Digital Commons Network^™

Seeking The Wellspring: Exploring Generosity In A Financial Drought, Laurie Ann Johnson

Doctor of Ministry Theses

This action research project utilized transformative qualitative methods to explore the concept of generous giving by examining the attitudes of a small non-random sample of participants within a congregation before and after an intervention consisting of a seven-part sermon series. Theoretical lenses included generosity, adaptive change, and emergence theory. Biblical lenses included Isaiah 43:18-21 and Isaiah 58:6-12 (wellspring in the desert), John 4 (the Samaritan woman at the well), and John 7:37-39 (living water). Theological lenses included missional pneumatology and the missio Dei, the Christian steward, and the holy currencies of the Cycle of Blessings. Findings revealed that presentation of …

Hospitality In The House Of God: Deconstructing Habit And Building Missio Dei, Julia A. Carlson

Doctor of Ministry Theses

This research project addresses neighborliness, change, and hospitality in the life of a mainline church of 1,200 members. It is a congregation that has traditional worship and programming with progressive values. The congregants are not comfortable with change and are coming to terms with the missing Millennial generation. Mixed method Action Research using missional practices of hospitality and neighbor interviews offered new faith formation and relationship growth with neighbors. There were also educational opportunities on change, the missional church movement, and neighborliness. The work relies on the theology of Serene Jones, Kosuke Koyama, and Miroslav Volf.

A Supply Chain Model For Library Quality And Service Improvement, Nancy Kress, Joel Wisner

LEAN Management Initiative

The key to a library’s success is its ability to effectively and economically deliver services and information that users value. Additionally, the objective of supply chain management is to coordinate the focal firm’s processes and activities with those of its suppliers and customers, such that the firm’s delivered products and services meet or exceed customer requirements. It thus seemed appropriate to analyze a library from a supply chain perspective to assess and improve its ability to serve its users. Consequently, the authors employed an action research methodology to work with library personnel from two departments, User Services and Technical Services, …

Licensed Practical Nurses In Rural Communities: Advancing Practice And Increasing Access To Infusion Therapy Services, Ann Stetson

M. S. in Nursing Health Care Leadership

In rural communities, critical access hospitals (CAH) are a crucial part of the healthcare delivery system. CAH leaders are challenged to provide quality care with limited resources. The provision of infusion therapy services for patients in their own community is in direct alignment with Healthy People 2030’s determinants of health and healthcare in rural communities, focusing on high-quality care delivery to people within their own community. The purpose of this project was to implement a certified Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) intravenous therapy training program to enable the provision of such infusion services in the CAH community. Coordination of care among …

Rational And Emotional Tension Balances In The Organization Of Political Hunger Strikes, John Connolly, Paddy Dolan, Steven Vertigans

Articles

This paper is concerned with the relationship between the organization of political hunger strikes, rational calculations and actions and emotions. Drawing from the theoretical formulations of Norbert Elias, we examine how rational–emotional balances generated by different and intertwined tiers of social integration partly shaped the organization of political hunger strikes. Political hunger strikes are interesting because they tend to involve actions based on rational considerations and emotional charges. The empirical context includes a comparative analysis across space and time involving the organization of political hunger strikes in Ireland and (West) Germany during the 20th century. Our analysis suggests a difference …

Decolonial Feminist Theory: Embracing The Gendered Colonial Difference In Management And Organisation Studies, Jennifer Manning

Articles

Feminist theories in management and organization studies, each with their own ontological and epistemological assumptions, offer critical perspectives of the status quo to challenge our idea of progress in the discipline, yet there is limited engagement with ideas, theories, or practices from the lived experiences of Global South women. Decolonial feminism engages with debates pertaining to coloniality/ modernity and indigenous identity and gender in Latin America, while providing a space for the voices and lived experiences of marginalized, non‐Western(ised) women. Positioned in the context of Guatemalan Maya women and deploying critical insights from decolonial feminists, I unpack how the discourse …

World Bank Education Sector: From Internal And External Perspectives, K. W. Lee, Ahreum Han

Health Care Administration Faculty Research

This paper describes the authors’ almost 30-year (1972-1998) personal experience with the World Bank (WB) education sector operations from the internal perspective. Then, it discusses the authors’ 20-year (1999-2020) observation from an external perspective. The paper aims to reveal the goals, objectives, strategies, the mechanism, and processes of decision-making, especially on how an education loan and credit is justified, of the world’s largest international aid organization for the education sector in developing countries (some $4 billion a year). Through this effort, the author provides a sound basis for insiders’ and outsiders’ fair assessments or criticisms of WB education sector operations. …

