Digital Commons Network^™

High-Level Requirements For Conceptual Design Of Bridge Deflection Measurement System Using Model-Based Systems Engineering, Mariana Villalabeitia Arenas

Theses and Dissertations

Bridges are essential in the infrastructure transportation system. Repairs and maintenance are the key activities to keep them safe for use. Over the years, the evolution of technology has been applied to improve the way bridges are designed, built, monitored, inspected, and repaired. Nevertheless, there is still a gap between the research efforts and the application of this knowledge in the practical field of bridge inspections. Model-based Systems Engineering is a formalized methodology in the system design that is centered around the model throughout all the life cycle stages of a system, supporting the requirements, design, analysis, verification, and validation …

Evaluation Of Human Mobility From Crowd-Sourced Cellular Data, Sasa Knezevic

Theses and Dissertations

Understanding patterns of human mobility plays a vital role in urban planning, traffic management, disease control, environmental impact evaluation, provisioning of services by both public and private enterprise and other areas of human activity. In this thesis, the human mobility patterns are studied using crowd sourced cellular data. The study characterizes human mobility through a meaningful set of mobility parameters. Each parameter is clearly defined, extracted from the available data, and described using statistical modeling tools. The parameters are evaluated at different time scales. It has been determined that despite its apparent randomness on the individual level, human mobility on …

The Rhetoric Of Teaching A Crisis: Incorporating Rhetorical Pedagogy Into Crisis Communications Textbooks, Maren Louise Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

A crisis is a pivotal moment for a company, and having prepared communicators can impact the reputation and financial state of a company. But there is currently a gap in learning how to manage a crisis and performing in the workplace. To explore this problem, I analyzed the four most popular textbooks in crisis communications and analyzed how they used theory to help students craft a fitting response to a crisis. My thesis recommends incorporating rhetorical theory, specifically the theory of the rhetorical situation, to bridge theory and practice and provide students with flexible theory to learn how to respond …

Risk Propensity In Journalists: An Analysis Of Journalists’ Personality Traits And How They Direct Behavior In The Field, Ellen Katherine Dunn

Theses and Dissertations

Much like first responders, journalists run toward dangerous scenes instead of away from them, often putting themselves at risk. Unlike first responders, there is no research on a how a person’s risk propensity ties to their career. For this project, reporters of various ages and tenures were surveyed on their sensation-seeking levels and propensity to engage in risky behaviors while working as journalists. Journalism risk propensity correlated positively with sensation seeking. Risk motivations increase with age and tenure, meaning that older and more experienced journalists are more likely to engage in risky behavior. Males are more risk-prone than females. The …

Delivering Computer-Based Training Within State Prisons, Kunal Jha

Theses and Dissertations

Internet-connected devices are ubiquitous, and our built environment allows us to tap into formerly impossible solutions. As our world increasingly depends on technology to operate, one demographic cannot gain exposure to internet-connected devices or web-based educational programs: incarcerated individuals. The Department of Justice reports that 5 out of 6 State Prisoners are arrested and returned to prison within nine years of their initial release. Research shows that education is a pathway to reducing the U.S. prison population. Individuals who participated in any educational program are 43 percent less likely to return to prison.1 Prisons in the United States often partner …

Lo Bueno Y Lo Malo – Assessing Admissions Staff And Practices Supporting Undocumented Students At Illinois’ Four-Year Public Universities, Dave Marcial

Theses and Dissertations

Illinois has enacted legislative policies to provide access to higher education and state funding opportunities for undocumented students. Public Act 093-0007, Illinois RISE Act, and Illinois House Bill 3438 all have implications for Illinois four-year public universities and community colleges.

