Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration Commons^™

Goal 3: Extend Our Leadership In Community Engagement, Strategic Planning Development Team

Implementation

Strategic plan initiatives needed to take place in order to increase community engagement.

Student Service Members/Veterans Programs In Erie County Colleges And Universities: Analyzing Programs For Removing Barriers And Facilitating Identity Transitioning, William E. Langer

Public Administration Master’s Projects

Student Service Members/Veterans (SSM/Vs) served their nation in times of peace and in war and in doing so, are eligible for various educational benefits. To assist the SSM/V in adapting to their new role as a student and civilian, most postsecondary educational institutions offer services specifically tailored to the SSM/V population in order to support and assist them in completing their academic program. These services could include navigating benefit programs, financial aid, orientation programs and disability services as needed. In this transformative mixed methods study, a content analysis of the public websites of the schools was first conducted to determine …

Snap And Tanf Administration In New York State Counties: Comparing Case-Based, Mixed Methods And Task-Based Processes, Ryan Gadzo

Public Administration Master’s Projects

The purpose of this study is to examine the administrative style used in New York State (NYS) counties for administering two needs-based federal programs: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). Needs-based federally-funded policies have significant implications for public administration and intergovernmental relations because these programs involve public servants in the determination and delivery of services of federally-mandated programs which states deliver through a variety of models (state, county, or contracting with private or nonprofit agencies). In NYS, counties are given this responsibility. While the numbers of persons receiving TANF has leveled off since the …

Capstone Revival, Mary Mesele, Ruochen Lu, Quilin Jiang

School of Professional Studies

The capstone project is a culminating experience whereby students choose to research a topic that is relevant in their field of study and have been highly regarded as important learning activities. The capstone allows students to use research, analytical, problem solving and evaluation skills they have learned in the course of the graduate program. McGill indicates the benefit of the completion of a capstone project not only in gaining knowledge in capstone but also in learning how to apply the knowledge gained in other courses in the major (McGill, 2012). Currently, COPACE (College of Professional and Continuing Education) has three …

Strategic Plan 2016-20, Strategic Planning Development Team

Implementation

The Strategic Plan Development Team served as the main driver of the plan. This diverse team represented a cross-section of students, faculty, staff, alumni, and Board of Trustees, Foundation board members and members of the PSU Alumni Association board. A project manager and an outside consultant, Coraggio Group, facilitated. Decisions were based on general consensus. Separate “topic teams” provided deeper consideration of strategic themes. These teams made recommendations for the strategic goals and initiatives that form the core elements of the plan.

Topic teams worked with relevant university committees and units that were familiar with the best practices and research …

Needs Assessment For The Topsfield Council On Aging, Jan E. Mutchler, Ceara Somerville

Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging Publications

The Town of Topsfield’s older population grew substantially during the last decade. Increases are expected to continue as the number of seniors increase moving forward, as well as the share of the Topsfield population they represent. In response to these demographic changes, a study was undertaken to generate and organize information on the older residents of Topsfield and the community organizations supporting their well-being. Special focus was placed on needs of older residents along with the capacity of the Topsfield COA to meet those needs. Methods used included description of existing data, key informant interviews, and focus groups aimed at …

Goal 1: Elevate Student Success, Strategic Planning Development Team

Implementation

A brief series of initiatives needed to support the objective of elevating student success at Portland State University.

Our Mission, Strategic Planning Development Team

Implementation

Portland State's vision, mission, and values for the University.

Goal 5: Innovate For Long-Term Stability, Strategic Planning Development Team

Implementation

Brief listing of strategic planning initiatives required to support innovations for long-term stability at Portland State University.

Do Speed Humps Help Reduce Vehicular Speeds, Volumes, And Motorist Accidents?, Tanisha Werner

Master's Projects

California has adopted a Complete Streets policy, which requires local municipalities to design roadways that meet the needs of all users (pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists). This policy, combined with complaints about motorists speeding in residential areas, has been a catalyst for jurisdictions to install traffic calming measures on residential streets. One popular traffic calming measure used in the City of Redwood City is the installation of speed humps. A speed hump is a raised pavement surface that provides a physical reminder for motorists to slow down while traveling over it. Although literature shows that the installation of speed humps can …

Improving Evaluation In Nonprofit Organizations: A Study Of How Evaluation Requests For Proposals Are Developed, Responded To, And Fulfilled, Nakia S. Matthews

Dissertations

It is often necessary for nonprofit organizations (NPOs) to formulate a Request for Proposal (RFP) to procure essential contracted services. This is most common when seeking the services of an external evaluator. Since most NPOs do not have internal evaluation staff, developing an appropriate RFP can be quite challenging. With limited literature and resources to guide NPOs on how to prepare RFPs, the process for procuring qualified evaluators can be even more daunting. This lack of resources and supports can lead to insufficient or incomplete RFPs, subsequently narrowing the pool of qualified potential bidders and reducing the extent to which …

Strong Neighborhoods Initiative (Sni), Oscar Inzunza

Master's Projects

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Environmental Factors On Policy Decisions As It Relates To Community Development Block Grant Allocations, Al G. Gourrier

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

For decades urban centers across the country have experienced significant transition in demographics, population, composition of workforce, and the industries that constitute their economic base. The Federal Government has sought to address the issues of urban cites through a series of urban polices. This study explores one of the more prominent and sustained urban policies, the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program and evaluates a series of political factors on local decision making in the allocations of Community Development Block Grant dollars.

