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1. Detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in commercial passenger aircraft and cruise ship wastewater: a surveillance tool for assessing the presence of COVID-19 infected travellers

   https://doi.org/10.1093/jtm/taaa116  

   Ahmed, Warish ; Bertsch, Paul M ; Angel, Nicola ; Bibby, Kyle ; Bivins, Aaron ; Dierens, Leanne ; Edson, Janette ; Ehret, John ; Gyawali, Pradip ; Hamilton, Kerry A ; et al ( July 2020 , Journal of Travel Medicine)

   Abstract Background Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) can be an important source of information for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) management during and after the pandemic. Currently, governments and transportation industries around the world are developing strategies to minimize SARS-CoV-2 transmission associated with resuming activity. This study investigated the possible use of SARS-CoV-2 RNA wastewater surveillance from airline and cruise ship sanitation systems and its potential use as a COVID-19 public health management tool. Methods Aircraft and cruise ship wastewater samples (n = 21) were tested for SARS-CoV-2 using two virus concentration methods, adsorption–extraction by electronegative membrane (n = 13) and ultrafiltration by Amicon (n = 8), and five assays using reverse-transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and RT-droplet digital PCR (RT-ddPCR). Representative qPCR amplicons from positive samples were sequenced to confirm assay specificity. Results SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in samples from both aircraft and cruise ship wastewater; however concentrations were near the assay limit of detection. The analysis of multiple replicate samples and use of multiple RT-qPCR and/or RT-ddPCR assays increased detection sensitivity and minimized false-negative results. Representative qPCR amplicons were confirmed for the correct PCR product by sequencing. However, differences in sensitivity were observed among molecular assays and concentrationmore »methods. Conclusions The study indicates that surveillance of wastewater from large transport vessels with their own sanitation systems has potential as a complementary data source to prioritize clinical testing and contact tracing among disembarking passengers. Importantly, sampling methods and molecular assays must be further optimized to maximize detection sensitivity. The potential for false negatives by both wastewater testing and clinical swab testing suggests that the two strategies could be employed together to maximize the probability of detecting SARS-CoV-2 infections amongst passengers.« less
2. Building-level wastewater surveillance using tampon swabs and RT-LAMP for rapid SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection

   https://doi.org/10.1039/D1EW00496D  

   Bivins, Aaron ; Lott, Megan ; Shaffer, Marlee ; Wu, Zhenyu ; North, Devin ; Lipp, Erin K. ; Bibby, Kyle ( December 2021 , Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology)

   Wastewater surveillance for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA has demonstrated useful correlation with both coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases and clinical testing positivity at the community level. Wastewater surveillance on college campuses has also demonstrated promising predictive capacity for the presence and absence of COVID-19 cases. However, to date, such monitoring has most frequently relied upon composite samplers and reverse transcription quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) techniques, which limits the accessibility and scalability of wastewater surveillance, particularly in low-resource settings. In this study, we trialed the use of tampons as passive swabs for sample collection and reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP), which does not require sophisticated thermal cycling equipment, to detect SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater. Results for the workflow were available within three hours of sample collection. The RT-LAMP assay is approximately 20 times less analytically sensitive than RT-droplet digital PCR. Nonetheless, during a building-level wastewater surveillance campaign concurrent with independent weekly clinical testing of all students, the method demonstrated a three-day positive predictive value (PPV) of 75% (excluding convalescent cases) and same-day negative predictive value (NPV) of 80% for incident COVID-19 cases. These predictive values are comparable to that reported by wastewater monitoring using RT-qPCR. These observationsmore »suggest that even with lower analytical sensitivity the tampon swab and RT-LAMP workflow offers a cost-effective and rapid approach that could be leveraged for scalable building-level wastewater surveillance for COVID-19 potentially even in low-resource settings.« less
3. Equity, Engineering, and Excellence: Pathways to Student Success

   Espiritu, Doris J ; O'Connell, Bridget E ; Potash, D. ( July 2021 , 2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual Conference)

