Public Administration Commons^™

Rfia: An R Package For Estimation Of Forest Attributes With The Us Forest Inventory And Analysis Database, Hunter Stanke, Andrew O. Finley, Aaron S. Weed, Brian F. Walters, Grant M. Domke

United States National Park Service: Publications

Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) is a US Department of Agriculture Forest Service program that aims to monitor changes in forests across the US. FIA hosts one of the largest ecological datasets in the world, though its complexity limits access for many potential users. rFIA is an R package designed to simplify the estimation of forest attributes using data collected by the FIA Program. Specifically, rFIA improves access to the spatiotemporal estimation capacity of the FIA Database via space–time indexed summaries of forest variables within user-defined population boundaries (e.g., geographic, temporal, biophysical). The package implements multiple design-based estimators, and has …

Acue Reflection, Pamela Medina Gutierrez

Q2S Enhancing Pedagogy

The associated materials are related to my participation and completion of 14 modules of the ACUE course during the Fall, Winter, and Spring quarters of 2019 – 2020. As the reflection guides note, the modules highlighted engaging students in a manner that is comfortable and natural for my personal style. The sample lesson plan attached in the materials reflects the exploration, introduction, and application approach adapted from the ACUE modules. In the table, I’ve outlined the strategy to encourage initial engagement with the material by using existing knowledge. Each of the exploration activities activates student background knowledge, with one also …

Aging In The City Of Attleboro: A Community Needs Assessment, Caitlin Coyle, Mary Krebs

Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging Publications

This report describes research undertaken by the Center for Social & Demographic Research on Aging within the Gerontology Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston, on behalf of the Attleboro Council on Aging. The goals of this project were to investigate the needs, interests, preferences, and opinions of Attleboro’s residents age 60 or older. The contents of this report are meant to inform the City of Attleboro, the Attleboro Council on Aging and Senior Center, and organizations that work with and on behalf of older residents of Attleboro for the purposes of planning and coordination of services. The report will …

Creating Comprehensive Wrap-Around Services For The Homeless Community: Exploring Network Activity Among Shelters And Service Organizations Within The South-Side Of Chicago, Gloria West

Dissertations

We may not all agree that the homeless community is increasing and that their essential needs to survive such as food, healthcare and housing are quality of life rights for everyone. We must adopt the compassion of the medical industry and understand the importance of how community programs and services impact their survival. The sense of urgency to address the issues of homelessness does not appear to be moving as fast as other government agendas hindering families and individual’s ability to achieve self-sufficiency. It is expected that the priorities within this population are addressed immediately, it should be understood that …

A Transnational Network For Public Sector Innovation: The Impact Of A Global Digital Government Reform Network On Public Administration At The Domestic Level, Beomgeun Cho, R. Karl Rethemeyer

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This study investigates the impact of a global E-government reform network on an individual country's E-government performance. As keeping pace with changing environments becomes one of the essential tasks for governments to retain problem-solving capacity, scholars have paid a lot of attention to the determinants of public sector innovation. However, how the ideas of reform and innovation have been communicated at the international or intergovernmental level has been paid less attention. To fill the gap in the literature, we have constructed a social network dataset covering 179 countries for the period 2010 to 2013. This dataset records whether countries sent …

The Objectives Of Public Higher Education In New York City Through The Lens Of Language, John-Nicholas Parker

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This paper displays the objectives of public higher education in New York City and their relation to changes in the city. Public higher education in New York City relies on the support of the public. This paper details adjustments to the lexicon of the school in response to changing demographics and historical events by examining statements provided by the school during different periods. Changes to the lexicon relating to class, gender, race, ethnicity, and military service are examined in relation to their historical context. Sources examined in this paper include commission reports, student newspapers, and mission statements. The paper finds …

Executive Summaries

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

Full Issue

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

A Canary In The Payout-Rate Coal Mine, John C. Alexander Jr.

