VTechWorks Repository :: Browsing by Author "Dull, Matthew M."

Browsing by Author "Dull, Matthew M."

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2016 Graduate Student Climate Survey: Preliminary Findings
Fang, Fang; Smart, Henry III; Gomez Beane, Dannette; Dull, Matthew M.; Lawrence, Kacy; Schnitzer, Marcy (Virginia Tech Graduate School, 2016)
The Graduate School, Office of Inclusion and Diversity, and the Division of Student Affairs collaborated to design and administer the 2013 and 2016 Climate Surveys for graduate students. The purpose of these surveys is to gather information about the experiences of graduate students, to identify trends and phenomenon by college and department, and to inform administrators about the needs, concerns, and challenges of graduate students.
The Allocation of Funds within HOPE VI: Applicants and Recipients
Murphy, LaShonia Michelle (Virginia Tech, 2012-03-29)
This dissertation examines the allocation of funds over the entire tenure of the HOPE VI, a public housing competitive grant, to determine if the program adhered to its program goals. This study focuses on the application and selection phases of HOPE VI. Moreover, this study looks to the scholarship on redistributive politics to gain an understanding of any deviations from projected program results. Within the context of an institutional policy analysis approach, this dissertation explores the consequences of using competitive grants as a policy tool for the HOPE VI program and postulates on its effects on program outcomes. An empirical analysis of the grant applicants and grant recipients finds that overall, large developments had a better rate in receiving grants and received more grants on their initial attempt. However, small public housing developments, which were not the focus of the HOPE VI program, submitted four times as many applications with a success rate of fifty-two percent. Overtime, cities with smaller populations are awarded more grants.
Analysis of the Appointment of the First African American Ambassador to Apartheid-Era South Africa
Wills, Mary Jo (Virginia Tech, 2014-11-06)
This study applies the metaphor of two-level games to generate explanations of how and why President Reagan chose to appoint Edward J. Perkins ambassador to South Africa. It explored the relationship between national and international factors that may have influenced Reagan's decision, as well as his policy preferences, beliefs and values. International factors included U.S.-South Africa relations, alliances, international organizations, and transnational movements for human rights and racial equality. Among the domestic factors were the dynamics between the executive and legislative branches of government, interest groups, and activism. National and international politics and policies overlapped in four areas' "strategic interests, race, morality, and national values. Analysis of the evidence suggests that while international events were an important part of the context of the decision, domestic politics and the President's own views had the most influence on the decision. The Perkins appointment exemplified how a personnel selection might reaffirm national reconciliation of opposing views on race, ethnicity, democratic values and national interests.
Beyond the Boundaries: A Sharing of Power in Processes of Public Education Decision-Making and Planning
Hubbard, Faith Gibson (Virginia Tech, 2019-06-21)
This researched is focused on how public managers, bureaucrats, can show responsiveness to the needs and wants of the citizens they serve through authentically including citizens in the process of decision-making. To examine this topic, this research reviews a process of public decision-making regarding how revisions were made to public school boundaries in Washington, DC. The findings from this research showed that the inclusion, and authentic partnership, of citizens throughout the process lead to greater outcomes, which the citizens felt were reflective of their participants and feedback.
