All Faculty Deposits

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The "All Faculty Deposits" collection contains works deposited by faculty and appointed delegates from the Elements (EFARs) system. For help with Elements, see Frequently Asked Questions on the Provost's website. In general, items can only be deposited if the item is a scholarly article that is covered by Virginia Tech's open access policy, or the item is openly licensed or in the public domain, or the item is permitted to be posted online under the journal/publisher policy, or the depositor owns the copyright. See Right to Deposit on the VTechWorks Help page. If you have questions email us at vtechworks@vt.edu.

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Using Imagination & Creation to Facilitate Immersion & Transferability in Technical Writing Assignments
McNabb, Kayla B. (2015-03-07)
“Imagination and Creation in the Technical Writing Classroom: Innovative Methods for Encouraging Rhetorical Decision-Making and Transfer” Rhetorical decision-making, with the explicit goals of increasing critical thinking skills and preparing students for transferring their classroom experiences to real-world situations, has become a primary concern of college writing courses across the country (CWPA 2014 Outcomes Statement). In technical and professional writing classrooms, where emphases on genre knowledge and meeting audience expectations are the norm, creativity and imagination may seem like an unlikely fit for fostering such skills. This panel’s members believe such a use of creativity and imagination is beneficial to developing critical and rhetorical awareness in technical environments. We will present three different strategies for teaching students to be rhetorically decisive and able to transfer those skills by focusing on creativity in professional and technical writing classrooms. Presentation 1: Analysis as a mode of exploration and discovery in technical writing classrooms. When teaching writing, it is important encourage students to be creators, rather than hasty replicators. Taking things apart and putting them back together is an essential way of understanding causes and effects. To help students become informed decision-makers, writing teachers have the opportunity engage them with this deconstruction and reconstruction. Drawing on the concepts of mentor texts and tactile learning, this presentation will share a set of strategies for helping students engage with form and content by discovering the ways written documents, physical objects, and processes function. Presentation 2: Using imagination and creation to facilitate immersion and transferability in technical writing assignments. To help students better understand the contexts for their assignments, teachers must craft assignments that allow for a level of immersion. There are three approaches to creating immersion through imagination and creation that seem particularly useful in technical writing classrooms: client-based projects, problem-based learning, and innovative real-world writing situations. Moving from more traditional to more progressive assignments, this presenter will show how innovative methods will encourage students to use their imaginations while creating tangible, useful texts and provide them the opportunities to practice rhetorical decision-making that will be beneficial in future writing contexts. Presentation 3: Rhetorical analysis as a means of engaging students’ imaginations and creativity. A quick review of technical and professional writing programs reveals that the majority of technical and professional writing courses focus on production, with courses ranging from report and grant proposal writing to designing online content. The underlying emphases are sound: audiences, purposes, genres and forms, with a detailed focus on conventions. What is often lacking is a perspective about the impact of that writing: What are these documents designed to do? How are they received? What are their short- and long-term impacts? Such a perspective requires creativity and imagination. Emphasizing the value of self-reflection, critical reading and analysis, and a multicultural context, while not being limited by perceived boundaries between literature, composition, and professional writing, this presentation describes a capstone course emphasizing rhetorical decision-making helps students gain qualities Cicero believed were essential to making human social life possible: practical experience, expert knowledge, and a sense of responsibility for private and public life.
Tourist satisfaction and travel expenditures: A reference-dependent behavioral economics perspective
Jung, Hyojun; Nicolau, Juan Luis (Elsevier, 2026-07)
Motivated by limitations in priord research that assumes linear and symmetric satisfaction–spending relationships, this study applies a reference-dependent framework grounded in prospect theory to examine how tourist satisfaction measured relative to culturally and motivationally shaped reference points influences expenditure behavior in inbound tourism. Using a pseudo-panel of international tourists visiting South Korea and estimating a two-way fixed effects model, the results show that expenditure responds to deviations from reference points rather than to absolute satisfaction levels. Spending responses differ across gain and loss domains, with larger effects in the loss domain, and exhibit nonlinear dynamics. These findings suggest that reference-dependent evaluations systematically translate into observable tourist spending behavior, advancing behavioral perspectives in tourism expenditure research.
