Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Developing Foundation-University-Grantee Collaboratives As A Model For High-Impact Philanthropy, Michelle B. Nayfack, Priscilla Wohlstetter

The Foundation Review

· This article reports on results from the Weingart Foundation’s Urban School Districts Reform Initiative. The goal of the initiative was to improve urban education, and ultimately raise student achievement, by supporting sustainable reforms in school districts educating high numbers of low-income students.

· The Weingart Foundation determined the scale and scope of the effort, and set forth specific goals and timelines; the districts were invited to propose projects that were organic and integrated into their own strategic plans.

· Based on research conducted by an intermediary, potential grantees were identified; six grantees were interviewed about their strategic plan priorities …

Embedded Foundations: Advancing Community Change And Empowerment, Paula Allen-Meares, Larry Gant, Trina Shanks

The Foundation Review

· Embedded funders are foundations that have made long-term commitments to the communities in which they are located or work.

· Foundations have a long history in funding community development, often with few concrete results.

· Political conditions, the increasing divide between rich and poor, inaccessibility of education, lack of housing, and continued segregation and racial discrimination are issues that need be addressed concurrently and resources need to be drawn from a variety of sources, particularly the neighborhoods themselves. This complexity has created an impetus for embedded philanthropy.

· Embedded funders work participatively with the community and frame evaluations in …

Toward A Theoretical View Of Dance Leadership, Jane Morgan Alexandre

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This is a theoretical dissertation, creating a beginning understanding of dance leadership.The subject is absent from both the dance and the leadership literature; therefore the concepts have been developed from the experiences of practice and integrated with concepts from those of outside disciplines through the process of reflective synthesis.In order to create this beginning understanding, dance leadership is established herein in its own domain, separate from both dance and leadership.It is a form of informal leadership—that is, not conferred by title or position within an organization—specifically leading in place, practiced by individual or groups of dancers with the goal of …

Sustaining Voice Through Leadership: How Do Deaf Leaders Sustain Voice In Challenging Dominant Systems, Darlene Goncz Zangara

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The vehicle in communicating cultural identity, recognition, and justice is voice. Reclaiming or sustaining one's voice is to stand up for what one believes in, or to preserve one's identity and place in society. The deaf individual or any other marginalized individual is expected to proceed through a series of deliberations to determine favorable actions that will be persuasive, with the goal of embracing the voice of the marginalized. The deaf individual's voice or meaningful intentions will need to be effectively interpreted into mainstream American society's language and paradigms. This requires one to reconstruct the meanings and mediate the facts …

Understanding Faculty Perceptions Of The Future: Action Research For Academic Librarians, Kara Josephine Malenfant

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The intent of this study was to aid academic librarians in examining their perceptions of the future of higher education, engaging disciplinary faculty members to understand their views, and determining actions to take to shape the future. In this mixed methods study, scenarios about the future of higher education served as the basis for collecting quantitative (survey) and qualitative (focus group) data at one institution. During this study, staff, faculty, and administrators at one library developed new ways to craft strategies and make decisions, shifting their focus from strategic planning as an event to strategic thinking as a process, a …

The Myth Of Endless Accumulation: A Feminist Inquiry Into Globalization, Growth, And Social Change, Martha Freymann Miser

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This theoretical dissertation examines the concept of growth and its core assumption—that the continual accumulation of wealth is both socially wise and ecologically sustainable. The study challenges and offers alternatives to the myth of endless accumulation, suggesting new directions for leadership and social change. The central question posed in this inquiry: Can we craft a more ethical form of capitalism? To answer this question, the study examines conventional and critical globalization studies; feminist scholarship on standpoint, political economy, and power; and the Enlightenment notions of progress and modernism, drawing on a number of works, including Aristotle on the three intelligences, …

Enough Hope To Spare: The Transformative Experience Of Birth Parents As Leaders In Child Welfare, Nicole R. Bossard