Characteristics of the National Capital Region Homeland Security Network: A Case Study of the Practice of Coordination at the Regional Metropolitan Level
Griffin, Robert Paul (Virginia Tech, 2010-03-30)
At its heart, homeland security is a challenge of coordination;(Kettl 2003; Kettl 2004; Waugh and Tierney 2007) however, coordination is an ambiguous term that is difficult to define or measure (Selznick 1984). To build a coordinated homeland security system, the federal government has introduced a number of policy changes including introduction of the Urban Area Security Area Initiative (UASI). (DHS, 2007) Given that over 80% of the nation's population lives in metropolitan urban regions, (Bureau 2008) homeland security threat, risk, and funding is weighed heavily towards protecting these areas. UASI provides funding to high risk/high population urban areas and is designed to build coordinated regional metropolitan homeland security systems. To meet UASI funding requirements, the nation's largest and most vulnerable metropolitan areas have formed regional homeland security networks. While the National Capital Region (NCR) UASI is representative of the challenges other areas face, the nature of metropolitan regionalism and distilled federalism creates complexity few other homeland security networks face. Policy and service delivery co-exist at the operational/technical levels of the sub-network and better understanding how agencies, functions, and nodes coordinate is important to shaping future homeland security policies. This research studies how one functional node of the regional metropolitan homeland security network, the NCR fire service, coordinates its UASI funding requests throughout the Fiscal Year (FY) 2008 grant cycle. Examining the historical context of regional coordination and formal structures and informal elements the research identified nine characteristics of coordination as it is practiced at the operational/technical level of the network. These characteristics include elements such as standardized national policy direction, leadership, organizational commitment, trusted relationships, shared purpose, political support, time, balance of formal and informal elements, and balance between operational and administrative responsibilities. The research builds on Kettl's concept of contingent coordination by describing how the practice of coordination occurs within the homeland security network and begins to expand our understanding of how we organize, integrate, and coordinate a national model. The research also provides important insight into the translation of policy to operations by describing how technical subject matter experts coordinate both operationally and administratively within the homeland security network.
A Comparative Analysis of Federal Agencies' Integration of Equity and Diversity Practices Addressing Minority Representation in Senior Executive Service
Lanier, Melvene A. (Virginia Tech, 2019-01-31)
This dissertation examines how leaders explain the way shifts in leaders responsibilities, shifts in institutional pressures, and minority representation at the Senior Executive Service level influence how they integrate equity and diversity programs in federal agencies. When federal agencies address the issue of minority representation in Senior Executive Service (SES), the degree to which leaders institutionalize diversity and equity programs varies. Leaders at different levels have their own motivation for how they respond to institutional pressures. There have been shifts in responsibilities and pressures over time. Using semi-structured interviews, 18 leaders explain how these shifts influence them. This research, which also includes supporting documents, seeks to contribute to neoinstitutional theory, equity and diversity literature, and representative bureaucracy, extending the perspective of how institutional pressures impact organizations to how pressures influence leaders in federal agencies.
Comprehensive Output Measurement: The 'Missing Link' in U.S. Federal Government Performance Reporting
King, David Lorne (Virginia Tech, 2014-01-29)
Performance and accrual-based financial management systems as envisaged in the 1990 Chief Financial Officers (CFO) Act, the 1993 Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA), the 1996 Federal Financial Management Improvement Act (FFMIA) and related legislation have been in place since prior to the turn of the millennium. Nevertheless, although performance has been measured and financial accountability improved in U.S. federal government agencies, there remains a gap in reporting on operational efficiency and effectiveness. This dissertation extends research into performance management to determine the extent to which performance measurement systems report on operational efficiency and effectiveness and thereby further facilitate performance management. It examines outputs as the unit-of-analysis within the input-output-outcome framework of performance measurement and reporting systems and their integration with accrual-based financial management systems in assessing government operations. It challenges the predominantly outcomes-focused reporting system as insufficient to the objective of improved operational efficiency and effectiveness. The research methodology employs qualitative analysis of selected agency performance reports, interviews of selected agency senior managers and oversight officials, analysis of previous research on performance reporting, and analysis of GAO survey data. The research examines an increased focus on output reporting as a means to improve operational efficiency and the linkage of outputs to outcomes as an effectiveness measure. The research leads to the conclusion that very little output efficiency or effectiveness measurement and reporting is occurring. The failure to measure performance in this manner is to the considerable detriment of operational efficiency, effectiveness and cost reduction in the federal government.
