Digital Commons Network^™

Hospitality And Tourism Program, Hospitality & Tourism

Program Revisions/Additions

No abstract provided.

Information Systems Strategies For Small And Medium Size Enterprise Sustainability, Oluseyi Solomon Awotayo

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Small and medium size business owners who do not use information systems effectively degrade business models, reduce customer value, and diminish the prospects for business stability, profitability, and growth. Grounded in the resource based view framework, the purpose of this qualitative multiple-case study was to explore the information systems strategies small business owners used to sustain their business beyond 5 years. A purposeful sample of 5 owners of 5 different small and medium sized businesses in the state of Texas participated in the study. Data were collected via semistructured, face-to-face interviews, company documents, and member checking. Data were analyzed using …

Organizational Capacity-Building To Battle Addiction In The Oneida Community, Anita F. Barber

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Oneida Nation community members created a new and developing organization The Healing Society (fictious name) operated by a volunteer board. The board needed strategic direction to build organizational capacity and sustainability to address the lack of awareness in the community about the increase in opioid and heroin abuse after a well-known community member died from an overdose. The purpose of this postpositivist constructionist qualitative case study was to gather empirical data from the perspectives of internal and external stakeholders through a SWOT analysis focused on their perspectives. Their answers addressed: (a) the organizational strengths and weaknesses of The Healing Society …

High-Performance Organizational Culture And Corporate Success, Alexander Lapshun

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Some Singapore global corporation business leaders experience difficulties building a high-performance culture. Building a high-performance culture encourages high performance, promotes excellence, and nurtures a continuous improvement climate. Grounded in Gilbert's behavioral engineering model, the purpose of this qualitative mini ethnography single case study was to explore strategies midlevel managers in Singapore use to create a high-performance organizational culture. Six midlevel managers representing a Fortune 500 information technology firm in Singapore participated in the study. Data collection included semistructured interviews followed by member checking, direct observations, and a review of the company's documents. Marshall and Rossman's 5-step data analysis process identified …

Sustainability In Agriculture And Local Food Systems: A Solution To A Global Crisis (Chapter From Zero Hunger), Jerry H. Kavouras, Christina Gibbons, Brianna Morgan, Marie Asma Ben-Othmen

Biology Department Faculty Books/Book Chapters

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations defines a food system as the entire range of stakeholders and their interlinked value-adding activities involved in the production, distribution and aggregation, processing, marketing, consumption and waste management of food products that originate from agriculture, forestry, and parts of the broader economic, societal and natural environments in which they are embedded (Take and Systems 2015). To be considered sustainable, a food system must deliver food security and nutrition for all in such a way that the economic, social, and environmental bases to generate food security and nutrition for future generations …

Interventions And Community Models That Lead To Successful Long-Term Meaningful Competitive Integrated Employment For Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Literature Review, Eileen Annette Baker

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This paper examines interventions and community models that lead to successful long-term, meaningful integrated employment for individuals with ASD. The literature review outlines the barriers to successful employment experienced by individuals with ASD, followed by strategies for success. The author suggests that promising research-based programs and interventions should be further examined through longitudinal studies and then implemented in secondary, post-secondary, and worksites. The current paucity of research addressing interventions and programs focused on adolescents and adults with ASD, combined with the high rate of unemployment and underemployment in adults with ASD, creates a necessity that sufficient studies be commenced.

Does Public Ownership Of Utilities Matter For Local Government Water Policies?, George C. Homsy, Mildred E. Warner

Public Administration Faculty Scholarship

What differentiates local governments that implement water policies on equity and the environment? Analyzing a 2015 survey of 1,897 U.S. municipalities, we find municipalities that own their water utilities more likely have policies to protect low-income residents from disconnection and to implement water resource management. Respondents from 8% of municipalities report protecting residents from disconnection. State economic regulation of publicly owned utilities and Democrat-majority municipal governments are positively associated with policies protecting low-income households from shutoffs but bear no association with resource management. Public ownership of utilities and state economic regulation may play a role in meeting water policy goals.