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study explores the transformative experience from client and service recipient to collaborative leader and partner in child welfare. Rather than expanding on existing literature that examines the nature and quality of the client experience from a service or customer satisfaction perspective, this study reflects the lived experiences of "real, bonafide" birth parent leaders in child welfare systems in the State of Kansas, several counties in Washington state, and Contra Costa County, California. The goal of the study is to illuminate the journey from clienthood to leadership as experienced by the nine birth parent leaders in the study through research …

Influencing Attitudes Toward People With Developmental Disabilities Using Arts Based Research, Marti Sue Goetz

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study was conducted given as an inquiry about influencing attitudes toward people with developmental disabilities. Because resistance to homes for people with developmental disabilities situated in typical neighborhoods is still a problem, I seek a way to better assimilate people with "different abilities" into communities. For an historical foundation, I researched literature on the marginalization of this ethnographic group-people with developmental disabilities-and defined quality of life. In establishing groundwork for choice of methodology, I elaborate on arts used for social change. Arts based research methods were used to conduct the research. I created an exhibit using objects and photographs …

Collaboration And Climate Action At The Local Scale, Linda Lyshall

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This dissertation encompasses a case study and a Participatory Action Research project. The case study focuses on climate change mitigation activities within King County, Washington and its 39 cities and towns and discusses progress and challenges related to transportation issues, efficiency measures, and sustainability planning. The findings indicate there is a high level of activity in waste reduction, environmental outreach and education, bicycle and pedestrian promotion, tree canopy protection, sustainability policies, and green building. Other categories, such as energy efficiency, electric vehicle infrastructure, and greenhouse gas emission inventories and goal setting are on the rise. Twelve of the cities were …

Socio-Economic Stability And Independence Of Appalachian Women, Michele Dawn Kegley

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study researched Appalachian women who were in emotional, social, or economic reliant relationships with male spouses and became socio-economically stable and independent. This effort is to give Appalachian women voice and learn from their accounts of how they led change by financially, physically, and socially providing for themselves and their dependent children. Research is limited to a particular group of white middle class Appalachian women in the North-Central sub-region of Appalachia. This group was chosen because they have been largely overlooked in the literature. However, this study does not answer questions of all women‘s experiences and barriers in Appalachia. …

Stories Of Resistance: Black Women Corporate Executives Opposing Gendered (Everyday) Racism, Cheryl D. Jordan

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

For this research, I explored contemporary resistance strategies that Black women executives in the corporate world use to oppose negative behaviors by others associated with their race and gender. The dissertation reviews scholarship about the major role the convergence of race and gender play in the day-to-day existence of Black women. Historically, negative images and beliefs have influenced the treatment of Black women in society. These same thoughts and images affect Black women executives in today’s workplace. African-American women continue to see limited advancement to senior levels within the corporate organization, even though diversity programs abound. As leaders in the …

Communication Channels Utilized By Emirati Females To Enact Leadership, K. Kathleen O'Neill

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The purpose of this exploratory study was to identify the communication channels six Emirati females concurrently employed in organizations in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates in which they had supervisory responsibilities; formal, legitimate authority; and positional leadership roles recalled using with their direct reports to enact leadership. In particular, the study attempted to ascertain the reasons for the selection of communication channels when engaged in downward communication with organizational subordinates. Data were collected via three interviews with each participant over a four week period. Interviews were conducted both face-to-face and via telephone. Data were analyzed via thematic content analysis to …

Dual Consciousness: Identity Construction Among Appalachian Professional Women In Southern Ohio, Rebecca Nicole Roades

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study examined identity construction among a purposeful sample of professional women of Appalachian origin with particular regard to the blending of their cultural heritage in a society in which they are often marginalized. The questions guiding the research were grounded in a conceptual framework encompassing elements of culture, gender, leadership, and identity theories specifically using internal colonization, social cognitive, and social identity theories. They included the following: How do these women identify with their Appalachian heritage? How has their Appalachian heritage influenced real or perceived feelings of marginalization and how has that shaped their identity? Do they perceive themselves …

The Shift In Coaching Dynamics During Long-Term Business Coaching Relationships, Axel Meierhoefer