This dissertation focused on understanding the training, knowledge, and support of the admissions staff at all twelve public four-year universities. A survey was created with the assistance of content experts to gauge admissions staff institutional training and knowledge as it pertains to supporting undocumented students. Approximately 90 admissions staff were identified for the study and 57 participants responded from all …

Predictors Of Probation Outcome And Recidivism Among Nonviolent Drug Offenders In Mandated Treatment, Kira Elisabeth Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

Since the early 1990’s, the criminal justice system has been attempting to address the growing numbers of drug crimes and incarcerations resulting from policy decisions meant to discourage drug use and trade. To address resulting overcrowding in the prison system, drug courts and state mandated drug programs were devised to supervise and treat offenders in the community. Many factors have been identified that affect recidivism and related outcome measures for those mandated to drug treatment programs and probation terms, including age, gender, race, duration of treatment, and dosage of treatment. The current study found that age, gender, treatment duration, and …

Classification Tradeoffs In Multispectral Polarimetric Ladar Architectures, Connor B. Martin

Theses and Dissertations

An end-to-end LADAR system is modeled at the waveform level to perform material classification at a per-pixel basis. A K-Nearest Neighbors machine learning algorithm is chosen to make predictions using polarimetric material characteristics as features. A variable receiver design is modeled to allow for the use of multiple configurations of Polarization State Analyzers. This research investigates the inclusion of multiple wavelengths in the transmitted laser pulse to improve classification accuracy. Additionally, the effects of lowering the receiver’s detector bandwidth are investigated. Through the classification process, transmitting a multispectral laser pulse is shown to improve classification and may improve future LADAR …

Shared Reflection On The Perceived Effect Of Culturally Responsive School Leadership On Student Suspension Data In K-8th Grade Chicago Public Schools, Christopher Alan Donald Graves

Theses and Dissertations

Racial discrimination in schools in the U.S. has resulted in a disproportionate number of Black students receiving exclusionary and punitive consequences, in which they are more likely to end up part of the School to Prison Pipeline and less likely to graduate. The researcher completed interviews with eight elementary school principals in Chicago Public Schools whom were identified using publicly available data. All participants were selected for their prior success in reducing the number of Black student suspensions by at least 20% during the years of 2016-2019. The focus of this study was to determine (1) What school leadership practices …

Non-Dac Donors: A Better Alternative Or Rather Corruption Stimulants?, Farida Ehab Elzakzouk

Theses and Dissertations

Foreign development aid has for long been part of many aid receiving countries’ development agendas in hope of it assisting their economic and social development plans. For decades the traditional development aid providers, who are members of the OECD and are known as DAC donors, have been criticized for not specializing and instead fragmenting their donations hence leaving space for corrupt officials in the receiving countries to exploit the donations. Recently, a new type of donors has emerged, who are not part of the OECD. The emergence of these new donors, known as non-DAC donors, makes us, as political scientists …

On The Balcony, Beyond “Balconearing”; Perception Of Cairene Women, Behind The Curtains., Rowida Magdy Al-Gebeily

Theses and Dissertations

This study sheds light on the significance and role of threshold spaces as means of accomplishing sociocultural needs, restoration and wellbeing in the residential environment. Understanding the function and uses of these spaces allows us to appreciate their benefits that are often neglected. The research particularly focuses on the social dimension of one fundamental threshold space; the Cairene balcony. It is an integral space that provides a valuable connection to the outside, and its importance in the development of urban living is widely recognized. If carefully designed to meet the residents’ needs and demands, they can promote a better quality …

Safety Behind The Computer Screen: Gauging Public Perceptions About Teacher Student Sexual Abuse, Kilby E. Raptopoulos

Theses and Dissertations

Female sex offenders are often portrayed in the media more leniently than male sex offenders, which could influence the way the public perceives these offenders. Further, the media is not always accurate in how they portray sex crimes either which can translate to misconceptions among the public specifically regarding sex offenders. The purpose of this research was to explore media coverage of teacher student sexual abuse in relation to the public’s reaction to these news stories. The current study utilized news stories to analyze reader comments on a news website to understand 1) how teacher sex offenders are portrayed, 2) …

