Policy Design, Analysis, and Evaluation Commons^™

Textbook Alternatives: Faculty Approaches To Reducing Student Costs For Required Course Materials, Ashley Klair Burke

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

American undergraduates spend approximately $600 per semester on required course materials, most of which are traditional textbooks. This study examines the high textbook costs placed on students and the factors contributing to cost increases. Textbook prices have increased more than twice the rate of inflation, approximately 6 percent per year since 1986. The textbook market is unlike many other economic markets within the United States, as instructors set the demand and students make the purchases.

A review of over 128 articles on textbook costs and alternatives provide information for this study. In particular, 16 studies evaluating textbook costs and alternatives …

A Form In The Road: U.S. Foreign Policy And The Path Toward Globalization In The Middle East, 1945-2014, Joshua P. Brotka

History Theses

This thesis examines the history of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East since 1945. From the start of the Cold War immediately following the conclusion of WWII and up to the present day (2014), U.S. policy has been subject to many revisions and simultaneously, upheld national security measures. As the world heads toward an era where globalization is most prevalent, the United States will have to make drastic decisions regarding its foreign policy in the Middle East. Its alliance with Israel, oil interests, Islamic fundamentalism, an evolving Muslim society, and supporting a national security agenda has forced the United …

The Impact Of World Bank’S Conditionality-Ownership Hybrid On Forest Management In Cameroon: Policy Hybridity In International Dependence Development, Asongayi Venard

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many developing countries depend on the World Bank for development assistance, which the Bank often provides with policy reform conditions. Resistance to World Bank’s conditionality caused the Bank to posit “ownership” as a country’s real assent to its development policies. The combination of ownership and conditionality invalidates the neocolonial, false-paradigm and dualism theses in explaining the international dependence development model. This study explains this model by investigating how the relationship between conditionality and ownership in the context of this model impacts forest management in Cameroon.

Integrating theoretical and methodological insights mainly from political science, economics, geosciences, and sociology, the study …

Harnessing Complexity: Analysis Methodology And Ethical Framework To Facilitate Utilization Of Video Data In Evaluations, Kurt A. Wilson

Dissertations

Most evaluations in the nonprofit and international development sectors are conducted in contexts of complexity; the specific intervention being evaluated is but one of many interrelated factors influencing the desired outcome. Video data, especially when directly generated by program participants, can provide both exceptionally rich qualitative data as well as contextually-relevant feedback within complex systems. Despite these unique strengths and opportunities, video data is underutilized in the field of evaluation. This dissertation addresses specific barriers associated with video data through three inter-related papers: Papers one and two (Chapters II and III) present the findings from two interrelated studies of an …

The Pivot To Asia: South Korea As A Strategic Partner For U.S. Foreign Policy In Asia, Rachel M. Hale

Senior Honors Theses

The relationship between the United States and the Republic of South Korea requires reexamination due to the recent U.S. foreign policy shift from the Middle East to the Asia-Pacific region. The nature of the relationship has altered considerably over the past 70 years. South Korea is a leading country in East Asia, and a strengthened partnership could have many benefits for the United States. South Korea tends to be overlooked in foreign policy discussions because of the security concerns posed by North Korea; but South Korea possesses many qualities which could be utilized to the advantage of U.S. foreign policy. …

Women’S Municipal Leadership In Massachusetts: Snapshot Of Cape Cod, Center For Women In Politics And Public Policy, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Publications from the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy

The center tracks the status of women at all levels of government in New England. It also provides dynamic web resources to inform and support the public leadership of women of color.

Los Angeles County's Criminal Street Gangs: Does Violence Roll Downhill?, Jasmin B. Randle

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

According to the 2011 National Gang Threat Assessment created by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, there are more than 33,000 gangs in the United States, cited as being responsible for nearly 48% of the violent crime in the country. Using information drawn from gang-related court cases, this study examines the nature of inter- and intra-gang violence occurring between January 1, 2002-December 31, 2011. An innovative application of network analysis will be used to hone in on rivalries, the existence of possible hierarchy, and the relational and structural characteristics of Blood and Crip gangs in Los Angeles County. Results show that …

The Health And Nutrition Effects Of Snap: Selection Into The Program And A Review Of The Literature On Its Effects, Marianne Bitler

University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research Discussion Paper Series

The goal of this paper is to assess the existing state of knowledge about whether SNAP improves health and nutrition outcomes, and if so, which ones and by how much.