   Wright College, an urban open-access community college, independently accredited within the City Colleges of Chicago (CCC) system, is a federally recognized Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) with one of the largest community college enrollments of Hispanic students in Illinois. Wright College’s student success rates measured by completion have been strong and improving relative to other national urban community colleges, but are below state and national averages. In 2015 the college piloted a selective guaranteed admission program, Engineering Pathways (EP), to one of the nation’s top engineering schools (The Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, UIUC). Initial results for the small first-year cohort were very positive: 89% transfer rate and all students who transferred to UIUC graduated. The program’s initial success rested on a) cohort model with a small number of students and strong controls; b) co-branding that attracted local students interested in pursuing engineering at UIUC who might not otherwise have enrolled at Wright; c) academic rigor (small class size with Wright College’s curricula matching UIUC); d) robust student support services and structures; and e) a holistic college commitment to equity and inclusive excellence. Wright College obtained a National Foundation Science (NSF)-HSI research grant in 2018 tomore »support the Engineering Pathways. The grant examines EP students’ self-efficacy and sense of belonging. Wright College foregrounds student “belonging” in its equity efforts. Equity work calls for the systemic analysis and tracking of student performance, engagement and participation throughout the student life-cycle, with data-informed analysis of behavior and outcomes through a lens of race, gender and wealth. EP students shared similar racial and ethnic backgrounds as Wright College’s non-engineering students. They attended the same elementary and public schools, have similar family structures, socioeconomic status (SES) and supports. NSF resources assisted Wright College’s creation of a contextualized engineering summer bridge and a more structured pre-engineering program. As enrollment in the EP program increased, the college dedicated additional resources, including faculty, enhanced student support, and guaranteed junior-level transfer to other nearby baccalaureate engineering schools. Central to the effort was significantly greater structure and monitoring of student performance, including academic and support frameworks for non-EP students. Wright College and baccalaureate transfer institutions reviewed and updated articulation agreements. In the Engineering Summer Bridge Program’s first two years, forty-five (45) students who would otherwise have been denied admission to EP are thriving and are positioned to transfer to four-year engineering programs. In this paper, Wright College will review the college’s equity efforts, the structure and implementation of the Engineering Pathways, and the creation of new engineering transfer programs. It will explore visible and invisible barriers to students’ success, contrasting students in Wright College’s EP program with other Wright College students. The authors argue that the systemic pursuit of equity, particularly with a focus on self-efficacy, belonging, and the creation of an environment committed to inclusive excellence, will result in very strong student outcomes.« less
4. The Emerging Impact of Community College Hispanic-Serving Institutions (2-year HSIs) in Educating Technicians in Advanced Technologies – Defining the Opportunities and Addressing the Challenges

   Pickering, Cynthia ; Craft, Elaine ; VanIngen-Dunn, Caroline ( January 2019 , ASEE annual conference)

   To remain competitive in the global economy, the United States needs skilled technical workers in occupations requiring a high level of domain-specific technical knowledge to meet the country’s anticipated shortage of 5 million technically-credentialed workers. The changing demographics of the country are of increasing importance to addressing this workforce challenge. According to federal data, half the students earning a certificate in 2016-17 received credentials from community colleges where the percent enrollment of Latinx (a gender-neutral term referencing Latin American cultural or racial identity) students (56%) exceeds that of other post-secondary sectors. If this enrollment rate persists, then by 2050 over 25% of all students enrolled in higher education will be Latinx. Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) are essential points of access as they enroll 64% of all Latinx college students, and nearly 50% of all HSIs are 2-year institutions. Census estimates predict Latinxs are the fastest-growing segment reaching 30% of the U.S. population while becoming the youngest group comprising 33.5% of those under 18 years by 2060. The demand for skilled workers in STEM fields will be met when workers reflect the diversity of the population, therefore more students—of all ages and backgrounds—must be brought into community colleges and supported throughmore »graduation: a central focus of community colleges everywhere. While Latinx students of color are as likely as white students to major in STEM, their completion numbers drop dramatically: Latinx students often have distinct needs that evolved from a history of discrimination in the educational system. HSI ATE Hub is a three-year collaborative research project funded by the National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education Program (NSF ATE) being implemented by Florence Darlington Technical College and Science Foundation Arizona Center for STEM at Arizona State University to address the imperative that 2-year Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) develop and improve engineering technology and related technician education programs in a way that is culturally inclusive. Interventions focus on strengthening grant-writing skills among CC HSIs to fund advancements in technician education and connecting 2-year HSIs with resources for faculty development and program improvement. A mixed methods approach will explore the following research questions: 1) What are the unique barriers and challenges for 2-year HSIs related to STEM program development and grant-writing endeavors? 2) How do we build capacity at 2-year HSIs to address these barriers and challenges? 3) How do mentoring efforts/styles need to differ? 4) How do existing ATE resources need to be augmented to better serve 2-year HSIs? 5) How do proposal submission and success rates compare for 2-year HSIs that have gone through the KS STEM planning process but not M-C, through the M-C cohort mentoring process but not KS, and through both interventions? The project will identify HSI-relevant resources, augment existing ATE resources, and create new ones to support 2-year HSI faculty as potential ATE grantees. To address the distinct needs of Latinx students in STEM, resources representing best practices and frameworks for cultural inclusivity, as well as faculty development will be included. Throughout, the community-based tradition of the ATE Program is being fostered with particular emphasis on forming, nurturing, and serving participating 2-year HSIs. This paper will discuss the need, baseline data, and early results for the three-year program, setting the stage for a series of annual papers that report new findings.« less
5. The Emerging Impact of Community College Hispanic-Serving Institutions (2-year HSIs) in Educating Technicians in Advanced Technologies – Defining the Opportunities and Addressing the Challenges