The Foundation Review

In this article, we create a capital markets-based indicator to trigger when a discussion about changing portfolio payout rates may be appropriate. Although the payout rate is often a calendar agenda item for foundations and endowments, volatility in capital markets may cause a deluge of ad hoc payout discussions that may decrease the effectiveness of investment committees.

Recent market performance provides a poor foundation for decisions related to a sustainable payout. The most sustainable portion of the investment return is the portfolio yield. We construct a metric using equity and bond market yields as a quantitative leading indicator of when …

Women’S Grantmaking For Economic Security: The Work Of One Coalition, Elizabeth May Gillespie

The Foundation Review

Philanthropy has historically been an avenue for citizens to pursue positive social change, yet little is known about what foundations are doing to foster economic security for women. This article seeks to help bridge this gap between theory and practice through an examination of one type of philanthropic organization — women’s grantmaking funds.

Focusing on the work of Prosperity Together, a coalition of 30 of women’s grantmaking funds dedicated to advancing women’s economic security, this article explores what the funds are doing to support this work. It draws on data from a landscape scan of the coalition’s members as well …

Editorial, Teri Behrens

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

The Experiences Of A Foundation With A Limited Life: Benefits And Challenges, Lynda Mansson

The Foundation Review

This article discusses the benefits and drawbacks of a limited-life foundation’s philanthropy practice. The strengths, including a sharpened strategic focus and sense of urgency, and the challenges, such as ensuring impact and dealing with grantee dependency, are also relevant when closing a program. Drawing on reflections from the director general of the MAVA Foundation and learnings from foundations that have recently closed, this article also discusses how to prepare for the end date of a limited-life foundation. MAVA, a Swiss-based grantmaking foundation for 25 years, has a planned end date of 2022. The article features key lessons for foundations considering …

Front Matter

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

Coherent Assistance In Education Improvement: How Foundations Can Help, Ann Jaquith, Rosa Chavez

The Foundation Review

Philanthropic organizations are experimenting with ways to support capacity building in order to scale innovations and leverage funding for greater social impact. Increasingly, philanthropies are also attending to their own organizational needs for learning in order to inform strategy, shape future work, and measure effectiveness.

This article shares the lessons of the Aligned Partners Project, a three-year study of a foundation-funded interorganizational collaboration to align the work of three technical assistance organizations to meet the needs of one school district. It identifies challenges to providing coherent assistance as well as grantmaking practices that could address them.

A foundation seeking to …

Back Matter

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

Turning Changemaking Inward: How One Health Philanthropy Transformed Its Grantmaking Approach To Drive Deeper Impact, Christina Ellis, Laura Pinsoneault, Sarah Deering, Jesse Ehrenfeld, Erin Fabian, Cheryl Maurana

The Foundation Review

In 2014, the Medical College of Wisconsin’s Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment made a significant shift in focus to supporting adaptive rather than programmatic solutions to address critical health issues, and adopted a new approach that emphasized engagement with key stakeholders, recognizing the importance of contribution over attribution and requiring a long-term perspective on outcomes.

The endowment identified three new “changemaker” roles for itself, alongside new funding mechanisms and a set of conditions where positive change could be supported to influence health. While changemaking began as a description of the endowment’s strategic direction, today this philanthropic philosophy permeates all that …

Lessons From The Assessment For Learning Project: Strategies For Building An Authentic Learning Community, Heather Lewis-Charp, Daniela Berman, Sarah Lench, Tony Siddall

The Foundation Review

This article explores findings from an evaluation of the Assessment for Learning Project, a grantee engagement strategy led by the Center for Innovation in Education focused on creating a learning community founded in continuous reflection and safety for risk-taking. The article shares the project’s model and approach, grounded in the core design elements of a field-facing learning agenda, grantmaking that leads with learning, and collective leadership.

