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University Resilience: Examining The Relationship Of Acute, Externally-Driven Crisis Events To University Enrollment And Financial Stability, Amy Kyhos

Dissertations

This dissertation investigated the phenomenon of a significant, acute, externally-driven crisis event on university resilience at four-year, tuition-driven, public and private higher education institutions in the United States of America. The study primarily considered the resilience indicators of university undergraduate enrollment and financial stability through the crisis context of COVID-19. It is theorized that a perceived lack of reliability, flexibility, and pace to evolve that higher education exhibited during and shortly after COVID-19 is a sustained point of vulnerability to a field under increasing review from a range of stakeholders and points of financial and public pressure. The study contemplated …

Students’ Perceptions Of The Use Of Technology In Rural Elementary Schools, Evadney Moncrieffe - Jumpp

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Rapid technological advancements have transformed educational experiences, optimizing learning outcomes while providing interesting experiences to learners and educators. More insight was needed on how students perceive learning via technology, as this information can shape how teachers implement technology, especially in rural elementary schools. The main purpose of this research was to investigate the perceptions of students in rural areas between Grades 1–5 regarding the increased use of technology education. The research questions concerned how students in rural elementary schools perceive (a) the use of technology in education and (b) the quality of the teaching–learning process when using or mediating technological …

Fire Service Leadership Cost-Effective Strategies To Reduce Sudden Cardiac Death, Kathryn Marie Bernardo-Preston

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Abstract A high incidence of on-duty firefighter sudden cardiac death (SCD) results in increased costs and decreased organizational performance. Fire department leaders are concerned about the financial burden of SCDs as they put strain on departmental budgets and subsequently limit operational readiness. Grounded in transformational leadership theory, the purpose of this qualitative pragmatic inquiry project was to explore how fire department leaders used cost-effective strategies to reduce SCD episodes among on-duty firefighters. Participants comprised six fire department leaders located on the East Coast of the United States who had successfully implemented strategies to minimize firefighter SCD. Data were collected using …

Underrepresented And Understudied: Exploring The Lived Experiences Of African American Women In Policing, Brenda Goss Andrews

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

African American women are underrepresented in policing and understudied in the research. Grounded in Collins’ Black feminist thought, whose theme seeks to empower Black women to speak in their authentic voices, this qualitative phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of 12 African American female officers from Midwest departments. It examined how the intersection of race and gender shaped their workplace realities. The purpose of the study was to gain perspectives from the participants on strategies to recruit and retain African American female officers. Historically, policing has been a gendered and hypermasculine profession, making it difficult for African American female officers …

Open Access After Graduation, Wendy Walker, Megan Stark, Kate Zoellner, Karli Cotton

Navigating the Future Together: Student Success Symposium

Academic libraries have, for too long, built relationships with students around a single dimension: temporary access to paywalled scholarly materials. We believe this dimension is too narrow and short-term to honor the complexity of our students’ future goals and their lives beyond graduation.

Open Access (OA) scholarship helps us reimagine relationships with our students far longer than their institutional login credentials, and to empower them as lifelong information-literate individuals. Freely available to readers, OA research extends the benefits of scholarly knowledge beyond the academy and removes economic barriers to accessing information. OA invites us to engage the multiple, evolving, and …

What Are The Effects Of Statewide Body-Worn Camera Policy Standardization On Recording Rates And Officer Behavior?, Michael Mcdowell

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This quasi-experimental research tests the hypothesis whether statewide body-worn camera (BWC) policy standardization produces different results than locally autonomous policies in body-worn camera policies in terms of camera activation, use of force, civilian complaints, and officer perceptions of accountability and procedural justice. Drawing on policy diffusion and organizational justice theories, the study analyzed data from 200 officers across two states using t-tests, regression models, and difference-in-differences analysis. Findings showed that there were no statistically significant changes in the rates of activation, force incidents, or the number of complaints regardless of the type of policy used, meaning that statewide standardization had …

Resiliency Among Service Industry Workers: A Biopsychosocial-Spiritual Assessment, Winston King