The Diffusion and Evolution of 311 Citizen Service Centers in American Cities from 1996 to 2012 - A Study to Identify the Catalysts for the Adoption of Citizen Engagement Technology
O'Byrne, John Christopher (Virginia Tech, 2015-05-26)
This study of the diffusion and evolution of the 311 innovation in the form of citizen service centers and as a technology cluster has been designed to help identify the catalysts for the spread of government-to-citizen (G2C) technology in local government in order to better position future G2C technology for a more rapid rate of adoption. The 311 non-emergency number was first established in 1996 and had spread to 80 local governments across the United States by 2012. This dissertation examines: what factors contributed to the adoption of 311 in American local governments over 100,000 in population; how did the innovation diffuse and evolve over time; and why did some governments' communications with citizens became more advanced than others? Given the problem of determining causality, a three-part research design was used to examine the topic including a historical narrative, logistic regression model, and case studies from Pittsburgh, Minneapolis and St. Louis. The narrative found that the political forces of the federal government, national organizations, and policy entrepreneurs (Karch, 2007) promoted the 311 innovation to solve different problems and that it evolved beyond its original intent. The logistic regression model found that there was a statistically significant relationship between 311 adoption and the variables of higher population, violent crime rate, and the mayor-council form of government. The case studies revealed that mayors played a strong role in establishing citizen service centers in all three cities while 311 adopter Pittsburgh and non-adopter St. Louis seemed to have more in common in their G2C evolution due to severe budget constraints. With little written about the 311 innovation in academic journals, practitioners and scholars will benefit from understanding the catalysts for the diffusion and evolution of the 311 in order to determine ways to increase the rate of adoption for future G2C communication innovations.
A distinctive organizational control practice: Geographic personnel rotation
Onder, Seref G. (Virginia Tech, 2015-07-09)
Organizational control is a fundamental process which ensures organizations achieve their goals. The importance and difficulty increase when the organization is a law enforcement agency. Control within an organization can be implemented in several different ways. Regular rotations and transfers of personnel is one of the control mechanisms employed by organizations to direct, motivate and encourage employees to adhere to organizational standards and objectives. The Turkish National Police (TNP) rotates and transfers police officers geographically while providing security services throughout the country. Geographic personnel rotation (GPR) is a human resource management policy of the TNP which bans home city deployment and obligates officers to transfer regularly for various deployment periods and in differing regions. The research examines geographic personnel rotation policy as an organizational control mechanism. To help better understand GPR's impact on control, the study examined data collected from interviews with human resource managers and police chiefs who implement the policy, from participant observation, and from documents and archival records. GPR is a distinct control mechanism the TNP employs to maximize personnel performance and minimize police deviance. More significantly, GPR allows the TNP to reward and punish employees depending on their performance, as well as detect and reduce deviation from organizational norms. GPR also affects the formation of police identity, which may increase or decrease commitment to the organization based on the perceived fairness of the practice.
The Dynamics of Size, Composition, and Fiscal Authority in Government Expenditures: Examining The Effects of Social Disturbance
Kim, Hyun Gon (Virginia Tech, 2010-05-03)
This dissertation investigates changes in size, composition, and fiscal authority of government expenditure brought on by social disturbance by examining the effects of German reunification on government spending. This research tests several hypotheses using data on total spending and six major sub-policy spending categories between 1972 and 2006. First, this study identifies strong evidence of a large upward displacement effect following reunification, with a particular emphasis on social security spending. Second, this study finds a strong and positive correlation between per capita GDP and total spending as well as social security, education, and public safety spending, which confirms Wagner's Law. Results also reveal that unemployment rate is strongly and positively related to total spending and several sub policy categories both before and after reunification. Additionally, this study finds that the proportions of the youth and elderly populations are negatively associated with total spending after reunification. However, the proportion of the youth population is positively associated with per capita education spending, as the proportion of elderly population with social security spending. The results also show that economic openness has a strong positive impact on both total spending and economic services spending; however, the relationship between economic openness and social security, education, and health spending after reunification is negative. The right party control variable has no significant impact on total spending after reunification, though party control does seem to influence social security and defense spending. Furthermore, the election variable does not have a significant impact on spending except for a positive and significant impact on social security spending after reunification. On the other hand, the coalition government and the proportion of public employees variables have strong and positive impacts on total spending and several sub-policy categories after reunification. The deficit ratio variable is found to have a positive and significant impact on total spending and public safety spending after reunification. Lastly, using a traditional expenditure ratio and a composite ratio to measure fiscal decentralization, this study finds that after reunification there is a trend towards fiscal centralization in total spending and social security, economic services, health, and public safety spending.
