Doctor of Education , University of Dayton, 2023, Educational Administration

The purpose of this study is to identify and evaluate how organizations are able to create a sense of community and support teams within remote work environments, especially within times of crisis. The study emphasizes the need for BAC Consulting leadership teams to assess and understand the demographic and cultural makeup of the organization as a means for determining its specific needs. Details from BAC Consulting Baseline Sustainment team members' lived experiences will also be gathered to gain an understanding of the individual and collective challenges they have faced as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The goal of the study is to aid in the fostering of a sustainable partnership between employees and leadership as they work to improve employee engagement and create a thriving organizational culture. This qualitative participatory action research study will add to the developing knowledge base while also being a useful tool for administrators interested in making impactful organizational change during times of crises. This study utilized Funds of Knowledge (FoK) and William Kahn's Theory of Employee Engagement as guiding frameworks for improving the employee experience and creating a greater sense of belonging. To collect relevant qualitative data, participants in the study were interviewed individually and also contributed to a working group session. The results were analyzed and common themes were identified. The information was valuable in developing an effective action plan and organizational checklist. These tools were designed to aid in fostering organizational change by providing greater access to training and company resources while increasing employee engagement and team collaboration.

Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.), Franklin University, 2021, Business Administration

Retaining students through degree completion is a challenge for community colleges, with nontraditional, adult students being retained at a lower rate than their traditional counterparts. Though student engagement is recognized as an effective strategy for retaining students, there is a gap in research on how effective these strategies are for retaining adult learners at community colleges. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between student engagement and student retention of adult learners at community colleges. This study used secondary data from the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE). Was there a significant relationship between the five CCSSE student engagement benchmarks (active and collaborative learning, student effort, academic challenge, student-faculty interaction, and support for learners) and retention? The population for this study was 26,326 adult students (25 and older) from the 2019 CCSSE cohort who were credential seeking at a community college (participants from 588 colleges in 46 states). Binary logistic regression was used to determine if there was a statistically significant relationship between each student engagement benchmark and student retention. This study confirmed a positive relationship between student engagement of adult learners at community colleges and student retention. Individually, each of the CCSSE benchmarks increased the likelihood of student retention. As a combined model, academic challenge and support for learners were the only significant benchmarks. This research confirmed that student engagement strategies are beneficial for adult learners at community colleges.

Master of Arts, University of Akron, 2016, Theatre Arts-Arts Administration

The purpose of this study is to explore audience engagement efforts by local arts organizations, Neos Dance Theatre and Summit Choral Society, to determine the most impactful strategies for building and sustaining audiences for New World Performance Laboratory. This thesis also discusses the definition of development and engagement strategies in the 21st century, relationship between arts and community, and motivations and barriers related to arts attendance in order to obtain a broader knowledge of audience engagement. The strategies learned from local arts organizations may inspire other arts organizations to develop more creative strategies and to enrich the arts in the Akron community.

Doctor of Education , University of Dayton, 2024, Educational Administration

This research identified a problem in practice at the University of Akron (UA) of declining international student enrollment, sense of satisfaction, and feelings of institutional support. To address the problem of practice we created an equity-based framework (L.O.V.E Change model) to bring international students as relevant stakeholders into organizational change processes. Fifty students were surveyed about their academic, cultural, and legal needs. Six students were interviewed to gain insight into the needs addressed by the survey. Survey results indicated a high need among international students for academic tutoring, cultural events, career planning, and assistance with immigration. The interviews illuminated themes of uncertainty and anxiety, lack of knowledge, career guidance, and educational guidance among international students.

MA, University of Cincinnati, 2023, Arts and Sciences: Psychology

Climate change is underway with its effects felt everywhere but the consequences vary greatly by location. Cities are crucial focal points as more than 265 million people, or 80% of the U.S. population, live in urban areas, making the ability of cities to adapt to climate change critical for the majority of U.S. citizens (U.S. Census Bureau, 2023). Climate planning and policymaking in cities must recognize that disinvested communities with aging infrastructure and minimal tree canopy can expose residents to radically hotter temperatures than residents of other neighborhoods (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2008; Shandas et al., 2019; Hoffman et al., 2020) and is an example of how social and economic inequalities are exacerbated by climate change. Much climate planning to date has been top-down and city-wide, which overlooks neighborhood disparities and specific needs of communities, thus there is a need for research on equitable engagement strategies within cities that incorporate resident perspectives and share decision-making with residents. The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore the impacts of Climate Safe Neighborhoods (CSN), an equity-focused neighborhood-level climate planning program, on participating Cincinnati residents and resident and organizer perspectives on how CSN may promote community resilience in the face of climate change. 14 interviews with residents (n = 6) and organizers (n = 8) were analyzed using thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006) to explore how resident perceptions about local issues changed through their participation in CSN, how CSN participation affected residents' potential to act as advocates for their community, and barriers and catalysts to implementing locally relevant community change as identified by both residents and organizers of CSN. Key findings were that residents gained a deeper overall understanding of how climate issues in their community connect to each other and to their own personal lives, and t (open full item for complete abstract)

