Digital Commons Network^™

Understanding The Limits Of Transnational Ngo Power: Forms, Norms, And The Architecture, Hans Peter Schmitz

School of Leadership and Education Sciences: Faculty Scholarship

A growing chorus of critics have called upon transnational nongovernmental organizations (TNGOs) from the Global North to “decolonize” their practices, to “shift the power” to the Global South, and to put an end to “white saviorism” by initiating a variety of significant organizational changes. Despite these repeated calls, the TNGO sector still struggles to reform. Explanations for TNGOs’ ongoing struggles from within the field of international relations have generally centered on TNGOs themselves and the ironies and paradoxes of organizational growth and financial success. This article introduces a different argument that TNGOs’ struggles to adapt in response to their critics …

Improved Monitoring Of Depression And Suicidal Ideation In Low-Income Adolescents Through Evidenced Based Provider Education, Sunday Adeyeye

Doctor of Nursing Practice Final Manuscripts

Background: Adolescents from low-income status experience more prevalent thoughts of suicide than their financially secure peers. Nearly 15% considered taking their own life. Suicidal ideation among adolescents in California ranges from 4% to 67%. Depression and suicidal thoughts are underdiagnosed among adolescents, with higher disparities among minority and lower socioeconomic backgrounds.

Purpose: This project involved consistent screening of high-risk adolescents for potential depression and suicidal ideation using a patient health questionnaire recommended by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force screening.

Process: This project involved adolescents 12–18 years old who had visited a federally qualified healthcare center in San Bernardino, California. …

Smiling Mind: A Mobile Based Application To Reduce Stress, Agnes Rodrigues

Doctor of Nursing Practice Final Manuscripts

It has been recognized healthcare professionals experience high levels of stress at work with many working in environments characterized by high productivity targets, overtime, customer aggression, continuous organizational changes, and employee shortages. Mindfulness-based interventions such as mobile based meditation applications have gained popularity in the workplace given their potential benefits in decreasing workplace related stress, their ease of use, and cost-effectiveness. The purpose of this evidence based project (EBP) project was to reduce perceived workplace stress and to increase mindfulness using a mobile meditation application. Employees of an outpatient psychiatric clinic used the mobile meditation application Smiling Mind to meditate …

Reaching For The Stars: A Constructivist Investigation Of Astrology As A Tool For Self-Discovery In A New Age Of Leadership, Cameron Martin

Dissertations

To fully understand leadership in today’s world, we need a radical reconceptualization of the developmental process required to lead. Changing paradigms demands new perspectives on leadership; these new paradigms suggest leaders must turn inward and develop knowledge of their inner selves to realize their full potential as leaders.

Astrology is an ancient way of knowing and making sense of the world and one’s place in it that provides benefits to many people in our modern world, despite fervent academic, religious, and scientific criticism. Astrology is more than a divination tool. It is an entire epistemology of self in relation to …

Walk The Talk: Value Congruence For Social Change In Panhellenic Sororities, Anjelica Cespedes

M.A. in Higher Education Leadership: Action Research Projects

As a result of the ongoing wave of civil unrest in the United States, many university organizations have re-evaluated their current structures and policies to increase emphasis on social justice principles. In particular, the leaders of the University of San Diego Panhellenic Council have verbally expressed an interest in creating a more socially just Panhellenic experience. However, feedback from community members via anonymous reports and social media posts, coupled with observations of the Council reveal leadership has yet to take tangible and sustained action. This project investigated the value congruence of USD Panhellenic leadership to better understand the process between …

Exploring Restorative Justice As An Adaptable Resolution For Gender-Based Misconduct, Jessica D. Naidu

M.A. in Higher Education Leadership: Action Research Projects

Restorative justice, an approach to harm rooted in Indigenous culture, asks three central questions: 1) What is the harm? 2) Who is impacted? 3) How can we repair it? This is a vastly different approach to most criminal justice procedures that instead seek to determine who broke what rule and how they should be punished. Although a modern resurgence of restorative justice has exploded across college campuses, higher education has been slow to adopt the approach for relationship violence and sexual harm. In this study, victim advocates, conduct professionals, and university administrators at the University of San Diego participated in …

Using Visual Storytelling To Design Solutions-Based Approaches To Homelessness, Peggy Peattie

Dissertations

Despite millions of dollars spent over several decades on assistance programs, the nation’s homeless population has increased for the last four years in a row. The number of people reporting as homeless for the first time doubled in San Diego between June 2019 and June 2020. Trying to impose a one-size-fits-all model of care on a population comprised of unique individuals has resulted in many homeless opting for the street rather than subjugating themselves to rules they feel do not treat them with respect and dignity. Yet, the perspectives of homeless individuals are excluded from decision-making dialogue around policies and …

