Digital Commons Network^™

A Policy Analysis Of Performance Based Funding In Colorado, Nicholas G. Dix

Theses and Dissertations

The researcher used a quantitative approach to examine the effects of performance-based funding policies in Colorado. Specifically, the researcher focused on postsecondary access for Pell-grant eligible and underrepresented minority students. Using a doubly robust difference-in-differences design, the study compares two PBF policy iterations (2.0 and 3.0) to assess the effectiveness of those polices on public four-year degree granting universities in Colorado. The researcher assessed from the data that PBF has no significant impact on Pell-eligible postsecondary accessibility, but PBF has a slightly significant impact on URM accessibility.

The research is grounded in institutional theory and resource dependence theory. The research …

Relaciones De Las Competencias Docentes Con El Bienestar En Docentes De Ciencias Empresariales Bajo La Modalidad A Distancia En Una Universidad Privada En Colombia, Camilo Ernesto Aguirre Martínez

Theses and Dissertations

El propósito de esta investigación consistió en determinar las relaciones de las competencias docentes con el bienestar en docentes de Ciencias Empresariales bajo la modalidad a distancia en una Universidad privada de Colombia. El estudio buscó identificar las relaciones entre las competencias docentes y el bienestar psicológico, el bienestar subjetivo y el bienestar social, cuáles de esas relaciones predominan, así como la identificación de cuáles elementos de estos tipos de bienestar contribuyen con el desarrollo de las competencias docentes.

El enfoque de la investigación fue el empírico analítico o cuantitativo, el diseño fue no experimental y su alcance fue de …

Foster Care Students And Their Success In Academic Achievements In School, Kirsten Nassiff

Theses and Dissertations

This applied dissertation was designed to provide better training and resources for teachers working with students in foster care who have experienced multiple foster care placements, and to assist them in achieving academic success.

The researcher conducted semi-structured interviews with six educators and staff at an alternative school that has the highest number of students in foster care, located in this school district. Using Braun and Clarke’s six steps for Thematic Analysis, each transcript was coded with the assistance of MAXQDA, and themes were developed.

An analysis of the data revealed that educators and staff do not receive adequate communication …

Teachers’ Perceptions Of The Effectiveness Of Tier 3 Academic Interventions, Dana Esposito

Theses and Dissertations

This applied dissertation was designed to discover teachers’ perceptions about the overall effectiveness of Tier 3 RTI services for resolving academic problems and teachers’ perceptions about transitioning students out of RTI. Students receiving services in Tier 3 of the RTI process often spend a considerable amount of time attempting to meet their goals. A search for answers to this problem, combined with a gap in the existing literature regarding time spent in Tier 3, led to the development of this study.

Data collection was acquired through a qualitative collective-case method focused on semi-structured interviews. Participants consisted of general and special …

Road Dependence And Inventory Challenges: A Case Study Of Danone Brazil’S Dairy Supply Chain., Karollyne Nakanishi

Business ETD Collections

The research examines the Danone Brazil raw milk supply chain through the Poços de Caldas factory which operates with more than 1,200 employees and functions as a key facility in Latin America. The research investigates two main questions about how Brazilian road-based transportation affects raw milk inventory stability and which localized tools or emerging technologies would enhance supply reliability.

The research design combined survey data from 42 participants with three interviews. The study reveals that stockouts and overstock and waste occur frequently because of poor road conditions and seasonal disruptions and limited local autonomy which results in monthly milk rejection …

Impact Of Global Semiconductor Shortages On Toyota’S Supply Chain And Production Efficiency Due To Covid-19., Jadouane Dounia

Business ETD Collections

In recent years, the global automotive industry has faced significant disruption, particularly as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the most critical challenges has been the global semiconductor shortage, which has severely impacted vehicle production and supply chains. Semiconductors, commonly known as chips, are essential components in modern automobiles, supporting functions ranging from vehicle control and infotainment systems to safety features and autonomous driving technologies. The shortage has led to delays in delivering cars to consumers, reduced production capacity, and difficulties in maintaining adequate inventory levels. As a result, many automakers have been forced to slow down or …