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2023, Leadership and Change

This study is aimed at understanding how youth leadership development programs can be more inclusive and promote a broader range of leadership values, qualities, and behaviors by focusing on young people who have been disaffected by leadership development programs. The study design was intended to provide a creative space for youth to engage in meaningful conversations about their evolving concepts and expectations of leadership. Using critical youth participatory action research to engage a group of youth, cohort members co-created a new youth leadership development program while addressing their identified challenges and needs. Findings from this study highlight the importance of adults in youth programs and provide insights toward an ecosystem approach to youth leadership development. Practitioners, funders, and community leaders can create more inclusive and meaningful youth development opportunities and programs by understanding the youth program's ecosystem. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA (https://aura.antioch.edu/) and OhioLINK ETD Center (https://etd.ohiolink.edu).

Doctor of Education , University of Dayton, 2023, Educational Administration

The problem explored in this study addresses the disparity in community outreach efforts for the Latinx community in Aventura County (pseudonym). Considering the growth in the American South and the growth of the Latinx community in Aventura County specifically, there is a need to analyze Latinx engagement in community outreach programs. Further analyzing integration and acculturation practices, an understanding of the importance of political trust, and cultural awareness in community outreach initiatives (Brenner, 2009) is equally necessary. This study applied an emancipatory action research approach in tandem with Yosso's (2005) community cultural wealth framework to answer the central research question: How can community outreach programs be more inclusive of the county's Latinx community? A connecting mixed methods approach was utilized in this study to provide insight into how community members feel about Aventura County efforts via one-on-one semi-structured interviews and a public community survey. The qualitative data revealed that there were numerous gaps in Aventura County's outreach efforts to include the Latinx community. The quantitative data revealed similar findings, highlighting the Latinx community's reliance on each other to navigate county offices mostly when necessary and not participating in outreach efforts due to time, language, and awareness barriers. This study's concluding Action Plan outlines steps to address the opportunity gaps discussed. The Action Plan steps include assembling a Latinx affairs committee, candidly and publicly discussing the 287(g) program, providing cultural competence training for staff, establishing satellite offices throughout the community, and prioritizing language access.

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2023, Antioch New England: Environmental Studies

Community gardening efforts often carry a social purpose, such as building climate resilience, alleviating hunger, or promoting food justice. Meanwhile, the identities and motivations of community gardeners reflect both personal stories and broader social narratives. The involvement of universities in community gardening projects introduces an additional dimension of power and privilege that is underexplored in scholarly literature. This research uses critical autoethnography to explore the relationship of community gardening and social identity. Guided by Chang (2008) and Anderson and Glass-Coffin (2013), a systematic, reflexive process of meaning-making was used to compose three autoethnographic accounts. Each autoethnography draws on the author's lived experience in the community food system in the Monadnock Region of New Hampshire between 2010 and 2019 to illustrate aspects of community gardening and social identity in this context. Unique access to data and insights about community food systems is provided by the author's dual and multiple positionality in this context (e.g., as an educator/student, provider/recipient of food assistance, mother/environmentalist). The resulting accounts weave thickly descriptive vignettes with relevant scholarly literature that contextualize and problematize the author's lived experience. A key theme across the narratives is that “people live layered lives . . . making it possible to feel oppression in one area and privilege in others” (Bochner, 2002, p. 6). Intended impacts of this research are expanding critical autoethnographic methods in food studies and environmental studies, offering cultural critique on the impacts of university engagement in community food systems, and embracing qualities of vulnerability, engagement, and open-endedness in critical social research (Anderson & Glass-Coffin, 2013).