Global E-Commerce Readiness Of U.S. Smes Towards The Mexican Market: Are American Small Businesses Prepared For Digital Commerce To Mexico?, Ricardo Cardoza, Eileen Daspro Dba

McNair Summer Research Program

The entry into force of the United States-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement on July 1st, 2020, ushered in a new era of regional trade for the region. The modernized agreement’s inclusion of a chapter specifically focused on expanding digital trade and investment reflected a business phenomenon that had expanded markedly over the last ten years: cross-border e-commerce within the former NAFTA region. This article examines the literature needed to assess the readiness of U.S. small and medium-sized businesses (SME’s) to sell to the Mexican market online based on the degree of localization of their firm’s websites towards the Mexican market. First, a …

Understanding The Benefits Of Experiential Learning For Executive Leader Development: A Mixed Methods Approach, Bruce Loveless

Dissertations

This study sought to understand the benefits of using experiential learning methods (such as outdoor activities) for executive leader development from the perspective of senior corporate, government, and nonprofit leaders. Increasingly, executive development programs are embracing “learning by doing” by incorporating experiential activities. Although most programs are influenced by developmental psychology (such as stage theory), this study integrated perspectives from adult, transformative, and experiential learning with common practices in outdoor adventure education into a new conceptual framework for experiential leader development with four types of experiences: intrapersonal, interpersonal, managerial, and environmental. This study fills a gap in research literature regarding …

Understanding And Enhancing The Graduate Admissions Experience For Dacamented/Undocumented Students, Taylor Ulrich

M.A. in Higher Education Leadership: Action Research Projects

The informal and often ad hoc nature of college admissions can deter DACAmented/ Undocumented students from applying, being admitted, or choosing to enroll in higher education. Admissions offices can serve as a resource to these students, assisting them in navigating this extensive process. The purpose of my research was to better understand the DACAmented/Undocumented graduate student experience and explore how DACAmented/Undocumented students’ needs could be better met in graduate admissions at University of San Diego. The research questions guiding my study were (1) how could I understand and enhance the DACAmented/Undocumented graduate student experience? and (2) how could I work …

Student Success Coaching: Intentional Training For Professional And Program Development, Andrea Aduna

M.A. in Higher Education Leadership: Action Research Projects

The purpose of my research was to improve the effectiveness of the Student Success Coaching Program’s retention and outreach of students on academic probation and midterm deficiencies. The research question is: How can I professionally develop the student success coaches, or peer coaches, to better engage with their nontraditional students? Research suggests that coaching programs must first define the unique support they provide students to be fully proactive. How can diversity and inclusion training add to the effectiveness of the program and the coach’s impact on students throughout the academic semester? The significance of my research was the value of …

Resistance To Change: A Concept Analysis, Briony Marie Dubose Rn, Mhi, Ann M. Mayo Rn, Dnsc, Faan

School of Nursing and Health Science: Faculty Scholarship

The purpose of this concept analysis is to explore the concept of resistance and provide an operational definition for nurse leaders. While resistance has been deemed a major barrier to the implementation of successful practice change in popular literature, specific evidence as to how it is a barrier within health care organizations is lacking. The Walker and Avant model of concept analysis was used to analyze the concept of resistance. Literature searches utilized the Cumulative Index for Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), PsychARTICLES, and Google scholar. Resistance is defined as an individual's behavior in response to perceived or actual …

A Dnp-Led Educational In-Service To Increase Depression Screening In Primary Care, Shaylyn White

Doctor of Nursing Practice Final Manuscripts

Background: Depressive disorders are a major contributor to disability in the United States and worldwide. They are associated with multiple comorbid conditions including cardiovascular disease, obesity, stroke, and premature mortality. In the US, only 4.2% of primary care patients are being screened for depression and approximately 50% of cases of major depression are being missed.

Purpose: Implementation of a nurse practitioner-led educational intervention, discussing when, why, and how to screen utilizing the PHQ-2 and PHQ-9 screening tools, with the medical assistant staff in order to increase compliance with annual screening.