A Structural Examination Of Organizational Justice, Self-Legitimacy, Employee Engagement, And Civic Engagement In Police, Mary Isis Wuestewald

Theses and Dissertations

Recently, the concept of police self-legitimacy has spurred research interest. Several studies have demonstrated beneficial outcomes associated with officers who are confident in their own authority. The current dissertation builds on this emerging area of study by examining the influence of organizational justice on police self-legitimacy, as well as self-legitimacy’s impact on employee engagement and civic engagement in police officers. Survey data were gathered from a sample of 1,391 officers from variously sized agencies across seven regions of the United States. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses. The results indicate that organizational justice is a key component …

Raising The Cyber Guard: Analyzing The Cost And Use Of The National Guard In Local Municipal And State Cyber Defense, Hunter Lacroix

Theses and Dissertations

Cybersecurity is a national priority for the Homeland Security enterprise. Yet, despite a prioritization at the federal level, municipal and state governments have struggled to incorporate the National Guard in cyber incident response. Cyber incidents strain municipalities and states, which have spent significant resources to mitigate cyber threats. The glaring gap in the National Guard’s role in municipal and state cyber incident response warrants two key questions as to why the National Guard isn’t more readily used. “Is it cost prohibitive to use National Guard assets when compared to private entities?” Or “is there an underlying sociological disconnect regarding the …

The Effects Of Long-Term Incarceration On Women: An Investigation Of The Re-Entry Journey Of Four Long-Term Incarcerates Living At A Re-Entry Program, Francine White

Theses and Dissertations

The social problem under investigation was that although there had been a general rise in the number of incarcerated women in the United States, these women faced several challenges trying to re-enter society upon their release from incarceration. The purpose of this qualitative single case study research was to explore how a re-entry program, from the perspective of previously incarcerated women, attempted to integrate incarcerated women back into society. The study considered how the re-entry program could be designed to reduce recidivism in women. The research design was a qualitative case study with six data sources: individual interviews of previously …

A Measure Predicting Treatment Outcome For Sexual Offenders, Kaitlin Alyssa Guston

Theses and Dissertations

Researchers generally agree that treatment reduces the likelihood of sexual offender recidivism. However, studies show attrition rates of up to 85% in some treatment programs for sex offenders. Because many risk factors for recidivism and treatment attrition are the same, the present study used gold-standard risk assessments to predict which sex offenders would not complete a community treatment program. The Static-99r, Stable-2007, and URICA assessed static risk factors, dynamic needs, and responsivity to treatment for 289 sex offenders. Pre-treatment scores from the sex offenders in the sample indicated that these assessment instruments could predict treatment attrition for sex offenders in …

The Impact Of The Authority Gradient Created By Rank Imbalance On The Role Effectiveness Of U.S. Coast Guard Safety Officers, James Bernard Mccormack

Theses and Dissertations

Coast Guard air station commands have three department heads referred to as the Tri-P, consisting of the safety officer, operations officer, and engineering officer. The safety officer is generally junior in rank to the other members of the Tri-P despite what is advertised as an equal position within the command structure. The purpose of this study was to explore rank imbalance for Coast Guard safety officers at air stations throughout the United States by examining their perceptions in a quantitative survey. All current Coast Guard safety officers were eligible for participation in the survey. The survey revealed that safety officers …

Estimation Of Idle Time Using Machine Learning Models For Vehicle-To-Grid (V2g) Integration And Services, Prashanth Rajagopalan

Theses and Dissertations

As the Electric Vehicles (EVs) market continues to expand, ensuring the access to charging stations remains a significant concern. This work focuses on addressing multiple challenges related to EV charging behavior and Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) services. Firstly, it focuses on accurate minute-ahead (20 minute \& 30 minute intervals) load forecasts for an EV charging station by using four years of historical data, from 2018-2021. This data is recorded from a university campus garage charging station. Machine Learning (ML) models such as Seasonal Auto-Regressive Integrated Moving Average (SARIMA), Random Forest (RF), and Neural Networks (NN) are employed for load forecasts in terms …

