This study was designed to examine and describe the levels of job satisfaction, the sources of job satisfaction and the relationship between the variables in a national sample of employee assistance program (EAP) professionals. The sample for this study consisted of EAP professionals who worked full-time, and who were members of the Employee Assistance Professionals Association.Data were collected through mailed surveys consisting of and an Individual Information Form and the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ). A total of 354 EAP professionals were mailed survey materials. This mailing resulted in 211 completed returns.Overall, EAP professionals indicated that they were moderately satisfied with their jobs. MSQ questionnaire results show that 9% of respondents scored in the very satisfied category, and 71% scored in the satisfied category. The average MSQ total score was within the satisfied range.Demographic variables had mixed results on job satisfaction. EAP external organization respondents were, as a group, more satisfied with their jobs than those respondents who worked in an internal EAP. Age, gender, race of respondent, rural versus non-rural work setting and national certification/recognition had no statistically significant impact on job satisfaction. Several recommendations and implications were drawn from the study. These included the need for open lines of communication with regard to career advancement and company policies; gender inequity issues are seen as barriers to job satisfaction and the masters degree is seen as the logical choice for the entry level EAP professional. / Ph. D.

The main purpose of this study was to conduct a meta-analysis with data collected from seven schools in Southwest Virginia school district. Data was collected for students who were referred to the Student Assistance Programs at each school. Tracking forms were used to record data for each student. Each tracking form was completed by the Student Assistance Program coordinators for their respective schools. This research was conducted in order to evaluate measurable performance outcomes of Student Assistance Programs. The results highlight the positive effects that Student Assistance Programs, SAP members, and other individuals associated with Student Assistance Programs have on students in need. The positive effect from participation in Student Assistance Programs is encouraging. However, recommendations are made for future research and implications of the current research are discussed. The need for additional research on this topic is prominent throughout this document. / Ph. D.

The United States has viewed promoting democracy as a longstanding tenet of its foreign policy. This has manifested itself in many ways, including in its foreign aid projects. This thesis sought to better understand what the U.S. did in promoting democracy through its foreign aid. Specifically, it what the U.S. did with its democracy and governance aid to Kenya from 1993 through 2008. It reviewed the scholarly literature to identify recommended best practices and evaluate the evidence supporting the effectiveness of aid. Having determined what projects were better to support than others, I reviewed documents available from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and assessed what types of projects the U.S. supported. This thesis also reviewed other project data available from USAID to ensure a full picture of U.S. democracy and governance aid to Kenya. Additionally, this thesis reviewed additional outside assessments of Kenya to provide full context for the U.S. aid efforts there. My research identified three clear trends in U.S. aid to Kenya. First, democracy promotion was a tenet in many USAID projects even beyond those specifically intended to promote democracy. Second, USAID's projects largely conformed to the best practices of the literature. Third, there was a significant increase in aid to Kenya starting in 2001 that largely predated the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. This provides a basis for further research into the effectiveness of U.S. democracy aid to Kenya. / Master of Arts / This thesis examined how the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) promoted democracy in Kenya from 1993 through 2008. The promotion of democracy has been a standing goal of U.S. foreign policy for decades, this thesis reviewed the history of U.S. democracy promotion, discussed the theories underlying U.S. democracy promotion efforts and identified best practices from academic and other literature. Having determined best practices, this thesis then examined U.S. democracy promotion efforts in Kenya from 1993 through 2008 to assess what the U.S. did and whether it comported with the recommendations from the literature. This research identified three trends in U.S. aid to Kenya. Democracy promotion was a tenet in many USAID projects even beyond those specifically intended to promote democracy; USAID's projects largely conformed to the best practices of the literature; and there was a significant increase in aid to Kenya starting in 2001 that largely predated the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.This research provides a basis to assess USAID democracy promotion efforts in other times and countries and will enable research into the effectiveness of U.S. democracy promotion efforts in Kenya.