This article highlights the Assessment for Learning Project’s practices, such as a Request for Learning rather than traditional Request for Proposals; a requirement that grantees provide formative feedback to each other; and public demonstrations …

Is More Always Better? A Reflection On The Dynamic Nature Of Nationally And Regionally Focused Funder Collaboratives, Jo Carcedo, Merry Davis, Megan Folkerth, Lori Grubstein, Chris Kabel

The Foundation Review

Funding collaboratives allow foundations to align, increase effectiveness, and collectively address systemic issues. Such alliances are increasingly important in the quest for social change in the face of large-scale challenges like climate change, political polarization, and inequity, which require contributions from across sectors to create meaningful impact. An exploration of why such collaboratives form, how they evolve, and what impact they have offers insights for foundations interested in tackling such complex challenges.

The BUILD Health Challenge® is a funding collaborative that includes national and regionally focused funders working together to drive sustainable improvements in health. Through a reflective survey and …

Early Voting Versus Election Day Voting: Identifying Individual Indicators Of Election Stage Participation In Louisiana Elections, 2015-2016, Anthony Licciardi Jr.

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

Does early voting advance the democratic process in achieving political equality? Does it create more equity in the representativeness of an electorate? According to rational choice and economic theory, the expanded opportunity to vote should reduce an individual’s cost to vote, thus resulting in higher voter turnouts where traditionally marginalized voters will take advantage of early voting opportunities.

This research conducts an individual-level analysis of more than five-million voter cases over four consecutive Louisiana statewide elections of all individuals who voted in each of the elections from 2015 to 2016. These elections include the 2016 U.S. presidential election, a …

Program Evaluation Of Affordable Housing Projects For Educators: Pathways To Success, Giulia C. Seminatore

Master's Projects

Research was conducted to answer the question, what are the successful pathways to the creation of school district-driven affordable housing projects to enhance recruitment and retention of teachers and other school district staff? This research is based on a program evaluation of four current housing developments for educators and school district staff, and describes successful models for implementation that can be followed by other interested school districts or organizations. For the purpose of this research, successful is defined as projects that were able to secure land, funding and public support during the planning phase, and house district workforce upon implementation. …

Minority Vetoes In Consociational Legislatures: Ultimately Weaponized?, Devin Haymond

Indiana Journal of Constitutional Design

In societies emerging from or at risk for conflict, dividing power among rival groups—called power-sharing—can be an appropriate arrangement to maintaining peace. But how can groups, who are often emerging from violent conflict, trust sharing a government with rival groups that were just recently shooting at them?

A potential solution is the minority veto, which is allows minority groups to block the government from harming those groups’ vital interests. But what sorts of change blocking mechanisms constitute a minority veto? Who gets the veto power, and when can they be used? Do minority vetoes function as effective incentives for ensuring …

Can Cities Be Feminist? A Cross-National Analysis Of Factors Affecting Local Female Representation In Latin America, Katie Davis

Honors Theses

Women are underrepresented in mayor’s offices and on city councils across Latin America. In this paper, I examine gender-based differences in individual opinions toward running for office in Argentina and Uruguay, as well as conduct a twenty-six country analysis on factors related to female representation in municipal government. Based on these analyses, I make three main conclusions about female local representation in Latin America. The first conclusion is that women in Latin America are significantly less likely to want to run or feel qualified to run for office. The second conclusion is that cross-national variation in the percentage of female …

Development Of A Modified Floristic Quality Index As A Rapid Habitat Assessment Method In The Northern Everglades, Rebakah E. Gibble, Donatto D. Surratt

United States National Park Service: Publications

Floristic quality assessments (FQA) using floristic quality indices (FQIs) are useful tools for assessing and comparing vegetation communities and related habitat condition. However, intensive vegetation surveys requiring significant time and technical expertise are necessary, which limits the use of FQIs in environmental monitoring programs. This study modified standard FQI methods to develop a rapid assessment method for characterizing and modeling change in wetland habitat condition in the northern Everglades. Method modifications include limiting vegetation surveys to a subset of taxa selected as indicators of impact and eliminating richness and/or abundance factors from the equation. These modifications reduce the amount of …