Adaptation Of The Brockton High School Literacy Initiative To Elementary Schools In Jackson County, West Virginia, Sonya Jane White

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Implementing organizational change related to student achievement is a daunting task that requires buy-in, planning and support structures to ensure fidelity of implementation in the classroom over many years. Brockton High School’s Literacy Model demonstrated such a change is possible and sustainable. Elementary schools in Jackson County, West Virginia were given a mandate from their superintendent to implement the Brockton High School Literacy Model in the kindergarten through fifth grade classrooms in their schools. The immediate concern was how to successfully modify or adapt a high school model to be appropriate for students who were still learning to read and …

Investors As International Law Intermediaries: Using Shareholder Proposals To Enforce Human Rights, Kishanthi Parella

Scholarly Articles

One of the biggest challenges with international law remains its enforcement. This challenge grows when it comes to enforcing international law norms against corporations and other business organizations. The United Nations Guiding Principles recognizes the “corporate responsibility to respect human rights,” which includes human rights due diligence practices that are adequate for “assessing actual and potential human rights impacts, integrating and acting upon the findings, tracking responses, and communicating how impacts are addressed.” Unfortunately, many corporations around the world are failing to implement adequate human rights due diligence practices in their supply chains. This inattention leads to significant harms for …

Turnover During A Corporate Merger: How Workplace Network Change Influences Staying, M. Woehler, Theresa M. Floyd, N. Shah, J. E. Marineau, W. Sung, Travis J. Grosser, J. Fagan, G. Labianca

Management and Marketing Faculty Publications

The upheaval created by a merger can precipitate voluntary employee turnover, causing merging organizations to lose valuable knowledge-based resources and competencies precisely when they are needed most to achieve the merger’s integration goals. While prior research has shown that employees’ connections to coworkers reduce their likelihood of leaving, we know little about how personal social networks should change to increase the likelihood of staying through the disruptive post-merger integration period. In a pre–post study of social network change, we investigate over 15 million email communications between employees within two large merging consumer goods firms over 2 years. We use insights …

Job-Related Attitudes And Burnout Amongst Medical Physicists In The United States, Deborah L. Schofield

Health Sciences Program Student Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

In the last forty-five years, burnout has evolved from a psychological fad to a validated syndrome included in both the 10th and 11th editions of the International Classification of Diseases by the World Health Organization. Numerous studies have been conducted to determine the prevalence and toll of burnout within the health care sector including within the field of oncology. However, the impact of this syndrome on medical physicists has been largely unevaluated. This dissertation study aims to fill the gap in the literature by examining job-related attitudes and burnout amongst medical physicists in the United States. Themulti-dimensional theory of burnout …

Leading Organizational Change: A Case Study In Improving Performance By Improving Culture, Phillip E. Miller

Integrated Studies

This paper will discuss the role that positively changing organizational culture plays in positively improving organizational performance. The research presented will look at how organizational culture is best defined, as well as expand on some key concepts like trust and engagement that are typically present in effective cultures. It considers the role leadership accepts in managing organizational change through their willingness to choose the right model for change and embrace the fact that challenges and complexities exist during the course of change. Both the research and the case study provided will support encouraging an organization looking to improve its performance …

Virginia Commonwealth University Courses [2021], Virginia Commonwealth University

VCU Bulletins

Listing of courses for the 2021-2022 year.

The Impact Of Change Management In The Transformation Of Online Graduate Education, Abeni El-Amin Ph.D.

Management Faculty Publications

This deliberation aims to determine how change management of online graduate education impacts educational curricula. The goal of online graduate education is to connect theory and practice analysis to global workforce needs. Demonstrated is how change management supports innovation in online graduate education. Correspondingly, change management in educational leadership is a critical core competency derived from a student focus, organizational and technological awareness, and matriculation goals, enabling educators to create significant improvements in education environments (Webber & Scott, 2008). Further, education leaders create processes to address organizational problems and technical issues that occur in educational organizations (Baltaci & Balcı, 2017). …

2020 Town Of Littleton Annual Report., Littleton Town Representatives

Littleton, NH Annual Reports

This is an annual report containing vital statistics for a town/city in the state of New Hampshire.