Efficiency and Equity in Screening for Participants in Representative Cybersecurity Studies
Chen, Po-Yu; Oh, Jinwoo; Hsing, Hsiang-Wen; Lau, Nathan; Beltz, Brandon; Wu, Peggy; Zhu, Quanyan (Springer, 2026-07-31)
Human factors research in cybersecurity confronts the practical challenge of how to recruit and screen participants with the skills necessary to perform demanding, ecologically valid tasks. Credible results from hacking studies rely on participants possessing sufficient technical skills to maneuver inside a representative network in a cyber range. Screening via self-reports can be unreliable, while rigorous skills testing is resource intensive. This paper presents empirical research investigating the effectiveness of cybersecurity certifications and cyber range skills tests for screening domain-specific competence. The Guarding Against Malicious Biased Threats (GAMBiT) project recruited participants with a two-stage screening process. The project screened 269 candidates for a final sample of 61 qualified participants. We compared the capability between the Offensive Security Certified Professional (OSCP) certification and a custom Capture-the-Flag (CTF) assessment (“Cedar Bunny”) at predicting actual performance in a two-day cyber range experiment. Results indicate that OSCP holders scored significantly higher on the skills test (p < 0.001) and progressed further in the hacking experiment (p = 0.002) than non-holders. Skills test scores correlated moderately and positively with hacking progress (ρ = 0.344). Furthermore, hierarchical regression analysis demonstrated that the skills test provided incremental predictive validity (ΔR2 = 5.2%) beyond certification alone. These findings suggest that while certifications are efficient proxies and skills tests can be effective supplements for identifying viable, albeit non-certified, participants. We propose a mixed screening approach to balance recruitment efficiency and participant diversity.
Amonate, VA: Calhoun Pocket Park Conceptual Design
Gilboy, Elizabeth; Gleason, Harry; Ekberg, Caitlyn; Kakkadan, Sneha; Jain, Nidhi (Community Design Assistance Center, 2026-04-30)
Amonate Always has been working with Virginia Tech’s College of Architecture, Arts, and Design (AAD), including the Community Design Assistance Center (CDAC), to improve the quality of life in the historic coal camp since 2024. After an extensive inventory of the town in 2025, the original parsonage site of the Amonate Methodist Church was identified as a suitable place for a pocket park. Amonate Always recently purchased the site and, since the house no longer remains, the community would like to create a small pocket park on the site for community use. Following an internal design charrette at CDAC in March of 2026, two preliminary design concepts were created and presented to the community on April 11, 2026. With feedback from this meeting, a final design concept was created and presented to Amonate Always and the community at the end of April 2026. This project is the first of many to be folded into a broader Community Revitalization Plan to be developed throughout 2026 for Amonate. The goal of the park, to be named Calhoun Park by local residents and those with ties to the camp, is to encourage healthy lifestyle habits like walking and play outside, protect pedestrians from street traffic, and create a community gathering space.
The Effect of Endorsers’ Sports Results on Their Sponsors’ Performance: The Shark Fin Effect
Nicolau, Juan Luis; Santa María, María Jesús (SAGE Publications, 2024-08)
While previous studies have focused on the value of the endorsement contracts at the moment they are signed, the performance during the contract has drawn limited attention, and the few studies focusing on this period have produced inconclusive results. To fill this gap, we hypothesize that the tournament type and the athlete's level of sports elitism can influence this “sport results-business performance” relationship. The inclusion of the tournament type fills a gap in the literature as most studies have examined the potential effects of endorsement strategies without observing the different levels of tournaments within a particular sport. Guided by brand equity theory and equity theory, we argue that while a greater prize won corresponds to higher stock returns, there is a certain point of “sports elitism” on part of the athlete, after which a greater prize leads to lower stock returns. Empirical results from tennis tournaments support these arguments.
