Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration Commons^™

Domestic Worker Abuse Among Diplomatic Force: The Need To Enhance Communication For Domestic Worker Safety, Martyne A. Volcy

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates patterns of domestic worker abuse in the working relationship between a foreign migrant domestic worker and their diplomat employer. This study focuses on the role of communication as a protection for domestic worker safety. The aim of this research is to explore the unique employer-employee relationship between a domestic worker and diplomat, and whether there are safeguards in place that allow for the domestic worker to perform their duties, without circumstances of domestic worker abuse. This study examines the relationships between communication, knowledge, and power within the system of Diplomacy through the lens of domestic employees alleging …

When Words Flow Like Water: How The Enbridge Line 3 Pipeline Environmental Impact Statement Failed To Prevent Hydrogeologic Harm In Minnesota, Carly Gutzmann

Journal of Earth and Life Science

For the aquifers of Minnesota, the environmental impact statement (EIS) was a promise of protection that never left the page. An environmental impact statement is meant to be an aid in the decision making process in order to ensure that projects consider potential environmental harms that may occur. However, they are often used instead as another regulatory box to check, rather than as active considerations when planning. As such, a project plan can be flawed from the start—if project developers only consider environmental impacts after they have already put considerable time, effort, and funding into their project as-is, they may …

Citizen Engagement In Budget Simulation: Examining The Effectiveness Of Balancing Act Modules In Aligning Public Priorities And Allocation Choices, Frankline Muthomi

Public Administration Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study investigates the extent to which individuals exhibit consistency in their preferences during sequential budget simulation exercises, as well as the factors that shape these preferences. Grounded in behavioral and citizen participation frameworks, the analysis demonstrates that the simultaneous use of priority-setting and budget-balancing modules encourages participants to allocate resources in ways that reflect their previously articulated priorities. While instances of inconsistency remain common, preference consistency is associated with participants’ sustained support for their favored programs, their commitment to ensuring adequate resource allocation, and, to some extent, their willingness to finance these programs. The findings suggest that the integrated …

Grant-O-Thon: A Designathon-Informed Grant Writing Program To Enhance Research Grant Writing Skills In Low- And Middle-Income Countries, Yusha Tao, Gifty Marley, Lauren Fidelak, Bin Yu, Yusuf Babatunde, Anita N. Walker, Anthony A. Attama, Andrea L. Conroy, Esther K. Afolabi, Dimitrios N. Vatakis, Iheanyi Omezuruike Okonko, Shyngle K. Balogun, Hongyun Fu, Xin Peng, Ijeoma M. Ifeorah, Patience Kukundakwe, Alexandra Cossio, Ifeoma M. Obionu, Ángela Patricia Beltrán López, Matthew Idowu Olatubi, Ucheoma C. Nwaozuru, Yuanyi Chen, Huachun Zou, Eneyi E. Kpokiri, Daniil Wu, Oliver Ezechi, Juliet Iwelunmor, Meredith Labarda, Jason J. Ong, Weiming Tang, Joseph D. Tucker

Department of Pediatrics Faculty Publications

Problem

Early career researchers in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) face substantial barriers when writing research grants and have limited writing support. A designathon approach was applied to organize a grant writing workshop (grant-o-thon) tailored for early-career LMIC researchers. This study describes the planning, implementation, and participant-reported outcomes of the grant-o-thon as a participatory training approach.