Creating Space For Community Representation In Police Reform, Ayesha Bell Hardaway

Faculty Publications

Input from affected communities is an essential component of the reform process aimed at remedying unconstitutional police practices. Yet, no court in DOJ-initiated police reform consent decree cases has ever granted a community organization’s motion to intervene as a matter of right. Judicial opinions in those cases have largely truncated the Federal Civil Rule 24 analysis when evaluating the interests of impacted communities. Thus, the most success achieved by a small few has been permissive intervention or amici status. The models used by the Department of Justice to elicit the community perspective have largely been frustrating and have failed to …

The Duality Of Reality: Perception Creation Using Symbolic Management, Christopher J. Thomas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

People have historically used different types of symbols to signal an ideology, to create a sense of prestige, or to gain legitimacy. Examples of these types of symbols can be seen in displays ranging from marketing ads to presidential election materials. While these types of symbols tend to be socially constructed, and universally identifiable, the consequences of their use are less uniform in nature. This study explores the gap that currently exists between a symbol’s inherent value and the expected consequences of its use. My theoretical prediction includes two principles: The use of symbolic management to create symbolic environments and …

The Purpose Of Business In An Acquisitive Society, Richard H. Jonsen

Rohrer College of Business Departmental Research

Christian historian R. H. Tawney’s book, The Acquisitive Society, was published in 1920 as Britain and the world emerged from the human tragedy and economic disruption that followed World War I and the 1918-1920 influenza pandemic. Tawney sought to influence the direction of reconstruction in the United Kingdom, arguing for an alternative path for business – serving the common good – as opposed to building personal wealth. This article examines Tawney’s functional society and contemporary common good conceptions of business for application in our emerging post-pandemic context. Several examples of businesses serving the common good are explored, and a framework …

Relationship Between Secondary Industry Certifications And Employment In The Particular Credentialed Area, Kevin R. Cook

Online Theses and Dissertations

Career and Technical Education has long been at the forefront of education and education restructuring. Federal and state legislation have provided guidance and reform to assist in the educating of students in preparation for higher learning and work opportunities. However, there is a lack of information regarding the relationship between preparation of students during high school and employment post-graduation. Particularly in Kentucky, accountability changes in secondary schools have placed greater emphasis on Career and Technical Education certificate attainment as a means to represent transition readiness for graduates. In this bivariate correlation analysis, industry certifications earned by graduating secondary students and …

The Sphere Of Influence Of Learning Development During Organizational Change In A Technological University, Roisin Donnelly, Patrick Flynn

Books/Book Chapters

This chapter explores a shared approach to leading on learning development and educational change in two existing colleges in a new technological university (TU) in Ireland. Considering how organisational change influences teaching and learning is vital but, equally, taking into account how teaching and learning responds and reacts to this change is a key outcome of the chapter. Through an exploration of the role of Head of Learning Development across disciplinary and college structure contexts, we want to convey a shared narrative of leadership in learning development in a changing environment and build on our emerging synergies to do so. …

People Require Proximity: What The Church Can Do To Create Wholeness For Adolescents, Carrington Phauve Wilson

Seattle Pacific Seminary Projects

Historically, many have attempted to advocate for equality by centering an earthly dominant power to bring about likeness to the majority. Unfortunately, even the most noble of causes excludes those furthest from the center source. Therefore, reconciliation must not focus on human structures of power and equality, but God’s, centering the One who created all things, to be again returned to their truthful spaces. Thus, for reconciliation to be a realized truth, we must not center the dominant source of human power, but the furthest out, realizing the likeness to God that humanity continuously excludes. For this, womanism gives a …

Effective School Leadership Mentoring Characteristics In The 21St Century: Moving Beyond Compliance And Conformity, Timothy R. Krieg

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined experienced school district leaders informal and formal mentoring perspectives in times of stressful educational reform. In order to accomplish this qualitative research study, I sought to (a) gain an understanding of how experienced school district leaders viewed the presence of educational reforms, (b) gauge whether experienced school district leaders acknowledge stressors induced by reforms, (c) understand how experienced school district leaders grew into their roles, and (d) learn what role mentor-mentee relationships play in experienced school district leaders sustained effectiveness and success. The purpose of this qualitative grounded constructivist study was to define better and more deeply …

Models For Brand Relationships, Marc Fetscherin, Cleopatra Veloutsou, Francisco Guzman

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Chapter 4: Scholarly Voice And Academic Identity: A Systematic Review Of Doctoral Student Agency, Kenny L. Rigler Ph.D., Christina Anastasia, Abeni El-Amin Ph.D., Robin Throne

