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Annual Report, December 31, 2022, Tennessee. Governor's Office Of Diversity Business Enterprise, Tennessee. Department Of General Services

Annual Reports

This annual report highlights the purchases and contract awards of the Governor's Office of Diversity Business Enterprise for the fiscal year.

The Reimagine Campus Safety Committee Final Report To President Stephen Percy And The Greater Psu Community, Jose Coll, Vicki Reitenauer, Ed Washington, Zachary Mettler, Charlie Evans, Crystal Renee Tenty, Deborah Mayo Kelley, Kimberly Barsamian Kahn, Marcy Hunt, Molly Gunderson, Roberto Valentin, Scott Merriman, Stéphanie Wahab, Yves Labissiere

Office of the President Publications and Presentations

On August 13, 2020, Portland State University President Stephen Percy announced two key changes in the University’s approach to campus public safety: first, Campus Public Safety officers would begin to patrol the campus without firearms and, second, a new Reimagine Campus Safety Committee (RCSC) would convene during the 2020-21 academic year to make a comprehensive set of recommendations for additional changes to the University’s approach to campus safety, security, welcoming, and belonging. In that announcement, President Percy introduced a four-person Steering Committee for the RCSC (Jose Coll, dean of the School of Social Work; Vicki Reitenauer, faculty member in Women, …

On The Feasibility Of Speed Limits In Ocean Container Shipping, Manwo Ng

Information Technology & Decision Sciences Faculty Publications

The maritime industry is witnessing an increasingly loud call to contribute to the global trend towards environmental sustainability and decarbonization. One possible policy measure is the use of speed limits to reduce harmful emissions from ocean shipping. While the idea of slowing down ships to obey speed limits might seem intuitive, one key distinguishing characteristic of container shipping is that it is designed to adhere to a fixed, typically weekly, sailing schedule. This paper contributes to the literature investigating the feasibility of speed limits by demonstrating that speed limits are not always feasible in container shipping because of the rigid …

Views Of Well-Being In Nonmetropolitan Nebraska: 2022 Nebraska Rural Poll Results, Rebecca J. Vogt, Heather Akin, Cheryl A. Burkhart-Kriesel, Bradley Lubben, L. J. Mcelravy, Timothy Meyer, Steven A. Schulz, Amanda Tupper

Nebraska Rural Poll

This year, rural Nebraskans are more pessimistic about their current situation than they’ve been in the past nine years. The proportion believing they are worse off than they were five years ago was 21 percent, up from the 11 percent reported last year. This is the highest level since 2013, when 26 percent believed they were worse off. This increase in pessimism did not translate into a decrease in optimism, however. This year, one-half of rural Nebraskans believe they are better off compared to five years ago, similar to 52 percent last year. The corresponding change occurred in a decrease …

A Call To Dismantle Systemic Racism In Criminal Legal Systems, Cynthia J. Najdowski, Margaret C. Stevenson

Psychology Faculty Scholarship

Objectives: In October 2021, APA passed a resolution addressing ways psychologists could work to dismantle systemic racism in criminal legal systems. The present report, developed to inform APA’s policy resolution, details the scope of the problem and offers recommendations for policy and psychologists to address the issue by advancing related science and practice. Specifically, it acknowledges the roots of modern-day racial and ethnic disparities in rates of criminalization and punishment for people of color as compared to White people. Next, the report reviews existing theory and research that helps explain the underlying psychological mechanisms driving racial and ethnic disparities …

How Can Microgrids Help The Philippines’ Energy Transition? Adapting The Institutional Analysis And Development (Iad) Framework For Microgrid Development, John Charles A. Altomonte, Hannah Sofia Guinto

Environmental Science Faculty Publications

The Philippine energy sector remains plagued with issues of energy security, high electricity costs, and vulnerable grid infrastructure. This paper argues for the increased uptake of microgrids as a solution for these issues, using the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) Framework as a guide for microgrid policy. We begin this paper with an analysis of existing energy policies in the Philippines, highlighting a lacking integrated approach for energy security. The main discussion explores the IAD framework for microgrid development in the Philippines, identifying key barriers and dynamics among institutions and actors in the local energy sector. We then conclude with …

No-Knock Warrants: Unlawfully Legitimate, Isabel Pergande

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

On March 13, 2020, Breonna Taylor was fatally shot when officers of the Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) executed a search warrant at her apartment. Breonna Taylor’s case brought national attention to no-knock warrants (NKWs), which allow police to enter private residences unannounced. It is estimated that 20,000-80,000 NKWs are executed by American police each year. This thesis explores the development of NKWs as a common, yet controversial, police tactic. The increase in NKWs is largely attributed to the federal government’s War on Drugs, beginning with Richard Nixon’s 1968 presidential campaign. However, the Supreme Court laid the foundation for NKWs …