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study was to quantify service industry workers’ resiliency’s relationships with their emotional intelligence, understanding of differing personality types, spiritual resiliency, and substance abuse, as these are all applicable to the biopsychosocial-spiritual model, which served as the theoretical framework. The study included administering the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS), the Schutte Self-Report Emotional Intelligence Test (SEIT), a self-reporting of employees’ understanding of differing personality types, a self-reporting of employees’ spiritual resiliency, and the Substance Use Brief Screen (SUBS) to social science graduate students working in the service industry. Resiliency was identified as the predictor variable and the other …

Perceptions Of Defund The Police, Russell F. Cooper

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This research delves into contemporary literature on the Defund the Police movement in the United States, a significant force shaping law enforcement practices and the future landscape of policing and criminal justice. Stemming from the aftermath of the 2020 George Floyd protests, this movement has spurred transformations in policing methodologies and resource distribution. With its expansion across the nation, law enforcement agencies are grappling with high turnover rates and a dwindling pool of qualified applicants. The Defund the Police movement, originally aimed at abolishing police departments due to perceived systemic issues, underscores the need for progressive law enforcement reforms, particularly …

Strategies To Reduce Safety Accidents In Chemical Facilities, Travon Eshawn Herriotte

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Chemical-industry accidents remain a persistent threat capable of injuring workers, damaging communities, and destabilizing organizations, despite decades of safety regulations and technological advancements. Chemical facility managers, workers’ families, emergency responders, local communities, and entire supply chains bear the burden of every preventable failure. Grounded in human capital theory, the purpose of this qualitative pragmatic research project was to identify and explore effective strategies that managers use to reduce safety accidents in chemical facilities. The participants were six managers from chemical facilities in the eastern United States. Data were collected using semistructured and publicly available documents. Through reflexive thematic analysis, five …

Examining Alumni Engagement Policies Among R1 Universities: A Comparative Analysis Of Best Practices, Howayda Ackleh

Doctoral Dissertations

This study explores the need to update policies and enhance practices for alumni engagement in higher education institutions. Current alumni strategic plans require evaluation and refinement, while new approaches must be developed to strengthen alumni involvement. By analyzing the challenges institutions face in maintaining alumni connections, this review seeks to identify gaps and establish effective best practices. By examining the questions, how do alumni associations at select public R1 institutions apply Utilization-Focused Evaluation (UFE) principles to assess and improve their alumni engagement strategies, and how does this impact their alignment with institutional goals and objectives? This study aims to evaluate …

What Can Legal Knowledge Do For Access To Justice?, Kathryne M. Young, Heidi H. Liu

Duke Law Journal

Worker misclassification is one of the most pervasive and harmful civil justice problems in the U.S. The inaccurate and illegal categorization of workers as independent contractors costs U.S. workers billions of dollars annually in overtime pay and health benefits—a problem that has become even more pervasive with the expansion of the gig economy.

Yet, worker misclassification is only one dimension of the broader “access to justice crisis” in the United States—the unsolved legal problems and unmet legal needs that touch most people’s lives and livelihoods at many points, but especially impact low-income people and people of color. These legal issues …

Effects Of Green Human Resource Management On Green Innovation In Pakistani Textile Industries: The Mediating Effect Of Green Behavior, Saeeda Mirza, Shazia Parveen

Business Review

In the textile sector, employees' green behavior and green innovation are currently receiving more attention as contributing factors. Consequently, firms are launching a variety of sustainable development initiatives and developing green business plans. This study seeks to fulfil the identified need and contribute to theoretical advancement by examining the underlying mechanisms that explain the determinants of green innovation among managers of the textile sector, utilizing the framework of Ability, Motivation, and Opportunity theory. Purposive technique and two-wave sampling methodologies were employed to gather data via self-report survey questionnaires. Data were collected from a total of 310 textile managers. The primary …