Approach

Grant-o-thons were organized in 2023, 2024, and 2025. Consistent with the designathon model, the grant-o-thon was structured in three stages: preparation using co-creation with end-users, intensive collaborative teamwork supported by mentor feedback and weekly writing deliverables, and structured follow-up. Each grant-o-thon consisted of …

Comparing The Evolution Of The Advanced Practice Nurse Role: Insights From Switzerland And Kenya, Carole Mackavey, Sara Kohler, Eunice Ndirangu, Rachel Kimani, Constance Shumba, Bernard Mutwiri, Colette Henderson, Anna Jones

School of Nursing & Midwifery, East Africa

The article explores the evolution of Advanced Practice Nurse (APN) roles in Switzerland and Kenya, highlighting their development, challenges, and influence on healthcare delivery. Despite notable differences in income levels and healthcare infrastructure, both countries are committed to strengthening primary care through the deployment of APNs. Switzerland uses APNs to address provider shortages and improve chronic disease management, whereas Kenya uses them to increase access in underserved areas. A comparative analysis explores how regulatory frameworks, educational models, scope of practice, and health system priorities influence the adoption of advanced practice nursing (APN). Switzerland’s established healthcare system supports the integration of …

Digital Redlining In The Smart City: Artificial Intelligence, Housing Law, And Structural Urban Inequality, Spurthi Nrusimhadevara

Undergraduate Scholarship and Creative Works

Artificial intelligence is increasingly used in urban housing systems, where it shapes decisions about tenant screening, rent pricing, lending, zoning, and neighborhood investment. Although these tools are often promoted as efficient and impartial, they frequently rely on historical data that reflect racial, economic, and spatial inequality. As a result, AI systems can reproduce discriminatory outcomes even when protected characteristics are not directly used. This paper examines digital redlining in the smart city and argues that algorithmic housing tools mirror long standing structural inequities that raise significant concerns under fair housing and civil rights law. It evaluates how automated screening, predictive …

Lived Experiences Of Black Girls In The City Of Richmond, Va, Nakeina E. Douglas-Glenn, Yali Pang, Charity Scott, Morgan Woodle, Craig Dearfield, Mariam Ai-Khafaji, T'Niyah Baylor, Faith Holmes, Jin Dorjderem, Rise

Research Institute for Social Equity

The VCU Research Institute for Social Equity (RISE) partnered with Girls For A Change (GFAC), a nonprofit youth development organization, to explore the lived experiences of Black girls in Richmond, Virginia. The report offers a comprehensive understanding of the lives of Black girls by working closely with them and their communities, including their guardians/parents and Black emerging adult women. The voices of Black girls and emerging adult Black women were heard directly through surveys and focus groups, and their parents and guardians provided further insights through interviews. This approach allows us to understand their lived experiences, individual strengths, and community …

Children Past Curfew: Surveillance, Resistance, And Childhood In Philippine Martial Law Children's Literature, Krisna Marie T. Balolong

Children's Literature (MA) Theses

This paper examines how two Philippine children's books depict state surveillance and its effects on a child's perspective of family, authority figures, and childhood. Through analysis of Augie Rivera's Isang Harding Papel and Sandra Nicole Roldan's At the School Gate, this project makes a connection between children's literature and surveillance studies, offering new framework to engage with children’s literature depicting authoritarian regimes and state violence, especially in cases where children were targets of their governments. Each book is examined by their representations of state surveillance during the Martial Law era of the Philippines, as well as each characters’ individual …

Hosts, Scouts, And Female Indentured Sexual Servitude In Contemporary Japan, Caroline Norma, Seiya Morita

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

This article sweeps away glossy abstractions obscuring the indenturing of women in sexual servitude in Japan. These abstractions were generated by anthropologists writing in English in the first two decades of the 21^st century who inverted the relationship between perpetrator and victim to suggest that female customers exploited hosts. To overturn this view and expose the ‘gendered reality that [i]s really going on’ in Japan, this article differently explains from a feminist perspective how present-day host and scout businesses indenture Japanese women in sexual servitude. This role is one of both procuring victims as well as keeping young women …

Legislative Debate-Attributed Suicidality Among Lgbtq+ Adults: The Buffering Effect Of Community Belongingness, Keith J. Watts, Shawndaya S. Thrasher, Laneshia R. Conner, Nicole Campbell, Louis G. Baser, Dekeitra Griffin, Sydney P. Howard, Missy Spears, Justin X. Moore