The Effects of State Constitutional Design of Gubernatorial and Legislative Authority in State Budget Policy
Keeney, Michael Stewart (Virginia Tech, 2012-03-23)
Each of the fifty U.S. state constitutions establishes a fundamental framework for governmental operations within the state. Described by previous scholarship as the state's political technology, state constitutions delineate formal gubernatorial and legislative authority. Extant literature has focused on gubernatorial and legislative relations from the standpoint of the contemporary contextual political factors associated with individuals serving in the respective offices. Although useful, this focus limits a deeper understanding about how state constitutions, as a point of departure, might affect the way in which governors and legislators interact in the policy process. Specifically examined by this research is how variation in design might impact the ability of governors and state legislatures to achieve preferred policy alternatives. This is addressed through the divergence between the governor's proposed budget and the state legislature's enacted budget. To analyze potential influences of this divergence, state budgets from 27 U.S. states over a recent period of eleven years were collected and coded according to policy areas. Data were used to test hypothesized effects of state constitutional design of formal authority. Based on Tobit model estimation and predicted values of divergence derived from alternative constitutional design scenarios, some state constitutional factors affect the ability of governors and state legislatures to achieve preferred policy alternatives. Salient constitutional variables include gubernatorial and legislative budget authority, institutional control, and duration in service factors. The empirical focus of this research contributes to a more enriched understanding of state constitutions as political technologies. In essence, the design of state constitutional authority has the potential to affect how governors and state legislatures interact in the policy process. In addition to contributing to state constitutional theory, these findings enrich the understanding of the design of authority by reformers and citizens.
An Evaluation of how Federal Advisory Boards Operationalize Congressional Intent of Transparency, Financial Efficiency, and Balanced Membership
Brandell, James Francis (Virginia Tech, 2019-05-03)
The intention of this dissertation is to understand how federal advisory boards are operationalizing Congressional intent of transparency, financial efficiency and balanced board membership. When Congress passed the Federal Advisory Commission Act (FACA) in 1972, these three values were intended to help add legitimacy to the operation advisory boards. Advisory boards have been in use on the federal level since the first term of President George Washington, and they provide valuable expertise on a wide variety of subjects for the government. Currently, over 1,000 advisory boards are operating across the federal government with nearly 25,000 people participating. Collectively, annual operations of these boards approaches a half billion dollars. In the years leading up to the passage of FACA, Congressional hearings revealed deficiencies across federal departments with transparency of advisory board operations, spending practices, and appointment processes which threatened the legitimacy of their use. The FACA law was intended to bring legitimacy back to boards' operation by requiring more transparency, financial efficiency and balance in viewpoints on board appointments. With the law more than 40 years old, this dissertation explores how advisory boards today are operating is relation to the values Congress laid out in legislation. A quantitative exploration was conducted to assess the fidelity to the Congressional values by using publicly available data points. A sample of the 1,000 operating advisory boards was used to conduct the research. Using the results of the quantitative exploration, six case studies were selected for additional examination. Three cases were selected by a systematic method based on the quantitative data, and three additional cases were selected by the unique results from the data. A dozen policy changes were suggested as a result of the quantitative and qualitative examinations to better align present day operation of advisory boards with the Congressional intent. This study may be useful to policymakers who have oversight on advisory board operations.