Performance Analysis Of Data-Driven Algorithms In Detecting Intrusions On Smart Grid, Tala Talaei Khoei

Theses and Dissertations

The traditional power grid is no longer a practical solution for power delivery due to several shortcomings, including chronic blackouts, energy storage issues, high cost of assets, and high carbon emissions. Therefore, there is a serious need for better, cheaper, and cleaner power grid technology that addresses the limitations of traditional power grids. A smart grid is a holistic solution to these issues that consists of a variety of operations and energy measures. This technology can deliver energy to end-users through a two-way flow of communication. It is expected to generate reliable, efficient, and clean power by integrating multiple technologies. …

Applying Human Error Framework To Explore Prevention Strategies For Wrong Surface Events, William Bowers

Theses and Dissertations

Wrong surface events are a serious and ongoing risk to aviation safety in the United States National Airspace System. A wrong surface event occurs when an aircraft lands, departs or attempts to land or depart from a surface other than the intended landing or takeoff, also including aircraft landing at the wrong airport. This research examined the contextual factors that contributed to human error ultimately leading to wrong surface events, assessed the efficacy of technology that can be used to prevent, and aviation professional’s awareness of wrong surface events in order to determine prevention strategies that can reduce occurrences in …

Learning Through Business Unit Failure: A Study Of Individuals And Mid-Level Managers, Corinna Calhoun

Theses and Dissertations

Research on business failure focuses primarily on entrepreneurs and largely ignores individuals and mid-level managers who comprise most corporate populations. This study aimed to mitigate this gap by exploring how 15 individuals and mid-level managers working in a Fortune 50 technology company experienced failure and how their beliefs impacted their experience and learnings. Qualitative interview data were analyzed using a schema from the literature. The results suggested that emotional regulation, belief in personal agency, and separation of self from work supported learning and positive outcomes. Future research would create deeper insights into the social impacts on emotions and sensemaking and …

Underrepresentation Of Black Participants In Drug Court: Reasons Reported For Non-Admission In Six Jurisdictions, Kathryn J. Genthon

Theses and Dissertations

Despite the beneficial impacts of drug court participation, access to these programs may not be equitable across racial groups. The reasons behind racial disparities in access to these programs are not well-documented in the current literature. This study investigates disparities in access to drug court and the possible reasons they occur. Chi-square tests are used to assess for disparities in admissions between Black and White individuals referred to drug court. Additional statistical analyses addressed the association of sex and age with admission to provide a broader picture of the impact of a variety of demographic characteristics on admission to drug …

Development & Evaluation Of An Introductory Webinar Training For Mental Health Professionals Working With Perpetrators Of Child Sexual Abuse: A Strengths-Based Sociocultural Perspective, Angie Yvette Reyes

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation project was to develop an introductory webinar resource to provide training of mental health professionals (MHPs) to work with perpetrators of child sexual abuse (PCSA). The training utilizes a strengths-based approach with a focus on sociocultural considerations for working with this population. A literature review revealed a gap in resources, treatment, and clinical training pertaining to PCSA. The results of an initial training needs survey among MHPs indicated that MHPs do not receive education or training on PCSA and could benefit from training. Through this webinar training, MHPs acquire a basic understanding of PCSA and …

From The Boardroom To The Laptop: An Exploration Of African-American Women's Journeys Navigating The Transition From Corporate America To Digital Entrepreneurship, Nina Grace Shelby

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative research explores African-American women's challenges transitioning from Corporate America to entrepreneurship. It aims to highlight the lived experiences of African-American women entrepreneurs and the strategies they employ to achieve successful business ownership. The study utilized a phenomenological approach, using in-depth interviews with African-American women entrepreneurs to gather data on their experiences. The research findings identify significant challenges such as bias and discrimination, lack of resources and support, and personal obstacles that African-American women face when transitioning to entrepreneurship. The research study also identifies effective business practices used by African-American women, such as networking, mentoring, and having a solid …

