show_embed_to":[],"_tribe_events_virtual_show_on_event":"","_tribe_events_virtual_show_on_views":"","_tribe_events_virtual_url":"","footnotes":""},"tags":[],"tribe_events_cat":[1296],"class_list":["post-9374","tribe_events","type-tribe_events","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tribe_events_cat-main-events","cat_main-events"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events\/9374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/tribe_events"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/432"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events\/9374\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9374"},{"taxonomy":"tribe_events_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pvamu.edu\/graduateschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events_cat?post=9374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}]