Purpose Numerous higher education institutions have created policies that aim to reduce their carbon footprints. Most policies focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions related to energy production and consumption. One area that has received less attention has been greenhouse gas emissions from university air travel. The purpose of this paper is to understand how US higher education institutions address university air travel emissions. Design/methodology/approach The present research used qualitative document analysis to examine the climate policies of 44 doctoral institutions. The analysis sought to establish themes across a range of climate policy documents from the sampled institutions. Intercoder consensus, peer review and member checking were used to increase the reliability and validity of the analysis. Findings Five major themes emerged from the documents: no consideration of air travel, lack of quality data for accurate consideration, recommendations to offset air travel emissions, support for videoconferencing and other suggestions for mitigation. These themes are discussed in detail, as are practical suggestions and implications stemming from this and related research. Research limitations/implications The research is based on a sample of US doctoral institutions and their public documents. It is therefore limited in its generalizability. Practical implications Institutions need to create a culture in which individual behavior changes toward lower travel are supported. Though problematic, institutions in the USA need to strive to implement suggested offset programs. Given the ubiquity of virtual presence, institutions need to further support videoconferencing. Originality/value To the best of the author's knowledge, this paper is among the first to examine how higher education institutions in the USA address air travel emissions.

Environmental issues have played a role in higher education since at least the 1970s, beginning with a focus on sustainability and most recently addressing the climate crisis. Concomitant with the rise in higher education sustainability initiatives have been the rise of higher education sustainability assessments (HESAs), serving as tools for benchmarking, self-assessment, and comparisons. The STARS assessment is the most ubiquitous HESA in North America. The present research employed stakeholder theory to investigate what factors are associated with institutional and political factors affect STARS ratings. Using a multilevel model of local- and state-level variables, the results indicated that measures of local partisanship have little to no influence while state sustainability targets have small effects on STARS ratings. Furthermore, the results reaffirmed past research that indicated institution-level stakeholders (e.g., faculty, students, staff) and institutional characteristics such as finances play a larger and more critical role in institutional sustainability.

This poster explores a new context and design to learn to visualize data, the social media-based #tidytuesday weekly challenge. We use a novel data source for understanding learning —tweets from participation individuals over more than one year—and a combination of qualitative and computational research methods. The content individuals shared explained, qualified, or highlighted the substance of the visualizations they created, and participation over time (and longer code) was related to being recognized more by others.

An increasing number of US universities are recognizing the importance of international students. As state subsidies for public higher education institutions remain low, the reliance on out-of-state tuition from international students underscore their importance. Because international students often pay such high tuition fees, it is worth studying how such fees impact their education. This study investigated to what extent institutional expenditures affect undergraduate international student graduation rates. Using OLS regression with robust standard errors, the results indicated that academic support expenditures are significantly related to international student graduation rates, but may have a minimal effect. In addition, out-of-state tuition was also found to be significant, suggesting tuition affects students in ways not captured by expenditure data.

Intensive English programs (IEPs) exist as an additional pathway into higher education for international students who need additional language support before full matriculation. Despite their long history in higher education, there is little research on the effectiveness of these programs. The current research examines the effectiveness of an IEP by comparing IEP students to directly-admitted international students. Results from regression models on first-semester and first-year GPA indicated no significant differences between these two student groups. Follow-up equivalence testing indicated statistical equivalence in several cases. The findings lead to the conclusion that the IEP is effective in helping students perform on par with directly-admitted international students. These findings imply further support for IEPs and alterative pathways to direct admission.

International Students in First-Year Writing: A Journey Through Socio-Academic Space describes the lived experiences of ten international students enrolled in a first-year writing (FYW) course at an American university.