Analysis Of Trees Damaged From Flooding And Ice In Columbus, Nebraska, Alaina Kapla

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

In the spring of 2019, an intense storm system came through eastern Nebraska resulting in a historic flooding event. This flood caused many trees throughout the state to be uprooted, broken, or scarred. This study looks at trees on the Quail Run golf course in Columbus, Nebraska to determine the extent of damage on trees caused by flooding and recommend tree care solutions to ensure safety. The cottonwood trees endured the most damage compared to other species on the property. All of the trees showed wound wood meaning that the trees were recovering from their injuries. Dead and broken branches …

Buddhist Approaches To Environmentalism And Food Insecurity, Grace N. Stott

Honors Theses and Capstones

Buddhism is a religion deep-rooted in history, most prevalent in Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka. ³ These countries are “developing countries” and may not have the necessary infrastructure to succeed economically and have increased health risks, one of which is food insecurity.⁴ With climate change an increased threat, these areas of the world are more susceptible to environmental problems. The Buddhism religion strongly values sustainability, in both the environment and food insecurity. It values helping others, both humans and nature. Despite the adversity they face, Buddhists have dealt better than communities in similar situations of poverty and …

Establishing A Functional Framework For Monitoring Protected Landscapes; With A Case Study Of English Areas Of Outstanding Natural Beauty (Aonb), Emily Horswill, John Martin, J. Adam Guy

Professional Services

Protected landscape status is one of the highest designations afforded by the British legislature. To maintain consistent landscape quality, track environmental interventions, or measure the impacts of planned and unexpected events there is a need for co-ordinated national as well as local environmental monitoring. Conventionally indicators are used as monitoring proxies for tracking complex changes in landscape form and qualities, designation criteria, compliance against protective legislation, and the effectiveness of varying governance programmes. The regulatory agency of UK (English) environmental standards on behalf of the government, Natural England, monitors against a framework of indicators for the designation criteria of ‘natural …

Evaluating Successful Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives Of Multinational Corporations In The Niger Delta Region, Chukwuemeka Theophilus Omeoga

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The communities in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria and the multinational companies perceive the contribution and success of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities differently, which cause conflicts. There is a lack of consensus with the evaluation of successful CSR initiatives by the multinational corporations in the Niger Delta region. The purpose of this qualitative classical Delphi study was to determine how a panel of 32 global experts of CSR practices in multinational corporations in Africa view the desirability, feasibility, and importance of elements of a framework for evaluating the success of CSR initiatives in the Niger Delta. The …

Do(Nation), Tanvi Rao

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

No abstract provided.

The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem Revisited: Law, Science, And The Pursuit Of Ecosystem Management In An Iconic Landscape, Robert B. Keiter

University of Colorado Law Review

Thirty years ago, the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) concept and ecosystem management surfaced as key to preserving this legally fragmented region's public lands and wildlife in the face of mounting development pressures. Yellowstone's grizzly bears were in sharp decline and wolves were absent from the landscape, while bison and elk management issues festered. The GYE's national forest lands were subject to extensive logging, energy leasing, and other commercial activities that cumulatively threatened the region's ecological integrity. In the face of extreme jurisdictional complexity and a strong commitment to agency discretion, a high-profile federal "Vision" effort to improve and better coordinate …

Environmental Governance For Whom? Examining The Political, Institutional, Fiscal, And Legal Determinants Of State Environmental Agency Budget Policy In The Us, Andrew R. Duggan

Theses and Dissertations

Budgets are a prospective tool of governance, and appropriations are a planning vehicle reflecting: bureaucracies’ values, complex interactions, collective preferences, political influences, and available resources. Research spanning 30 years finds that environmental pollution is a key determinant of environmental budgets in the US, though myriad factors, actors, and subsystems are important to consider. Due to federalism and devolution of responsibilities and authorities, environmental governance falls largely to the states. While the dynamics that shape state environmental budget policy have received scholarly interest, theoretically-driven examinations of environmental appropriations remain limited within the public budgeting and environmental policy literature.

Using panel data …

Known To God Alone: Reflections On The Trappists Of Gethsemani And Father Louis, Emilie Grosvenor

Say Something Theological: The Student Journal of Theological Studies

No abstract provided.

Federal Detention And “Wild Facts” During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Gabriel A. Fuentes

Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology

No abstract provided.