In an era of fiscal crisis, knowing whether SNAP has any significant causal effect on health and nutrition is crucial for informing policy decisions and policy makers. In this review, I pay particular attention to the challenges researchers face in overcoming selection bias and identifying causal effects of the program, and I will assess the literature through that lens. The fundamental challenge in program evaluation in general and in assessing …

The Positive Deviance Phenomenon Of Leading Successful Strategic Change, Gail Johnson Morris

2010-2016 Archived Posters

The focus of this phenomenological study was to explore how the positive deviance phenomenon and strategies manifest through the lived experience of successful Canadian financial services strategic change leaders. The 4 leadership dimensions culminate in the Leading Successful Strategic Change: The 4 Factor Formula.

Government Regulation: From Independency To Dependency, Part 2, Steven Alan Samson

Faculty Publications and Presentations

What Robert Bellah calls ‘expressive individualism’ has led to unprecedented social legislation in America and expanded government employment since the 1960s, helping to produce a generous supply of public services, policy entrepreneurs, and clientele groups. The legal scholar Lawrence M Friedman notes that ‘the right to be ‘oneself,’ to choose oneself, is placed in a special and privileged position.’ As a consequence, ‘achievement is defined in subjective, personal terms, rather than in objective, social terms.’ When the claims of expressive individualism are considered in tandem with the increasing reach of the modern social service state, a case may be made …

Aging And Equity In The Greater Portland Metropolitan Region, Alan Kenneth Delatorre, Margaret B. Neal

Institute on Aging Publications

Aging and Equity in the Greater Portland Metropolitan Region discusses the opportunities and needs created by the increase in older adults in the region. The 65 and older population is expected to more than double over the next two decades, to over half a million people. Planning for the inevitable and unprecedented aging of our population provides an opportunity to improve our environments while becoming a leader in the push to create sustainable, equitable, and age-friendly communities.

Counterinsurgency Redux? Dutch Counterinsurgency In Uruzgan, Afghanistan 2006-2010, Andrew Majkut

Government and International Relations Honors Papers

This thesis examines the complex, interdisciplinary nature of counterinsurgency in the 21st century by assessing the whole-of-government, population-centric approach that the Dutch Armed Forces and Government took to combat the Taliban in Uruzagn, Afghanistan from 1 August 2006 to 1 August 2010. The Dutch approach resulted in increased security, as well as increased political and economic capacity in the three districts of Uruzgan where they focused their efforts. By the end of Task Force Uruzgan, the Government of Afghanistan had increased its majority control from 0 percent of the population to approximately 60 percent, and the Afghan National Security Forces …

[Introduction To] More Than Shelter: Activism And Community In San Francisco Public Housing, Amy L. Howard

Bookshelf

In the popular imagination, public housing tenants are considered, at best, victims of intractable poverty and, at worst, criminals. More Than Shelter makes clear that such limited perspectives do not capture the rich reality of tenants’ active engagement in shaping public housing into communities. By looking closely at three public housing projects in San Francisco, Amy L. Howard brings to light the dramatic measures tenants have taken to create—and sustain and strengthen—communities that mattered to them.