Investigating Subscriber Churn And Retention Strategies On Disney+., Maryam El Goss

Business ETD Collections

This study examines the challenges facing Disney+, a subscription-based streaming service owned by The Walt Disney Company, in sustaining long-term growth following its rapid global expansion since 2019. While early success was driven by access to major franchises such as Disney, Marvel, Pixar, Star Wars, and National Geographic, the platform is increasingly affected by high subscriber churn. Factors including price sensitivity, content saturation, and intensified competition from platforms such as Netflix, Max, and Amazon Prime Video have contributed to declining user retention. The phenomenon of “subscription cycling,” where users subscribe temporarily to consume specific content, further destabilises revenue streams and …

Leveraging Ai-Driven Salesforce Crm To Improve Customer Retention In The Irish Insurance Sector., Mohamed El Bakouri

Business ETD Collections

This study explores the growing importance of customer satisfaction within the Irish insurance sector, a highly competitive and evolving market. Traditionally, insurers relied on personal relationships and competitive pricing to retain customers; however, modern consumers increasingly demand fast, personalised services tailored to their individual needs. In response, artificial intelligence (AI), particularly when integrated with customer relationship management (CRM) systems, has emerged as a transformative solution. Tools such as AI-powered CRM platforms enable insurers to utilise predictive analytics, generate customer insights, and enhance service delivery, thereby improving customer retention. Despite these benefits, the adoption of such technologies presents significant challenges for …

Retention Strategies Of Disney+ In Saturated Streaming Markets: A Case Study Of Ireland., Suelen Aleixo Matos

Business ETD Collections

The global streaming video-on-demand (SVOD) industry has undergone rapid transformation in recent years, with Disney+ emerging as a major competitor following its launch in 2019. Despite achieving exceptionally fast subscriber growth in its early stages, the platform now faces increasing retention challenges in mature and saturated markets such as Ireland, where competition and subscription fatigue have become key constraints on further expansion. Evidence from the Irish market indicates high levels of subscription penetration alongside stabilising or declining growth rates, with increasing patterns of subscription cycling and service cancellation driven by cost sensitivity, underuse, and the availability of multiple competing platforms. …

The Experience Of The “Too Good To Go” Platform In Ireland And Its Implementation Potential In Mongolia., Jargal Erdenebaatar

Business ETD Collections

Food waste presents a considerable challenge to global environmental, economic, and social sustainability. This study investigates the viability of replicating the “Too Good To Go” (TGTG) platform in Mongolia, informed by the experiences of the TGTG platform in Ireland. Employing a mixed-methods approach, the research includes a secondary data analysis from Ireland, an online survey administered to 162 consumers in Ulaanbaatar, and semi-structured interviews with three entrepreneurs.

The findings suggest that the success of TGTG in Ireland can be attributed to several key factors: elevated consumer awareness, a supportive environment reinforced by government policies, and accessible technology. In contrast, the …

Ryanair And The Strategic Challenge Of Innovation., Jessyca Souza Damaso

Business ETD Collections

This study examines the strategic innovation challenges facing Ryanair, a Dublin-based low-cost airline that has long dominated the European aviation market through aggressive pricing and operational efficiency. While this cost-leadership model has historically driven success, evolving market conditions—including rising digital expectations and increasing environmental regulations—now require a broader innovation approach that extends beyond operational efficiency.

The research identifies a key strategic limitation in Ryanair’s current innovation efforts, which remain primarily internally focused on cost reduction and operational improvements rather than customer experience or sustainability. Evidence suggests that passengers increasingly perceive the airline’s digital tools as outdated and lacking personalisation, while …

Booking.Com: What Drives Retention And How To Improve It., Otavio Lopes Dos Santos Rodrigues

Business ETD Collections

Online travel agencies (OTAs) have significantly reshaped the global tourism and hospitality industry by offering convenience, transparency, and extensive choice to consumers. Among these, Booking.com has emerged as a dominant market leader, operating on a global scale and serving millions of users. However, increasing competition and low switching costs present ongoing challenges in maintaining long-term customer loyalty. This study examines the evolving dynamics of trust, fairness, and conflict resolution in influencing user retention, alongside traditional functional benefits such as usability and price competitiveness. Using Booking.com as a case study, the research adopts a mixed-method approach, combining insights from a property …