Fire Monitoring Handbook

United States National Park Service: Publications

Fire is a powerful and enduring force that has had, and will continue to have, a profound influence on National Park Service (NPS) lands. Fire management decisions within the National Park Service require information on fire behavior and on the effects of fire on park resources. With good reason, the public is holding park management increasingly accountable, especially in the area of fire management. Federal and state agencies are instituting progressively more stringent guidelines for burning, monitoring, and evaluation. The impetus behind these guidelines and the purpose of this handbook are to ensure that management objectives are being met, to …

Examining Follower Perceptions Of The Relationships Between Public Sector Leadership Behavior And Personality Traits, Robert Perez

Theses & Dissertations

To fill a gap of leadership research in the public sector, conducted in a municipal government department, in a southwestern United States city of over 1,000,000 residents, this quantitative survey research examined the relationships between 66 observer ratings (response rate of 46.15% from a sample of 143 participants) of a department director’s level of the Big Five personality traits, measured by the NEO Five-Factor Inventory-3 (NEO-FFI-3), and transformational leadership as measured by the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire 5X (MLQ 5X). Demographic data was collected to examine potential relationships between the NEO-FFI-3 and MLQ 5x ratings. To compare the self-other ratings, the …

The Mental Health Of Black Men: Stabilizing Trauma With Emotional Intelligence, Davis Brandford

School of Professional Studies

The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between the impact of historical trauma and barriers on African-American males and the effects of emotional intelligence in reducing traumatic experiences. This research study is based on previous research and studies that explores the historical review of African- American oppression, trauma in black males, and mental health in the African American community. This study will utilize the historical trauma and emotional intelligence theories to explore barriers that African Americans have experienced over time and the role emotional intelligence can play to reduce trauma. It also explores the relevance of historical …

Crisis Communication And Executive Leadership: Ethical Shortcomings In Government, Daniel Davidoff

School of Professional Studies

This research thesis project is an analysis of how and why governments fail in their attempts at crisis communication. The hypotheses tested are: there exists a negative correlation between unethical leadership and successful crisis communication practices. And governments are more likely to experience these failures due to ethical disconnects in modern politics. Research includes a review of relevant academic literature regarding crisis communication theory, as well as the ethical framework that can be applied to that theory. Cases considered are Hurricane Katrina, the choking death of Eric Garner, and the COVID-19 global pandemic. The research project concludes with a recommendation …

Becoming A Trauma Informed Care Organization, Katie Robery

School of Professional Studies

The Brockton Area Mutli Services Inc or BAMSI is a private, non-profit human services organization providing services to adults and children with developmental disabilities, mental illness, behavioral health, and public health needs. Founded in 1975, BAMSI is in the business of “bringing people and services together.” BAMSI transforms lives by building the capacity of individuals, families, organizations, and communities to learn, thrive, and achieve their goals. BAMSI services promote the recovery, resiliency, and self-determination of the people we serve. As a human services leader, we strive to be the provider of choice. (Duffy, 2019) With an emphasis on respect and …

Diversity And Inclusion In The Workplace; Benefits, Challenges And Strategies For Success, Margaret Leone

School of Professional Studies

In this case study I have explored the topic of diversity and inclusion in the workplace and learned how it can transform a business. When D&I is a serious business strategy supported by senior management it can help recruit and retain top talent, increase profits, and unleash creativity among other benefits. It is important to have leadership that is inclusive so they can set the tone for their staff

This case study evaluates the D&I culture at The Children’s Study Home (CHS) and explores best practices for improvement. CHS is a non-profit human service agency in Western MA, that’s mission …

Young People, Social Media, And Impacts On Well-Being, Andreana Nop

School of Professional Studies

Millennials and Generation Z were born into an age where social media and digital technology have been integrated in nearly all aspects of their lives. While social media has proven to be a valuable communication tool in connecting with each other and sharing information, the long-term psychosocial effects are beginning to become more apparent as social media matures. This study analyzes what these effects are and how communication is impacted for these young people. It questions how young people can leverage social media and decrease harm. The study will be conducted through a literature review and analysis. Its goal is …