EBP Model/Frameworks: The Iowa model was used to guide implementation …

Leadership Development Of Women In Panhellenic Organizations, Kristen Reynolds

M.A. in Higher Education Leadership: Action Research Projects

This study seeks to understand how women of Panhellenic sororities at the University of San Diego (USD) define and perform their meaning of leadership to create positive change in their organizations. My overarching research question was: How can I assist the members of Panhellenic sororities at USD to take up their authority as leaders to influence positive change in their chapter? This research reflects my experiences with Panhellenic sorority women at USD and intentional stakeholders throughout the 2019-2020 academic year. This study was influenced by Ira Chaleff's work on courageous followership, Baxter Magolda’s theory of self-authorship, and David Cooperrider, Diana …

Promoting Learner Agency Through Critical Pedagogy In The English Language Classroom, Susan Zyphur

School of Leadership and Education Sciences: Student Scholarship

In this self-study action research project, I explored how students exercised agency and how it may be affected by a critical pedagogy approach in a community college English as a Second Language (ESL) setting. The participants were adults enrolled in an advanced ESL course in a community college in the greater San Diego area. Students engaged in three dialogic circles as part of a needs assessment dialogue and two successive critical pedagogy dialogues. Data were collected using a classroom observation protocol (supported by audio recordings of the dialogues), student writings in response to journal prompts, and an analytic journal which …

Do We All Agree? A Mixed-Methods Study Of The Impact Of Climate Strength On Psychological Safety, Team Learning, And Team Performance, Taylor Harrell

Dissertations

The majority of today’s organizations rely on teamwork to drive innovation and achieve success. Evidence suggests that two constructs—psychological safety and team learning behavior—demonstrate significant predictive power on performance. Existing research posits that the more psychologically safe a team feels, the more it can learn, which enhances its performance. While organizational literature has established links among psychological safety, team learning, and team performance, the conditions under which these relationships are enhanced or diminished are less clear.

Recent studies indicate that climate strength is a factor that significantly influences the relationship between climate variables and outcomes. Climate strength refers to the …

State Bar Of California, Madeline Rojer, Alaina Dye, Bridget Fogarty Gramme

California Regulatory Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

Missed Shots: Increasing Flu Vaccine Documentation Utilizing A Clinical Reminder In A Student Health Clinic, Noelle Simms

Doctor of Nursing Practice Final Manuscripts

Objectives: The primary purpose of this evidence-based practice project is to increase influenza vaccination documentation in the student health setting utilizing a standardized clinical reminder.

Participants: 1,337 undergraduate and graduate students at a private university is Southern California.

Methods: A clinical reminder template was created and added to the intake form in the electronic medical record. The medical assistants complete the template with the patient. The provider then orders the vaccine or educates the patient based on the documented refusal reason.

Results: During the 10-week implementation period there was a 46% increase from baseline in flu vaccine documentation at the …

Do Not Miss Your Shot: Improving Follow-Up In Patients Receiving Long-Acting Injectable Medications, Mary O'Hara

Doctor of Nursing Practice Final Manuscripts

Background: Serious mental illness including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder affects 1 in 24 adults in California. These chronic disorders are difficult to treat and often sabotaged by medication nonadherence. Long-acting injectable (LAI) medications are one strategy to combat medication nonadherence. Effectively providing treatment with LAI medications can be challenging at the clinic level.

Objectives: Reduce the number of days without medication by reducing the number of days between injection due date and injection administration for patients receiving LAI medications.

Design: Establish appointments for all injection visits. Standardize visit protocol for injection encounters to optimize provider time. Arrange immediate follow-up and …

Employee Engagement And Burnout: A Quantitative Study Of Their Correlations With Job/Organizational Satisfaction, Sarah Burnett

Dissertations

Since Kahn introduced the concept of employee engagement in 1990, the focus on motivating employees has been en vogue in practitioner literature. The federal government as well now measures its agencies annually on how well they implement conditions conducive to engagement. Federal agencies are also ranked annually as “Best Places to Work” based on their aggregated score on three survey items deemed to represent job/organizational satisfaction. The concept of burnout, or the so-called “erosion of engagement”, however, has received significantly less attention. To begin to fill this void in the literature, secondary survey data from the 2017 Organizational Assessment Survey …

Empowering Filipino American Young Adults Through Culturally Relevant Leadership Experiences, Donnaly Y. Atajar

M.A. in Higher Education Leadership: Action Research Projects

The purpose of this study was to explore the leadership development of Filipino American young adults. As an advisor for Lakas Mentorship Program in the Inland Empire, I explored the following question among program staff and mentors: How could I use culturally relevant curriculum to foster personal and professional development for young Filipino American leaders? I evaluated the impact of four cycles centered on leadership training and improving program practices to understand how to deepen engagement and facilitate positive transformation. I found that the following contributed to meaningful engagement: intentional leadership opportunities, institutionalized program structure, and peer mentorship and community …

Changemakers Bend The Beam Inward: Contemplative Practices In Social Innovation Education, Catherine Northcutt