Dynamic Interactions Between Natural Gas Return, Financial Market Return, And Energy Stock Return: A Var Analysis Of Conoco Phillips., Caglar Yildiz

Business ETD Collections

This study investigates the dynamic interrelationships among ConocoPhillips (COP) stock returns, natural gas prices, the S&P500 index, and changes in the U.S. 10-Year Treasury bond yield using a Vector Autoregressive (VAR) model over the period January 2020 to July 2025. Weekly data are used to estimate a VAR(4) model, allowing for lagged and contemporaneous interactions across financial and commodity markets. The variables are treated as endogenous, with the model validated through stationarity testing, Johansen cointegration analysis, and diagnostic checks.

Cholesky decomposition is employed for structural identification, with the 10-Year Treasury yield ordered as the most exogenous variable. Wild bootstrap techniques …

Optimising Student Recruitment And Brand Awareness At Icot College Through Culturally Targeted Advertising And Social Media Strategies., Uchral Ganbold

Business ETD Collections

In today’s competitive higher education landscape, institutions increasingly rely on digital marketing strategies to attract and retain international students. ICOT College, an English Language Training provider in Ireland, faces challenges in recruiting and engaging a diverse international student base due to limited culturally tailored advertising and underutilisation of social media platforms. The global education sector has become more competitive following COVID-19, with students adopting more selective and research-driven approaches when choosing institutions. However, ICOT’s current marketing approach remains largely generic, lacking localisation, targeted messaging, and interactive digital engagement. This reduces its effectiveness in connecting with key international markets and weakens …

“Move Fast And Break Things”: Innovation, Stability, And Trust In The Growth Of Revolut., Belen Blanco Mendoza

Business ETD Collections

In this research project, I chose to examine the strategies used in the growth of the fintech Revolut, namely the ’move-fast-and-break-things’ strategy that was employed at the beginning of the company. With this in mind, I decided on two Research Questions, “With the benefit of hindsight, and a focus on problems caused by low security and poor customer support, is Revolut’s ‘move fast and break things’ philosophy a good strategy for the business?” and “Will Revolut’s new fraud prevention strategies, and advances in AI help recover the lost goodwill caused by their earlier ineffective strategies?”, which guided me …

Algorithms And Intimacy: Millennials' Social Meanings From Their Experience Using Tinder., Yuka Gega

Business ETD Collections

In recent years, the way people form relationships has undergone a profound transformation, shifting from traditional, community-based interactions to global, technology-mediated connections. Dating apps have played a central role in this shift, using algorithms and limited user data, such as photos and profiles, to match individuals. While these platforms offer convenience and expanded opportunities to meet others, they may also prioritise selection and appearance over the development of meaningful connections. The widespread adoption of smartphones has accelerated the global reach of these services, making them highly accessible and widely used, particularly among millennials. However, algorithm-driven matching introduces new challenges, including …

Strategic Digital Transformation Of Internal Audit: The Microsoft Case Study., Maria De Jesus Marin Marin

Business ETD Collections

Internal audit functions are under increasing pressure to evolve amid rapid digital innovation and rising expectations for risk responsiveness and strategic insight. While tools such as data analytics, automation, and AI offer clear benefits, many audit teams still face inefficiencies and underutilised technology. This study explores how Microsoft’s internal audit function, a case within a digitally advanced yet operationally complex environment, can enhance efficiency, risk detection, and internal controls through digital tools, agile methods, and process redesign. Drawing on qualitative research, including interviews and surveys with internal audit, IT and compliance professionals, the study bridges academic theory with practical insight. …

Harnessing The Power Of Gradient-Based Simulations For Multi-Objective Optimization In Particle Accelerators, Kishansingh Rajput, Malachi Schram, Auralee Edelen, Jonathan Colen, Armen Kasparian, Ryan Roussel, Adam Carpenter, He Zhang, Jay Benesch