Bachelor of Arts (BA), Ohio University, 2023, Political Science

This thesis addresses the decline in social capital outlined in Robert D. Putnam's scholarship, through the contemporary context of the Covid-19 pandemic. This thesis indicates that, broadly, the pandemic weakened United States citizens' sense of community towards one another. This is displayed through the many recorded acts of citizens acting out of self-interest and openly disregarding community safety. Chapter Three of this thesis outlines the ways in which elected officials and public health officials faced threats to their safety in response to their Covid-19 guidelines, discusses the scapegoating and hatred towards Asian Americans that has increased during the pandemic, and examines the impacts of libertarian individualism on citizens' responses to Covid-19. Chapter Four details case examples of organizations (CAP Tulsa, Roca, Inc., LatinoLEAD, My Brother's Keeper Alliance, the UNC American Indian Center, and Project CARE) working together to strengthen social capital to generate a sense of social responsibility in the current moment. Chapter Five offers a first-hand look at community-based events in rural southeastern Ohio through the use of autoethnography.

MA, University of Cincinnati, 2022, Arts and Sciences: Psychology

Immigrants, migrants, and refugees are severely underrepresented at all levels of political decision-making in the United States. Furthermore, these groups face significant barriers to civic and political engagement, despite their strong commitment to community engagement. There is an urgent need to address immigrant integration and underrepresentation through transformative means that go beyond voting, to create a more equitable and socially just society. This study provides insight from a local community program designed to aid immigrant integration and increase migrants' access to civic engagement through a community based participatory action research design process that centered the voices, experiences, and wisdom of refugees and immigrants, and transformative values. CARE Cincinnati's Refugee and Immigrant Civic Leadership Program was a five-course program designed by and for refugees of the Cincinnati community in collaboration with a local government representative and University of Cincinnati researchers. This study analyzes 30 semi-structured interviews conducted with all program participants through a desire-based framework.

Bachelor of Music, Capital University, 2022, Music

Theatre is an art form with the capacity to enact real change in our communities. Because of the wide array of topics theatre explores, it can help us to hold up a mirror to real life, critique and comment on proceedings within it, hold space for human emotion and therefore catharsis, and get viewers invested in a good story. This begs a responsibility for theatrical professionals to tie in aspects of community outreach to create a more enriching show, and harness the true power of this art form. In this project, I will be producing and directing Indecent, as well as creating opportunities for community outreach through talkbacks, service projects, and campus engagement opportunities. I will be creating a directorial concept, choosing actors, designing a rehearsal plan, finding costumes, set design elements, lighting, sound, and anything else needed to produce the show, all while organizing the opportunities for community engagement, complementary to the show's themes of LGBTQ+ rights and the history of Yiddish theatre. I have received permission also to conduct interviews and surveys of audience members directly after the show as well as check-ins to measure how the themes resonated with them, and later, how they have noticed them appear in their lives since, or any changes they have made. In the final paper in the execution semester, I will then explore these effects through the findings of this production and outreach components to demonstrate that theatre has the ability, and therefore responsibility to benefit others.

Doctor of Philosophy in Urban Education, Cleveland State University, 2020, College of Education and Human Services

The culture of policing is rooted in a warrior ethos of preserving order against chaos and criminality in a hostile world. This ethos may be negatively influencing community relations. A guardian mindset encourages community engagement, fostering trust, and building allies within the community. The purpose of this grounded theory study is to understand in the context of strained relationships between Communities of Color and police, how officers develop their knowledge, skills, and experiences to become guardians in the communities they serve. This research considers: 1) what is the process of developing patrol officers that are competent in community relations within an urban context; 2) what knowledge and skills are expected of patrol officers to be competent in community relations within an urban context share; 3) what formal education and informal experiences contribute to a patrol officer's knowledge and skills in community relations within an urban context. Twenty-four police leaders, police officers, and trainers representing five police departments and training facilities located in diverse urban populations in Northeast Ohio participated in semi-structured interviews. Four community leaders and public safety organizers also participated in interviews. The theoretical model identifies departmental and individual barriers and facilitators that influence the professional development of officers relevant to community relations.