2026 January 12 - University Council Agenda And Minutes, University Council, East Tennesee State University

University Council Agendas and Minutes

The University Council met on January 12, 2026, where Provost Kimberly McCorkle opened the session and members approved the previous meeting’s minutes before hearing updates from governance groups and campus units. A mission moment highlighted the Nurse Narratives initiative, a collaborative storytelling project shaping empathy-centered nursing education. Governance reports noted progress on faculty surveys, staff recognition planning, academic chair training, Appalachian Folk Festival preparations, and athletics achievements. Enrollment management updates emphasized reduced drop-risk student counts, improved outreach coordination, increased fall 2026 applications, and opportunities and challenges related to the TN Direct Admissions pilot program. Additional updates addressed FAFSA improvements, the …

Development Of An Educational Intervention To Enhance Nurses’ Knowledge And Intent To Implement Evidence-Based Diabetes Self-Management In Clinical Practice, Anne Marie Sieyou Ngouane

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) project was purposed with closing critical gaps in staff knowledge and adherence to diabetes self-management protocols in a busy primary care clinic. Rising readmission rates and uneven use of American Diabetes Association (ADA) standards signaled an urgent need for a structured approach to staff education. To address this, a one-hour interactive training session was created that blended teaching, evidence-based handouts, and a practical diabetes care checklist. Staff learning was measured through pretest and posttest, confidence and adherence used a 5-point Likert-scale survey, and 21day readmission data tracked patient outcomes. The project question asked if …

Enhancing Anxiety Identification In Adult Patients, Wonda Crump

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In this Doctor of Nursing (DNP) project, I focused on implementing a staff education program for anxiety screening at a health and wellness clinic. Mental health conditions, particularly anxiety disorders, are common in primary care settings. Research shows that anxiety affects millions of adults, yet many cases remain undiagnosed. The practice problem that I identified was that many patients with anxiety disorders were going undiagnosed during regular clinic visits. The clinic had no standard process for screening anxiety, and staff members had a knowledge deficit on the proper use of anxiety assessment tools. This gap in practice led to missed …

Redefining Rural School Leadership In The Post-Pandemic Era: Lessons From Covid-19, Brennan Kent

The Interactive Journal of Global Leadership and Learning

The COVID-19 pandemic fundamentally reshaped educational leadership, especially in rural school settings where leaders confronted unique resource constraints, geographic isolation, and heightened community interdependence. This conceptual study reexamines rural educational leadership in the post-pandemic era through a synthesis of findings from Author’s (2023) dissertation, The Rural Education Leadership Experience Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic, and current leadership theory. Drawing on the McREL Balanced Leadership Framework alongside adaptive and servant leadership models, the analysis identifies four interrelated dimensions that define post-pandemic rural leadership: communication as community cohesion, relationships as infrastructure, adaptive leadership as necessity, and well-being as a leadership priority. These …

Voices From The Other Side: Leadership Practices Teachers Value For Equity Systems Change, Heather L. Dunham, Heather Dunham

The Interactive Journal of Global Leadership and Learning

A growing body of scholarship has explored leadership for equity through frameworks such as social justice leadership (Theoharis, 2010), culturally responsive leadership (Khalifa et al., 2016), and equity audits (Skrla & Scheurich, 2004). Yet, these efforts often target isolated symptoms of inequity—achievement, discipline, or inclusion—rather than engaging in systemic reform that addresses both the ostensive and performative routines sustaining racialized practices. This study centers the Integrated Comprehensive Systems (ICS) for Equity framework (Capper & Frattura, 2017) to examine teachers’ perspectives on leadership practices that support organizational equity systems change.

Using a qualitative multi-case study design (Stake, 1995), two Midwestern schools …

Exploring The Leadership Journeys Of Female College Presidents At Health Professions Focused Institutions: An Explanatory Sequential Mixed Methods Study, Caroline S. Zeind, Bobbie Ann Adair White, Yoon Soo Park, Tewodros Eguale, Anne Thompson

Journal of Research on the College President

National data on the academic presidency reflect a long-standing gender gap with little known about the presidency at health professions focused institutions (HPFIs). This mixed methods study explored the relationships between the academic presidency and institutional characteristics of HPFIs, and the leadership journeys of female presidents at HPFIs. An analysis of institutional and leadership data for 487 HPFIs was conducted using a quantitative approach, followed by interviews of 15 female presidents at HPFIs to understand their perceptions of the barriers, and factors that helped with presidency attainment. The results of 479 HPFIs revealed that only 36.3% of women served as …