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The focus of this dissertation was on the changes in long-term external business coaching relationships (defined as more than 4 months). The current study intended to answer two questions: (a) how does the relationship between a coach and a coachee change in long-term coaching engagements? and (b) how do these changes impact the coaching process dynamics and results? The phenomenon that was discovered through this research is called the shift moment. It exemplifies the transition from skill or problem oriented issues, which often represent the original cause of the coaching relationship, to the holistic transformation of the coachee. A qualitative …

Leadership Development In Financial Institutions In South Dakota: A Slow Growth State, Stan Wayne Vinson

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This dissertation asks the question, “What are the challenges of developing a leadership program in community banks in South Dakota, a slow growth environment?” The research looks at the intersection of leadership development, transformational leadership, and context—against a backdrop of community banking, corporate social responsibility, and demographic trends in South Dakota. The objective of the study is to provide theoretical and practical understanding of leadership development activities in South Dakota community banks. Using quantitative methods, seven hypotheses were created and tested using insights gained from reviewed literature and informational interviews that framed the study. The hypotheses were built looking to …

The Meaning Making That Leads To Social Entrepreneurial Action, Kathleen Roberts

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This dissertation is an exploratory study of the meaning making that leads to social entrepreneurial action; specifically, action that has either moved beyond the local or at the local level has impacted several different systems. Recent leadership research suggests that to meet today's complex challenges and create sustainable change, leadership must possess bigger minds, meaning advanced and mature ways of understanding the world (Cook-Greuter, 1999; Torbert, 1999). By challenging and changing established equilibriums with new structures, new systems, and new relationships, social entrepreneurs reflect a capacity to understand the world in complex ways. Through the lens of constructive-developmental theory (Kegan, …

From Nominal To Radical Discipleship: One Church’S Approach To Disciple Making, Wayne Berk Walters

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The majority of mainline denomination churches in America have experienced decline in membership, worship attendance, and vitality for over fifty years. As well, church members’ lifestyles, commitments, and habits tend to be not all that unlike Americans who do not attend church. Many church members live relatively nominal Christian lives when compared to the nature of the Christian life and discipleship described by Jesus in the gospels of the New Testament. This nominal understanding and adoption of the Christian life makes church membership and involvement unnecessary or secondary to the many other demands in modern life. Denominational officials, church pastors, …

Securing Critical Internet Resources: Influencing Internet Governance Through Social Networks And Delegation, Brenden Kuerbis

School of Information Studies - Dissertations

Examining the cases of Domain Name System Security (DNSSEC) and the Resource Public Key Infrastructure (RPKI), this dissertation uses principal-agent delegation theory and social network analysis to explain how United States government (USG) agencies influence efforts to secure critical Internet resources.

Consistent with a logic of delegation and the prominent role of individuals in Internet governance, USG agencies participated directly and indirectly in the social networks formed around Internet governance institutions. Its participation occurred by delegating responsibility to organizational agents that participated in the DNSSEC and RPKI standardization and policy processes. By doing so, agencies leveraged these individuals' expertise, and …

Mendeley: Creating Communities Of Scholarly Inquiry Through Research Collaboration, Holt Zaugg, Isaku Tateishi, Daniel L. Randall, Richard E. West

Faculty Publications

Mendeley is a free, web-based tool for organizing research citations and annotating their accompanying PDF articles. Adapting Web 2.0 principles for academic scholarship, Mendeley integrates the management of the research articles with features for collaborating with researchers locally and worldwide. In this article the features of Mendeley are discussed and critiqued in comparison to other, similar tools. These features include citation management, online synchronization and collaboration, PDF management and annotation, and integration with word processing software. The article concludes with a discussion of how a social networking tool such as Mendeley might impact the academic scholarship process.

Labor Pains In The Academy, Lisa M. Tillmann Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

This piece offers autoethnographic reflections on crossroads to which many academics come: whether to seek (or postpone or avoid) parenthood and when. The author deeply explores the personal (her own trajectories from daughter and sister to potential mother and from graduate student to full professor) in order to reflect on structural constraints associated with graduate education, the academic job market, and institutional policies and politics.