Counseling & Human Services Faculty Publications

Background: In recent years, the sociopolitical landscape in the United States has shifted due to an increase in state-level legislation regarding LGBTQ+ rights, a trend that has been particularly pronounced in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. While the mental health impacts of enacted laws are increasingly documented, a critical gap remains in understanding the psychological toll of the legislative debates themselves—the prolonged periods of public discourse surrounding the restriction of rights. Methods: Utilizing data from the 2025 Queer Kentucky Survey (N = 817), this exploratory study examined the association between LGBTQ+ community belongingness and acute suicidality attributed specifically to anti-LGBTQ+ legislative …

Plastic Waste Imports & Coastal Litter: Evidence From Citizen Science Data, Rebecca L.C. Taylor, Hebe Williams, Shan Zhang

Economics Faculty Publications

Plastic waste is an internationally traded commodity, where importing countries recycle plastic waste into usable materials. However, there are concerns that the importation process creates plastic litter - a negative externality - in importing countries. While this concern has received much media and policy attention, quantifying the magnitude of this externality has been hindered by a lack of data on plastic litter across countries and over time. To this end, we use unconventional citizen science data on litter from Ocean Conservancy's International Coastal Cleanup, together with the United Nations Comtrade Database, to estimate the correlation between traded plastic waste and …

Localized Air Pollution Impacts From Data Centers In Northern Virginia, Damian Pitt, Ivan Suen, Ellie Plisko

Institute for Sustainable Energy and Environment Publications and Presentations

This report examins the extent of air pollution emissions resulting from the use of backup generators at data centers in Northern Virginia, including both actual current emissions and potential future emissions, and how those emissions totals compare to other sources of air pollution in the Northern Virginia region. It also examines how exposure to data center emissions correlates with demographic characteristics such as race, income, and education.

We while the air pollution emissions from individual data centers is minor, the collective impact from the 100+ such facilities in the Northern Virginia region is significant. Notably, the cumulative emissions exposure in …

Cpaf In Focus Vol. 11 One On One : Reflections On Change And Impact, Michiko Karissa M. Buot, Johnnelda P. Cosep, Paulo C. Aquino, Therese Marie L. Quilnat, V. Bruce J. Tolentino, Agustin L. Arcenas, Samantha Geraldine G. De Los Santos, Guinevere T. Madlangbayan, Raizza F. Acuzar

IN FOCUS: Development & Governance

This volume of In Focus invites its readers to have a one-on-one with stories exploring how small acts of change can grow into waves of impact in governance and development -- From alumni who continue to excel beyond the university, to students recognized for academic achievements, to field notes from our research centers that ground theory in practice. We will also feature reflective think pieces from experts in governance and development, alongside an infographic highlighting the recently concluded ICGD4. At its core, the magazine asks its readers to reflect: how can individual acts of change create lasting impact? 

Editorial Team …

Crimes Of The Powerful And The Looting Of Contemporary Nigeria: An Integrated Theoretical Perspective, Charles Ubah

African Journal of Criminology and Justice Studies

Crime of the powerful is a humongous social problem with the potential to ravage development and threaten the corporate existence of nation states. The case of contemporary Nigeria is the focal point of analysis in this paper. The objective of the paper, therefore, is to investigate the menace in Nigeria from an integrated theoretical perspective. The methodology was exploratory survey and review of literature which were content analyzed. The theoretical framework is a kind of Modified Multiple Reinforcing Social Forces Theory. Findings indicate that, beside its high prevalence rate, elite criminality in the various forms of corruption, property and environmental …

Computational Clinical Judgment: Predicting Risk With Large Language Models, Hannah Laqueur, Ryan W. Copus