An Exploration of Resilient Nonprofit Organizations: How Human Services Providers in Virginia Survived and Thrived the Great Recession of 2007-2009
Fyffe, Saunji Desiree (Virginia Tech, 2014-04-25)
Nonprofits are primarily dependent upon external sources for funding and other critical resources; therefore during recessionary periods the nonprofit sector faces a crisis of its own as crucial resources become scarce. The Great Recession of 2007-2009 had widespread adverse impact on the nonprofit sector yet, some nonprofit organizations managed to not only restore their finances and operations to their pre-recession state, but also capitalize on the economic conditions and emerge stronger and more prosperous than before the recession began. Specifically, these organizations embody resiliency by realizing positive outcomes or exhibiting optimal performance during and after tough economic times. In the face of increasing demands, shifting funding streams, and operational challenges, organizational resilience is more important than ever for the sector. The purpose of this research was to develop a better understanding of the nature of organizational resiliency as it relates to nonprofits impacted by economic recession. The primary research question that directed this research was: What attributes are exhibited by resilient nonprofit organizations? Using a multiple case study approach, this study explored the essence and meaning of resilience through the experiences of seven nonprofit organizations in Virginia during and after the recession. Data were collected from pertinent organizational documents and semi-structured interviews with the executive director of each organization. Nine themes emerged from the data. Conclusions drawn from the findings suggest that resilient nonprofit organizations exhibit: positive disposition toward change; flexibility; timely and responsive decision making; deep social capital; intra and inter-organizational relationships; effective leadership; diverse revenue streams; sufficient assets, systems and infrastructure; and shared mission, goals and strategy.
Exploring the Role of Federal Managers When Obtaining Legal Advice from Offices of the General Counsel
Muetzel, James (Virginia Tech, 2014-03-11)
Managers in federal executive branch agencies administer public programs and policies in a complex legal environment. To assist managers, each agency has an organization that is responsible for providing them legal advice, typically called an "Office of the General Counsel" (OGC). Existing literature from public administration and administrative law has addressed, to varying degrees, what OGC lawyers do or ought to do, but has primarily focused on providing legal advice, not obtaining it. This discrete literature is disconnected from major streams in public administration. The purpose of this study was to update and extend the literature by exploring managers' and lawyers' perceptions of the role of managers as advisees of OGC. This study made managers the focal point of exploration and used concepts from organizational role theory to clarify the term "role" and highlight the structural and interactional elements of the manager's part in the manager-lawyer relationship. Four research questions guided this study by inquiring about the expectations managers and lawyers have regarding: (1) the organizational arrangement for obtaining legal advice; (2) decision making in the context of obtaining legal advice; (3) the closeness of their working relationship; and (4) being a "client" of OGC in the context of obtaining legal advice. Data were collected from in-depth, semi-structured interviews conducted with 20 practitioners (14 managers; six lawyers). This study found that managers and lawyers preferred to remain separate from each other in the agency because of the expectation that managers obtain and lawyers provide objective legal advice. Regarding decision making, managers and lawyers expected managers to make decisions in the sense of seeking guidance from OGC rather than permission, being comfortable questioning legal advice, and choosing among options and alternatives; although, lawyers indicated some managers prefer not making decisions. The expectation of making decisions in the sense of choosing whether to follow legal advice remains contested among managers; among lawyers, they expect managers to consider legal advice and decide whether to follow it. Managers and lawyers expected to have a close working relationship marked by assistance with formulating legal questions and full disclosure of information. As for expectations associated with being a "client" of OGC, managers' and lawyers' expectations diverged on what being a "client" of OGC entails. Managers viewed themselves as clients, but associated the term "client" with customer service; lawyers, on the other hand, viewed managers as clients provided their interests are aligned with the agency's interests. Beyond exploring the role of managers when obtaining legal advice, this study's focus on the interaction between managers and lawyers within a federal agency suggests a way connecting public law more directly to public management, as well as extending insights from governance to activities inside an agency.
Formation of New Ideologies of Administration in American and Russian Administrative Reform
Bruk, Boris V. (Virginia Tech, 2013-01-23)
This research project seeks to identify commonalities and differences between new administrative ideologies in the United States and post-Soviet Russia. To achieve this goal, the study explores the question of administrative ideology through the lens of the New Public Management (NPM) related reforms, which spread around much of the world in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. The discussion is structured around two broad themes identified in the review of the literature on NPM and Reinventing Government: the new vision of the government (and its bureaucracy) and the relationship between government and the public. As a method of inquiry, the study uses the review and analysis of official publications and elite interviews with high-ranking officials, analysts, and scholars in the United States and Russia. The research demonstrates that although new ideologies of administration in the United States and Russia share significant characteristics, they differ in a number of important respects.
