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Public Affairs Dissertations

Theses/Dissertations

2011

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The Emergence Of Women City Managers In Texas In The Late 20th Century And The Early 21st Century, Helen Kay Godbey Jan 2011

The Emergence Of Women City Managers In Texas In The Late 20th Century And The Early 21st Century, Helen Kay Godbey

Public Affairs Dissertations

The first generation of women city managers in the late 20th Century and early 21st Century have one thing in common: all were initially mentored and promoted by men. Like survivors of a Texas tornado that huddle in the closet and then peek out to see what is left of the world around them, these few women who became the first generation of assistant or city managers began to look around for other women who had also done so. Even though there were just a few, they began to mentor each other. I would propose that an enlightened public administration …


Engaging Over-Age Participants In Urban Learning And Work Environments: An Empirical Demonstration Of Macro-Level Efficiency Through Effective At-Risk Student And Teacher Recovery, J. Randall Farmer Jan 2011

Engaging Over-Age Participants In Urban Learning And Work Environments: An Empirical Demonstration Of Macro-Level Efficiency Through Effective At-Risk Student And Teacher Recovery, J. Randall Farmer

Public Affairs Dissertations

This study reviews data-driven appraisals of No Child Left Behind (2001) as well as the nation's at-risk student- and teacher dropout problems. Little, if any, evidence is found that troubled, over-age teens or struggling, first-year educators are overly concerned with the enhancement of federal and state accountability measures, rigorous performance standards, college preparatory curricula, or formative or summative assessments - let alone the academic credentials, continuing education credits, or even combined years of work experience of their teachers and colleagues. Rather, at-risk students and teachers in the nation's urban learning and work environments are most concerned with their want and …


Examining Income Polarization Indices In The Context Of `World City Thesis': An Analysis Of Large U.S. Metropolitan Areas, Chawana Mwangeka Jan 2011

Examining Income Polarization Indices In The Context Of `World City Thesis': An Analysis Of Large U.S. Metropolitan Areas, Chawana Mwangeka

Public Affairs Dissertations

For more than three decades, the `global city thesis' or the `world city thesis' has attracted scholarly contributions from urban planners, geographers, sociologists and urban political economists interested in socioeconomic and spatial polarization in mega cities. Although with limited empirical evidence, these scholars in general are in agreement that globalization is an underlying factor of growing income inequalities and socio-spatial polarization found in these urban areas. On the other hand, the field of welfare economics has traditionally associated income inequalities with factors that have attracted an avalanche of literature since 1950s. In the face of growing income inequalities which some …


Crisis In Police Recruitment: Public Service Motivation And Changes In Generational Preferences, G. M. Cox Jan 2011

Crisis In Police Recruitment: Public Service Motivation And Changes In Generational Preferences, G. M. Cox

Public Affairs Dissertations

The purpose of this research project was to determine if a downward trend exists in the number of people who are motivated to become police officers and to explore whether there has been a shift in motivational factors among the three major generational groups to serve as police officers. Furthermore, it hypothesized that incumbents in the police service, across generational lines, have changed in their public service motivation to serve as police officers.The research project utilized two survey instruments. The first survey focused on police chiefs and human resource directors. The primary objective for surveying this group was to determine …


Mitigating Climate Change At The Municipal Scale: American Urban Planning At A Crossroads, Kent L. Hurst Jan 2011

Mitigating Climate Change At The Municipal Scale: American Urban Planning At A Crossroads, Kent L. Hurst

Public Affairs Dissertations

The failure of international negotiations toward a successor agreement to the Kyoto Protocol to limit global greenhouse gas emissions has highlighted not only the problematic associated with a global agreement on such a scientifically and politically complex issue, but also the importance of sub-national action in lieu of such an agreement. This is especially true in the United States where any national climate protection framework seems unlikely in the foreseeable future. In the absence of any such policy leadership from Washington, it is increasingly falling to states, regional organizations, and municipalities to craft emissions reduction strategies that will contribute meaningfully …


Closing The Gap In Higher Education: African American Male College Students Perceptions Of Advising At A Two Year College, Terry L. Aaron Jan 2011

Closing The Gap In Higher Education: African American Male College Students Perceptions Of Advising At A Two Year College, Terry L. Aaron

Public Affairs Dissertations

The attrition of minority students is fast becoming a salient issue in higher education. Academic advising has long been viewed as a determinant of participation, persistence and success. Persistence focuses on retention. Participation and success are two objectives of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board's initiative "Closing the Gap." This study used quantitative and qualitative methods to examine African American male college students' (AAMCSs) perceptions of advising center practices, advisor practices and affinity factors and their influence on participation and persistence. Data collected from a sample of 225 AAMCSs was analyzed to determine if academic advising was indeed a tool …


High School Influences On College Enrollment And College Graduation Of Dallas Independent School District 2002 Graduates, Linda K. Johnson Jan 2011

High School Influences On College Enrollment And College Graduation Of Dallas Independent School District 2002 Graduates, Linda K. Johnson

