Public Administration Commons^™

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, …

Annual Report 2022, Tennessee. Department Of General Services

Annual Reports

This annual report briefly describes the business units in General Services and financial transactions made during the fiscal year.

Understanding Factors Impacting Volunteer Firefighters' Work, Family, And Volunteer Balance To Serve, Christopher Schultz

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

The volunteer fire service in the United States is experiencing a decline, presenting the opportunity to study factors impacting current and former volunteer firefighters' ability to serve. A qualitative case study of volunteer fire service organizations in southern New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania was undertaken through semi-structured interviews with 13 volunteer fire service members to understand this phenomenon. The findings of this study reveal that volunteer firefighters balance their time commitments through prioritization and self-regulation. The findings also indicate that volunteer firefighters are uncertain whether their communities understand the fire service delivery model serving their communities, the potential challenges the …

Sparking Debate: Private Or Public? The Effect Of Ownership On Electric Utility Performance, Joseph Pazzalia

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

The privatization of municipal electric utilities has prompted the public vs private debate among local government leaders. Private utilities want to increase their profits by expanding their territory and municipalities hope to see an influx of cash from the sale of their utility. Public administrators are left with questions about how this will serve their community. This research addresses the topic of performance differences between public and private ownership among electric utilities in Florida. Specifically, the research question is, Does ownership type (public or private) affect the performance of electric utilities in the State of Florida? All of Florida’s 19 …

A Comprehensive Analysis Of The Pennsylvania Wine Industry With Actionable Recommendations For Industry Improvement And Growth, Seth Porter

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

Local wine industries are vital engines of agricultural economic growth, rural development, and sustainable long-term tax base creation. While the Pennsylvania wine industry has made admirable progress, the industry still has a poor collective reputation, high variance in product quality differential, and a perceived regulatory environment that creates negative externalities for local wine, agricultural production, and auxiliary enterprises. This comprehensive analysis attempts to diagnose and remedy all primary public policy, regulatory, state, non-profit, and non-state private actions that have impeded the Pennsylvania wine industry. A methodology of grounded theory qualitative processes, furthered by texting mining and document analysis techniques, were …

Assessment Limitations And The Disparate Impact Of Tax Policy On Minoritized Communities, Michael Fouassier

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

Public policies that limit assessment increases have created a system where more valuable homes are taxed at lower rates than less valuable homes. This tax regressivity is found not only between neighborhoods but also within neighborhoods such that lower-value homes in wealthier areas are also taxed at higher rates. The research presented in this dissertation, just one line of inquiry that adds to the ongoing discussion of tax equity, provides evidence that minoritized communities will not experience the greatest benefits of assessment caps. The legislative intent of New York State Senate Bill S7000A was to protect homeowners. What has occurred, …

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of The Air Force’S Open Topic Sbir And Sttr Process To Engage Small Business To Work On Defense, Bevan Hart

Master's Projects

Has the Air Force’s (AF) use of the “Open Topic” solicitation in the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs increased engagement with non-traditional defense contractors, and is it effective in getting companies on contract that would not otherwise have been likely to contract with the Air Force?

Task Force Rattlesnake: A Cost Analysis Of Fire Crew Base Pay In California, Galen R. Yusufzai-Boggs

Master's Projects

Wildfire management in California is an expensive program totaling over $3 billion in 2020, where the state provides two-thirds of the budget from the general fund (Peters et al., 2020). California has consistently used the state military to assist in wildland fire mitigation efforts; however, for the first time it has created a year-round team to reduce fuels to clean up the state’s forests. Further analysis would determine if Task Force Rattlesnake is an effective use of the state’s budget for wildfire mitigation.

Housing Choice Vouchers: Moving To Work Program In California, Benjamin Tran

Master's Projects

This research project examined whether the US Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD’s) Moving To Work (MTW) program enabled California’s public housing authorities to provide more efficient service, while meeting MTW program goals, from 2015 to 2020.

An Analysis Of Kindergarten Childhood Disease Vaccination Rates And Practices In Bay Area Counties, Janice Zelaya

Master's Projects

Immunizations are the most effective method for preventing communicable diseases, especially among children. Ensuring that children are vaccinated is of the utmost importance but remains a challenge due to misinformation and the growing anti-vaccination movement. With a population of 39.5 million people as of 2020 (Census Bureau, n.d.), California is the most populous state in the United States. In 2020, the San Francisco Bay Area, which includes the counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, and Sonoma, is home to 7.7 million of those people (Census Bureau, 2021). This research will explore how …

City Of Milpitas Trash Capture Device Program: An Evaluation Of System Performance And Compliance With The Municipal Regional Permit, Joseph Aguilera

Master's Projects

Water pollution negatively impacts the environment and human population. The problem persists despite various mitigation efforts, strategies, and the implementation of regulatory requirements. It is estimated that Californians dispose of approximately 40 million tons of consumer items and waste materials annually (California Department of Resource Recycling and Recovery, 2019). As the population increases, it is expected that negative impacts of trash on the environment will be exacerbated. To address this, municipalities in California apply various methods to reduce trash before it enters ocean waters.

