Doctor of Management, Case Western Reserve University, 2010, Weatherhead School of Management

More and more, non profit health and human service organizations are turning to collaboration to address community problems. Challenging economic times are reducing and restricting funding requiring non profits to look for new creative solutions in contrast to restricting themselves to business as usual. Building sustained collaborations provides one solution while reducing overhead costs, eliminating service duplication, and building effective networks. This paper integrates three research studies: a conceptual study; a qualitative study; and a quantitative study. Each study examines elements that can sustain collaboration. The qualitative data suggests that enduring collaborations are characterized, on the one hand, by employee behaviors typically considered aberrant – including rule breaking and rule making – and on the other, “appreciative” participant behaviors. Findings imply non profit governance and leadership can purposefully foster environments in which collaboration ownership can be reproduced. The quantitative study examines the relationship between the sense of ownership felt by non profit partners and their intent to sustain collaboration. We posit that rule breaking, rule making, and appreciative behaviors all encourage participants to develop a sense of ownership leading to collaborative sustainability. Our findings indicate that rule breaking and rule making behaviors reinforce a sense of collaboration ownership, which contributes to collaboration sustainability.

Committee: Paul Salipante, Ph.D. (Advisor) Subjects: Organizational Behavior; Public Health Education; Social Structure

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in Organizational Leadership , Franklin University, 2024, International Institute for Innovative Instruction

The 2015 Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) was signed into legislation to increase educational stability for youth in care through increased partnership and collaboration between child welfare and educational agences. This qualitative study explored the critical factors that impact the efforts of child welfare agencies (CWA) to implement ESSA. The general systems theory and Edwards' policy implementation model were used to guide the study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight individuals from the Texas Department of Family Protective Services, and a focus group was conducted with six representatives from Region 10 Texas Education Agency. A thematic approach was taken to analyze participant responses and identify key themes in the data. Six core themes highlight leadership, resources, training, communication, collaboration and accountability, and politics and finances. A thorough discussion of the findings is presented. The study provided theoretical and practical implications suggesting CWAs take notice of the importance of leadership influence and develop systematic interventions to aid in implementation efforts.

Committee: Valerie Storey (Committee Chair); Lori Salgado (Committee Member); Yuerong Sweetland (Committee Member) Subjects: Education Policy; Organization Theory; Organizational Behavior; Public Policy; Social Work

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2019, Sociology

Forces like deindustrialization and globalization have left many second-tier rustbelt cities struggling with decline in population and neighborhood conditions, which can paint a negative image of these cities. One way that communities are attempting to improve their image is through crime reduction via multi-agency collaborations, like community policing. Previous literature has identified successful and unsuccessful elements of inter-agency collaborations but much of this work has examined the relationship between community police, and social and mental health services. Neighborhood development corporations focus on economic development, blight, and community building, thus making an ideal partner for community police. Yet, collaboration between community policing and neighborhood development corporations specifically has been understudied. This case study utilizes content analysis of data from written documentation (grant proposals and neighborhood reports), semi-structured interviews with neighborhood residents, the police department, and the neighborhood development corporation, as well as participant observation in neighborhood meetings. It explores the working relationship between the Youngstown Police Department and the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation in Youngstown, Ohio, to investigate what elements of that relationship were positive and negative; and identify how and in what way collaboration occurs. It examines the potential structural, social, or economic factors that affect community policing from multiple stakeholders. Finally, the project examines spacial dynamics within two Youngstown neighborhoods served by community police officers. Results showed three primary findings: (1) The collaboration between the community police and neighborhood development in Youngstown is multidimensional and synergistic; (2) There is a paradigm clash between the traditional and community policing models that can hinder efforts at crime re (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Jessica Kelley PhD (Committee Chair); Tim Black PHD (Committee Member); Gary Deimling PhD (Committee Member); King Tammy PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Criminology; Social Research; Sociology

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2017, Arts and Sciences: English and Comparative Literature

Toward a Relational Theory of Invention argues that rhetorical invention— the constellation of practices and theories involved in discovering or gathering ideas —can be productively theorized as relational. Rather than being concerned with origins, a relational invention is a means of relating to others and to the world; a relational invention steps away from the idea that writing is controlled by humans, as well as from the elision of human agency, and instead envisions agency as distributed amongst an assemblage of both human and nonhuman actors, like composers, texts, objects, feelings, and sensations. A relational approach to invention thus helps writers to dwell longer in process—and more closely attunes invention to potentiality and becoming—because it as an emergent method of response, in which the composing subject is adapting to and interacting with others in an entangled network. First I review literature on invention, primarily focusing on work on the teaching of writing, arguing that field conversations have characterized invention as either a private, interior process or as a process that is socially constructed and distributed. To remedy this binary, I work to recover moments in formative field scholarship that acknowledge the contributions that material, environmental, and affective agents (and their interactions) make to invention, moments that have been erased by dominant field narratives. Then, I offer three characteristics of relational invention—(1) networked mediation, (2) inviting rhetorics, and (3) complex and interactive systems—and develop a discussion that associates relational invention with theoretical concepts from contemporary theoretical work, primarily in writing ecologies, affect, and new materialism, in order to construct a vision of invention that is dynamic, emergent, and responsive. Finally, I turn to a narrative theory analysis of video-recorded interviews gathered in 2013 at Ohio State's Digital Media and Composing Insti (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Laura Micciche Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Christopher Carter Ph.D. (Committee Member); Russell Durst Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Rhetoric

MCP, University of Cincinnati, 2009, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning : Community Planning

HOPE VI developments are supposed to replace distressed public housing developments with attractive mixed-income developments. A vital factor to the success of any HOPE VI development is its attractiveness to middle-income households. The literature suggests that this group will avoid living in high crime areas, in which HOPE VI developments are typically located. Therefore, to make HOPE VI sites attractive to the middle-income households, HOPE VI developers need to coordinate their efforts with local law enforcement to change the perception of that the site is located in a high crime area. This case study on Cincinnati's HOPE VI project, City West, investigates how a public housing authority and its HOPE VI developer coordinated their efforts to achieve community safety.

Committee: Dr. David P. Varady PhD (Committee Chair); Dr. Xinhao Wang PhD (Committee Member); Ms. Stephanie Sweeney MCP (Committee Member) Subjects: Criminology; Sociology; Urban Planning

Doctor of Education (EdD), Ohio University, 2008, Educational Administration (Education)

This study involves teachers' and principals' perceptions of teacher leadership with a specific focus on teacher leadership with at-risk students. The dimensions of teacher leadership for this study include teacher involvement, teacher change agency, teacher collaboration, knowledge bases for diversity, and instructional improvement regarding at-risk students. Teachers and principals in elementary, middle and high schools in 15 Southeast Ohio counties participated in the study. Data analyses were completed by descriptive and MANOVA computations. There was no significant difference in the respondents attitudes regarding teacher leadership and gender; however, there was for position. Of the four dimensions of teacher leadership, data show teacher collaboration as the most agreed, followed by teacher involvement and teacher change agency comes third while knowledge bases for diversity is the least agreed. Data also reflect that the respondents believed their professional qualifications did not prepare them for the leadership challenge of dealing with at-risk students.

Committee: Catherine H. Glascock PhD (Advisor); George Johanson EdD (Committee Member); Arlie Woodrum PhD (Committee Member); Timothy Mckeny PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Educational Theory; Higher Education; Public Administration; Secondary Education; Teacher Education; Teaching