From Collaborative Creation to Implementation: The Evolution of a Contract for a Model Program to Finance Child Welfare
Price-Rhodes, Melony Anne (Virginia Tech, 2009-04-03)
Because of on-going reform efforts, rapidly changing business environments, and increasing demands for government services while reducing expenditures, organizations realize government is challenged with social welfare problems that cannot be effectively tackled utilizing our traditional bureaucratic structures. Organizations must work across traditional organizational boundaries to implement reform efforts that reduce the size of government, operate more efficiently, reduce fiscal stress, and employ market-like mechanisms. Government reform efforts are not new; universities, to include Virginia Tech, play a large role in reform activities. Also playing a prominent role in government reform efforts are contractual relationships; these relationships continue to increase. Virginia Tech, through the implementation of the Federal Reimbursement Unit (FRU), has had a long-term contractual relationship with a local government in implementing government reform, specifically in the implementation of a unique model program to maximize local revenues to finance a child welfare program. The goal of the program is to use less county tax dollars to support children in foster care, and provide a seamless process in maximizing resources from federal entitlement and state programs. While contracts have played a major role in reform efforts for many decades, long-term contract relationships are not fully explored in the literature. There is much more to learn about the relationships, and their role in reform, specifically how contracts evolve over time. Using a single case study design, this research explored the evolution of a long-term contract involving collaborative activities between a state university and a local county through the implementation of this unique model program. Interviews provided the primary method of data collection with experts in the child welfare field. The research explored key factors in the model program that led to the implementation and evolution of the contract with a focus on selected elements of the popular New Public Management (NPM) form of governance and interagency collaboration. The results identify multiple collaborative and selected NPM elements that existed in the implementation and subsequent evolution of the contract. These selected elements may not be present in other long-term contracts; however they played a significant role in the implementation and evolution in this research.
Historical Institutionalism and Defense Public Procurement: The Case of Other Transactions Agreements
Lopes, Crane L. (Virginia Tech, 2018-10-24)
Since the 1980s, private sector spending on Research and Development (RandD) has outpaced federal RandD spending. For example, while the Department of Defense (DoD) spent $64 billion on RandD in fiscal year 2015, the private sector spent $260 billion. DoD relies on the private sector to develop advanced technologies for defense requirements. However, some innovative businesses are hesitant to work with DoD because of the perceived bureaucracy of the DoD procurement system. Recognizing this problem, in 1989, Congress created a new type of non-procurement agreement for DoD called Other Transactions Agreements (OTs). OTs are excluded from most laws and regulations that govern traditional procurement agreements. OTs can be written to meet the needs of the parties and the project, enabling agreements that resemble commercial contracting. Congress has expanded OT authority, and DoD has issued OT guidance to its employees. But DoD has not used OTs as widely as expected. This is puzzling because commentators find OTs are helpful to DoD and the private sector in reducing the legal and regulatory compliance costs associated with the DoD procurement system. Using qualitative methods, and drawing on the OT and historical institutionalism literature, this study explores institutional factors that may explain why DoD has not more widely used OTs. The study relied on interviews with DoD employees and contractors. OT case studies were used to triangulate the interview findings. Potential causal mechanisms are identified to support future research of the DoD OT program using causal process tracing. The study findings are used to offer policy recommendations to support the wider use of OTs by DoD.