Chronology Of Church-Related Public Statements On The Russian War Against-Ukraine War, (February 25-March 16, 2022), Mark R. Elliott

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

The Need To Enact Federal, Environmental-Friendly Incentives To Facilitate Infrastructure Growth Of Electric Automobiles, Vamsikrishna Karanam

Honors Undergraduate Theses

As newer technological advancements are developed and introduced, a question regarding their adoption into society has become known. If such advancements in technology mutually benefit the people using them as well as the environment we live in, should there not be provisions in place to incentivize the creation and purchase of these technological advancements.

Electric vehicles are an advancement of technology that is currently available for widespread adoption in the transportation sector of our country. However, questions as to why EVs should be adopted will be asked by critics. That is the question this thesis attempts to answer. Our global …

Public Transportation In Central Florida: Setting The Tone For Public Rail Use, Zoe Johnson

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The purpose of this research is to analyze the use of the public train usage in Central Florida to determine the feasibility of high-speed rail usage in the future. This study will be split into parts and expanded upon. The first part will observe rider perspective, values, and issues regarding rail transportation as is available in Central Florida. In further installations, which will be conducted separately from this thesis, there will be an analysis of the providers of rail transportation. It is hypothesized that there will be a moderate demand for rail transportation used by the public.

Original: The main …

Citizen Trust And Governments' Response To Disasters, Berenice Belizaire

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The purpose of this descriptive study is to determine if there is a difference in citizen trust in Orange County government regarding the handling of disaster. Various dimensions like competence, benevolence, and integrity can determine a citizen's trust within its government. Disasters, such as man-made and natural, are described as a disruption to society through widespread damage to people and material. Counties experience man-made and natural disasters. Depending on its response to the incidents, counties can determine if the citizens view the county as a trustworthy and responsible government body. This study explored if there were differences in citizen trust …

Setting The Agenda: The Legal And Historical Context To Best Understand How Transportation Technology Might Be Regulated To Combat Forced Labor, Brittany Eastman

Journal of Law and Mobility

Transportation is a piece of all human activity. As individuals and as a society, the logistics of getting people and goods from one place to another is a question we answer countless times a day. Just today, billions of people drove to work, took the bus to school, used a rideshare to get to the store, or took the train into the city to enjoy an evening out on the town. This list does not even consider all the items people have ordered online which will be shipped and delivered to homes. Even more exciting is the innovation that inspired …

Retaining Foster Parents In San Bernardino County: Identifying And Accessing Resources And Support Services Since California’S Continuum Of Care Reform, Charles A. Varadin

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Foster care is a vast social justice issue that impacts nearly every local community. Yet, it receives relatively little attention due, in part, to the low social constructs of many of the most affected groups (Schneider and Ingram 1997). Thus, it should come as no surprise that foster care and the child welfare system in California, and the United States in general, is in a crisis as more children enter the system than there are foster parents to care for them. Retention of quality foster parents reduces the need for recruitment and increases the likelihood of more stable placements with …

Above-Average Student Loan Debt For Students With Disabilities Attending Postsecondary Institutions, Kim Bullington, Kaycee L. Bills, David J. Thomas, William L. Nuckols

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

Black students with disabilities face more hurdles to academic success and completion than do their non-Black non-disabled peers. With an increased reliance on student loans to finance higher education, this double-at-risk population is even more vulnerable than either Black or disabled students individually. This study examines whether there is an additional debt burden to this intersectional population. The Baccalaureate and Beyond public dataset was used to explore student debt for students who graduated in 2017. This analysis found that Black students with disabilities graduated with significantly higher debt burdens than either non-disabled Black students or students with disabilities from other …

Adapting The Human Factors Analysis And Classification System For Commercial Fishing Vessel Accidents, Peter Zohorsky, Holly Handley, Ronald Boring (Ed.)

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

The commercial fishing industry is frequently described as one of the most hazardous occupations in the United States. The objective, to maximize the catch, is routinely challenged by a variety of elements due to the environment, the vessel, the crew, and how they interact with each other. This study developed and evaluated a version of Wiegmann and Shappell’s (2003) Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS), specifically for commercial fishing industry vessels (HFACS-FV), using data from ten years of fatal fishing vessel accidents. For this study, the accident investigation information was converted into the HFACS-FV format by independent raters and …

A Primer On The Human Readiness Level Scale (Ansi/Hfes 400-2021), Kelly Steelman, Holly Handley, Katie Plant (Ed.), Gesa Praetorius (Ed.)