Transformative workcations in coastal tourism destinations: Reference-dependent place attachment and loss aversion in future travel intentions
Sharma, Abhinav; Nicolau, Juan Luis; Shin, Hakseung; Jo, Yujeong (SAGE Publications, 2026-04)
This study analyzes the role of place attachment in influencing workcationers’ future intentions to revisit a destination, either for future workcations or leisure travel. Building on self-determination theory, transformative tourism, and reference dependence theory, this study argues that transformative experiences in coastal workcations foster place attachment, which subsequently drives behavioral intentions. Importantly, place attachment is conceptualized as reference-dependent, meaning travelers evaluate their emotional connection to a destination relative to psychographic or demographic peer groups. The results demonstrate that place attachment fully mediates the relationship between transformation and intentions under psychographic segmentation and partially mediates it under demographic segmentation. Findings reveal a loss aversion effect, where below-average attachment (attachment loss) has a stronger negative impact than above-average attachment (attachment gain). This study highlights place attachment’s pivotal role in understanding how travelers’ psychological bonds with coastal destinations form and influence their future choices.
Conceptualization of greenwashing in the hospitality industry
Meenakshi, N.; Dhir, Amandeep; Shah, Priya; Nicolau, Juan Luis; Kaur, Puneet (Elsevier, 2025-10)
This study aims to examine the definition and types of greenwashing in the hospitality industry from the perspective of employees. It uses qualitative research methods involving multi-stage data collection. Two waves of data—with 51 employees in the first wave and 44 in the second—were collected through open-ended essays from employees in the UK and USA. Through thematic analysis, two aggregate themes were identified: first, the definition of greenwashing, including what, why, how, and by whom it is done; and second, types of greenwashing, encompassing false claims, exaggerations, misrepresentations, and selective disclosure. The findings of this study will enable managers to develop safeguard measures to prevent greenwashing practices and promote greater transparency in green practices.
Beyond virtual experiences: How destination-based metaverse initiatives create value in tourism
Campayo-Sanchez, Fernando; Sharma, Abhinav; Nicolau, Juan Luis (Elsevier, 2026-12-01)
The purpose of this study was to examine whether destination-based metaverse initiatives create value for tourism firms. Although there is extensive debate about whether the metaverse stimulates or replaces physical tourism, the literature has not yet clarified how such initiatives are interpreted in terms of value creation. Using a sample of hotels, airlines, and restaurants across 13 countries, we analyze changes in firm value following announcements related to the development of metaverses inspired by tourist destinations. The findings indicate that destination-based metaverse initiatives are generally associated with positive value effects, suggesting that they are perceived as strategic opportunities rather than threats to traditional tourism. Building on screening theory, the results show that national culture plays a critical moderating role, with long-term orientation strengthening the positive impact of metaverse initiatives, advancing tourism innovation research by showing that the strategic value of immersive technologies depends on cultural context.
Emerging Sources, Formats, Channels, Devices, and Audiences in Modern eWOM Communications
Filieri, Raffaele; Christodoulides, George; Nicolau, Juan Luis (Wiley, 2025-09)
This conceptual paper examines how electronic word‐of‐mouth (eWOM) has evolved beyond traditional text‐based reviews posted on online communities and e‐commerce platforms to encompass diverse formats, sources, channels, and audiences in today's digital landscape. Building on McLuhan and Fiore's assertion that “the medium is the message,” we argue that the characteristics of digital media fundamentally shape how eWOM messages are perceived and processed. We explore four key dimensions: emerging formats (video, visual, interactive content), new sources (digital content creators, virtual influencers), diverse channels and new technologies (social commerce platforms, voice assistants, AI), and evolving audiences (Generation Z, Alpha). The paper proposes a modern definition of eWOM that reflects its increasingly complex nature and discusses critical challenges. We conclude by presenting a framework for understanding how different elements of the eWOM ecosystem interact, offering implications for both research and practice in digital marketing and consumer behavior.
Geopolitical Tensions and Market–Behavioral Responses: A Dual Perspective From Investors and Travelers on the Korean Peninsula
Kim, Yelim; Sharma, Abhinav; Shin, Hakseung; Nicolau, Juan Luis (SAGE Publications, 2026-05-06)
This study examines how inter-Korean political and economic events affect financial markets and tourism behavior by integrating investor and traveler perspectives. Using 167 events (1991–2024), Study 1 applies an event-study to 20 publicly listed South Korean tourism and hospitality firms, separating positive and negative announcements. Study 2, an experiment with 240 Korean participants, tests whether perceived geopolitical risk mediates effects on domestic and international travel intentions. Results show immediate market reactions: positive events yield larger, more persistent gains than negative ones, while higher perceived risk significantly reduces travel intentions. Findings challenge prospect theory’s loss aversion and instead support desensitization, whereby repeated tensions dampen investor sensitivity to adverse news.
