Doctor of Education, University of Toledo, 2023, Educational Administration and Supervision

In March 2020, the educational system changed. The COVID-19 virus impacted the entire world. Teaching students looked very different. Teachers were required to teach remotely to continue to educate students. Parents had to assist their children with learning while they were at home. The COVID-19 pandemic changed some students and staff. Some staff members were afraid to be around others in fear of the COVID-19 virus. The stress of COVID-19 caused levels of trauma in many people. Teachers' social-emotional competence and well-being strongly influence academic outcomes and the teaching of social-emotional learning in classrooms and schools (Schonert-Reichl 2017; Jones, Bouffard, & Weissbourd 2013). The social-emotional well-being of teachers thus, affects teacher morale. “As schools reopen, schools must be prepared to ensure the learning environments are emotionally and physically safe to minimize potential long-term negative reactions to the pandemic” (Minkos & Gelbar, 2020, p. 5). The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand how elementary teachers perceive (a) morale in their school during COVID-19 protocols, (b) factors elementary teachers attribute to positive morale, and (c) how principal impacted teacher morale in their school during this time frame. Ten teachers from grades PreK-8 from one school in the Mid-West were selected and interviewed to learn their perspectives on COVID-19, identify factors that influenced the school climate, and how leadership influenced the school climate before, during, and after COVID-19. Overall, teacher morale decreased during COVID-19.

Committee: Nancy Staub (Committee Co-Chair); Treva Jeffries (Committee Member); Edward Janak (Committee Co-Chair); Randall Vesely (Committee Member) Subjects: Elementary Education

Master of Education (MEd), Bowling Green State University, 2006, Human Movement, Sport and Leisure Studies /Leisure and Tourism Studies

This study examined the phenomenological impact of military Morale Welfare and Recreation (MWR) on individual and troop readiness. This study utilized both a quantitative survey and a qualitative interview process. A basic model was proposed and supported through an analysis of previous literature. This model purports that MWR offers increased levels of perceived organizational support and self efficacy which leads to the phenomenon of increased readiness. Readiness is then defined as cohesion, commitment and motivation/effort. Each individual participating in the study filled out a survey determining base line MWR usage. Then they were interviewed using a protocol designed to expose the phenomenon of MWR and readiness. This study found that participation in MWR during OIF does positively impact soldiers in a number of ways. However, it did not support the link between MWR and readiness, and several alternate models are developed and proposed to replace the original.

Committee: Julie Lengfelder (Advisor) Subjects:

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 1964, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 1950, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

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

One of the challenges faced by Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) has been frequent turnover in crucial executive leadership positions. As of 2022, there were 99 HBCUs; two-year and four-year private and public institutions (NCES, 2024). In the fall of 2023, at least 18% of the HBCUs in the country were without a permanent president, institutions were being led by either an acting or interim president (Moody, 2023). Specifically focusing on HBCUs, this explanatory sequential research design was used to evaluate the organizational morale, climate, and culture of middle-management or what Lipsky's (2010) describes as, Street-Level Bureaucrats (SLB). In any organization in need of positive transformational change, effective and efficient communication from a place of cultural humility and servant leadership, could be beneficial. Using mixed-methods research, data were analyzed, and themes were identified; communication critical for effective collaboration among university members and communication and organizational direction from leadership. Through the findings, the THINK Communication Framework (Brown, 2023) was developed as the action plan/intervention to assist in strengthening the university's communication.

Committee: Meredith Wronowski Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Luisa Ruge-Jones Ph.D. (Committee Member); Ebony Speakes-Hall DSW (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication; Education; Educational Leadership; Higher Education; Higher Education Administration; Management; School Administration

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

The study explores and finds the perceptions of employees that work in an open office cubicle environment. The study also investigates to see if there are suggestions or ideas that can come from employees that work in open office cubicles on how to improve worker productivity and morale. The literature focused on three areas: Physical Environment, Health and Well-Being, and Privacy. There were several themes noted from the data from the participants. The themes evolved around enhanced privacy, working technology, snacks and coffee, sit-stand desks, and collaboration areas. These themes were noted to be important for open office settings from the perceptions of these employee participants. These ideas generated from the study are working to be implemented into the organization.