Data Science Faculty Publications

Particle accelerator operation requires simultaneous optimization of multiple objectives. Multi-objective optimization (MOO) is particularly challenging due to trade-offs between the objectives. Evolutionary algorithms, such as genetic algorithms (GAs), have been leveraged for many optimization problems, however, they do not apply to complex control problems by design. This paper demonstrates the power of differentiability for solving MOO problems in particle accelerators using a deep differentiable reinforcement learning (DDRL) algorithm. We compare the DDRL algorithm with model-free reinforcement learning (MFRL), GA, and Bayesian optimization (BO) for simultaneous optimization of heat load and trip rates in the continuous electron beam accelerator facility. The …

Fares On Fairness: Using A Total Error Framework To Examine The Role Of Measurement And Representation In Training Data On Model Fairness And Bias, Patrick Oliver Schenk, Christoph Kern, Trent D. Buskirk

Data Science Faculty Publications

Data-driven decisions, often based on predictions from machine learning (ML) models are becoming ubiquitous. For these decisions to be just, the underlying ML models must be fair, i.e., work equally well for all parts of the population such as groups defined by gender or age. What are the logical next steps if, however, a trained model is accurate but not fair? How can we guide the whole data pipeline such that we avoid training unfair models based on inadequate data, recognizing possible sources of unfairness early on? How can the concepts of data-based sources of unfairness that exist in the …

An Overview Of The Special Issue, Rachel Gibson, Trent Buskirk

Data Science Faculty Publications

[Introduction] Across the quantitative social sciences, researchers increasingly face significant challenges and opportunities prompted by the arrival of new sources of very rich, highly granular, and often unstructured digital data. While traditional methods such as surveys and content analysis tools remain indispensable for measuring individual attitudes, behaviors, demographic characteristics, and media messaging online, they often struggle to capture the complex multimodal information streams and metadata generated by social media platforms, mobile devices, sensors, and tracking applications. Collecting and analyzing these diverse new forms of content, dynamic moment-to-moment behaviors, and naturally occurring interactions has become a pressing and exciting research task-one …

Protect My Property, Not My Privacy!: How A Recent Circuit Split Illustrates The Need To Reinstate The Traditional Property-Based Fourth Amendment Framework, Mary Katherine Smith

SMU Law Review

The Fourth and Fifth Circuit’s split calls for reexamination of the Fourth Amendment search framework—a framework that revolves around one’s reasonable expectation of privacy. The underlying question motivating this Comment is how to account for individual privacy in a world where, arguably, old notions of privacy no longer exist. And ironically the answer lies in shifting the focus from privacy to property. The circuit split over geofence searches is a symptom of a larger problem: The current Fourth Amendment search framework is unworkable in the digital age.

Thus, this Comment has dual objectives. The first objective is analyzing the geofence …

Confession And Confrontation, William Ortman

Scholarly Works

The constitutional law of confessions has a critical blind spot. In theory, the law serves two interests. First, it protects the autonomy of suspects by stipulating that they can be questioned while in custody only with their consent. Second, it restrains official misconduct by forbidding interrogation methods that overbear a suspect's will. Even if the law adequately safeguards those interests, something is missing: reliability. As false confessions emerge as a major source of wrongful convictions and as social scientists expose how standard interrogation tactics prompt innocent people to confess, the Supreme Court and conventional wisdom insist that the reliability of …

What's In A Name? Policing, Juliet., Shanée Brown

Scholarly Works

Child welfare" and "child protection" are misnomers. These terms do not accurately depict the investigatory nature of the system purported to help families, or at the very least, save endangered children. Contrary to public opinion, the "child welfare system" comprises of state actors who police parents and children. It is the naming of this system that convinces the public that these agencies are excised from the category of law enforcement, persuading many that the agencies engage in social work and not police work. Calling the system what it really is-family policing-is a step toward achieving justice for families adversely impacted …