Bridging The Expertise Of Advocates And Academics To Identify Reproductive Justice Learning Outcomes, Charisse M. Loder, Leah Minadeo, Laura Jimenez, Zakiya Luna, Loretta Ross, Nancy Rosenbloom, Caren M. Stalburg, Lisa H. Harris

Study of Women, Gender, & Sexuality: Faculty Publications

Phenomenon: Reproductive justice (RJ) is defined by women of color advocates as the right to have children, not have children and parent children while maintaining reproductive autonomy. In the United States, physicians have been complicit in multiple historical reproductive injustices, involving coercive sterilization of thousands of people of color, low income, and disabilities. Currently, reproductive injustices continue to occur; however, physicians have no formal RJ medical education to address injustices. The objective of this study was to engage leading advocates within the movement using a Delphi method to identify critical components for such a curriculum. Approach: In 2016, we invited …

The Power Of Open: Benefits, Barriers, And Strategies For Integration Of Open Educational Resources, Tian Luo, Kirsten Hostetler, Candice Freeman, Jill Stefaniak

STEMPS Faculty Publications

Open Educational Resources (OER) are becoming a significant, mission-driven trend within educational literature. To help address rising costs, instructors and designers are looking to OER to effectively replace traditional instructional content, which requires more than just identify and replace. Drawing from 51 OER studies conducted in countries across the five continents, this systematic literature review explored the empirical themes evident in the current research on a global scale. This review found (1) discoverability, sustainability, and remixing are significant barriers that stand in the way of OER disrupting traditional textbook models; (2) there is no significant difference in learning outcomes when …

Communication Administration As A Tri-Voiced Sustainable Community, Ronald C. Arnett

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

Books and authors have challenged the focus on “me” alone, rejecting “individualism” that seeks to stand above social context and constraints (Tocqueville, 1955; Arnett, 2019; Arnett, 2020), “narcissism” that falls in love with one’s own image (Lasch, 1985), and “emotivism” that limits decision making to personal preferences (MacIntyre, 1984). Contrary to a focus on an individual abstracted from a social context, one finds an emphasis on community (Arnett, 1986). When, however, a conception of community embraces only those empirically present, it becomes an abstraction oblivious of the phenomenological considerations of persons before and after the present moment. This essay textures …

Cultural Institutions' Digital Responses To Covid-19 Temporary Closures, Brittany N. Ryder

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The purpose of the study was to explore what types of digital content cultural institutions implemented during COVID-19 temporary closures and their effects on social media engagement. Existing research identified the role of digital content and social media in cultural institutions, but only in times of normal operations. The study adds to the existing literature by exploring types of digital content implemented, impacts on social media engagement, measures of social media engagement, and future implications in regard to COVID-19 temporary closures.

The study recruited 16 cultural institutions from across the United States to take part in in-depth semi-structured phone interviews …

Fmd 4772 : Sustainability And Social Change In Fashion, Art + Design

Approved Course Proposals

No abstract provided.

Greater Omaha Chamber: 2017 Diversity And Talent Inclusion Study Final Report, Craig S. Maher, Keyonna King, Natalie Scarpa, Jeanette Harder

Reports

Description of Respondents: The primary objective of this project was to hear from Black YPs in Greater Omaha. The efforts to achieve an adequately sized sample of Black YPs was generally successful. Of the 675 useable respondents, their racial/ethnic identities were White/Caucasian (n=399, or 59%), Black/African American (n=181 or 27%) and Hispanic/Latino n=32 or 5%).

Retention: Omaha has been successful in attracting YP’s – of the survey respondents, 48% moved to Greater Omaha from somewhere else and another 19% came back to Omaha after living elsewhere. Retention is a greater challenge, as 80% of the surveyed YPs would …

Entry Point For Assessing Sustainability In Ecotourism: Insights From Costa Rica (2020), Monica Mckeown

International Studies Undergraduate Honors Theses

Tourism is a rapidly growing industry and the prospect of development in smallcommunities from opening ecotourism enterprises is attractive to many. Increasingly, tourists are interested in visiting places for their natural beauty and adventure opportunities. Frameworks of assessment for the sustainability of ecotourism projects exist, but there is an absence of broader criteria meant to act as an entry point into the on-going process of sustainability assessment. In order for assessments to be more useful and easily conducted,there is a need for a new set of sustainability indicators. Because the ecotourism industry is growing rapidly, assessments are important in order …

Good Governance Of The Commons Of Rapa Nui: Present And Past, Pamela A. Mischen, Carl P. Lipo, Terry L. Hunt