Committee: Davin Carr-Chellman (Committee Chair); Rob King (Committee Member); Matthew Wittenstein (Committee Member) Subjects: Organization Theory

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 1954, Sociology

Committee: Joseph K. Balogh (Advisor) Subjects: Sociology

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 1954, Sociology

Committee: Joseph K. Balogh (Advisor) Subjects: Sociology

Doctor of Education , University of Dayton, 2022, Educational Leadership

This study will focus on democratic leadership and strategies used by principals that may have a direct relationship with school culture regarding teacher turnover rate/retention, job satisfaction and school climate/morale. The action research study will take place within a large urban school district located in the Midwestern United States. Throughout my fifteen years in education, leadership approaches within the school community have always been something of great interest to me. I have worked in several buildings where all of the leaders had different approaches as to how a building operated on a daily basis. A leadership style that seemed to progress to the forefront was a democratic approach. The operational definition of democratic leadership for the purpose of this study is distributing responsibility among membership, empowering group members and aiding in the group's decision making process (Gastil, 1994). Although this was a style of leadership that I personally worked under in several buildings, I observed that other buildings experienced higher teacher turnover rate, lower teacher efficacy and job satisfaction when other leadership approaches were used. Teachers are leaving their schools or exiting the field all-together due to disagreements with leaders. Principals are becoming less democratic and more authoritarian. The purpose of the study is to determine if there is a relationship between democratic leadership, teacher turnover rate, school climate/morale and job satisfaction. The district in question does not have a set of leadership standards for their principal. Each principal within the district is on his or her own when it comes to leading their schools. This results in multiple leadership behaviors being used, causing higher teacher turnover rates, low job satisfaction and a less than ideal school morale at a district level. I am proposing that the district searches for a principal that has a specific set of leadership characterist (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Corinne Brion (Committee Chair); Karen Koner (Committee Member); Meredith Wronowski (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Educational Leadership; Educational Theory; Management

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2020, History (Arts and Sciences)

World War II was a media war. Most previous scholarship on the press focuses on censorship, propaganda, or the adventures of war correspondents. This dissertation takes a new direction and shows how the press and public opinion influenced the conflict. U.S. military leaders attempted to use the press as a weapon to improve morale, build public support for national strategies, assist Allied relations, confuse the enemy, and inspire soldiers. The media and public opinion, however, also began shaping military actions on the battlefield. Commanders in Europe and the Pacific competed with other Allied forces for prestige objectives, waged public relations campaigns to have their theaters receive priority for supplies, and vied with each other for headlines. This influence of the press on the battlefield demonstrates how the media was an essential, though previously overlooked, component of total war. Nevertheless, the media-military relationship formed during World War II did not translate well into later limited wars.

Committee: Ingo Trauschweizer (Advisor); John Brobst (Committee Member); Pach Chester (Committee Member); Sweeney Michael (Committee Member) Subjects: American History; European History; History; Journalism; Mass Communications; Mass Media; Military History; Military Studies; Modern History; Political Science; World History

Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, 2019, Educational Leadership

Research reveals that there is often a major disconnect between leaders and workers in organizational settings, especially when it comes to decision-making. Consequently, organizational decisions are often misunderstood by the employees who must implement top-down directives, which can lead to growing distrust, frustration, and needless resistance toward change initiatives. This kind of disconnect, resulting confusion, and resistance is also found in schools between principals and teachers. Having worked as a teacher and then as an administrator in three separate school districts, I have become overwhelmed by the bureaucratic nature of school committees. In my experience, school committees tend to be exclusive, administrator-driven, and lack authentic, rich discussion. This study seeks to narrow the focus of research on school committees by exploring how teachers experience the decision-making process for change initiatives in a school committee setting when inclusive deliberation (ID) is used as a framework for school committee design. Also, the study explores the impact of school committee design and operation on teacher resistance and feelings of morale. The methodology of this study is a single instrument, action research case study, expressed in a narrative. The case exists at the high school where I work as an assistant principal. During the second semester of the 2018-2019 school year, a committee known as the Building Leadership Team (BLT) altered its design and operation, using the framework of inclusive deliberation (ID). Teachers' experience with the BLT, along with other phenomena that took place during the case study with additional members of the staff, were collected as data. Data was collected through observational field notes, journaling of daily interactions, participant reflection prompts, staff surveys, a focus group reflection, and individual interviews. Inductive analysis was used to triangulate the data to understand the phenomena being resear (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Thomas Poetter (Committee Chair); Joel Malin (Committee Member); Molly Moorhead (Committee Member); Jim Shiveley (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Education Policy; Educational Leadership; Inservice Training; Management; Operations Research; Organization Theory; Organizational Behavior; Personal Relationships; Public Administration; School Administration; Secondary Education; Systems Design; Systems Science; Teaching