Faculty Works

For seventy years, research has shown actuarial methods outperform clinical judgment. Yet actuarial approaches have limitations: they generally rely on structured data; cannot exploit rare case-specific details; have limited accuracy where outcome data are scarce or incomplete; and cannot offer case-level justifications. Large language models (LLMs) offer a different approach. Like actuarial methods, they aggregate information algorithmically, but like clinicians, they bring general knowledge and can provide case-level justifications. We prompted seven LLMs to assess rearrest risk from 113 parole hearing transcripts and compared their predictions to a machine learning model trained on 4,000 cases with 91 administrative variables. GPT-5 …

Deterrence Without Peace: Nuclear Weapons And The Rising Threshold Of Warfare, Catie Clarke

CISLA Senior Integrative Projects

Nuclear weapons fundamentally changed the international political landscape, leading to the emergence of deterrence theory and the notion of the Long Peace. This paper challenges these claims, arguing that nuclear weapons facilitated a more violent and volatile international system rather than stability. Drawing on constructivist theory, this paper develops the Threshold of Violence framework – a normative model which asserts that nuclear weapons elevated the perceived upper limit of tolerable violence in international politics. This raised threshold generated three trends in the nuclear era: increased frequency of proxy wars, escalating levels of benefactor involvement, and greater severity of conflicts fought …

Recommended Budget, Expenditures By Object And Funding By Source, Fiscal Year 2026-2027, Tennessee. Department Of Finance And Administration

Recommended Budget

In developing the Governor’s budget recommendation, the Division of Budget in the Department of Finance and Administration analyzes agency budget requests and prepares final recommendations at a lower level of detail.

Fiscal Decentralization, Foreign Capital, And Economic Development In Sub-Saharan Africa, Kwadwo D. Frempong

Theses and Dissertations--Public Policy and Administration

Economic development in Sub-Saharan Africa has been shaped by two transformative policy shifts: widespread fiscal decentralization reforms transferring revenue and expenditure authority to subnational governments, and the pursuit of foreign direct investment to supplement domestic capital. Despite the breadth of these reforms, their effectiveness in promoting sustainable economic development remains empirically contested. This dissertation examines three interconnected questions about fiscal governance and capital flows in Sub-Saharan Africa: what determines the extent to which governments decentralize fiscal authority; how county fiscal composition and revenue autonomy shape subnational economic performance; and how foreign direct investment interacts with domestic investment and growth.

The …

Implementing Impact Data Collection And Program Evaluation In A Nonprofit, Jamie Devellis

OTD Capstones

This doctoral capstone highlights a gap between data collection practices and nonprofits, which impacts participation rates of children experiencing poverty. This gap is an issue for nonprofits because stakeholders and donors are more likely to fund organizations that can provide impact data about their services. This capstone addresses that gap through creating and implementing data collection and program evaluation for a grassroots nonprofit that funds enrichment programs for children experiencing poverty in southeastern Massachusetts. Data collected found that the program has a positive effect on the children and families of whom they serve that surpass their main goal of building …

China's Economic Retaliation Against Norway After Liu Xiaobo's 2010 Nobel Peace Prize, Ian Murphy, Shaomin Li

Management Faculty Publications

This case study analyzes China's geoeconomic retaliation against Norway after the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Liu Xiaobo. China employed non-tariff barriers, diplomatic freezes, and restricted exchanges, severely impacting sectors like salmon exports. This occurred despite the Nobel Committee's independence from the Norwegian government. Although Norway's overall economic impact was mitigated by market adjustments, the six-year diplomatic freeze significantly influenced its human rights foreign policy. This case exemplifies China's strategic use of informal economic tools to punish and deter, showcasing the link between political sensitivities and economic leverage in international relations.