M.A. in Higher Education Leadership: Action Research Projects

Why, as a global community, are we collectively creating results that nobody wants such as poverty, hunger, and inequality? Learning about the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the leadership learning and change theory known as Theory U by Otto Scharmer (2009), led to a profound shift in my awareness of the global challenges we face as a species and a strong desire to study Theory U. This action research report includes an explanatory account of my collaboration with the University of San Diego Global Social Innovation Community to cultivate vertical literacy (capacity for awareness of self and …

The Role Of For-Profit Educational Leadership Styles In Creating Shared Values, Diyang Yu

M.A. in Leadership Studies: Capstone Project Papers

Based on previous studies that assert that for-profit organizations have the capacity to create value in education, I assume that the private educational sector can take on a great role in advancing educational outcomes. This study explores assumptions about organizational culture and adaptive leadership styles as a basis for creating shared value (CSV) in the education for-profit sector. Through integrating educational leadership theories and leadership characteristics in CSV practices, the adaptive leadership characteristics appeared in this study present the values and assumptions for leaders. Based on this concept, the study generates some common factors from adaptive organizational culture and the …

Nudge Or Puppet? Decision-Making, Ethics, And Leadership In The Information Age, Yihe Yang

M.A. in Leadership Studies: Capstone Project Papers

In the past two decades, algorithm-based information technology has provided great convenience and a strong theoretical foundation for organizational leadership decision-making, since the analysis of contextual information from data analysis and mathematical models enhances decision-makers’ judgments. However, improper use and insufficient understanding of information technology also bring negative results throughout the practical application. To eliminate adverse effects, organization leader requires rigorous ethical demands. A case study for IBM and literature review constituted the paper’s methodology, analyzed through the East-West decision theory, the duality of information technology, and the ancient Chinese ethics. Also, the leadership ethics and the adaptive leadership theory …

State Bar Of California, Madeline Rojer, Aliana Dye, Bridget Fogarty Gramme

California Regulatory Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

Prevention Of Functional Decline In Hospitalized Geriatric Patients: An Evidence-Based Mobility Pilot Project On An Acute Care Elderly (Ace) Unit, Hannah Grushkowsky

Doctor of Nursing Practice Final Manuscripts

Problem: Functional decline is the leading complication of hospitalization in the elderly. Loss of functional independence during hospitalization results from the inability to maintain function during hospitalization compounded by acute illness. Potential negative outcomes from decreased function include increased length of stay (LOS), morbidity, and added discharges to a skilled nursing facilities (SNF).

Introduction: A mobility-based protocol created by an interdisciplinary team was implemented for three months on an 8 to 12-bed specialized Acute Care Elderly (ACE) medical-surgical floor. The purpose of the project was to evaluate if an evidence-based practice (EBP) mobility protocol can decrease discharges to SNFs, falls, …

Understanding The Decline In Participation In Fraternal Organizations: A Mixed Methods Approach, John Hinck

Dissertations

Once considered the schools of democracy and cornerstones for advancing society, many of the 100,800 fraternal organizations in the U.S. have experienced a decline in participation over the past 60 years and their perceived relevance in contemporary society questioned. To date, existing literature has identified several conflicting explanations for this decline. Numerous scholars disagree as to whether external forces such as markets or the government, or internal factors such as member relations or the inability or refusal of organizational leadership to change, or the interrelatedness of these factors account for the decline. Only a few fraternal organizations have studied this …

Tracing The Change Process: Fostering And Sustaining Student Affairs Cultures Of Assessment, Margaret Leary

Dissertations

Student affairs professionals have long been strong contributors to college student learning and development and supporters of the perspective that holistic postsecondary learning is critical for not only the individual but society as well. With more attention focused on the value of this learning, student affairs has taken steps to foster and establish cultures of assessment by creating positions for individuals to coordinate assessment efforts across the division – a student affairs assessment leader. Most of the literature focusing on student affairs is informed by valuable practitioner experience and can be strengthened by empirical study. This explanatory single case study …

Understanding Hidden Diversity: The Third Culture Student Experience At Usd, Bianca Chau

M.A. in Higher Education Leadership: Action Research Projects

The intention of this research was to expand the common notion of who international students are. This research uncovered the unique experiences of third culture students at the University of San Diego with the hopes of raising awareness of the existence of this group of students. The term third culture [student] was defined as an individual “who has spent a significant part of his or her developmental years outside their parent’s culture” (Pollock, Van Reken, & Pollock, 2017, p.23). Third culture students have experienced a highly mobile life; a kind of lifestyle that is unique and unfamiliar to many USD …

Oral History Conversation With Mark Berger, Jack Turner

Philosophy 332: Business Ethics

No abstract provided.