▼ Accountability has become a key issue in nonprofit literature—but public trust in nonprofits continues to decline. This study comprises a survey of nonprofit organizations in Summit County, Ohio to construct an exploratory and descriptive analysis of the practice and theory of appraising the performance of the executive director seeking to link the performance appraisal of executive directors to the accountability of organizations. The intent of this study is to examine the procedures and policies used to evaluate the performance of nonprofit executive directors. In addition, this study examines literature salient to the issues of nonprofit governance and administration, accountability, and performance appraisal, within a theoretical framework of decision making. Boards of directors have access to more information than ever before regarding how to function as a governing body, and how to learn, develop, and grow as individuals responsible for overseeing organizations. Yet little encourages board members to delve deeper into their organizations, instead they are often discouraged from micromanaging. This study seeks to discover just how intensely boards are examining the source of their information—the executive director. The research question is: Is a performance appraisal conducted, and what factors contribute to that phenomenon? Suggestions for areas of improvement are also addressed. One hundred and fourteen responses were obtained using a survey designed specifically for this project. Results showed significant relationships between concrete factors such as the size of the organization and the existence of standardized performance appraisal procedures and whether an appraisal is conducted. Variables representing perceptions and beliefs also demonstrated relationships suggesting factors that influence whether a performance appraisal is conducted. Advisors/Committee Members: Cox III, Raymond W.

▼ The cultural make-up of the United States is ever-changing as the country becomes increasingly diverse. Every racial/ethnic category, except White, has significantly increased over the past several decades. This is a clear indication of how the U.S. has changed in ethnic and cultural composition over a short period of time. Cultural competence is a concept that has evolved over time from various perspectives and has been integrated into policy in many fields based on the needs of policymakers. This research has accepted the current evidence presented in the literature regarding the need for culturally competent teachers in the public school system based on the fact that the population of students within public schools continues to become more diverse. Also, in order for all children to be provided an effective, quality education, teachers must be able to relate to, understand, and be equipped with the tools necessary to meet state standards and address federal guidelines related to providing a quality education for all students. The federal government continues to urge states to set higher standards for schools and has funded several initiatives designed to implement cultural competence standards within education. The federal government has also set a national agenda to address diversity in education and encourages culturally and linguistically appropriate collaborations aimed at producing equitable outcomes for students. States are setting higher standards for their school systems and are emphasizing the importance of diversity in the hiring and retaining of qualified teachers. School systems are desperately calling for culturally competent teachers to help them meet standards set by the states. Higher education plays a vital role in producing qualified teachers to effectively teach in diverse classrooms with the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to facilitate an appropriate teaching and learning environment for children. This research study was designed to explore the change in teacher candidate perceptions of disposition and adaptability related to cultural competence. Specifically, this research focuses on examining the learning outcomes of students at The University of Akron who are enrolled in a targeted course aimed at increasing cultural competence amongst teacher candidates by examining changes in students’ perceptions of their own disposition and adaptability (the two key attributes of cultural competence). Overall, the cultural competence course had no significant effect on any of the five attributes of disposition, or the four attributes of adaptability, as they relate to cultural competence. Therefore, we can conclude that the cultural competence course had no significant effect on teacher candidates’ disposition or adaptability. While this study is centered on a single undergraduate teacher candidate population at a single public university, the study has important potential implications regarding the educational well being of the nation. This research may begin to bridge that gap regarding what we know and do not know about cultural competence education amongst teacher candidates by providing further information linking the course aimed at increasing cultural competence and actual outcomes. Advisors/Committee Members: Berry-James, RaJade M.

▼ This study assesses public trust in various government officials, including public administrators, elected executives, politically appointed agency officials, and legislatures, across the three levels of United States government. The study utilizes primary data from a random sample telephone survey conducted in 2004 of 1,078 adult residents of Stark County, Ohio. The study yielded evidence to support the assertion that the general public has a higher level of trust in federal and state public administrators compared to elected and politically appointed officials, but this was not the case for county government public administrators. Although public administrators tended to be trusted more than other government officials, they were trusted less than people in general. Likewise, most groups of government officials were trusted less than people in general. The study also yielded evidence to support the assertion that government officials are trusted more at the local level compared to similar officials at the state and federal level. For instance, county public administrators were trusted more than their state and federal counterparts, while state public administrators were trusted more than federal administrators. General support for government was found to be directly related to public trust in elected executives and their appointed agency executives, regardless of the level of government. When controlling for the effects of trust in other government officials, trust in public administrators had no significant relationship to government support, regardless of the level of government. Another finding of the study was that trust in public administrators was a function of respondent trust in people in general and support for the associated level of government, with societal trust being the dominant variable. This model held for all three levels of government with no other explanatory variables influencing trust in public administrators. Explanatory variables for public trust in other government were varied and dissimilar to the public administrator model with variables such as political ideology, political party affiliation and household financial status being more prominent. Advisors/Committee Members: Cox III, Raymond W.