Public Affairs Dissertations

The overarching goal for American education under President Barack Obama has been to increase college enrollment and completion rates. The pressure to achieve this goal has been keenly felt in the postsecondary community, especially as federal and state funding have become increasingly tied to achieving higher college completion rates. Yet the adequate preparation of students lies primarily in the secondary system, and the literature contains many statistics that support the view that few students are adequately prepared, especially those who are educated in urban public school systems. The challenge was to determine actions that can be implemented by school districts …


Law And Politics In Public-Private Partnerships: Transparency, Conflict Of Interest, And Renegotiation In Concession Arrangements, Samuel A. Roach Jan 2011

Law And Politics In Public-Private Partnerships: Transparency, Conflict Of Interest, And Renegotiation In Concession Arrangements, Samuel A. Roach

Public Affairs Dissertations

Many states and local governments have begun to use the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) vehicle as a policy tool in the area of highway transportation infrastructure development. A particular type of PPP, sometimes referred to as a "concession," can involve a state or local government's grant of concession rights, which typically includes the right to collect toll revenues on a roadway, to a private entity in exchange for the private entity's development and management of the roadway. As highway concession practice in the U.S. is a recent phenomenon, policymakers and other interested observers can benefit from a greater understanding of these …


Engaging Over-Age Participants In Urban Learning And Work Environments: An Empirical Demonstration Of Macro-Level Efficiency Through Effective At-Risk Student And Teacher Recovery, J. Randall Farmer Jan 2011

Engaging Over-Age Participants In Urban Learning And Work Environments: An Empirical Demonstration Of Macro-Level Efficiency Through Effective At-Risk Student And Teacher Recovery, J. Randall Farmer

Public Affairs Dissertations

This study reviews data-driven appraisals of No Child Left Behind (2001) as well as the nation's at-risk student- and teacher dropout problems. Little, if any, evidence is found that troubled, over-age teens or struggling, first-year educators are overly concerned with the enhancement of federal and state accountability measures, rigorous performance standards, college preparatory curricula, or formative or summative assessments - let alone the academic credentials, continuing education credits, or even combined years of work experience of their teachers and colleagues. Rather, at-risk students and teachers in the nation's urban learning and work environments are most concerned with their want and …


Crisis In Police Recruitment: Public Service Motivation And Changes In Generational Preferences, G. M. Cox Jan 2011

Crisis In Police Recruitment: Public Service Motivation And Changes In Generational Preferences, G. M. Cox

Public Affairs Dissertations

The purpose of this research project was to determine if a downward trend exists in the number of people who are motivated to become police officers and to explore whether there has been a shift in motivational factors among the three major generational groups to serve as police officers. Furthermore, it hypothesized that incumbents in the police service, across generational lines, have changed in their public service motivation to serve as police officers.The research project utilized two survey instruments. The first survey focused on police chiefs and human resource directors. The primary objective for surveying this group was to determine …


The Emergence Of Women City Managers In Texas In The Late 20th Century And The Early 21st Century, Helen Kay Godbey Jan 2011

The Emergence Of Women City Managers In Texas In The Late 20th Century And The Early 21st Century, Helen Kay Godbey

Public Affairs Dissertations

The first generation of women city managers in the late 20th Century and early 21st Century have one thing in common: all were initially mentored and promoted by men. Like survivors of a Texas tornado that huddle in the closet and then peek out to see what is left of the world around them, these few women who became the first generation of assistant or city managers began to look around for other women who had also done so. Even though there were just a few, they began to mentor each other. I would propose that an enlightened public administration …


Closing The Gap In Higher Education: African American Male College Students Perceptions Of Advising At A Two Year College, Terry L. Aaron Jan 2011

Closing The Gap In Higher Education: African American Male College Students Perceptions Of Advising At A Two Year College, Terry L. Aaron

Public Affairs Dissertations

The attrition of minority students is fast becoming a salient issue in higher education. Academic advising has long been viewed as a determinant of participation, persistence and success. Persistence focuses on retention. Participation and success are two objectives of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board's initiative "Closing the Gap." This study used quantitative and qualitative methods to examine African American male college students' (AAMCSs) perceptions of advising center practices, advisor practices and affinity factors and their influence on participation and persistence. Data collected from a sample of 225 AAMCSs was analyzed to determine if academic advising was indeed a tool …


High School Influences On College Enrollment And College Graduation Of Dallas Independent School District 2002 Graduates, Linda K. Johnson Jan 2011

High School Influences On College Enrollment And College Graduation Of Dallas Independent School District 2002 Graduates, Linda K. Johnson

Public Affairs Dissertations

The overarching goal for American education under President Barack Obama has been to increase college enrollment and completion rates. The pressure to achieve this goal has been keenly felt in the postsecondary community, especially as federal and state funding have become increasingly tied to achieving higher college completion rates. Yet the adequate preparation of students lies primarily in the secondary system, and the literature contains many statistics that support the view that few students are adequately prepared, especially those who are educated in urban public school systems. The challenge was to determine actions that can be implemented by school districts …