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2020, Theatre

This MA Thesis examines how community-engaged performance within jails creates space for incarcerated individuals to develop or re-develop performances of positive identity, or affirming expressions of self, that otherwise are not supported by the typical conditions of incarceration. Acknowledging the possibility that incarcerated individuals might be returning to or reinterpreting past performances of positive identities that were stifled, or might be performing positive identities for the first time in their lives, I use the term "re/develop" to describe how they might approach formations of affirming expressions of self. How these re/developed performances are supported, what forms they take, and what the social impact of these performances is are the central questions of this research. In addition to critical engagement with existing literature by other researchers and practitioners of community-engaged performance practice and performance in correctional facilities, I primarily explore my research questions through the lens of practice-as-research, drawing from field notes, facilitation plans, artifacts, surveys, interviews, and video recordings compiled during my summer 2019 community-engaged performance project with incarcerated women at the Bartholomew County Jail in Columbus, Indiana. Based on this research, I argue that the practices and social environment of community-engaged jail performance create conditions for incarcerated individuals to engage with their complexities as human beings through re/developed performances of personal identity, social community identity, and civic identity.

Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, 2019, English

Planning, developing, and assessing sustainable mobile strategies is a challenge that many non-profit organizations face as they build mobile sites, native applications, and mobile experiences with community members. Through interviews with community organization leaders (n=3), community members (n=11), and a survey of a non-profit organization's members (n=266) in the southern Ohio region, this project, Designing Mobile User Experiences for Community Engagement, extends mobile literacy scholarship within the field regarding community-based work and, more recently, mobile communication literacies. Seeking to fill a gap in writing studies research concerning mobile communication strategy in non-profit organizations, this study's research questions include: (1) How do community organizations use mobile technologies and mobile communication practices for community engagement?; (2) What does the mobile technology and strategy development process look like in community organizations? (3) How do community members and leaders define the affordances of mobile technologies?; (4) What purpose do mobile technologies serve in community engagement?; (5) What are the challenges and benefits of using mobile technologies for community engagement purposes? Findings show participants encountered major breakdowns in motivation in using the application regarding three key areas: pertinence, personalization, and duplication of content, rather than issues that would be typically defined as breakdowns in ease of use. Ultimately, this dissertation offers a methodological framework based in activity theory and space as practiced place for studying mobile communication and mobile user experience that highlights identifying motivations and breakdowns that exist across communication ecologies and offers key strategies and practices for building, using, and developing mobile communications for community engagement.

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, 2017, Higher Education

The majority of Hispanics select community colleges as their higher institution of choice, but studies on what contributes to their success, especially Hispanic males, has been limited. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence, if any, of environmental variables on the cumulative GPA of Hispanic males attending community college. Employing Astin's Theory of Student Involvement, data from the CCSSE's 2012 – 2014 survey were used to conduct a multiple regression analysis. The study's sample included 5,615 Hispanic males attending community college. The final model identified 15 variables that were significantly related to the cumulative GPA of Hispanic males attending community college, and explained 15.6% of the variance. Student effort and active and collaborative learning variables emerged as the strongest predictors of Hispanic male GPA. This study provides educators with additional resources to improve Hispanic male academic success in the community college, and informs future research, theory, policy, and practice.

MA, Kent State University, 2016, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Geography

Education remains an important component of urban policy with regards to urban development and the physical and economic outcomes of urban environments and neighborhoods. This study seeks to understand the relationships between blight and crime and student outcomes in their schools, and in particular, if minorities and their neighborhoods are still left disadvantaged. This study also seeks to understand how education policy impacts these students as well as their communities. Results show that domestic violence was one of the highest crimes spatially dispersed throughout the city and that there were more African American neighborhoods located near blighted areas, but schools with high population percentages of African American students were still successful. Four out of 11 failing schools were located inside blight hot spots along with one C graded school. Student outcomes and whether a school is performing poorly is also based on several other factors including absence rates of students per school, the number of students with disabilities, and the number of the student population with a limited English proficiency. This study also finds that a lack of community in the decision making of educational policy can have detrimental effects, creating conflict between the community and the school district.

Doctor of Education (EdD), Ohio University, 2016, Educational Administration (Education)