▼ This dissertation focuses on the Salvadorean peace accords signed between the government and the former guerrilla turned political party Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional (Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front; FMLN). The end of the Salvadorean civil war era ended in 1992 as peace accords were signed between the government and FMLN leaders. The signing of the peace accords took time to complete and much dialogue required both parties to meet to negotiate and settle on timelines and agenda setting. This study explores the peace accords from the perspective of the soft, hard, and principled negotiation method as described by Fisher and Ury (1981) and by applying Allison and Zelikow's (1999) Rational Actor Model (RAM) (Model I) and the Governmental Politics Model (Model III). It studies how the peace negotiations, as seen through the lenses of all three methods of negotiations and models I and III, influenced its implementation. All three negotiation methods and models I and III explain how the peace accord negotiations influenced its implementation. Specifically, it addresses the following research questions: 1. How did the negotiations influence its implementation? 2. How did intra-group politics influence the language of the Salvadorean peace accords? 3. How did intra-group disagreements generate soft-outcomes inhibiting implementation? 4. What has been the impact of language ambiguities encountered in the accords' provisions during their implementation? The research conducted indicates the negotiations heavily influenced the peace accords' implementation. Both negotiating parties first had to conduct intra-group negotiations before negotiating between themselves. The dynamics of intra-group negotiations impacted the accords' negotiations, wording, and direction. There were two negotiating parties to the accords, as a consequence, there were ambiguities found in the wording of the accords. This is normal for an event of this magnitude since both parties had personal, political, and organizational interests to secure. By inserting ambiguous language, both parties were able to manipulate the accords according to each party's needs and interests. A pattern that seems very pronounced is that regardless of the negotiating approach to the accords, both parties ended negotiating in the long run in order to avoid intervention from any outside party. During the negotiations, both negotiating groups approached the negotiating table with the hard approach only to later succumb to negotiations which were carefully worded, crafted according to each party's interests, and manipulable for future face saving. Language ambiguities caused the some issues and themes in the Salvadorean peace accords to remain unmentioned. As a result of this, certain provisions in the peace accords remained unnegotiated. Advisors/Committee Members: Cox, Raymond.

▼ In the 1959 article written by Charles Lindblom, entitled, “The Science of Muddling Through”, Lindblom argued that in general, people make decisions in relatively small increments rather than in big leaps (Birkland, 2001). The rational comprehensive method of decision making is referred to as the root method because decisions start from the “root” of the [tree] issue (Birkland, 2001). Lindblom describes incrementalism as the [tree] branch of an issue because it builds on prior knowledge about an issue (Birkland, 2001). The history of the Medicare program, focuses on program implementation reform in reference to coverage and reimbursement. In this study, incrementalism was used the academic approach to build on the Medicare program reform from the perspective of program implementation reform for coverage, and the reimbursement in the diabetes diagnosis related group at the healthcare provider level. The purpose of this study was to explore the factors that contribute to Medicare reimbursement payment variations among healthcare providers that treat the diabetic diagnosis related group (DRG). The current regulatory policy practices of the Medicare program where examined for causes in Medicare reimbursement payments variation. In consideration of the type of regulations (i.e. quality, quantity, price and indirect control) used by government agencies, a rulemaking framework was used to recommend alternative policies (i.e. precise, flexible and Pareto Optimum). The study did not suggest that all variation in Medicare reimbursement payments were due to the aforementioned factors. Nor did the study settle on the idea that variation in Medicare reimbursement payments is unexplained or intentionally created for the benefit of some healthcare providers (i.e. rural or urban healthcare providers). Solving all problems in the entire Medicare program is a big leap, therefore this was not the objective of this study. Therefore, findings in this study suggest that a research approach involving an incremental examination of the Medicare contractor LCDs and National Medicare PPS’s impact on all DRGs (i.e. leukemia, transplantation, cardiovascular disease etc.,) to address issues in the clinical specialty practice is a novel approach for healthcare reform for the Medicare program. Advisors/Committee Members: Cox, Raymond.