   Pickering, Cynthia ; Craft, Elaine ; VanIngen-Dunn, Caroline ( July 2019 , ASEE annual conference)

   To remain competitive in the global economy, the United States needs skilled technical workers in occupations requiring a high level of domain-specific technical knowledge to meet the country’s anticipated shortage of 5 million technically-credentialed workers. The changing demographics of the country are of increasing importance to addressing this workforce challenge. According to federal data, half the students earning a certificate in 2016-17 received credentials from community colleges where the percent enrollment of Latinx (a gender-neutral term referencing Latin American cultural or racial identity) students (56%) exceeds that of other post-secondary sectors. If this enrollment rate persists, then by 2050 over 25% of all students enrolled in higher education will be Latinx. Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) are essential points of access as they enroll 64% of all Latinx college students, and nearly 50% of all HSIs are 2-year institutions. Census estimates predict Latinxs are the fastest-growing segment reaching 30% of the U.S. population while becoming the youngest group comprising 33.5% of those under 18 years by 2060. The demand for skilled workers in STEM fields will be met when workers reflect the diversity of the population, therefore more students—of all ages and backgrounds—must be brought into community colleges and supported throughmore »graduation: a central focus of community colleges everywhere. While Latinx students of color are as likely as white students to major in STEM, their completion numbers drop dramatically: Latinx students often have distinct needs that evolved from a history of discrimination in the educational system. HSI ATE Hub is a three-year collaborative research project funded by the National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education Program (NSF ATE) being implemented by Florence Darlington Technical College and Science Foundation Arizona Center for STEM at Arizona State University to address the imperative that 2-year Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) develop and improve engineering technology and related technician education programs in a way that is culturally inclusive. Interventions focus on strengthening grant-writing skills among CC HSIs to fund advancements in technician education and connecting 2-year HSIs with resources for faculty development and program improvement. A mixed methods approach will explore the following research questions: 1) What are the unique barriers and challenges for 2-year HSIs related to STEM program development and grant-writing endeavors? 2) How do we build capacity at 2-year HSIs to address these barriers and challenges? 3) How do mentoring efforts/styles need to differ? 4) How do existing ATE resources need to be augmented to better serve 2-year HSIs? 5) How do proposal submission and success rates compare for 2-year HSIs that have gone through the KS STEM planning process but not M-C, through the M-C cohort mentoring process but not KS, and through both interventions? The project will identify HSI-relevant resources, augment existing ATE resources, and create new ones to support 2-year HSI faculty as potential ATE grantees. To address the distinct needs of Latinx students in STEM, resources representing best practices and frameworks for cultural inclusivity, as well as faculty development will be included. Throughout, the community-based tradition of the ATE Program is being fostered with particular emphasis on forming, nurturing, and serving participating 2-year HSIs. This paper will discuss the need, baseline data, and early results for the three-year program, setting the stage for a series of annual papers that report new findings.« less