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

"The Human Readiness Level (HRL) Scale is a simple 9-level scale for evaluating, tracking, and communicating the readiness of a technology for safe and effective human use. It is modeled after the well-established Technology Readiness Level (TRL) framework that is used throughout the government and industry to communicate the maturity of a technology and to support decision making about technology acquisition. Here we (1) introduce the ANSI/HFES 400-2021 Standard that defines the HRL scale and (2) provide concrete examples of evaluation activities to support the application of HRLs in the development of automated driving systems."

Measuring Political Corruption From Population Outcomes: An Alternative To Perception Measures, Glenn-Iain Steinbeck

CGU Theses & Dissertations

The impact of corruption is an increasingly important and visible topic for academics, policy makers, and the public. Yet corruption is exceptionally difficult to directly observe and empirical measurements of corruption remain highly contested. Despite the increasing availability of corruption measures and generally high correlations between them, scholars and practitioners disagree over their applicability, interpretation, and the validity of their methods. With the most frequent complaint being that existing corruption indices are largely based on expert opinion surveys, and therefore potentially open to bias and differences of interpretation. Yet, while corruption itself may be ephemeral its aggregate effects are more …

Theorizing The Initial Response Of Countries In Bringing Covid-19 Pandemic Under Control: The Effect Of Change Readiness Of Countries, M. Mahdi Moeini Gharagozloo, Farinaz Sabz Ali Pour, Chen Chen, Mozhgan Moeini Gharagozloo

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

Pandemic crises can bring the biggest and deepest shocks to countries around the world. In the first quarter of 2020, a global pandemic named “COVID-19” spread all over the world and not only took so many lives and created so much fear but also brought a tremendous financial pain as a result of shutting down economies to fight with this unknown contagious virus. This paper examines how countries’ change readiness enables them to bring the spread of an international crisis under control. We propose that higher levels of change readiness would help countries to cope with risks and uncertainties generated …

Impacts Of Covid-19 On Health Promotion Within Higher Education: Exploring Organizational Resilience, Maureen Hawkins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

The close proximity of students learning, living, socializing and working on university and college campuses presents a unique setting to understand organization responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. This concurrent, mixed methods qualitative study explored how one institution of higher education demonstrated resilience and how its health promotion activities pivoted and adjusted to reduce virus transmission and maintain safety while continuing to promote learning and education. Based on the organizational resilience conceptualization developed by Duchek (2020), data collection methods combined individual interviews with university leaders, self-interview and reflection, and a review of organization documents a connection between health promotion, organization resilience, …

Struggling For Security: The Complexity Of Nato Burden-Sharing, Tad Schnaufer Ii

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Since the founding of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), US administrations have criticized their European allies for not meeting security burden-sharing goals. This study aims to gain insight into what factors motivate alliance members to contribute to the burden-sharing objectives they have agreed to achieve. From a US perspective, the need for its European allies to reach these goals will allow the United States to shift resources to more pressing strategic challenges like the rise of China. Informed by Mancur Olson's theory of collective action and Glenn Snyder's concept of the security dilemma in alliances, this project tests the …

Reforming The Solid Waste Management System: The Case Of Rural Areas In Egypt /إصلاح نظام إدارة النفايات الصلبة: حالة المناطق الريفية في مصر, Ahmed El Masry, Fatema El Ghonemy, Ibrahim Abugazia, Raghda El Khater

Papers, Posters, and Presentations

The policy paper tackles the issue of managing solid waste in rural areas in Egypt. It mainly targets the reform of the solid waste management system. The authors deal with rural areas specifically due to their importance and significance. In this context, the policy paper research demonstrated that the current solid waste management system in the governorates studied has a number of flaws and limitations. These issues show the inadequate solid waste management technical performance at the governorate level in terms of institutional, technical, financial, economic, and environmental factors, due to the lack of or ineffective solid waste management departments …

The 2018 Public Consultation On Standardized Packaging In Singapore: Analysis Of Policy Actors' Submissions, Gianna Gayle H. Amul

Ateneo School of Government Publications

After a public consultation in 2018, Singapore implemented standardized tobacco packaging as part of its portfolio of tobacco control policies in 2020, in compliance with Article 11 guidelines for implementing the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. This study analyzed policy actors in opposition to standardized packaging in Singapore and their submissions to the public consultation. Policy actors were profiled, and their arguments were then coded and compared across submissions. Descriptive results were then summarized in a narrative synthesis. In total, 79 submissions were considered for final analysis that opposed plain packaging in Singapore. Thematic analysis shows that …