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1984, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Sociology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1976, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Education

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1972, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Education

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1961, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Psychology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1959, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Psychology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1955, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Psychology

Master of Arts (M.A.), Xavier University, 2015, Psychology

Workplace negative affectivity (NA) has been well-examined in the literature, but no study has explored its influence on perceived morale and perceived team cooperation. One hundred and fifty-eight undergraduates from a small university in the Midwest were randomly assigned to one of two vignette conditions and then answered questions about morale, cooperation, and affectivity. The study hypothesized that the presence of high NA would negatively affect perceived morale and perceived team cooperation. The hypotheses were supported, indicating that NA has a significant effect on both perceived morale and perceived cooperation, such that higher NA is related to lower perceived morale and lower perceived team cooperation. Results also indicated that participant positive affectivity was not related to either perceived morale or perceived cooperation, but NA shared a negative relationship with perceived cooperation. The results of this study have several implications for companies, including that employee disposition may impact team environments. Future research should continue to explore how personality may affect workplace environments.

Committee: Morell Mullins Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Dalia Diab Ph.D. (Committee Member); Mark Nagy Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Occupational Psychology; Organizational Behavior; Personality Psychology; Psychology; Social Psychology

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, 2014, History

This dissertation investigates the worldview of German frontline soldiers during the Eastern Front conflict of the Second World War. It argues that Nazi era propaganda's creation of a racial and ideological “Other” in the Soviet Union had a significant impact on the attitude of the military in the East. These ideological imaginations of the enemy were often transformed by the realities at the front through the experiences of common enlisted men. While the Nazis constructed a racially and politically charged image of the enemy to justify a war of conquest, the German soldiers fighting in the East developed their own views of an expanding imperial landscape. An identity transformation amongst German combatants took place during the Eastern Front campaign for many reasons, including the effects of Nazi dogma, a foreign environment and local populace, the strains of combat, changing war circumstances, and genocidal policies. This project utilizes the wartime writings of Hitler's ordinary men to provide a partial reconstruction of their mentality, revealing their beliefs, fears, and perceptions of the Soviet enemy.

Committee: Larry Wilcox (Committee Chair); Beth Griech-Polelle (Committee Co-Chair); Roberto Padilla (Committee Member); Robert McCollough (Committee Member) Subjects: European Studies; History; Holocaust Studies; Military History

Master of Arts (MA), Ohio University, 2011, History (Arts and Sciences)

From March 1942 to November 1945, the Stage Door Canteen in New York City provided an estimated 3 million servicemen with companionship, free food, and entertainment. This thesis explores the canteen's work and the meaning assigned to the work by volunteers, servicemen, and the American media. Run by the American Theatre Wing War Service, the canteen provided civilian workers in the entertainment industry with a way to "do their part" for the war effort and repay servicemen for the sacrifice they were making. The canteen was open to United Nations servicemen of any nationality or race, making it an interracial and international contact point. In media, the canteen was frequently used as a symbol of wartime unity and an example of the type of selfless service that American civilians should aspire to. For many canteen volunteers and guests, the canteen incarnated wartime values of American egalitarianism, Allied cooperation, and racial equality. It prompted some civilians and servicemen to think critically about the ideals of democracy, equality, unity, and individual freedom for which the war was purportedly being fought.

Committee: Katherine Jellison (Advisor) Subjects: American History