The Regulation Of Presidential Elections, Lori A. Ringhand

Scholarly Works

There is an unresolved dispute lingering just beneath the surface of a host of laws regulating our elections: does Congress have power under Articles I and II of the Constitution to legislate the nuts-and-bolts rules governing presidential elections? The issue exists because of a textual gap in congressional authority. Article 1 section 4 of the Constitution gives Congress the power to override a state's choices about the "times, places, and manner" of congressional elections held in the state. Article II section 1 gives the legislature of each state power to determine the “manner” in which its presidential electors are appointed, …

Un Tax Negotiations: North-South Tensions And The Challenge Of Institutional Legitimacy, Assaf Harpaz

Scholarly Works

The drafting process for a United Nations Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation, along with two early protocols, is now underway. A UN framework convention represents a Global South effort to shift international tax policymaking from the OECD to the UN. For developing countries, the UN has long been viewed as a more inclusive space for tax policy negotiations, producing more favorable but historically less influential standards compared to the OECD.

Support for the UN framework convention, including its terms of reference, has been sharply divided across traditional Global North-South lines. The backlash following the OECD’s recent two-pillar reform triggered …

Numerus Clausus No More: A Fundamental Shift In Delaware Corporate Law, Usha Rodrigues

Scholarly Works

This Essay applies Thomas Merrill and Henry Smith’s theory of numerus clausus—the idea that a limited menu of legal forms reduces transaction costs—to the world of business entities. Historically, investors had a straightforward choice: the decentralized general partnership or the centralized corporation, each with predictable governance and liability rules. Even innovations like the LLC, benefit corporation, and L3C merely expanded the list of standard options, preserving a clear, finite set of organizational forms.

But recent changes in Delaware corporate law have shattered this standardization norm. The addition of Section 122(18) to the Delaware General Corporation Law, combined with increasing reliance …

The Law Of Digital Resurrection, Victoria J. Haneman

Scholarly Works

The digital right to be dead has yet to be recognized as an important legal right. Artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and nanotechnology have progressed to the point that personal data can be used to resurrect the deceased in digital form with appearance, voice, emotion, and memory recreated to allow interaction with a digital app, chat bot, or avatar that may be indistinguishable from that with a living person. Users may now have a completely immersive experience simply by loading the personal data of the deceased into a neural network to create a chatbot that inherits features and idiosyncrasies of the …

Advancing Deib In Our Communities: How To Gain Leadership Experience At Work In A Non-Supervisory Role: Advocacy, Conversations, And Creating Change, Jason Tubinis, Havilah Joy-Steinmen Bakken, Aamir Abdullah, Valerie Horton

Scholarly Works

The article emphasizes the critical role of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) in librarianship and legal professions, highlighting the challenges of information overload and the importance of advocacy. It provides strategies to manage information effectively and stay informed, advocating for the use of reliable sources and critical media literacy to navigate misinformation.

Ai Artists On The Stand: Bias Against Artificial Intelligence-Generated Works In Copyright Law, W. Michael Schuster, Joseph J. Avery

Scholarly Works

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing the creation of art, literature, and music, challenging the boundaries of intellectual property law. To date, scholars have primarily focused on AI's authorship/entity status and the regulation of its use, overshadowing a critical issue: how AI's involvement in creative processes influences legal judgments in copyright disputes. Our empirical research reveals systemic bias against AI-generated works in such legal matters. In our studies, participants read about a company that had hired either a human designer (condition one) or a generative AI art system (condition two) to produce works of art, and those works of art …

Cliff Running, William Ortman, Dov Fox

Scholarly Works

Professionals must at times make snap judgments that have profound consequences. Does a doctor perform an otherwise forbidden abortion to preserve a patient’s failing health? Does a police officer fire at a suspect pointing an unidentified metal object? The criminal law tells these professionals: Don’t intervene unless the danger is serious and the risk is imminent. But it offers little to guide that determination beyond: Be reasonable. Yet the “right” choice—the one that’s legally safe—often resembles the “wrong” one: a felony punishable by decades in prison. These ambiguous regimes operate as liability cliffs that professionals are forced to traverse at …