The first part of this dissertation evaluates the effectiveness of food assistance by gathering evidence from developing countries and the United States. The first essay applies a multi-market model to three developing countries and simulate recent spikes in staple prices and food aid impacts. Results indicate that higher food prices would result in reduction in household real income and deterioration of household welfare. Food aid in the form of cash transfers targeted at low-income groups could improve household real income of the target group after world price shocks and, partially or completely, offset the negative impacts of higher food prices. The impact of cash transfer on untargeted groups is ambiguous. It is likely to be positive for households that are net producers of the commodities that have increased production and prices under cash transfer and the production surplus is sufficiently large. The second essay focuses on the Food Stamp Program (FSP), a cornerstone of food assistance safety net efforts in the U.S. to reduce household food insecurity, particularly among children. The essay examines the dynamic relationship between FSP participation and child food security using monthly measures. Empirical estimates using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics demonstrate that child food security declines in the months immediately prior to FSP entrance, but then partially recovers following program entrance. These dynamic FSP effects are masked when annual measures are employed. The third paper of this dissertation studies the potential impacts of patient's widespread use of online health information. In particular, the essay employs a principal agent model and focuses on the quality of online health information. The model shows that when the quality of health information improves, since medical consultations become more efficient and less costly, a higher effort will be induced or contracted from the physician. Diagnosis becomes more accurate, because physicians will try exert more effort in diagnosing patients and patients will suffer less loss from their illnesses. / Ph. D.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed) is an extension of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that aims to promote living healthier lifestyles for low-income participants of SNAP with limited resources. This thesis aims to investigate the effectiveness of Virginia's adult SNAP-Ed program through a cost-effective analysis (CEA) for fiscal year 2013 which requires the separation of the into the costs and the effects of the program. The costs for the program are categories as the labor, capital, material, and utility costs that are required to implement the adult SNAP-Ed program. The effects are measured as the number of participants who start, graduate, and improve from the start to the end of the program. The effects were measured on a retrospective self-assessment that measured both if a participant graduated and their magnitude of improvement. The analysis showed that as the state of Virginia the adult SNAP-Ed program incurred a cost of $2,488,170.07 with 6,759 participants starting the program and 3,704 of those that graduated in fiscal year 2013. Participants that improved on at least one of the questions by a score of one were 3,609 of the 3,704 that graduated. For the state of Virginia the cost effective ratio (CER) for starting a participant was $368 and CER of $672 for each graduated participant. An improvement on at least one question saw a CER value of $689. These findings show patterns that can be used for future policy implementation and the focus of the program. / Master of Science

No description available.

The purpose of this study is to examine the four basic student assistance models and determine their distribution in Texas, describe the student assistance programs in place in public school districts in Texas including the program's goals, objectives and components, and explore the perceived effectiveness of student assistance programs as a viable means of drug and alcohol education for students enrolled in public school districts in Texas in kindergarten through twelfth grade.

Master of Science / Department of Communications and Agricultural Education / Lauri M. Baker / The purpose of this study was to identify the needs of Kansas' agricultural producers in relation to financial and legal matters at a local level. The following research questions guided this study: 1) what services, identified by local producers, are needed in communities across Kansas to assist producers in times of financial and legal distress; 2) what are the perceptions among producers of the Kansas Agricultural Mediation Services (KAMS); 3) what brand attributes, names, and taglines would appeal to producers for an organization addressing their financial and legal distress; 4) how can organizations effectively market financial and legal services to producers? A qualitative study design was used in order to assess the research questions. Six focus groups were performed throughout the state in three different geographic locations. Participants were selected using purposive sampling in order to have one group of people familiar with the organization (KAMS) currently helping producers with their legal and financial issues and one unfamiliar group in each location. Grunig’s excellence in public relations model served as the conceptual framework for this study. Results of this study concluded that rural Kansas’ communities see a need for service organizations similar to KAMS. Participants value assistance with family farm transition planning as well as financial assistance. Participants saw marketing and promotion of the current services offered just as critical as having the services themselves. Participants felt these services should be marketed through two-way communication channels, such as social media, an organizational representative for face-to-face interaction, and collaboration with extension. Additionally, participants voiced strong opinions about various brand attributes.

