Digital Commons Network^™

Navigating Higher Education: Waves Of Success Mentorship Initiative, Roberto M. Davila

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Too many undocumented students and students from mixed-status backgrounds face obstacles and don’t receive enough support while navigating higher education. Undocu-Success at CSUMB orients its services to meet the needs of undocumented students and students with mixed-status backgrounds. In collaboration with Undocu-Success Center staff, the Waves of Success mentorship initiative is a new resource to increase students' preparedness during their academic journey and increase awareness of resources accessible to CSUMB students through mentor-mentee relationships. The capstone project was to create a new program which involved conducting research, recruitment, management, and building campus partnerships. Evaluation included an interview conducted with the …

A Phenomenological Study: Examining Organizational Change Initiatives Within The U.S. Army To Influence Racial Climate, Reginald Gerald Dash Ii

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research study was aimed at examining organizational change initiatives influencing the racial climate among African American soldiers in the United States (U.S.) Army. African Americans comprise a significant portion of the U.S. Army. However, African Americans’ significant contributions do not readily translate into “equal treatment”, which includes proportional representation at the highest levels of leadership. African Americans in the U.S. Army face career navigation challenges rooted in systemic racial division. The goal of this qualitative phenomenological study was to add African American soldiers’ voices to the existing literature by interviewing African American soldiers with at least five years of …

The Impact Of Career And Technical Education Teacher Certification Preparation Programs On Student Industry-Based Certification Examinations, Kaneesha Chameka Celestin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs are designed to prepare students for high-wage, high-demand industry jobs. However, there is limited research on Career and Technical Education teacher preparation programs (traditional, alternative, and industry-based) and the impact on student outcomes on industry-based examinations, such as ACT WorkKeys. This quantitative study analyzed Career and Technical Education (CTE) teacher preparation programs (traditional, alternative, and industry-based) and 12th -grade students’ outcomes on the 2023-2024 ACT WorkKeys examination and whether relationships exist between the two. Additionally, the research examined each Career and Technical Education teacher certification preparation program individually to determine the differences among traditional, …

Factors Affecting Pedestrian-Vehicle Conflicts: An Empirical Analysis, Christo D. Jamo

Honors Scholar Theses

The number of pedestrian deaths increased by 78% between 2009 and 2023, while other motor vehicle crash deaths increased by 13% in the same period [1]. To identify potential pedestrian safety measures, this study analyzed the effects of location-based demographics, pedestrian phasing type, and other physical infrastructure and behavior variables on the probability of pedestrian-vehicle conflicts at signalized intersections, which is a surrogate measure of crash risk. Data were collected from 55 intersections in Connecticut, and the pedestrian-vehicle interactions were classified by severity based on the Swedish Traffic Conflict Technique: undisturbed passage, potential conflict, minor conflict, or serious conflict. Because …

Integrating Organizational Theory In Student Employee Development Across Dispersed Workplaces, Anica C. Chesnut

Master of Public Administration Capstone Papers

Managing and developing staff at university residential desks presents unique challenges. One challenge is the complexity of supervising student employees while allowing them the opportunity to grow as well. Another challenge is the dispersed nature of residential desks across a university campus. Satellite desks present a difficulty to maintain community, a positive work culture, continuity of expectations, and procedures. Several organizational theory frameworks can be directly applied to the organization in order to reduce challenges. This capstone paper utilizes literature review and examination of current practices, to provide context of current inefficiencies while also critically analyzing pain points within the …

Improving And Maintaining Public Trust In Law Enforcement: A Qualitative Case Study Of The Northville Township Police Department, Christopher Bachand

Master of Public Administration Capstone Papers

Public trust is a key component of effective law enforcement. While historically cyclical, trust in American law enforcement agencies has trended downward in recent years following several high-profile use of force incidents. In response, many agencies have begun incorporating new theories and models into their policies and procedures aimed at increasing public trust. This capstone paper draws upon the relevant literature surrounding these theories and conducts a qualitative case study of the Northville Township Police Department. This agency consistently achieved above-average levels of confidence from its community members by incorporating these theories using a hybrid-synthesis policy implementation approach. This paper …

Public Safety Policy In Michigan’S Rural Upper Peninsula: Collective Efficacy, Youth Engagement, And Prevention, Christopher J. Reynolds

Master of Public Administration Capstone Papers

Rural communities in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula face unique public safety concerns due to resource limitations and geographic isolation. Small townships and cities lack sufficient funding and personnel to respond effectively to emergencies across large land areas. By building stronger families and communities, rural areas can prevent public safety concerns through preventative strategies, rather than reactive strategies that focus on incarceration. Through strengthening social networks and providing programs for youth to build leadership skills and good character, public safety will become a part of daily life in rural areas and not just a reaction to negative situations.