Teaching Numeracy For Social Justice: Educational Equity, Esther Isabelle Wilder, Crystal C. Rodriguez, Caterina Shost, Eduardo Vianna, Frank Wang

Numeracy

The special collection, “Teaching Numeracy for Social Justice: Educational Equity,” focuses on how quantitative reasoning (QR) can function as a vehicle for equity, empowerment, and democratic participation. Building on a longstanding tradition that treats numeracy as inseparable from social justice, these contributions highlight how progressive pedagogies (e.g., active learning, authentic research, and equity-oriented assessment) have the potential to broaden access for students historically excluded from quantitative fields. The studies span a variety of conceptual frameworks, introductory and advanced quantitative instruction, and interdisciplinary applications, showcasing how inclusive QR practices can build confidence, agency, and real-world understanding. These articles demonstrate that when …

Change Management With Ethical Leadership, Sophia Rudisill Holmes

The Journal of Values-Based Leadership

Ethical leadership ensures organizational environments are created and nurtured to support complex dilemmas that surface during change management. Leaders and followers in particular can navigate change management with intentional advance planning guided by the motives of their heart. The motives of a leader’s heart is observed by the ethical practices of their core values. Morally leaders and followers core values inform their ethical behaviors. Furthermore, Christian leaders have access to biblical scripture which provides a roadmap for leaders and followers in the mastery of adapting and not resisting during change management. Biblical scriptures also provide examples of practices that solve …

Minority Leaders’ Impact On Corporate Diversity And Organizational Change, Nana Kwasi Amponsah

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Workplace diversity continues to face criticism due to the limited representation of minority groups, with little progress made in the corporate sector. Despite corporations’ efforts to increase diversity and inclusion in the workplace, a notable lack of minority leadership persists in upper management roles. The purpose of this explanatory sequential mixed-method study was to explore the factors that affect the selection of minority leaders and how corporate executives utilize diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives to foster significant organizational change, even in the face of ongoing underrepresentation in upper management. Social dominance theory, anti-egalitarianism, and social construction theory grounded this …

Assessing The Influence Of Audit Committee Characteristics On The Effectiveness Of Risk Management Practices In Public Statutory Corporations In Tanzania, Gerald J. Soi, Siasa Issa Mzenzi, Said Suluo

Business Management Review

This study was conducted to examine the influence of audit committee characteristics on the effectiveness of risk management in Public Statutory Corporations (PSCs) in Tanzania, and the moderating effect of the size of an entity on this relationship. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data, which was completed by 424 chief internal auditors and directors of finance from PSCs across various Tanzanian regions, and analysed using SmartPLS (PLS-SEM) version 4.0. The findings indicate that the expertise of the audit committee and the frequency of meetings with a substantive risk agenda positively influence risk management effectiveness in PSCs. Conversely, the …

The Nexus Between Entrepreneurial Ingenuity Antecedents And Market Penetration Of Tanzanian Formal Retail Businessesmarket Penetration: Entrepreneurial Ingenuity: Formal Retail Business, Salum Makangila, Omari Khalifa Mbura

Business Management Review

The entrepreneurial ingenuity is a fundamental strategy employed by business proprietors and operators to navigate market penetration challenges when formal and informal retail businesses operate simultaneously in the same commercial environments. Guided by positivism research philosophy and cross-sectional design, quantitative data were collected from randomly selected sample size of 520 business proprietors and operators through structured questionnaire. The study hypothesized and tested the relationship between entrepreneurial ingenuity antecedents and market penetration of Tanzanian formal retail businesses using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). The empirical results reveals that entrepreneurial ingenuity antecedents namely creative, innovative and open-minded behaviour positively and significantly influences market …

Henze, Rosemary C., San Jose State University

Emeritus and Retired Faculty Biographies

Stanford University, Education (Language, Literacy & Culture), Ph.D. 1988

San Francisco State University, English (TESL), M.A. 1980

University of California, Santa Cruz, Art, B.A. 1974

Better Off In The Big Leagues: Why Juveniles Who Get Direct Filed Have More Rights When Analyzed From A Constitutional Standpoint, Lexi Kest

Nova Law Review

No abstract provided.