Résumé : Les principaux challenges de l’industrie du futur sont de satisfaire à toujours plus d’exigences en termes de développement durable, d’optimisation des coûts et des délais. Les secteurs industriels fabriquant des produits à haute valeur ajoutée tels que l’aéronautique et le spatial, sont dans une perspective continue d’amélioration des produits manufacturés et des procédés. L’emploi de matériaux tels que des alliages de titane ou les superalliages à base de nickel devient courant. Ils sont cependant « complexes à usiner ». Les difficultés comme l’usure prématurée des outils, les déformations de pièces ou encore les mauvaises qualités de surface deviennent problématiques. C’est dans cette perspective que l’assistance cryogénique en usinage peut répondre aux diverses problématiques. Cette technologie peut apporter les réponses aux exigences d’industrialisation : limitation des élévations de température, pas de nettoyage post-usinage et pas d’utilisation de fluides de coupe nocifs pour les opérateurs. Cela induit pourtant de nouvelles questions tel que l’acheminement du fluide cryogénique vers les zones souhaitées, l’optimisation du procédé ou encore l’impact du grand froid sur les outils et les pièces. De nouveaux verrous technologiques et scientifiques apparaissent. Cette thèse propose de les étudier. / Abstract: The main challenges facing the industry are to satisfy ever more demands in terms of sustainable development, optimization of costs and deadlines. The industrial sectors manufacturing products with high added value in aeronautics and space, are continously in a perspective of improvement the manufactured products and processes. The use of materials such as titanium alloys or nickel-based superalloys is common. Its are "complex to machine". Difficulties in the use of tools, parts deformations or poor surface qualities become problematic. It is in this perspective that the cryogenic assistance in machining can answer the various problems. This technology can provide answers to the industrialization requirements: limiting the rising temperature, no post-machining cleaning and no use of cutting fluids, harmful, for operators. This leads to new questions such as the routing of the cryogenic fluid to the desired zones, the optimization of the process or the impact of a cold fluid on the tools and the parts. New technological and scientific locks are emerging. This PhD thesis propose to study them.