Presidential elections and hotel market value: How CEO political ideology shapes firm performance
Campayo-Sanchez, Fernando; Mas-Ruiz, Francisco J.; Nicolau, Juan Luis (Elsevier, 2026-06-01)
The study investigates how both the broader political climate and the ideological alignment between Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and governing bodies affect firm value in the hospitality and tourism industry, with a particular focus on hotel companies. Using an event study methodology, the empirical application to U.S. Elections since 1992 and major hotel companies reveals that while electoral outcomes generally boost firm value in the hospitality and tourism industry, this positive effect is weakened when there is a divergence between CEOs’ ideologies and that of the elected government. These insights underscore the influence of perceived unfavorable conditions and CEO beliefs on firm performance in the hospitality and tourism industry. The results extend the application of upper echelons theory by emphasizing the significant role that CEOs’ political ideologies play in determining organizational outcomes, offering valuable insights for both scholars and practitioners.
Evaluating model-estimated shoulder muscle activity during overhead work with varied task demands and exoskeleton use
Li, Lingyu; Behjati Ashtiani, Mohamad; Kim, Sunwook; Nussbaum, Maury A. (2026-05-21)
Passive arm-support exoskeletons (ASEs) can reduce shoulder stress during overhead work. However, the effects of ASEs are task- and device-specific, and current human-subjects evaluation protocols are time-consuming and resource-intensive. Musculoskeletal modeling could simplify ASE evaluation, such as by estimating muscle activation in place of measuring electromyographic (EMG) data. We assessed shoulder muscle activities estimated using a commercial biomechanical modeling system during dynamic overhead push tasks at different heights and force directions, performed with/without an ASE. We compared model estimates to normalized EMG using pattern similarity and magnitude difference metrics. Overall, model performance was good at lower task heights and declined at higher heights; ASE use further reduced performance, especially at higher task heights. These findings suggest that model-estimated shoulder muscle activity may be reasonably accurate under specific task conditions, but that improvements to musculoskeletal models are needed to make these models suitable for a broader range of tasks.
Evaluating the accuracy and feasibility of a commercial AI-powered ergonomic assessment system for automotive assembly work
Zahabi, Saman Jamshid Nezhad; Kim, Sunwook; Nussbaum, Maury A.; Porto, Ryan; Lim, Sol (Elsevier, 2026-10-01)
Accurate ergonomic risk assessment is essential to prevent work-related musculoskeletal disorders. Artificial intelligence (AI) and computer vision offer new opportunities for automatic risk assessment, but accuracy and usability remain uncertain. We evaluated a commercial, AI-powered, ergonomic assessment system through two studies: In an exploratory evaluation (Study 1; n = 10), we compared risk estimates and joint angles using three camera placements vs. a gold-standard 3D motion capture system. In Study 2 ( n = 10), we interviewed ergonomics professionals who used the software system for automotive assembly tasks. We found substantial inaccuracies in joint angles (especially left elbow and bilateral wrists) and risk estimates, and important variability across camera setups. Although the software system was reported as easy to use and visually intuitive, concerns were noted about reliability—particularly in cluttered environments and tasks involving fine hand motions. While promising, these systems may require further refinements to improve accuracy and adaptability.
A Place in One Kilobyte: Hyperdimensional Zone Recognition over Egocentric SLAM Maps for Offline Heritage Wearables
Borunda, Luis (2026-07)
Heritage sites resist the assumptions of modern localization: satellite positioning degrades among stone streets and terrain, disappears indoors, and visual localization pipelines demand power budgets incompatible with all-day wearable operation. This report introduces and field-tests a zone-level place recognition layer built on hyperdimensional computing (HDC) that operates directly on the semi-dense point clouds produced by egocentric SLAM (Project Aria Machine Perception Services). Local occupancy descriptors computed along an expert-mapped route are projected into binary hypervectors; each route zone is enrolled by bundling into a single prototype, and localization reduces to Hamming-distance search, storing each zone in approximately one kilobyte and requiring only XOR and popcount operations at query time. On recordings from a UNESCO World Heritage walk (Meride, Monte San Giorgio, Switzerland), the method attains 96.0% zone accuracy at dimension D=1024 under interleaved hold-out, matching a floating-point nearest-centroid baseline; under the stricter contiguous-block hold-out it reaches 67.5% exact and 80.6% within one zone, comparable to a rotation-matched Scan Context nearest-neighbour baseline (64.4% exact) while storing three orders of magnitude less. In a cross-device test with two glasses recording simultaneously under independent SLAM frames, a second wearer is localized within one zone 97.0% of the time at 15 m granularity. The intended role is architectural: an always-on, milliwatt-class coarse layer that gates a heavier centimeter-grade visual localizer inside an entirely offline system. Protocols for cross-day evaluation via ECEF-geo-referenced trajectories, heading estimation by circular descriptor shifts, and hierarchical zone nesting are specified for subsequent versions.