Implementing An Antibiotic Stewardship Bundle In An Urgent Care Center, Christianah Ogunleye

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Scholarly Projects - Archive

Inappropriate antibiotic prescribing for upper respiratory infections (URIs) remains a major contributor to antimicrobial resistance, adverse drug events, and unnecessary healthcare costs, particularly in urgent care settings characterized by high patient volume and rapid clinical decision-making. The purpose of this quality improvement project was to implement and evaluate a multifaceted antibiotic stewardship program aimed at improving evidence-based antibiotic prescribing practices for URIs in an urgent care setting. A bundled intervention was implemented that included provider education, evidence-based clinical decision guidelines, patient education materials, and audit-and-feedback strategies. Pre- and post-intervention data were collected and analyzed to assess changes in antibiotic prescribing …

Improving Colorectal Cancer Screening Adherence, Albin Abraham

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Scholarly Projects - Archive

Background

As the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States, colorectal cancer (CRC) is a prevalent but highly preventable form of cancer (American Cancer Society National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable [ACSNCCR], 2026; Maratt et al., 2024). Screening for CRC is fundamental to prevention and early detection. Despite advances in screening measures, CRC screenings remain suboptimal (Tonini & Zanni, 2024). In the US, more than one in three adults 45 years or older are not screened as recommended (ACSNCCR, 2026).

Purpose

As a safety-net county health network primarily serving the under-resourced population, the organization is uniquely positioned to impact …

Implementing A Nurse-Led Multimodal Pain Management Toolkit To Enhance Recovery After Outpatient Urologic Surgery, Danielle Cirlos-Valles

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Scholarly Projects - Archive

Purpose To evaluate the impact of a nurse-led multimodal postoperative pain management toolkit on recovery outcomes among adults undergoing same-day urologic surgery.

Design Quality improvement project using a pre–post implementation design in an outpatient perioperative setting.

Methods An evidence-based toolkit grounded in Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) principles was implemented over eight weeks, incorporating scheduled non-opioid analgesics, nonpharmacologic strategies (thermal therapy, guided breathing, early mobilization), standardized patient education, and 24-hour follow-up calls. Outcomes included Visual Analog Scale (VAS) pain scores at discharge and 24 hours, escalation pathway utilization, and nurse knowledge competency. Descriptive statistics and paired t tests were used. …

The Relationship Between Registered Nurse Burnout, Organizational Engagement, And Quality Outcomes In Acute Care Hospitals, James E. Parsons

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Registered Nurse (RN) burnout remains a significant challenge in acute care hospitals, with far-reaching consequences for staff well-being, organizational performance, and patient care outcomes. Characterized by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and a reduced sense of personal accomplishment, burnout among RNs contributes to decreased job satisfaction, increased turnover, and compromised care quality. Despite extensive research on burnout, few studies have integrated theoretical frameworks such as the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) with large-scale, nationally representative data to empirically test how burnout influences organizational engagement and healthcare quality outcomes.

This quantitative, non-experimental study examined relationships among RN burnout, organizational engagement, and patient care …

Driving Employee Engagement Across Sectors: Current Evidence And An Agenda For Future Research, Taha Hameduddin, Kerstin Alfes, Adrian Ritz

Public Policy and Administration Faculty Publications

Employee engagement has emerged as a critical employee attitude linked to employee motivation and organisational performance and has successfully embedded itself in governments around the world. Apart from a few exceptions, however, much of what we know about engagement does not attend to the institutional context of public institutions and whether private-sector theories and approaches to driving employee engagement work well in public sector organisations. To address this gap, we systematically review the evidence on antecedents of employee engagement, and determine whether and how sectoral differences may matter. We then discuss the findings and contextualise the debate surrounding the employee …