Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Improving Public Engagement And Public Records Management At The Oregon Department Of Environmental Quality, Portland State University. Hatfield School Of Government. Center For Public Service, Phil Keisling, Dan Marriott, Marcus Ingle, Sara Saltzberg, Andrew Dzeguze

Center for Public Service Publications and Reports

In February 2016, researchers from the US Forest Service had detected toxics in moss samples adjacent to several businesses in Portland. This began a series of events that highlighted both the significance of public records requests and the difficulty Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has in responding to complex requests.

The interest in issues related to air toxics put a strain on the capacity of the agency to respond in a timely fashion to the news media as well as citizens groups.

In August 2016, DEQ retained the Center for Public Service (CPS) to provide an outside evaluation of …

Explicating Factors That Foster Civic Engagement Among Students, Masami Nishishiba, Hal T. Nelson, Craig Shinn

Center for Public Service Publications and Reports

This paper investigates many facets of civic engagement by analyzing how college undergraduate students conceptualize civic engagement and by examining factors that predict greater student involvement in political, social, and community affairs.We administered a survey to college students at the beginning of fall, winter, and spring terms, 2001-02.We analyzed survey responses using a structural equation modeling (SEM) technique. The analysis examines how expectations of community and political efficacy, attitudes regarding citizen control of government, and attitudes toward diversity relate to the students’ civic engagement behaviors such as monthly volunteer hours, organizational participation, advocacy, voting, direct political action, and action to …