Enhancing Military Health System Organizational Efficiency And Quality Of Care Through A Social-Ecological Framework, Eric L. Peipelman

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Timely and fair adjudication of incivility-related actions within the Department of Defense (DoD) and Military Health System (MHS) is increasingly crucial for maintaining accountability, mission readiness, and quality of care. Ongoing delays in resolving workplace complaints and inefficiencies in resource-heavy adjudications highlight the need to shift from reactive complaint handling toward proactive civility promotion and transparent decision-making. This Integrated Learning Experience (ILE) introduces the Peipelman Civility Discussion and Assessment Toolkit (PCDAT)—a comprehensive, evidence-based framework designed to improve civility, optimize resources, and enhance communication, even in the MHS. Based on the Social-Ecological Model (SEM) and adapted from the Workplace Power and …

Between ‘Technology Futures’: How Standards Are Transforming Digital Trade, Craig Atkinson

Centre for Digital Law

Digital trade relies on technical standards. As information technologies advance, international digital standards make the technologies used in trade – or ‘tradetech’ – more interoperable, scalable, and secure.

A wide range of tradetech use cases depend on digital standards, including those for document formats, electronic signatures, digital identity, and cybersecurity. They also encompass system specifications for cross-border payments, electronic transferable records (ETRs), transportation/logistics, trade facilitation, and financial compliance.

Most digital standards are voluntary and are produced by international Standards Development Organisations (SDOs) alongside a growing number of industry-led consortia.

Investigating Policy Enactment In Community Sport Coaching: Directions For Future Research, Ben Ives, Dawn Penney, Jimmy O’Gorman, Adam J. Nichol, Paul Potrac, Lee Nelson

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This article calls for a sophisticated investigation of policy enactment in sport-related environments, with community sport coaching used as an example case. Emphasis is placed on the need for in-depth empirical research into and theorisation of: 1) political skills involved in the enactment of policy; 2) emotion management when enacting policy; 3) performative and fabricated aspects of policy enactment; and 4) impacts of policy enactment for the health and wellbeing of workers. In doing so, this article challenges scholars to move beyond the study of policy actor types and to develop more nuanced understandings of the political, economic, organisational, interpersonal, …

Antecedents Of Emergency Services’ Street Level Bureaucrats’ (Slbs) Delivery Of Public Value: An Exploratory Study, Yvonne Brunetto, Ben Farr-Wharton, Aglae Hernandez Grande, Fleur Sharafizad, Matthew Richman

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Street Level Organisations (SLOs) determine the Psychosocial Safety Climate (PSC) in their workplaces and we examine pathways from SLBs’ PSC and Public Service Motivation (PSM) to discretionary power, work stress, wellbeing and the subsequent delivery of public value. The structural equation modelling results from 195 Australian police, fire, ambulance, and emergency services workers indicate that PSC had a more significant role in explaining SLBs’ delivery of public value compared with PSM. The implication is that SLOs’ management must ensure psychosocially safe and supportive workplaces conducive to building SLBs’ wellbeing, because that is the pathway for delivering public value.

From Intention To Enactment: Action Planning And Habit Automaticity Distinguish Successful From Unsuccessful Intenders To Engage In Regular Leisure-Time Moderate-To-Vigorous Physical Activity, Yaogang Han, Yubing Wang, Pan Li, Binn Zhang

Human Movement Studies & Special Education Faculty Publications

University students often intend to exercise regularly but fail to translate intention into action. The present study tested which post-intentional processes distinguish successful from unsuccessful intenders in self-reported regular leisure-time moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) enactment. Chinese undergraduates from 10 universities completed a three-wave survey administered at roughly two-week intervals. Habit automaticity was assessed at Wave 1, intention together with action planning and coping planning at Wave 2, and self-reported regular-exercise status at Wave 3. Because the dependent variable was assessed using a single stage-based self-report item, the findings should be interpreted as explaining self-reported regular-exercise status rather than objectively measured …

Digital Diplomacy And Activism: Sustaining Institutional Legacy Through State-Proxy Discursive Competition In The Aftermath Of The Usaid 2025 Suspension, Maryam Alaa Elprince