Is “Good Enough” Enough? Learning to Compromise in Collaboration
Dietz, Kira A.; Guimont, Corinne; Kinnaman, Alex (Association of College and Research Libraries, 2026-07-17)
To many, digital humanities (DH) and librarianship is a natural fit. As Rachel Ivy Clarke and Young-In Kim found in their 2018 report, nearly 70 percent of librarians have a previous degree in the humanities, social sciences, or the arts. That background, alongside the technical skills built into the library profession, creates a natural fit for librarians and DH. Librarians can bring an understanding of metadata, data management, and project management to a DH project, skills that are often not inherent to those solely in the humanities. In the authors’ experience, we have worked with DH researchers who turn to their librarians for support and collaboration. However, even after a couple of decades of DH work in libraries, there is no single, clear path of collaboration. While some DH researchers are looking for a true collaborator, others are looking more for the traditional support role that librarians have previously played. In this chapter, the authors (three librarians in publishing and digital humanities, special collections and university archives, and digital preservation) share their experience in collaborating with a DH faculty member and how this partnership affected the project and our future work with other collaborators.
Covington, VA: Conceptual Redevelopment Plan for the Former Edgemont Primary School
Gilboy, Elizabeth; Gleason, Harry; Tucker, Lisa; Jami, Raj Kumar; Ekberg, Caitlyn; Pothen, Sneha; Agrawal, Pranshu; Vandyke, Kiera (Community Design Assistance Center, 2026-05-29)
YpeB stability affects germination possibly through delaying SleB activity in Bacillus subtilis
Shams-Eddin, Marcel; Pinkham, Alexandra; Williams, Naomi; Popham, David L. (American Society for Microbiology, 2026-06)
Bacterial endospores formed by Bacilli and Clostridia can persist for decades and survive a wide range of killing mechanisms but can rapidly germinate in permissive environments. SleB and CwlJ are partially redundant germination-specific lytic enzymes that degrade Bacillus spore cortex peptidoglycan, contributing to the transition to the vegetative state. SleB interacts with YpeB, which may hold it inactive until germination starts. YpeB is rapidly proteolyzed during germination, which may release SleB to degrade the cortex. HtrC cleaves YpeB, but YpeB is still degraded in the absence of HtrC, suggesting the contribution of other proteases that are associated with the inner membrane. We hypothesize that at least one additional protease serves a YpeB degradation role. A mutant strain lacking five spore-associated proteases had significantly delayed spore germination and YpeB degradation when compared to the wild type. It is hypothesized that delayed YpeB degradation might cause SleB to become active later during germination. To further characterize the role of YpeB stability on SleB activity, cortex muropeptides were analyzed using HPLC and mass spectrometry. A decrease in two SleB-associated muropeptides was seen in the protease mutant strain after 30 and 60 min of germination when compared to the WT, which might be the consequence of delayed SleB activity. Identifying protein-protein interactions during germination could guide manipulation of spores either to increase the germination efficiency, rendering the spores more susceptible to killing, or to prevent germination, making the spores inefficient in causing human disease.