Using path analysis, the research explores the statistical significance of social, economic and political factors combined with historical …

Thank You For Your Time! Would You Mind Donating To Our Cause? The Effect Of Gratitude On Prosocial Behavior, Matthew L. Hortt

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

A random assignment experiment examined the effects of three expressions of gratitude on two prosocial behaviors: volunteering and making monetary donations to charitable organizations. The results indicated that two of the expressions of gratitude had a significant opposite effect on the two prosocial behaviors. Both a verbal thank-you speech and a hand written thank-you note, resulted in a significant reduction in the amount of pledged volunteer hours, while resulting in a significant increase in the amount of pledged charitable dollars. The third expression of gratitude, a ten dollar thank-you gift card, produced no significant findings for either prosocial behavior. The …

Citizen Participation Within Mental Health Planning And Advisory Councils, Ronald W. Strickland

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This dissertation studies citizen participation, mental health care and block grants. Each state has a Mental Health Planning and Advisory Council (MHPAC) that is required by the Community Mental Health Services Block Grant program. Councils must consist of at least 50 percent citizens. This dissertation looked at MHPAC activity levels of the 50 states (and Washington, DC) and developed an activity level index to measure council activity from 2008-2011. Two main questions were posed. First, do planning council differ in their level of activity? If so, what explains this variation? Second, do differences in activity levels of MHPAC’s explain variations …

Strategic Planning Development Team Meeting Notes 11/16/2015, Strategic Planning Development Team

Resource Archive

The group reviewed and dsicussed a Word Cloud of the latest version of the draft strategic plan, and proceeded to begin a line-by-line reconciliation of the redlined version of the draft plan.

Note: This issue of the meeting notes is erroneously dated 11/9/15.

Strategic Planning Development Team Meeting Notes 11/9/2015, Strategic Planning Development Team

Resource Archive

An overview of the Equity Lens Panel, and the introduction of its co-chairs, Ann Curry-Stevens, Ben Anderson-Nathe and Gita Mehrotra. The Strategic Planning Development Team starts to discuss what impact the words “competitiveness”, “diversity” and “equity” have on the equity lens.

The Value Of Public Service, Toni Preckwinkle

Public Policy and Administration Lecture Series

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle has been a dedicated community leader for over two decades. She has worked with the Cook County Board of Commissioners, elected officials and County employees to implement major reform and reshape County government through fiscal responsibility, innovative leadership, transparency and accountability, and improved services. Since taking office in December 2010, President Preckwinkle has developed a broad policy agenda — focusing on critical public safety reform, working to strengthen the County’s health care system, and increasing the capacity and capability of our economic development efforts. President Preckwinkle will discuss her accomplished career in government, as …

Rating The Cities: Constructing A City Resilience Index For Assessing The Effect Of State And Local Laws On Long-Term Recovery From Crisis And Disaster, John Travis Marshall

Faculty Publications By Year

Superstorm Sandy, the 2008 Iowa floods, and Hurricanes Katrina and Rita all supply recent reminders that U.S. cities can no longer adopt an ad hoc approach to threats presented by climate change and natural hazards. The stories detailing long-term recovery from these disasters underscore that federal, state, and local governments are struggling to appreciate the legal tools and institutions necessary to implement the large-scale infrastructure, housing, and community development programs that climate change and more frequent natural disasters demand. This Article calls for development of a tool allowing succinct evaluation of the range of community capacities that will figure critically …

Broadening Students’ Perceptions Of Conflict: The Challenge Of Metaphorical Change, Justin D. Walton

Administrative Issues Journal

This qualitative investigation examined the semester long effects of a critical transformative pedagogy on students’ metaphorical understandings of conflict interaction. The study included five university conflict management seminars taught over a four year period. Findings revealed that (a) while most students entered the course with predominantly negative and oppositional perceptions of conflict, the use of a critical transformative pedagogy did indeed (b) help support new metaphorical understandings of conflict interaction and (c) supported instances of personal empowerment and expanded self-knowledge. Implications and suggestions for future research are considered.