The main purpose of this research was to explore and determine how the use of multiple social media tools, such as microblogs (e.g., Twitter) and social networking sites (e.g., Facebook) can build a positive sense of community for rural educators, considering the declines in population, jobs, resources, and schools. In addition, the research provided valuable feedback for educational leaders on the importance of developing a comprehensive communication plan that includes the utilization of multiple social media platforms. The Social Media and Community Engagement Instrument, sixty-three items which included yes/no answers, Likert-type scale value statements, extended response items, and demographic questions, was developed and administered online via Qualtrics to 233 parents or grandparents of rural (as defined by Ohio Department of Education) public school children (K-12). Once respondents with incomplete data were removed, the final response count was 170. Upon examining the data, the researcher determined that there were three strong factors - “Community Pride”, “Classroom/Building Level Involvement in Social Media”, and “Sharing/Marketing”. The researcher notes four conclusions based upon the data in regards to use of social media by rural public school districts: 1) school districts develop a comprehensive communication plan that utilizes multiple social media sites; 2) school districts provide venues for constructive 2-way communication; 3) school districts utilize social media to market their district and provide accurate, transparent communication; and 4) and school districts incorporate use of social media in their crisis plans. In regards to future studies, the researcher makes two recommendations: 1) build upon this research to determine whether positive sense of community results in increased physical community engagement; and 2) utilize the Social Media Hyperdrive Communication Theory (Filon, 2015) to create a positive sense of community in an u (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2016, Higher Education Administration

The purpose of my narrative study was to hear stories about how community members are affected by international service-learning programs. At a time when universities and colleges in the United States emphasize internationalization efforts and the civic purpose of higher education, more institutions are designing and delivering international service-learning programs. More questions must be raised regarding how these programs affect communities. Despite the centrality of reciprocity in the service-learning paradigm, the extant literature primarily focuses on the effects of international service-learning programs on students. I spent two weeks collecting data at a primary school in Ithemba, a predominantly Black African, Xhosa-speaking township in South Africa characterized by one of my participants as “the other side.” Three participants at Korhaan School—Bhejile (the principal), Dunyiswa (the deputy principal), and Peline (a teacher)—engaged in two semi-structured interviews and one focus group. To mask the identity of my participants, I selected pseudonyms for the two universities, the primary school, and the community where the primary school is situated, and I use the names selected by my participants throughout the manuscript. Three key findings emerged from the data. First, my participants' stories underscored the interconnectedness of the community and the community-based organization. Second, the students who participate in the international service-learning program bring a myriad of benefits to Korhaan School, and the students' actions align with ubuntu, a cultural framework that shapes an individual's engagement with others. Third, areas for improvement exist for the international service-learning program. A number of implications for higher education professionals are presented as a result of the findings. First, faculty members and practitioners must involve community members as co-educators in the long-term life cycle of an int (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2015, Mass Communication (Communication)

The current study examines Facebook users' motivations, activities, and outcomes for their participation/engagement on Facebook brand community pages with a mixed methods research design of in-depth interviews and a paper-based survey. As a result, this study found that users were not very much connected to the Facebook brand communities of which they were a part. Users tended not to consider themselves as dedicated members and generally showed a passive interest in these brand pages. They also participated inactively and did not commit heavily to these pages. In contrast, most users recognized Facebook as a suitable (or enjoyable) space for communication and social interaction with friends, but did not perceive a brand as a real “friend” on Facebook. Thus, Facebook is not a hospitable place for maintaining online brand communities because Facebook brand pages manifest a weaker form of community compared to what traditional online brand communities embody. Nevertheless, some user engagement (or participation) still happens on Facebook brand pages. Users were found to perform four types of activities when participating: contributing to brand communities, endorsing brand communities, consuming brand posts, and consuming user posts. Additionally, users were effectively driven to participate by Socially-oriented Motivation, Brand-oriented Motivation, Self-oriented Motivation, Hedonic Motivation, Utilitarian Motivation, and Friends' Recommendation Motivation. Moreover, some significant linear relationships have been observed among users' participation motivations, activities, and outcomes, which provided a foundation for understanding their passive participation in Facebook brand communities and for optimizing Facebook marketing strategy in the future.

Master of Arts (MA), Wright State University, 2010, Educational Leadership

The purpose of this study was to assess whether one private, residential campus had created an atmosphere and culture that encouraged political involvement and civic engagement. This ethnographic study consisted of observational findings, content analysis of institutional documents, and three focus groups composed of residential students who attended Midwestern College. Five central themes were indentified as meaningful influences on Millennial students' levels of political involvement and civic engagement: (a) Campus Connection with the Community, (b) Family-like Campus Atmosphere, (c) Emphasis on Community Service, (d) Awareness of Local, National and Global Issues, and (e) Foundational Quaker Values. These themes were integrated into varied aspects of campus life, developing a campus climate that positively influenced students' levels of civic engagement and political awareness. It was found that the core Quaker values were the foundation for students' levels of political involvement and civic engagement, as well as the other four themes.