Evaluating the Effectiveness of an Open-Source Textbook in a Large, Middle-Year Engineering Mechanics Course
Ryan, Olivia; Grohs, Jacob R.; Dillard, David A.; Lord, James K.; Wallwey, Cassie; Chaback, Benjamin; Walz, Anita R. (ASEE Conferences, 2025-06-23)
This full paper examines how students interact with a new open-source mechanics textbook to assess its effectiveness. Foundational middle-year engineering courses, like Mechanics of Materials, usually occur in undergraduate engineering students' second and third years after completing the required general coursework (e.g., math, physics, and chemistry). These courses are often characterized by large enrollments, primarily lecture-based formats, and a significant amount of required content. In these types of classes, it is a common practice to require students to buy a homework access code and a textbook to complete the assigned online homework. This requirement places a financial burden on students because of the high cost associated with online access codes and textbooks. Furthermore, engineering students do not spend much time interacting with the textbook and tend to interact with content that helps them complete their homework assignments. Therefore, improving the quality and access to textbooks may be crucial to enhancing student engagement and learning in these foundational courses. This study examines how students utilize and perceive a free, open-access online textbook during its initial implementation in a middle-year engineering course. It also compares this usage with course materials from similar courses that use traditional, cost-based materials. To understand student opinions, we administered pre-and post-surveys, as well as focus groups, in classes that piloted the textbook. We found that students valued the open-access textbook utilized in the course due to its affordability, conciseness, and helpful visual representations. In addition, they appreciated that the book was free. This work can help improve large middle-year engineering classes with respect to the financial strain on students and effective course materials. Findings from this study contribute to ongoing discussions about the role of open educational resources (OER) in alleviating financial strain, improving student engagement, and enhancing learning experiences in engineering education.
The Hidden Role of Followership in Poverty Reduction
Kaufman, Eric K. (2026-07-09)
Efforts to reduce poverty are typically framed as leadership challenges—calling for better strategies, stronger leaders, and more effective organizations. This lightning talk challenges that assumption by positioning poverty reduction as fundamentally dependent on followership. Drawing on recent research on social service organizations (Poudel & Kaufman, 2025; Varela, 2013), this presentation integrates insights from U.S. poverty measurement (e.g., Dalaker, 2022), global frameworks such as the Multidimensional Poverty Index (United Nations Development Programme, 2025), and practitioner perspectives on frontline work (Kaufman, 2025). Poverty is not a singular condition but a multidimensional and context-dependent phenomenon, shaped by how it is defined and measured. These choices influence which populations are seen, which interventions are prioritized, and how success is evaluated. At the same time, poverty alleviation efforts operate within complex systems involving networks of organizations, stakeholders, and communities, where coordination, shared purpose, and distributed action are essential. Within these systems, followership plays a critical yet often unacknowledged role (Matshoba-Ramuedzisi, et al., 2022). Frontline practitioners, partner organizations, and community members enact forms of followership that influence implementation, accountability, and ultimately outcomes (Fabiano, 2024). Building on prior work identifying “hard truths” about poverty reduction, this talk argues that overlooking followership limits both theory and practice. By reframing poverty reduction through a followership lens, this session contributes to emerging conversations on leadership–followership systems and offers practical implications for advancing the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 1: No Poverty.
Followership in Community Needs Assessment: Reframing Collaboration in a Statewide Situation Analysis
Kaufman, Eric K.; Johnson, Lonnie (2026-07-08)
Community needs assessment is a foundational practice in Extension systems, yet it is most often conceptualized through collaboration and stakeholder engagement rather than followership. This study reframes a statewide Virginia Cooperative Extension Situation Analysis as a leadership–followership system in which stakeholders actively co-create direction through participation, voice, and shared purpose. Using a multi-method design, data were collected from internal and external stakeholders through a modified Wilder Collaboration Factors Inventory and open-ended responses, as well as follow-up interviews. Findings indicate strong collaboration, with shared purpose and mutual respect emerging as key strengths, while process clarity and inclusivity of relevant stakeholders were comparatively weaker. External stakeholders reported more positive perceptions than Extension employees, suggesting differences in how participation and influence are experienced across roles. Interpreted through a followership lens, these results highlight how effective followership is enacted through relational conditions that support voice, trust, and collective ownership of community priorities. At the same time, gaps in communication, representation, and process structure point to constraints on inclusive and fully realized followership. This study contributes to followership research by extending it into a public-serving, community-based context and by demonstrating how collaboration metrics can illuminate conditions that enable or inhibit followership. Implications include the need to intentionally develop followership capacity among Extension personnel and stakeholders through training in facilitation, communication, and inclusive engagement practices.

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