Beyond The Straight Road: A Narrative Of Growth Toward Integrated Social Work Practice, Samantha Bymaster

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

Building Collaborative Capacity For Coexistence With The Montana Beaver Working Group, Shane Randle

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

Despite beavers’ recent surge in popularity, prevailing negative attitudes and the persistence of beaver removal practices remain obstacles for those advocating living with beavers. The Montana Beaver Working Group (BWG) advances beavers’ role in ecological and community resilience through members’ collaborative efforts, including beaver-related restoration and conflict resolution projects. Bringing together people with diverse values and perspectives, the BWG builds collective understanding, develops a holistic vision for beavers in Montana, and supports members in pursuing it. As the group’s impacts and membership have grown, so too has their need to adapt. For my Civic Engagement Project, I strengthened the BWG’s …

Factors Contributing To The Effectiveness Of Reentry Programs For Formerly Incarcerated Adults, William Lopez Jr, Falina Rose Gonzales

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Reentry into society following incarceration represents a critical transition that significantly influences long-term stability and recidivism outcomes. Formerly incarcerated adults frequently encounter structural barriers related to housing, employment, behavioral health access, and social reintegration, highlighting the need for effective reentry programming. The purpose of this qualitative study is to examine factors that contribute to the effectiveness of community-based reentry programs for formerly incarcerated adults and to understand how participants and service providers perceive successful reintegration outcomes. Guided by ecological systems theory and empowerment theory, this study employs a qualitative phenomenological design using semi-structured interviews with approximately 15 formerly incarcerated adults …

Impact Of Social Worker Bias On African American Fathers With Open Children Family Services Cases, Jenna Espinosa, Cecil Perry, Jasmine Alvarado, Jennifer Garcia, Lacrietia Grate-Dixson

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Systemic barriers and biases within institutions and policies affect how African American fathers engage with Children and Family Services (CFS). According to research, social worker bias, whether overt or covert, can influence case decision-making, affecting fathers' access to resources and overall involvement in their children’s lives. This study aims to quantitatively assess the impact of social worker bias on African American fathers' engagement by evaluating service completion rates at the .21e hearing. A quantitative research design will be utilized by implementing a validated survey to measure social worker bias and case file reviews to assess service completion. Statistical analyses, including …

The Geography Of Race: A Spatial Analysis Of Free People Of Color In The City Of Charleston (1790-1861), Alexandra Ullman

All Theses

In Charleston, South Carolina, for all but one year from 1790 to 1860, the enslaved and free Black population outnumbered that of the white. Through manumission, the process of an enslaved person gaining their freedom, the free Black population grew substantially and reached a peak in South Carolina during the nineteenth century. This large community of free people of color (FPOC), shifted the social climate by upsetting the balance of white power, thus increasing racial conflict, tension, and legislation that aimed to control the movement of FPOC.

Despite FPOC comprising a significant portion of the total population of Charleston, there …

Utilizing A Social-Ecological Approach To Understand Healthcare Professional's Ability To Identify Child Sexual Exploitation, Vanessa Gudiel, Alyssa Fierro

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Commercially sexually exploited children (CSEC) are an underrecognized population who face barriers when receiving healthcare services in emergency settings. A common theme that prevents them from receiving services is the healthcare professionals' (HP) inability to recognize warning signs and engage with victims. This stems from an absence of CSEC-focused curriculum in institutional settings, leading to a lack of education and confidence in identifying CSEC. CSEC screenings are not mandatory in most healthcare settings, leaving the discretion to the HP and enabling the continued missed opportunity to identify victims. The proposed study will utilize an exploratory design to conduct qualitative interviews …

Deferred Dreams: Mental Health Challenges And Access To Services Among Daca Recipients, Jamie G. Ruiz, Marlene Ortiz, Denisse Salvatierra

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is an administrative program that protects young immigrants from deportation while granting them access to education and employment. DACA recipients face challenges in accessing resources due to their temporary status and the unpredictability of immigration laws, leading to mental health risks from stigma, anxiety, and fear of deportation. However, little research has examined how DACA's instability and immigration politics affect psychological well-being and access to services over time. This study examines how restrictive immigration policies affect DACA and undocumented people's mental health and access to culturally responsive, trauma-informed mental health and social services. This …

Fatal Remedies: How France Undermined Its Own Objectives In Algeria, 1954-1962, Elizabeth Mae Tornabene

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

While much of the best-known literature on the Franco-Algerian War has emphasized insurgency, counterinsurgency, and the grievances of the colonized, this thesis takes a broader, historical and public administration approach by analyzing the relationship between the development and implementation phases of government and military policies and the unintended, sometimes fatal, outcomes that followed. Although it does this from the perspective of policymaking in the country that is trying to maintain control over its distant territory, it has implications for those interested in maximizing resistance to these policymakers.