Management Faculty Publications

This chapter presents the results of a systematic review of the current scholarship into doctoral student agency from a global perspective. In past work, the authors with others have explored doctoral student and research supervisor agency from the perspective of scholar-practitioner agency within the doctoral learning community as well as the post-doctorate practice-based research agenda. This chapter focuses on an analysis of the current scholarship published since 2019 that has continued to examine the aspects of doctoral student voice, agency, and academic identity. Theoretical perspectives were drawn from the scholarship for the theoretical framework of situated learning theory to view …

Coming Alongside Supervisees: Introducing The Skillset Of Companioning To Counselor Supervision, Rob Mckinney, Paula Britton

2021 Faculty Bibliography

Robert Wolfelt (2005) introduced the idea of companioning into the field of grief counseling. Companioning could also be utilized as a skillet within counseling supervision. As supervision is an essential element of counseling, integrating this skillset would be beneficial to the counseling profession. The topic of companioning and its 11 tenets are first explored and then placed within the context of counseling supervision as a useful and valuable skillset for working with supervisees. The skillset is then explored through various existing models of supervision and illustrated through a case study. Finally, implications for supervisors and educators, as well as future …

Langue De Bois, Or, Discourse In Defense Of An Offshore Financial Center, Samuel Weeks

College of Humanities and Sciences Faculty Papers

This article brings together trends in Critical Discourse Analysis dating from the 1980s – which examine how language use and ideologies (re)produce social inequality – with current research in the social sciences on neoliberalism and other emerging politico-economic formations. The article addresses such a problematic with an empirical case: the language strategies, dubbed langue de bois, that people affiliated with Luxembourg’s offshore financial center employ to justify their practices. The contribution herein surveys the political rationality of the country’s financial center by analyzing the langue de bois that its representatives and boosters use. These language strategies, furthermore, enable Luxembourg’s …

A Mixed Methods Approach To Initiating A Critical Global Literacy Curriculum In The Rural High School English/Language Arts Classroom, Amy Brown

Theses and Dissertations

Contemporary society consists of emerging globalization where students will face global issues and will be expected to think critically in the professional realm. However, critical literacy and global literacy are often largely ignored in the rural high school ELA classroom where fewer cultural opportunities exist and less diversity is evident (Riley, 2015). The purpose of this study was to address a significant need for understanding the strengths and weaknesses of implementing a critical global curricular framework in a rural high school ELA classroom. Additionally, this study aimed to uncover both student and teacher perspectives regarding this implementation as well as …

Improving Health Science Faculty's Comprehension Of Test Item-Analysis, Tunisia Love

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

Background: Differences in testing can lead to student frustration and questionable evaluation of student learning. Inconsistency in testing practices include differing levels of Bloom’s taxonomy, Faculty-written items versus publisher test bank items, and variations in grading. Failure to provide quality student learning assessment and evaluation tools and methods can negatively impact both student and program outcomes. Performing analysis of test items can improve quality of and consistency in evaluation of student learning.

Objective/Purpose of the Project: This quality improvement DNP project investigated the impact of an educational intervention on multiple choice question (MCQ) test-item analysis on the Health …

The Congruence Of Teachers’ And Principals’ Perspectives Of Learning-Centered Leadership Behaviors Of Principals Within International Christian Schools And The Impact On Organizational Commitment Of Teachers, Andrea Dawn Rens Dugan

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative study was to explore the degree of congruence between principals’ self-perception of learning-centered leadership behaviors and teachers’ perceptions of learning-centered leadership behaviors of their principals in international Christian schools accredited with the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI) located in countries outside of North America. If a difference does exist between teachers’ and principals’ perceptions, will teachers’ organizational commitment be impacted? The perspectives of leadership behaviors were determined using the Vanderbilt Assessment of Leadership in Education (VAL-ED) (Goldring, Porter, Murphy, Elliot, & Cravens, 2009). Both principals and their teachers completed the survey online. Teachers also …

Perceptions Of Teams In Providing Safe Handoffs, Kelly Miller

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

Background: Pediatric hematology/oncology patients are highly complex and providing care to these patients requires effective communication and coordination. Purpose: This project explored the perceptions of handoffs and transitions of team, at a quaternary pediatric health care system, with a descriptive, cross-sectional, non-experimental survey using convenient sampling. The goal was to identify the three top themes of team member perceptions to drive improvement efforts. Sample: 411 team members were invited to participate in survey; 124 completed the survey, a 29% participation rate. Methodology: The project employed quantitative methodology using quantitative data collection with a Likert-style survey to …