The primary vehicle for urban trash pollutants to reach ocean waters is through storm water conveyance …

Ending Homelessness In Santa Clara County: A Program Evaluation Of Homefirst Services’ Rapid Re-Housing Program Using Client Feedback, Karen Gomez

Master's Projects

This research was designed to evaluate whether HomeFirst Services’ RRH Program has proven to be more effective than traditional approaches in eliminating homelessness for its participants in Santa Clara County, California. Research was based on the Program Satisfaction Survey conducted at the end of the participants’ program enrollment in comparison with data collected for clients in other HomeFirst Services programs. The research question that is being answered from this survey is whether or not the HomeFirst Services RRH Program is fulfilling the clients’ needs. This questionnaire has been able to help HomeFirst Services understand the factors that help satisfy program …

Increasing Calfresh Access And Participation For Seniors: Benchmarking Calfresh Strategies Within Selected Coastal Agricultural Counties Against Santa Cruz County, Mayra Rocha

Master's Projects

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as Food Stamps, and called CalFresh in California, is the largest federally funded food assistance program in the United States. The program aims to reduce food insecurity and poverty by increasing access to nutritious food for low income eligible individuals (California Department of Social Services [CDSS], 2021a). The program is administered by county offices that are responsible for ensuring that the program is accessible, and that eligible individuals participate. Reports from the United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service (USDA FNS) indicate that eligible seniors in California had the lowest …

The Disproportionate Impact Of Covid-19 On The Housing Stability Of Hispanic/Latino Renters In California, Cyndi Valdez

Master's Projects

How and why did the COVID-19 pandemic impact the housing stability of Hispanic/Latino renters in California? How were communities, such as those in Santa Cruz County, affected by Shelter in Place Orders? What measures were taken to help alleviate the financial burdens caused by the pandemic?

Three Essays On Governance, Inequality, And Social Equity, Sarah Ausmus Smith

Theses and Dissertations--Public Policy and Administration

Comprised of three essays, my dissertation is linked by a common focus: the relationship between state or local governance arrangements and inequality or facets of social equity. I draw upon a range of literatures to motivate my research questions and inform my methodologies—welfare and social policy, public economics, intergovernmental relations, public finance and management.

In the first essay, I ask: does localizing welfare governance impact geospatial access to the social safety net? This is an important question because proximity is highly salient to program utilization. I geocode the location of human services nonprofits from tax filings in eight states using …

Government, Citizen, And Social Media : Understanding Police-Citizen Interaction On Weibo In China, Yumeng Luo

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This dissertation systematically examined the Beijing Police Department (BPD) daily use of social media and citizens’ comments it received. Previous studies in the field of e-government and political communication in the Chinese context focused only on the measurement of quantitative indicators of government use of social media or a single event. This dissertation incorporates theoretical frameworks of e-government, public relations, and the public sphere to provide a detailed picture of citizen and government interaction in the Chinese context. Using the BPD as my case study, I not only explored government’s daily activities and engagement strategies but also examined the nuances …

Dynamics In Public Finance And Disaster Management : Financial Impacts Of Natural Disasters, Intergovernmental Aid, And Community-Level Social Effects, Sungyoon Lee

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This dissertation explores how various types of disasters affect the financial behaviors of local governments, interacting with public managerial decisions, intergovernmental aid, and community-context effects. The first essay examines whether 1) disaster aid distribution is associated with social vulnerability indicators of affected counties given the same level of disaster damage, and 2) ethnic representativeness of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) workforce increases policy benefits in terms of disaster relief funds for counties with a higher level of vulnerability related to minority status. I use hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) to test the U.S. counties that have received disaster aid funds …

From Dissenting-Voice To Democratic Bureaucracy : Three Essays On Bureaucratic Whistleblowing, Minsung Michael Kang

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Public administration scholars have long believed that bureaucratic whistleblowers help make bureaucracies more democratic, effective, and accountable. With these firm convictions, the U.S. federal government has introduced a series of whistleblower protection systems to balance administrative power and external political accountability of public organizations. Building on this intellectual history of public administration scholarship on whistleblowing, this dissertation aims to: 1) understand bureaucratic whistleblowing at the theory-level, 2) examine the effects of whistleblower protection laws on bureaucrats at the individual-level, and 3) investigate how whistleblowing outcomes can reshape bureaucracies at the organizational-level.

Evaluability Of Community Dispute Resolution Programs: Effecting Change Or Maintaining The Status Quo?, Rebecca Gourde

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

Between the 1960s and the 1990s, dozens of programs and organizations arose throughout the United States designed to bring peaceful resolutions to emerging community disputes, following in the conceptual footsteps of the federal Community Relations Service. Many of these community dispute resolution programs have encountered calls for reduced funding in recent years, as economic hardships force public administrators to parcel out limited public monies to those services that can demonstrate the most benefit. This study is a content analysis that examines the public-facing web content of 20 representative community dispute resolution programs in the United States. The researcher found that …

Let’S Talk About Trust: Exploring The Importance Of Communication In Building And Maintaining Public Trust In Local Government, Amanda M. Cantlin

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

In the decades leading up to the 1960s, the majority of citizens trusted the government to do what was right. But as the country advanced toward 1970, this idyllic state transformed suddenly and unexpectedly. The decline of trust that has characterized decades ever since is of concern because there are some troubling consequences of public distrust. These impacts include disobedience, obstinance, disrespect, and selfishness. Some fear that incessant distrust threatens to erode the democratic principles on which this nation is founded. This study considers whether the way in which citizens and local public officials communicate impacts the level of public …