More Than Shelter opens with the tumultuous institutional history of the San Francisco Housing Authority, from its inception during the New Deal era, through …

Myscouting: An Assessment Of User Satisfaction And Suggestions For Improvement, Donald H. Combs Iii

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

The Boy Scouts of America was established as a non-profit organization in 1910 and now has over three million active volunteers in the United States. Since the organization was founded in America, the program has grown not only in membership, but also in complexity with many new awards, training requirements, and programs. Originally the organization tracked this information via paper submission. After the development of the disk operation system (DOS), the organization started tracking and storing information in this data system. Yet, while today the DOS-based databases are outdated, the Boy Scouts of America still continues to use this technology …

The Modern Streetcar In The United States: Do Cities Have The Information Needed To Make Informed Choices?, Elle Hull

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Streetcars have made a comeback in cities in North American in the last several decades; there are now over 45 cities operating, building, or planning streetcars. The majority of these streetcars are viewed primarily as catalysts for economic development, rather than as a means of public transportation. However, the streetcar’s claim of promoting development is backed by surprisingly little evidence.

Although carrying out an analysis of the impact of streetcars on economic development is beyond the scope of this paper due to problems with data availability, methods of performing such an analysis are discussed. This includes a list of cities …

Postsecondary Instruction: Changes In The Academic Workforce And State Appropriations For Community Colleges, R. Ryan Kendrick

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Over the last 30 years continued decline in state appropriations for public institutions has been accompanied by an increase in the use of part-time instruction. Community colleges have been particularly susceptible to both of these problems. Two-year institutions have less freedom than their larger counterparts to raise tuition rates and part time instructors constitute a larger percentage of their workforce. Less revenue has resulted in fewer resources to devote to instruction and student support. Part-time time instruction, on the whole, results in lower student retention and graduation rates.

This analysis intended to establish a connection between cuts to state appropriations …

Measuring Academic Achievement Of University Of Kentucky Student Athletes: Helping The Center For Academic And Tutorial Services Better Allocate Resources, Chatham Penrod

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

The NCAA requires its member institutions and student athletes to maintain certain academic requirements to remain eligible for competition. To ensure academic success, many institutions establish academic centers for their student athletes. The University of Kentucky was the first institution to develop a facility of this type. The Center for Academic and Tutorial Services (CATS) provides academic enhancement for its student athletes.

After a brief overview on current NCAA academic eligibility requirements, this paper looks at the organization of CATS and at the current literature on student athlete academic achievement. Then a few analyses were conducted on the academic achievement …

Determining Undergraduate Factors That Predict Academic Success In Pharmacy School, Stephen Polley

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Admission into pharmacy school is a very competitive process, and as a result multiple authors have looked at a variety of factors in an effort to create a systematic process that admissions committees can use to identify candidates who are likely to succeed in the rigorous pharmacy curriculum. One of the issues with this approach is that these analyses tend to be very institution-specific. In this paper I hope to identify a mechanism that the University of Kentucky (UK) College of Pharmacy admissions committee can use to efficiently and thoroughly evaluate candidates using scientifically validated factors.

This study uses a …

Teacher Compensation And Student Outcomes: A District Examination In Kentucky, Logan Rupard

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Teacher effectiveness is an often examined topic in our educational policy arena today, especially when it comes to its effects on student outcomes. Teachers are often considered one of the most important factors in affecting student outcomes. Because the quality of teachers attracted to the teaching profession is presumed to be influenced by their compensation, we are interested in measuring how teacher compensation and student outcomes are related. This study will examine not only current compensation, but include pension compensation as well. By combining both current salaries and pension payments as a unit for total compensation, this paper will examine …

Report And Recommendations Of The Balance Of Crop Research Working Group Of The National Agricultural Research, Extension, Education And Economics (Nareee) Advisory Board, Mark Mclellan, Leo Holt, Twilya L'Ecuyer, Robert Taylor, Julia Sabin, Milo Shult, Anne Marie Thro, Paul Heisey

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

In December of 2012, the President’s Council of Advisors on Science & Technology (PCAST) issued a report to the President on Agricultural Preparedness and the Agriculture Research Enterprise. The PCAST report recognizes the long-term history of public investment in agricultural research. The report also recognized significant private investment into agricultural research. Significantly, the report is adamant that the agricultural research enterprise is not prepared to meet the challenges of the 21st century. The report cited two reasons:

1. too little competitive research and
2. an imbalance of research priorities between private and public funding sources.

This report addresses the latter issue.

Members …