Graduate Students’ Evaluation Of The Character And Caring Of Their Instructors, Dan Shepherd

Administrative Issues Journal

Recent research concludes that student-teacher relationships are foundational for greater instructional effectiveness and its concomitant increase in overall student achievement or learning. Similarly, research seems to demonstrate conclusively that trust is a vital component in the development of strong relationships. Recently, 488 current participants and recent graduates of an online and blended Master of Education program were surveyed about their perceptions of their instructors’ character and concern for them as individuals. Survey respondents were public school teachers. Based on the survey’s results, the personal qualities and characteristics that graduate students most seem to prefer in their instructors when determining their …

Rethinking Professional Development Training Through Mentoring Relationships, Tania Marie-Cecile Benoiton

Administrative Issues Journal

This proposal looks at teacher mentorship and how it is manifested in different school environments. Grid and Group Theory provides the basis of discerning the cultural forces at play within the respective school environments. The theoretical framework will highlight the data collection process. Rather than being a secondary asset, mentorship should become a primary resource for the professional development of teachers, novice and veteran alike. Each school faces challenges that are unique to their environment which calls for the use of inhouse resources to engage the educator on multiple levels. The proposal reports preliminary findings and concludes on with a …

An Exploration Of The Validity Of Inferences Made From The Interpersonal And Social Empathy Index (Isei), Kateeka Harris, Celia M. Wilson

Administrative Issues Journal

Social empathy is the ability to understand other people by perceiving or experiencing their life situations, thus providing an opportunity to gain insight into social inequalities. Institutions of higher education have unique opportunities to engage students in socially just educational conversations that challenge negative social biases of others who are not like them. The current study investigated the validity of the inferences made from the Interpersonal and Social Empathy Index (ISEI), a common tool used to explore levels of empathy among college students. A comparison was then made between the original constructs described by the instrument developers (Segal et. al., …

The Challenge Of Organizational Change: Before, During, And After, Richard Parsells

Administrative Issues Journal

Aligning with the theme of this conference, this paper addresses actions, as reported in the literature, that are purported to assist organizations in successfully accomplishing change initiatives. This paper presents factors related to the development of a robust culture for the handling of change, actions to be taken during a change, and suggestions for action after a change. Implications for practice are explored.

Using Emergence Theory-Based Curriculum To Teach Compromise Skills To Students With Autistic Spectrum Disorders, Lance Fein, Don Jones

Administrative Issues Journal

This study addressed the compromise skills taught to students with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) and related social and communication deficits. A private school in the southeastern United States implemented an emergence theory-based curriculum to address these skills, but no formal analysis was conducted to determine its effectiveness. Guided by cognitive development and constructivist theories, a concurrent, mixed-methods case study design was used to investigate the impact of this curriculum on teaching compromise skills to middle school students with ASD and related deficits. Teacher observations and compromise interventions were open coded and analyzed thematically using descriptive statistics. For the quantitative sequence, …

Performance Theory And Nonprofit Organizational Effectiveness, Jeffrey Aulgur

Administrative Issues Journal

This abridged article reports on a review of the literature of performance theory and its relationship to the effectiveness of nonprofit organizations. Specifically, the article explores the challenges in defining organizational effectiveness in the Third Sector due to the wide disparity in the size, scope and mission of nonprofit organizations. The following theoretical models, and their application to the Third Sector, are explored: Agency Theory, Resource Dependency Theory, Group/Decision Process Theory, Stakeholder Theory, Institutional Theory, Policy Governance Theory and Contingency Theory. The review indicates there is not a single theory or hypothesis capable of meeting the challenges of nonprofit governance. …

An Analysis Of Fertilizer Markets In Bric Countries, Robert Lloyd

Administrative Issues Journal

Over the previous decade the collection of countries known as the BRIC nations has worked together to advance social and economic agendas. These four nations represent unique challenges and immense opportunities for MNC’s searching to expand their business into these countries. This paper reviews these opportunities and challenges in the context of the fertilizer industry and provides an overall outlook for this international market. Recommendations are provided for how an international business might succeed in each of the BRIC nations.

An Investigation Of Factors Contributing To All But Dissertation Status: Doctor Of Education Students, Jacqueline M. Gaffner, Celia M. Wilson

Administrative Issues Journal

Literature regarding advanced degree completion illustrates multiple factors attributing to completion or abandonment of dissertation research. Contributing factors are typically linked to the environment associated with the institution in which a doctoral candidate is enrolled, or personality characteristics held by individual candidates. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to gather data from current doctoral candidates regarding factors that inhibited their completion of the doctor of education degree. Initial responses from participants appeared to confirm findings from similar research studies exploring dissertation non-completers. Most participants noted personal factors for non-completion, while a few mentioned institutional factors. In order to …

Leadership Opportunities In Education For Individuals With Disabilities, Sean Daniel Kinder

Administrative Issues Journal

This study examines the perceptions of individuals with disabilities concerning employment opportunities as administrative leaders in public school contexts. A discussion of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as well as the definition of what is considered a legal disability, as provided in Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Additionally, this piece explains Critical Disability Theory as a theoretical lens that provides perspective and highlights the methods used in the data collection process. It reports preliminary findings and concludes with a discussion of why this educational issue is of significance.

Experiential Learning Approaches To Principles Of Management, Robert Lloyd

Administrative Issues Journal

This paper describes a lesson plan that can be used in an undergraduate course in principles of management. The lesson plan helps students learn the basic concepts of management and the functions performed by managers – planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. Through traditional lecture and classroom discussion, the students will better understand these concepts. This lesson plan also helps students recognize these functions through observation. Finally, to ensure that student’s have fully internalized each function of management, they will have the opportunity to apply the concepts through a group project. Upon completion of this lesson plan, the students should be …