The Contribution Of Self-Efficacy And Counselor Biases Effects On Clinical Reasoning In New Counselors, Ashley Faith Waddington

Theses and Dissertations

Clinical reasoning is widely used among several medical professionals and personnel to diagnose conditions to streamline the treatment process in an effective manner. Researchers have explored clinical reasoning in nursing literature and the medical profession, however, have not been explored in counselor education despite counselors being one of the largest groups of individuals diagnosing mental health conditions. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the correlation of self-efficacy and counselor biases influence on uncertainty with diagnosis in new counselors. The hypothesized directional relationship was explored in new counselors as the hypothesis suggests that higher levels of self-efficacy and …

The Impact Of Job Demands And Job Resources On Clery Officers’ Feelings Of Self-Efficacy, Jacqueline Pontius-Hogan

Theses and Dissertations

This applied dissertation was designed to better understand how to support university administrators serving in a compliance role. Safety on university campuses is of utmost importance and many collaborators work toward this endeavor. Generally, on any given college or university campus, there is one administrator tasked with compliance with the Clery Act. Administrators had varying direct experience and interest in serving in this role, though all understood the importance of compliance and the consequences of noncompliance.

The researcher interviewed Clery Officers from multiple campuses. Utilizing semistructured interviews, information was gathered as to how self-efficacious these administrators felt. The intent behind …

The Lived Experiences Of 911 Telecommunicators: Life Outside Of The Call Center, Mary's Dariela Martinez

Theses and Dissertations

911 operators are tasked with solving the caller's problem by promptly and efficiently decoding a cry for help, collecting pertinent information, quickly deciding its priority level, and dispatching the appropriate assistance. These employees are responsible for what happens on that line, internalizing their problems to solve those of the callers, which often result in stress disorders, trauma, and personal, professional, and social issues. Their job duties are extensive, the responsibility is vast, and the overall environment can be overwhelming. Aside from the environmental stressors, the details of each critical incident leave the employee susceptible to various risk factors and other …

Examining Campus Crime At Massachusetts’ Colleges And Universities, Kimberly Beskalo Stewart

Theses and Dissertations

This study was designed to examine the predictors of campus crime. College campuses are not immune to crime, and as such, campus crime is a concern not only for those students who reside and attend classes on the campus, but also for those who work on the campus and for the parents of the college students. The attention to crime on college campuses has increased in the recent past. This is due to events that have occurred on college campuses including the events at both Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois that resulted in the deaths of students and faculty/staff. To …

First-Line Police Supervisors’ Utilization Of Criminal Justice Higher Education, Dennis George Hippert

Theses and Dissertations

A first-line police supervisor holds a large influence over street-level police officer behavior (Ingram, et al., 2014), but little consistency exists between police agencies regarding the minimum educational requirements necessary to successfully perform the functions of a first-line police supervisor. This study explored the experiences of criminal justice degree holding first-line police supervisors in using the content of their college curriculum to guide street-level officers in acceptable use of force practices, professional communication with the public, and discretionary decision-making. Employing a grounded theory method of inquiry with a constructivist approach, this study utilized semi-structured, one-on-one interviews to examine the ways …

State Attorneys’ Perceptions On The Role Of Racial Disparities In The Juvenile Justice System, Allison Cohen

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation was prepared to offer a scholarly investigation on the justice officials’ consideration of race in making decisions for sanctions and sentencing of African American juveniles. The research provided an extreme review of the justice system to place in context the differential treatment of Black youths. African American juveniles’ cumulative experience of discrimination and racial disparities in the juvenile justice system and adult criminal justice system. An examination of the overrepresentation of African Americans in the justice system. A journey from juvenile delinquency to adult criminality. An early destination starts at arrest to intake to juvenile court then transfer …