Capstone and Graduation Projects

This study examines how the 2025 suspension of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) transformed the arena of U.S. foreign-aid diplomacy by eliminating the agency’s operational capacity and erasing its digital presence, thereby redistributing discursive authority across a fragmented communicative field. The research aims to determine how diplomacy adapts when a bilateral institution central to American soft power is dismantled through top-down decision, and whether discursive power exercised online can extend institutional relevance and legitimacy beyond structural collapse. Using an interpretivist qualitative design that combines digital-forensic reconstruction, document-based content analysis, and elite interviews  with top ranking officials, the …

Yk-4-250, A Synthetic Telmisartan-Tempol Conjugate: Crystal Structure Of A Stabilized Free Radical Containing An Angiotensin At₁ Receptor Inhibitor, Simon Friedrich, Yali Kong, Faik N. Musayev, Milton L. Brown, B. Frank Gupton

Department of Biomedical and Translational Sciences Faculty Publications

We report the first crystal structure of the telmisartan-tempol conjugate 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-1-(λ'-oxidaneyl)piperidin-4-yl 4'-[(1,7'-dimethyl-2'-propyl-1H,3'H-[2,5'-bibenzo[d]imidazol]-3'-yl)methyl]-[1,1'-biphenyl]-2-carboxylate free radical (YK-4-250, C₄₂H₄₆N₅O₃), a dual-function inhibitor designed to target both the angiotensin II type 1 receptor (AT₁R) and reactive oxygen species (ROS). Structural analysis reveals a unique crystal architecture in which the nitroxide radical is stabilized within a sterically protected environment while preserving the telmisartan pharmacophore essential for high-affinity receptor antagonism. YK-4-250 is a novel small-molecule conjugate of telmisartan and tempol that incorporates a catalytic stabilized nitroxide radical and was rationally designed to mitigate gastrointestinal acute radiation syndrome (GI-ARS).

Association Between Internet Use For Health Information And Alzheimer’S Disease Diagnosis Among Older Adults With Diabetes In The United States: Examining Racial And Gender Disparities, Henry M. Zeidan

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This study uses data from the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS) Round 13, collected in 2024, to examine whether internet use for health information is associated with Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis among older adults with diabetes in the United States. Given the rising adoption of digital health, understanding who benefits from online health resources is increasingly important. The research also examines whether these associations differ across racial and gender groups, offering insight into potential disparities in digital health engagement and cognitive outcomes. Findings from this study will inform clinical practice, public health programming, and strategies to ensure equitable access …

“Thank You For Listening To Us”: Incorporating Community Context And Perspectives Into Sea-Level Rise Adaptation Planning For Fields Landing & King Salmon, California, Clara Riggio

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Fields Landing and King Salmon, California are two low-lying, coastal communities on Humboldt Bay (Wigi). These communities already experience coastal flooding during the highest astronomical tides each year, and flood conditions are expected to worsen as sea levels continue to rise. The Fields Landing & King Salmon (FLKS) Living with Water Project was created as a partnership between Humboldt County departments of Planning & Building and Public Works, along with support from social science researchers at Cal Poly Humboldt, including the author. In Chapter 1, I describe the co-production approach used throughout the project, including analysis of four dilemmas that …

Beyond The Meter: Frameworks For Evaluating The Broad Spectrum Of Microgrid Benefits, Elias Henderson

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Community-scale microgrids can create a range of social benefits. These include resilient electricity, cleaner air, decarbonization, and economic development, alongside more qualitative values like energy sovereignty and community self-determination. Many such benefits, however, are illegible to California’s market and regulatory frameworks. This thesis traces this disconnect, with particular attention to grid-edge communities in Northern California.

Microgrid benefits are classified as monetized, modeled, or incommensurable according to their inclusion/exclusion in existing regulatory and revenue mechanisms. To explore each category, a mixed-methods analytic approach is employed, pairing Tribal and stakeholder interviews with the development of a microgrid valuation calculator. This tool is …