Strategies To Reduce Flight Attendant Voluntary Turnover, Jorge Tobar

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Flight attendant voluntary turnover can lead to staffing shortages that can cause severe disruptions to flight schedules, damage the airlines’ reputations, and negatively affect revenues, which are significant challenges for airline leaders. Grounded in Herzberg’s two-factor theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple-case study was to explore strategies airline leaders use to reduce flight attendant voluntary turnover. Data were collected from four leaders from four U.S. airlines in the southwestern United States using semistructured interviews and reviews of organizational documents. Five themes emerged from thematic analysis: improving compensation and benefits packages, implementing rewards and recognition programs, increasing supervisory support, expanding …

The Use Of Social Media For Disaster Information In Houston-Galveston, Tx, Erik Phillip Zugner

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractDisasters, natural or human-caused, have the ability to inflict catastrophic economic and physical damage to communities around the world. As social media is becoming more widespread in the use of information sharing, it is not being used to its full potential to communicate with the communities in the greater Houston-Galveston, TX region. The purpose of this study was to address the use and implementation of social media for disasters and large-scale events in the Houston-Galveston, TX region. I used the transformative framework as outlined by Creswell as the theoretical framework for this study. The qualitative research questions focused on social …

Perception Of Racial Minorities And Police Officers Involving Use Of Force, Linda L. Hester

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Although police training, codes of ethics, and use of force policies are in place at police departments, the problem is there is a lack of standardization involving use of force by police officers, which is triggering community concerns between police officers and racial minorities. The present study built on the work of Riter by exploring perceptions and lived experiences of racial minorities involving police officers’ use of force based on fear, trust, and confidence. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore whether lived experiences of racial minority citizens differ from police officers regarding use of force in a …

Russian Federalism In 2012-2021, Vladimir Kalajdzhyan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Researchers have disagreed on whether the Russian federal system of government was one of the many models of federalism, its own unique form of it, or not federalism. Therefore, the overarching research question investigated was how classic western theoretical frameworks on federalism applied to the contemporary Russian federal system, how the Russian system evolved in its own unique way, and how it related to asymmetrical federalist, quasi-federalist, and non-federalist systems. The classic theoretical foundation framework on federalism was applied. The purpose of this research was to study current trends within the Russian federal government system and investigate paths for Russia’s …

Exploring Systemic Reform In Criminal Justice For Afro-Americans Based On Critical Policy Ethnography, Cozetta Butts Lamore

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The persistent disproportionate rates of Afro-American involvement within the criminal justice system at all levels have resulted in historic levels of unexplained mass incarceration. Despite federal guidance, the pandemic of unexplained mass incarceration persists. Some studies have noted that the lack of academic attention may be one of the primary reasons for the lack of change. Others have noted the need for centering and lifting the perspective of those who have been most impacted by these racial disparities. The intent of this study was to offer a qualitative close-up examination and analysis from the perspective of impacted populations. The ecological …

Veteran Defendant Reasons For Opting Out Of Veterans' Treatment Court, Delilah A. Moore

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Veterans’ treatment courts (VTCs) are problem-solving courts created to address the specific treatment needs of veteran defendants. Consistent with general strain theory, the stressors of military service can lead to negative emotions that have been linked to criminality. Despite the favorable results of studies on the efficacy of VTCs to reduce recidivism, participation is voluntary, and not all eligible candidates elect to participate. The purpose of this study was to discover why defendants choose to opt out. Understanding the barriers to participation is critical for VTC actors charged with providing treatment to as many veterans as possible. A qualitative study …

Analysis Of National Origin Discrimination Suits Filed With The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Arantxa N. Almodovar

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Workplace discrimination has been a focus of scholars for several decades. Previous research has uncovered the practice of implicit bias in the form of pre-employment discrimination against minority groups based on factors not reflective of their work ethic or qualifications. The purpose of this study was to analyze national origin discrimination suits filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to understand why pre-employment discrimination continues to be a recurring issue in the workforce. The analysis focused on 46 randomly selected national origin discrimination lawsuits—two suits for each year between 1997 and 2020—of public record, which included the type of organization …

Factors Influencing The State Of Texas’S Policies Toward Business Activity In The Covid-19 Pandemic: A Case Study., Gregory E. Parker

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The novel coronavirus, also known as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 and causing a disease called COVID-19, reached the United States in January 2020. In the United States, some state and local governments-imposed lockdowns on citizens and businesses in the name of public safety and health, while other governments prioritized avoiding disruptions to economic activity in their states and localities. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the factors that influenced the State of Texas’s policies toward business activity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Guided by the theory of regime values, a nonintrusive approach was employed to …