The Beauty And The Beast: Civil Society And Nationalisms In Bosnia And Herzegovina, Joan Davison

Faculty Publications

Both ethnic nationalism and liberal civic nationalism exist with historical precedents in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Many elected elites privilege extremist ethnic nationalism. The power-sharing structure of the Dayton Peace Accords institutionalizes their influence and permits the current political stalemate. Further, a legacy of authoritarianism vitiates a political culture supportive of elite accountability and mass responsibility. Yet a nascent civil society witnesses to the past and potential future of liberal cosmopolitanism. This research includes interviews with leaders and members of civil society organizations to assess the impediments to and strength of civil society as a vehicle to promote civic nationalism. While interviewees acknowledge …

Gvsu Undergraduate And Graduate Catalog, 2011-2012, Grand Valley State University

Course Catalogs, 1963 - Current

Grand Valley State University 2011-2012 undergraduate and/or graduate course catalog published annually to provide students with information and guidance for enrollment.

Environmental Migrants And The Future Of The Willamette Valley: A Preliminary Exploration, Alison Wicks

Institute of Metropolitan Studies Publications

This report reviews existing data and research on predicted impacts of climate change in the Northwestern United States, and specifically focuses on the level of preparedness to accommodate new population growth due to climate migration in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Climate change impacts in Oregon are predicted to be less severe than in other areas of the country. Generally, models project warmer, wetter winters and hotter, drier summers in the Willamette Valley and other areas west of the Cascade Range. This will likely make the Willamette Valley a more desirable place for environmentally displaced people to locate. This report considers how …

Travel Behavior, Residential Preference, And Urban Design: A Multi-Disciplinary National Analysis, Jessica Greene, Nico Larco, Yizhao Yang, Marc Schlossberg, Daniel Rodriguez, Noreen Mcdonald, Tabitha Combs

TREC Final Reports

This report summarizes the findings of a national project to examine the travel behavior, social capital, health, and lifestyle preferences of residents of neotraditional developments (NTD) compared to more standard suburban developments. We compare survey results from residents of matched pairs of neighborhoods in seventeen U.S. cities and towns, with each pair comprised of one NTD and one typical suburban neighborhood of similar size, age, and socio-demographic composition. The study addresses salient themes in the transportation, planning and health literatures: a national study, surveying populations of diverse incomes, collecting resident information on preferences for and attitudes towards neighborhood qualities, and …

El Atlas De Oregón Para Estudiantes, Teresa L. Bulman, Gwenda H. Rice, Center For Spatial Analysis And Research. Portland State University, David Banis, Anamaria Esparza

Instructional Materials

Un atlas para los estudiantes de primaria y secundaria

International Programming, Local Development, And Youth: An Experience In Northeast Brazil, Frances Hansford, Andrés Thompson

The Foundation Review

· The W. K. Kellogg Foundation funded a 10-year program of local development work in selected geographic areas in Northeast Brazil from 1997 – 2007.

· This article reports on program achievements and difficulties, and examines the ways in which the practices of the foundation facilitated and obstructed advances in the local development initiatives.

· Two main strategies were used: direct funding granted to organizations in the targeted regions and the creation of a comprehensive support system (e.g., youth projects funds, capacity-building in leadership and evaluation, and transfer of expertise from organizations).

· A team of foundation staff and consultants …

Executive Summaries

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

Editorial, Teresa R. Behrens

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

Community Philanthropy: How The Delta Region Revives, Embraces, And Promotes The Spirit Of Giving, Charlotte L. Williams, Sherece West, Joanna Klak

The Foundation Review

· Community philanthropy is the giving of time, talent, and treasure that when invested locally is characteristic of positive change and lasting development.

· This article reports on a survey of 31 small Arkansas communities of 5,000 to 15,000 in population using open-ended descriptive questions. Responses were compared across communities to assess variation in giving/fundraising, civic engagement, and leadership.

· Data confirm that giving/fundraising was substantial, particularly in communities with populations of 8,000 or less.

· Findings show that people are giving not only their money, but also their services, time, and skills – especially in times of emergency response. …

Editorial, Chris Tebben

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.