The Impact of Accountability and Accountability Management on Performance at the Street Level
Hwang, Kwang Seon (Virginia Tech, 2013-09-02)
Performance management is prevalent in public organizations and public services, but the push for performance may harm genuine accountability. One critical reason for this is that little knowledge has developed about the scope and effect of actual accountability requirements in the public management field. This dissertation furthers our understanding of accountability and performance by distinguishing them as different dimensions of public management. Building on this distinction, the effect of accountability (A) on performance (P) and accountability management’s (M) mediating role in the relationship between accountability and performance were investigated empirically in child welfare services in Virginia. The study had two stages: interviews and a survey. The qualitative content analysis of the interviews provides several noteworthy findings. Accountability can be understood more with the terms: explanation, expectation, people/society, action/decision, and values. Conversely, performance can be considered more in line with the terms: productivity/outcome, timely work, team playing, learning, and strategy. The incompatible characteristics found between accountability and performance highlight problems behind performance-driven accountability. The survey portion of the study, built upon the interview data, also presents notable findings. (1) Accountability affects performance both directly and indirectly, and (2) accountability management matters in the relationship between accountability and performance. While the empirical literature on the A → P link focuses on the effects of competing accountability requirements, my study examines dimensions of the accountability requirements’ impact. Formal (e.g., legal) as well as informal (e.g., ethical) accountability requirements are critical for ensuring higher performance. Compliance strategies implicitly connect informal accountability requirements with work performance. The findings support the study’s argument that accountability should be stressed for better performance and highlight the need for the careful design of accountability mechanisms in social services. Ultimately, this study may serve as a foundation for future efforts to establish more appropriate accountability and performance arrangements.
The Impact of Advocacy Groups in Facilitating Policy Diffusion to Pass Paid Sick Leave Laws in New Jersey
Zobell, Anne Catherine (Virginia Tech, 2020-02-10)
This study of the adoption and diffusion of paid sick leave laws in New Jersey has been designed to examine the spread of the policy between local governments and then the subsequent adoption of the policy by the state. In New Jersey, PSL was first adopted by Jersey City in 2013. Following that adoption, 12 other New Jersey municipalities adopted PSL. In 2018, a law was passed by the state that then voided all the municipal laws and replaced them with a statewide policy. Through a mixed methods research design, this study seeks to better understand the circumstances surrounding PSL. First, a logistic regression model was used to determine the characteristics that are associated with PSL adoption on the local level. Second, case studies were conducted for three adopting cities, Jersey City, Newark, and Morristown to better understand the political forces that facilitated the adoption and diffusion of PSL. Lastly, this study examined the adoption of PSL on the state level to better understand how the actions of governments on the local level affected the actions of the state government. The logistic regression found that large cities, cities with a higher percentage of minorities, cities with a mayor-council form of government, and cities with a higher Gini coefficient were more likely to adopt PSL. In contrast to the findings of the logistic regression, the case studies revealed that the cities that adopted PSL were heavily Democratic and elected officials identified progressiveness as a motivator for adopting this policy. This research used qualitative methods to evaluate how policy diffusion occurred and who facilitated this process. Through interviews, this research revealed the influence of policy advocates in helping to spread PSL to many New Jersey municipalities. An advocacy coalition named New Jersey Time to Care pursued what they termed the municipal approach. The political dynamics in the New Jersey state government prevented a statewide law from being adopted. Given this fact, the coalition pursued multiple municipal laws in order to help New Jerseyans receive paid sick leave benefits and to help build momentum for a statewide law when a change in political dynamics would allow for it.
Institutional Adaptation and Public Policy Practices of Military Transfer Credit
Buechel, Kathryn Jean (Virginia Tech, 2020-02-10)
Veterans who served our country, return with a wealth of experience that transfer into military credit for prior service. These transfer credits in institutions of higher education apply towards education degree attainment. With colleges and universities implementing individual policies for acceptance of credits, veterans experience a loss of credits leading to a duplication of required classes to achieve degrees. To understand inconsistent practices, both federal and institutions of higher education polices are examined. Framed by institutionalization theory, this research sheds light on the public policy process and administration of credit at the organization over time. The study provides findings for how the largest public college and higher education institution in the state of California awards academic credit for military education. Evidence suggests that public higher education institutions adapt based on effective leaders who define and defend the organization's institutional values and mission. This study provides findings on institutional adaptations to create policies and practices that public administrators use to apply transfer military credit into postsecondary academic credit. The focus is on postsecondary credit transferred, or articulated, by entering military first-year students using the GI Bill. The study asks how have major institutions of higher education formalized institutional policies and practices on awarding academic credit for military education?

Browsing by Author "Dull, Matthew M."

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