By conducting a structured, focused comparison of a typical case across three theories …

Quantifying Spatiotemporal Ev In-Motion Load Dynamics For Flexible Distribution Grid Operations, Travis Newbolt

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The emergence of novel in-motion Electric Vehicle (EV) charging through Dynamic Wireless Power Transfer (DWPT) technology is enabling the transformation of traditional roadway infrastructures into fully integrated Electrified Transportation Networks (ETNs) by the direct coupling of roadways with electric power grids. This paradigm has the potential to improve charging safety, extend driving ranges, reduce EV manufacturing costs through smaller battery sizes, and shift EV charging demand to periods when Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) are more readily available. In addition, the transition to ETNs can improve air quality and reduce noise pollution by displacing fossil fuel consumption from vehicles to centralized …

Environmental Movements In El Paso And Ciudad Juarez: Possibilities And Limitations Of Cross-Border Organization At The U.S.-Mexico Border, Vanessa Maria Almada

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

At the U.S.-Mexico border, the anthropogenic and nationalistic construction of the landscape has accelerated urbanization and unequal development without establishing effective binational institutions for governance over a shared commons. Borderlanders, then, contest unsustainable development with the added complexity of navigating a barrier which creates diverse socioeconomic and political realities that challenge cross-border cooperation. This qualitative research analyzes environmental organizations in El Paso and Ciudad Juarez. Through ethnographic study of mobilization in response to environmental legislation and administrative action in each city, the immediate barriers to cross-border cooperation and limitations of nationalistic institutions in the borderlands can be better understood.

Good Life Automobility: Cultural/Rhetorical Resistance And Persistence Of Us Car Hegemony, Trinity O. Thompson

Department of Communication Studies: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This project takes the car as a historical signifier of a rhetorical racialization process that enables a hypermobile white, masculine, neoliberal identity that pervades conceptions of mobility in the West. I locate these overlapping social formations under a cultural logic of good life automobility (GLA) that positions cars, a quintessential form of private property, as a motivator for a contemporary “good life” citizenship identity that cultivates neoliberal subjectivities of free movement and market consumption in contempt of socialized and racialized public transit futures. The introduction chapter elaborates on the boundaries of GLA while also contextualizing the two analysis chapters through …

Bipoc Stem Scholarship And Mentorship Initiative: A Community Based Approach To Expanding Access And Equity In Stem Education, Raymond Davis Jr.

Master of Public Administration for Senior Leadership

Across the United States, persistent inequities continue to limit access to Science,  Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education for Black, Indigenous, and  People of Color (BIPOC) students. Despite increased national attention toward diversity,  equity, and inclusion over the past decade, measurable improvements in participation,  retention, and degree completion in STEM fields have not kept pace. These disparities  remain deeply rooted in structural inequalities that influence educational access, resource  distribution, and long-term career opportunities.

The issue is frequently described as a“pipeline problem,”suggesting that students enter  STEM pathways but fail to persist through to completion. While this metaphor is useful, it  oversimplifies …

Exploring The Biocultural Profile Of The Undocumented Populations Of The Sonoran Corridor: A Skeletal Assessment Of The Prevention Through Deterrence Strategy, Mary A. Vaughn

Department of Anthropology: Theses and Student Research

Over the last thirty years the mortality rate of the undocumented population at the US-Mexico border has risen, requiring methods distinguishing US-born individuals from immigrants to improve the likelihood of identification and repatriation through foreign consulates. Forensic anthropologists with the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner (PCOME) have advocated for the use of the biocultural profile, combining the biological profile with factors including oral health, osteological stress, and personal effects. The biocultural profile serves two purposes, functioning both as a tool for identification and with which to document structural inequality within communities of origin.

This study examines changes in …

2026 May, Morehead State University. Office Of Communications & Marketing.

Morehead State Press Release Archive, 1961 to the Present

Press releases for May of 2026.

Massachusetts' Unseen Contributors: The Economic Contribution Of Its Latino Population With Irregular Immigration Status, Phillip Granberry, Mariana Dutra

Gastón Institute Publications

This report shows that so-called “irregular” Latinos are an essential part of the

workforce. Beyond community spending, consumer activity, and taxes paid

(including tax benefits that many will never benefit from), it is important to

remember that we are talking about people— human beings with stories, families,

difficult choices, and dreams. I hope that in the near future, when we are able to

dream big again, this analysis will sustain our advocacy for systems that truly reflect

our (Latino) contributions to the Commonwealth and beyond.