Cette thèse en informatique se situe dans le domaine des Environnements Informatiques pour l'Apprentissage Humain (EIAH), et plus particulièrement au sein du projet AGATE (an Approach for Genericity in Assistance To complEx tasks) qui vise à proposer des modèles génériques et des outils unifiés pour permettre la mise en place de systèmes d'assistance dans des applications existantes. Dans ce projet, l'éditeur d'assistance SEPIA permet aux concepteurs d'assistance de définir un système d'assistance épiphyte grâce à des règles respectant le langage aLDEAS. Ce système d'assistance peut ensuite être exécuté par le moteur d'assistance de SEPIA pour fournir de l'assistance aux utilisateurs finaux sur les applications-cibles diverses. Dans le contexte éducatif, des enseignants peuvent souhaiter mettre en place des systèmes d'assistance pour compléter les logiciels pédagogiques ou non-pédagogiques utilisés par les apprenants. Des ingénieurs pédagogiques endossent donc le rôle de concepteurs d'assistance, alors que les apprenants sont les utilisateurs finaux des applications assistées. Notre thèse traite la problématique suivante : « Comment mettre en place un système d'assistance épiphyte en contexte éducatif en adoptant une approche générique ? Nous avons abordé cette problématique de recherche en deux étapes : tout d'abord l'étude d'assistances existantes au sein d'applications utilisées en contexte éducatif, puis l'exploitation et l'enrichissement des modèles et outils du projet AGATE pour les adapter au contexte éducatif. Dans un premier temps, nous avons étudié des applications variées utilisées par des enseignants au sein de leurs cours, ainsi que des travaux existants qui proposent des systèmes d'assistance. Nous avons ainsi identifié les caractéristiques de l'assistance, et nous les avons classées selon qu'elles permettent de proposer de l'assistance technique (utilisation de l'application, prise en main) ou de l'assistance pédagogique (feedbacks pédagogiques, guidage pédagogique). Nous avons ajouté à cette classification les différents modes de déroulement d'une assistance dans le contexte éducatif. Dans un second temps, nous avons confronté les modèles et outils proposés précédemment dans le projet AGATE aux caractéristiques de l'assistance ainsi identifiées dans le contexte éducatif. Les limites des modèles et outils précédents nous ont amené à proposer deux contributions au langage aLDEAS et au système SEPIA pour les adapter au contexte éducatif. Cette nouvelle version de SEPIA adaptée au contexte éducatif est nommée SEPIA-edu. La première limite concernait la complexité de définition de systèmes d'assistance variés en termes de déroulement. Que ce soit dans un contexte éducatif ou non, il est important de pouvoir définir facilement et de manière explicite plusieurs modes d'articulation entre les différents éléments d'un système d'assistance. Nous avons donc proposé un modèle d'articulation entre les règles aLDEAS explicitant le déroulement d'une assistance et permettant de définir des systèmes d'assistance comprenant des éléments qui se déroulent de manière successive, interactive, simultanée, progressive, indépendante. Nous avons associé à ce modèle un processus d'application automatique des contraintes des modes d'articulation aux règles qui permet de générer et/ou modifier automatiquement les règles aLDEAS en faisant en sorte qu'elles soient toujours compatibles avec le moteur d'exécution d'assistance de SEPIA. Ce modèle et ce processus ont été implémentés dans SEPIA-edu. La seconde limite est propre au domaine éducatif. Elle concernait la complexité à définir un guidage pédagogique proposant un parcours entre différentes activités au sein d'une application existante. Nous avons tout d'abord proposé un modèle d'activité permettant de délimiter les activités au sein des applications... / This thesis in computer science take place in the ILE domain (Interactive Learning Environment) and was realized within the AGATE project (an Approach for Genericity in Assistance To complEx tasks) that aims at proposing generic models and unified tools to make possible the setup of assistance systems in various existing applications. In this project, an assistance editor allows assistance designers to define assistance systems and a generic assistance engine executes these assistance systems on the various target-applications without disturbing them to help final users. These assistance systems are defined by the assistance rules that respect the aLDEAS language. In the educational context, teachers can want to set up assistance system to complete the pedagogical or non-pedagogical software used by learners. Pedagogical engineers therefore have the role of assistance designers and learners are end-users of such assisted applications. Our PhD thesis address the following research question: “How to set up an epiphytic assistance system in the educational context by adopting a generic approach?” In order to answer this research question, we realized this thesis in two steps: first, the study of existing assistances within applications used in the educational context, then the exploitation and enrichment of models and tools of the AGATE project to adapt them to the educational context. In the first step, we studied the applications used by teachers in their courses as well as existing works proposing assistance system. We identified the characteristics of assistance, and classified them by the way they propose the technical assistance (use, handling of applications) and the pedagogical assistance (pedagogical feedback, pedagogical guidance) as well as different modes to sequence assistance elements in the educational context. In the second step, we confronted the models and tools proposed previously in the AGATE project to the characteristics of the assistance identified in educational context. The limitations of the previous models and tools led us to propose two contributions to the aLDEAS language and the SEPIA system in order to adapt them to the educational context. The first limitation relates to the complex definition of various assistance systems in terms of sequence of assistance elements. Whether in an educational context or not, it is important to be able to define easily and explicitly several modes of articulation between the different elements of an assistance system. We therefore proposed a model of articulation between aLDEAS rules in five modes: successive, interactive, simultaneous, progressive, independent. We associated this model with a process of automatic application of constraints of the articulation modes to the rules. This process makes it possible to automatically generate and / or modify the aLDEAS rules by making sure that they are always compatible with the execution of SEPIA assistance engine. This model and this process have been implemented in SEPIA-edu. The second limitation is specific to the educational context. It concerns the complex definition of a pedagogical guidance proposing different learning activities within an existing application. We first proposed an activity model to delimit activities within applications. Then, a pedagogical guidance model allows to define different types of pedagogical guidance (free, sequential, contextualized, temporal, personalized). A pedagogical guidance pattern was proposed to define a composed pedagogical guidance which can combine several types of pedagogical guidance. Finally, a process of the transformation of a pedagogical guidance into aLDEAS rules allows to automatically generate and modify aLDEAS rules. This model of activity, this pedagogical guidance pattern and this process have been implemented in SEPIA-edu