Anthropology Datasets

Sustainable communities on Rapa Nui (Easter Island, Chile) — whether in the past or present— require good governance of shared and common pool resources. Whether managing communal land needed for cultivation, ground water, stones for tools, fishing grounds, cultural heritage, or tourism, governance structures must balance individual interests with the common needs of the community. Much of the recent history of the island has been dominated by government structures that were imposed by Chilean authorities. Recently, however, much of the island’s cultural heritage has been turned over to local native governance. This shift has challenges due to the complex contemporary …

Book Proposal: Reimagining Higher Education: A Guide To Creating The Competent College Graduate, Molly Kerby

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Given the climate of distrust, colleges and universities are examining strategies to enable them to remain relevant. Efforts to answer the recent outcry for productive, effective, and evidencedbased outcomes include adapting curricula and degree programs to better prepare graduates for employment. Competency-based education (CBE) programs are at the forefront of these approaches. Although not a new concept, CBE has shifted from its vocational training roots to its current attention on student results. The acquisition of competence requires an engaged learner who practices self-reflection (Dreyfus, 2004). Albanese, et al. (2008) suggest competencies should be outcome focused, emphasize applied-learning, and be measurable. …

Management Of Frequent Ed Users By Community Paramedics Improves Patient Experiences And Reduces Ems Utilization, Oluwakemi Aiyedun Adio, Laura H. Ikuma, Sonja D. Wiley

Faculty Publications

This study examined a suburban emergency medical system (EMS)-led community paramedicine (CP) program in terms of adherence to protocol, patient-paramedic interactions, patient experience, and cost. Participants (n=57) are frequent emergency department (ED) users (≥ 4 ED visits/year), with a mean age of 59.8±17.6 years and have multiple chronic conditions. Of these, 36 completed a modified Clinician and Group Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CG-CAHPS) survey at 3- and 6-months following program enrollment. The main outcome measures were adherence to intake goals; types, modes, and frequencies of CP interventions; CG-CAHPS patient experience scores; and cost savings. Cost savings compared …

Protect & Disinfect: Covid Upcycling, The Grace E. Harris Leadership Institute At Virginia Commonwealth University, Ilvy Cotterell, Collin Cox, Parthenia Dinora, Zachary Hilpert, Veronica King, Carmen Rodriguez, Alexis Shockley

The Grace E. Harris Leadership Institute Publications

Students returning to campus will be responsible for the frequent cleaning and disinfecting of their living spaces to help limit and prevent the spread of COVID-19. Sterile, unused towels are thrown away every day in operating rooms at the VCU Health System. These towels will be collected and distributed to VCU residential halls, providing students with a free and accessible resource for the daily cleaning and disinfecting needed to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

A Review Of The Evidence Supporting Play-Based Learning For Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Josh Wilson

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has become more prevalent through more diagnosis, with about 1 in 54 being diagnosed with ASD (Center for Disease Control, 2016). With more children being diagnosed with ASD, more services are needed. Adapted Physical Education (APE) is a direct service provided for children with disabilities, and APE teachers should use proven methods to effectively and efficiently assist these children in their area of need. Play-based learning has proven to help improve many social, communication, social skill engagement and play behaviors in children with ASD so play-based learning should be utilized more within the context of APE …

A Story To Tell… How To Integrate The Three Modes Of Communication Through A Story Time Program In French, Frederique Grim

The Coastal Review

Bilingual story time programs found in local community libraries not only benefit children, they can also serve a need for L2 college students: the development of their communicative skills in an authentic environment. In addition to linguistic benefits, experiential learning has proven to prepare students for real-world skills, such as networking, mock professional experience and a sense of community engagement. This paper recounts how a world language story time program supports L2 learners’ three modes of communication, as articulated by ACTFL, and necessary for language development. Based on students’ perceptions, this study highlights their increase in motivation and confidence in …

Focused Deterrence Violence Prevention At Community And Individual Levels, Edmund F. Mcgarrell

Marquette Law Review

The focused deterrence violence prevention model emerged as part of Boston Ceasefire in the mid-1990s. Since that time, solid research evidence has emerged indicating focused deterrence can influence community levels of violence, particularly gang- and group-related violence. It is considered an evidence-based violence reduction strategy. The evidence of the impact on individuals, however, is much more limited and mixed. This Article presents the focused deterrence model, reviews the research evidence and considers the implications for reducing violent recidivism. Several lingering research questions as well as considerations for leveraging focused deterrence along with other recidivism reduction strategies are discussed.