Patterns In Awareness And Uptake Of The Lpa Among Older Adults In Singapore, Paulin Tay Straughan, Emi Loh, Shu Fang Ng, Yi Wen (Chen Yiwen) Tan, Wensi Lim

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Findings from a survey with 7910 Singapore Life Panel members reveal that awareness of the Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) was relatively high, but actual uptake remained low, with only one in three having made an LPA and pronounced gaps among lower socioeconomic groups. Despite this, attitudes towards LPA were generally positive, with perceived benefits centered on peace of mind and reducing burdens on family members. A major barrier to adoption is the misconception that children automatically have the legal authority to make decisions if parents lose mental capacity. Structural and psychological barriers, including cost, complexity, and limited guidance, further …

The Impact Of Job Satisfaction, Organizational Commitment, And Employee Engagement On The Intent To Leave The Law Enforcement Profession For Police Officers, Veronica Lynn Dougherty-Denny

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In today’s dynamic organizational environment, worker factors such as job satisfaction, employee engagement, organizational commitment, and psychological contract fulfillment are vital for organizational success. This study examined their perceived relationship with police officers’ intent to leave the law enforcement profession. The problem addressed worked to understand factors influencing retention, including psychological contract breaches and workplace outcomes. The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate the perceived relationship between job satisfaction, employee engagement, organizational commitment, and intent to leave the law enforcement profession all housed within the psychological contract. Five research questions addressed these variables and demographic factors (gender, years …

The Effects Of Poverty On Student Achievement And Behavior, Dwayne Lucas

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Poverty can have a devastating impact on the academic achievement of students and their potential for positive adult outcomes. One of the most impactful aspects in the fight against the impact of poverty is student engagement. There must be attention paid to how engagement impacts a student’s potential for success as well as what strategies can be employed to improve engagement. It was the goal of this study to determine how relationships and engagement impacted student outcomes and educational experience. This study attempted to determine what strategies educators utilize to increase student engagement. Using observations and semi-structured interviews, the researcher …

One Faculty, One Mission: A Unified Faculty Model For California Community Colleges, Debbie Klein

Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy

This article advances a unified, non-tiered faculty model as essential to fulfilling the mission of the California Community Colleges (CCC) system. Although the system is charged with realizing open access and educational equity, nearly 70% of faculty serve in part-time or contingent roles—often without proportional compensation, institutional stability, or meaningful participation in governance. Drawing on research demonstrating that faculty working conditions shape student learning conditions, the article argues that structural employment inequities undermine the system’s democratic promise. Situating the proposal within national “One Faculty” efforts and recent legislative attention to pay parity in California, it demonstrates that reform is both …

Colonialism, Conflict, Capital, And Coups: Drivers Of Médecins Sans Frontières Operations In Mali Post-2022, Gina T. Fiorenza

Honors Capstones

Previous research has indicated that an NGO’s funding stream can limit its organizational decision making and inadvertently cause NGOs to place the priorities of donors over that of their beneficiaries. Additionally, Western-international NGOs operating in the Global South have been accused of engaging and perpetuating imbalanced power structures, often facing accusations of racism. To analyze these issues, I conducted a quantitative analysis of financial reports in conjunction with a qualitative analysis of activity reports in Mali in the past 20 years.  My findings indicate that MSF’s past collaboration with the Malian government and decision to reject state funding allows the …

Occupational Stressors And Health Impacts Among First Responders, Mason N. Roach

Honors College Theses

The United States 911 emergency response system is an interconnected web of public services that seeks to provide its community with care, resources, and safety in times of need. However, the impact of this support on the employees providing the service often goes unnoticed. This review identifies and analyzes the unique strains on first responders' physical and mental health using the Job Demand-Control Model and the Allostatic Load Model. A review of available research literature supports the conclusion that occupational-related stress, including trauma exposure, shift work, poor leadership, and inadequate communication, can have long-lasting negative impacts on provider health.

Hidden Barriers: Enforcement Asymmetry And The Political Economy Of U.S.–Mexico Food Trade And The Cattle Industry, Sabina Prieto, Chris Jackson

Honors Thesis

This project examines how enforcement irregularities in Mexican food safety regulation affect small exporters’ ability to access U.S. markets. On paper, agricultural trade is regulated by laws on food quality, certification, and logistics. In practice, it is how those rules are enforced. In Mexico, big firms and producer associations tend to gain steady support and easier certification, while smaller producers face delays, rejections, or inconsistent oversight that make it much harder to compete. This study uses a comparative case study approach to analyze how similar industries produce different outcomes in market access. By tracing key events such as disease outbreaks, …

Public Sector Employment: An Examination Of The Perceptions Of Potential Employees And The Realities Of Public Sector Hiring Agencies, Davis B. Chambliss

Honors Theses

This study investigates the growing challenge of recruiting Gen Z employees into the public sector, focusing on the disconnect between younger workers’ career preferences and their perceptions of government employment. While prior research suggests that Gen Z values purpose-driven work, stability, and community impact, public sector organizations continue to face hiring shortages and an aging workforce. The research employs a mixed-methods approach, combining a literature review with original survey data collected from two groups: college students and public servants from three states. The student survey generated 119 responses, with 72 qualifying participants, while the public servant survey yielded 30 responses. …