Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Collaboration For Public Services: Explaining Outputs And Outcomes, Jennifer Hilton Montero

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation addresses a current gap in collaborative governance literature pertaining to the performance of collaborative regimes. Specifically, it conceptualizes collaborative performance as consisting of outputs and outcomes and offers a novel way to measure them consistently across policy domains. The study tests the contextual, situational, and institutional design factors that lead to enhanced outputs and outcomes of collaborative forums. The dissertation consists of three essays, and the findings of one form the base for the others. Essay 1 systematically reviews the literature (n=274) and compares the approaches to studying collaboration in public administration to those in political science and …

How Town Engages Gown: Engagement And Collaboration Between Local Governments And Institutions Of Higher Education, Vivian Gonzalez Cueto

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation analyzes the engagement between universities and their respective municipalities. Although a sizable amount of research has explored relationships between town and gown, we still lack a clear understanding of why engagement works better between some universities and municipalities but not for others. This dissertation argues that university engagement with local governments, while a necessary and increasingly important part of institutional activities, cannot be effective unless it is done in earnest collaboration with the localities. Short of collaboration, engagement between town and gown only exists as a unilateral relationship, which despite its actual benefits, undermines trust and can cause …

School Climate In The School Choice Era: A Comparative Analysis Of District-Run Public Schools And Charter Schools, Christopher Damian Duszka

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Comparative analyses of district-run public schools and charter schools are limited to performance outcomes. There is a dearth of research on how the school-types vary on factors consequential to performance such as school climate. Public-private distinctions, such as in organizational autonomy, value orientations, funding structures, and management practices, could result in school climate dissimilarities between district-run public schools and charter schools.

The aim of this dissertation is to assess the influence organizational factors have on school climate and determine if school-type affects school climate. Student and staff school climate survey data from the Miami-Dade school district were utilized for this …

Women-Led Community Development Organizations (Cdos) In Miami-Dade County: A Model Of Community Development Efforts Impacting The Economic Security Of Women, Jan Lindsay Solomon

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Recent studies on the economic status of women in Miami-Dade County (MDC) reveal an alarming rate of economic insecurity and significant obstacles for women to achieve economic security. Consistent barriers to women’s economic security affect not only the health and wellbeing of women and their families, but also economic prospects for the community. A key study reveals in Miami-Dade County, “Thirty-nine percent of single female-headed families with at least one child are living at or below the federal poverty level” and “over half of working women do not earn adequate income to cover their basic necessities” (Brion 2009, 1). Moreover, …