▼ Academic attainment is generally one of the social indicators representing individual success in both social and economic status. However, not all students have the opportunity to access and success postsecondary education. There is a wide variety of factors that contribute to obstacles and barriers to a higher education for minority such as Asian subgroups. This study attempts to examine factors that differentiate postsecondary academic attainment within minority populations, especially Asian Americans, under the scope of the ecological perspective. By using National Educational Longitudinal Study database (NELS), the main purpose is to identify differentiating factors among Asian groups and to elicit factors that should be considered in higher education policy and other educational programs, for Asian subgroups in particular. The result shows that there is significant difference in academic attainment within Asian Americans. However, the patterns of attainment varied in accordance with ecological educational factors. Multivariate analysis showed that, when controlling all educational factors, academic attainment does not differ within Asian subgroups for bachelor…#8482;s degree or higher. However, for certificate/associate…#8482;s degree, the Southeast Asian group was more likely to attain certificate/associate…#8482;s degree compared to high school degree. The limitations, implications, and recommendations for future study are discussed. Advisors/Committee Members: Alemagno, Sonia.

▼ Historically, water pollution abatement policies are relatively new in the United States. Early efforts focused on maintaining the well-being of our nation’s waterways for economic purposes. However, a series of events occurred in the 1950s and 1960s that moved our nation towards environmental policies that sought to balance economic and welfare concerns, resulting in the Clean Water Act. Initially, the Clean Water Act focused on reducing point sources of water pollution. It quickly became apparent that these efforts did not meet the goals of the Clean Water Act. As such, the national government increasingly concentrated on the role nonpoint sources of pollution played in the continued impairment of our nation’ water systems. This focus, while necessary, often leaves much of the implementation process of national nonpoint source pollution policies in the hands of the states, which has frustrated our ability to successfully abate nonpoint pollutants. Advisors/Committee Members: Cox III, Raymond W.

▼ This study posed a question regarding present day agreement with the constructs of two dominant ethical frameworks found within public administration literature. With an ever increasing number of theories and factors that impact ethical decisions, do students’ opinions still reflect the utilitarian and deontological frameworks found within public administration literature? After defining the Bentham and Kantian schools of thought, an original survey instrument was used to evaluate responses to those ethical frameworks. This exploratory research collected primary data through an original 20 item survey instrument that sought to evaluate opinions regarding preference to the Bentham and Kantian schools of ethical thought. Survey questions were developed in order to investigate relationships between dependent variables relating to demographic characteristics and the independent variables of utilitarian and deontological frameworks. After expert review, as well as feedback from researchers and a pilot group, a convenience sample of participants enrolled in master’s level courses in the Department of Public Administration and Urban Studies at The University of Akron during the 2009 spring semester yielded 61 complete surveys. Hypothesis testing was used to address differences in group means. While the statements within the instrument provided valid, reliable, statistically significant results, all inferential statistics were inconclusive. A descriptive Pearson’s Correlation (.479) was found to be statistically significant at the .00 level. This implies that higher preferences for deontological scores related to higher preferences for utilitarian scores. Limitations of the study included a small and cohesive convenience sample of participants. Implications of this sample include in weak statistical power, as well as homogenous responses. Future research would benefit from exploring the preferences of the utilitarian and deontological frameworks with a larger more representative sample. Whether the public prefers a symbiotic relationship between the utilitarian and deontological frameworks, or procedural issues had an impact on the results, this study’s findings suggest interesting implications for the study of public administration ethics. Regardless of the reasons, replication is needed to determine the validity of the findings. Advisors/Committee Members: Beckett, Julia.

▼ In recent years implementation fidelity has become an area of interest to ensure evidence-based prevention curricula for schools are being implemented as designed. Many studies are finding this is not the case. This study presents the findings of implementation fidelity for two similar groups of instructors who were trained in two different environments on the same curriculum. One group was trained in a research setting by the curriculum’s designers. The other group was trained in the “real world” setting. They were compared on measures of implementation fidelity: content coverage, instructional strategy and appropriate time on task. There was a significant difference in content coverage on both lessons observed and on the appropriate time on task for one lesson. Then the instructors’ characteristics were compared to these measures to see if there was a correlation between Years as a D.A.R.E. officer, level of educational attainment and enthusiasm. It is interesting to note even though other studies have found a correlation with these characteristics, it was not the case with this study. With these variables examined, it brings into question what does attribute to the differences in these two groups. Advisors/Committee Members: Stephens, Margaret.