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1	Transformation of Palm Beach Community College to Palm Beach State College: a case study Unknown Date (has links) The purpose of this single-site case study was to examine the organization and leadership change process of Palm Beach State College, a publicly funded institution in Florida, as it embarked on offering bachelor’s degree programs. The study examined the organizational change process and the extent to which Palm Beach State College’s organization transformation aligned with the eight stages of John Kotter’s (1996, 2012) Change Management Model. This qualitative research was conducted using triangulation of data collection and analysis methods via interviews, observations, and document review. This study found that the organizational transformation was a success, and that while expanding its offerings, the college remained true to its core mission. Kotter’s model was found to be appropriate to examine the change process, and the college was well aligned in all but the final stage of the model. This research contributes to the body of knowledge in the field of higher education, primarily for two-year colleges embarking on the endeavor of organizational change process to confer baccalaureates. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2013. Community colleges -- Florida Organizational change – Florida Palm Beach State College
2	Rip Channel Morphodynamics at Pensacola Beach, Florida Labude, Daniel 14 March 2013 (has links) 80% of all lifeguard related rescues along the beaches of northwest Florida are believed to be related to rip currents. A rip current is the strong flow of water, seaward extending from the beach to the breaker line. It has previously been shown that there are rip current hot spots at Pensacola Beach, forced by a ridge and swale topography offshore, but the annual evolution/behavior of these hotspots (i.e. location, size, frequency, and orientation) have not been examined in detail. Remote imagery from Casino Beach was rectified to a planar view in order to examine the rip channel characteristics. These characteristics were analyzed to determine variations and patterns on a daily, monthly, and seasonal basis and in relation to reset storms, wind and wave characteristics, and the beach states of Casino Beach in order to characterize the rip development and variation throughout a year. Beach states and rip configurations were impacted by many frontal storms and one tropical storm, which were classified as a reset storm when reconfigurations of the beach state and rips occurred. Given sufficient time between reset storms, the bar migrated onshore in a manner consistent with the Wright and Short (1984) model, transitioning from LBT, to RBB, and finally to TBR state. The lack of reset storms after March 2010 resulted in a large frequency of observed rip channels (64) between April and May. It is shown that these rip channels are clustered into 7 statistically significant groups based on their location alongshore at the 95 % confidence interval. It is argued that the rip channel clusters are a direct result of the wave forcing caused by the ridge and swale topography. This situation causes the bar to move onshore that without interruption of a reset storm will attach at certain locations creating a transverse bar and rip morphology. The bar appears to attach to the beach at consistent locations throughout the year creating similar rip locations and subsequently the rip clusters. The risk posed to beach users by these rip currents is concentrated in certain locations which are persistent throughout the year. Pensacola Beach Rip clusters Ridge and swale topography Beach state Reset storm Rip current
3	Oceanographic Considerations for the Management and Protection of Surfing Breaks Scarfe, Bradley Edward January 2008 (has links) Although the physical characteristics of surfing breaks are well described in the literature, there is little specific research on surfing and coastal management. Such research is required because coastal engineering has had significant impacts to surfing breaks, both positive and negative. Strategic planning and environmental impact assessment methods, a central tenet of integrated coastal zone management (ICZM), are recommended by this thesis to maximise surfing amenities. The research reported here identifies key oceanographic considerations required for ICZM around surfing breaks including: surfing wave parameters; surfing break components; relationship between surfer skill, surfing manoeuvre type and wave parameters; wind effects on waves; currents; geomorphic surfing break categorisation; beach-state and morphology; and offshore wave transformations. Key coastal activities that can have impacts to surfing breaks are identified. Environmental data types to consider during coastal studies around surfing breaks are presented and geographic information systems (GIS) are used to manage and interpret such information. To monitor surfing breaks, a shallow water multibeam echo sounding system was utilised and a RTK GPS water level correction and hydrographic GIS methodology developed. Including surfing in coastal management requires coastal engineering solutions that incorporate surfing. As an example, the efficacy of the artificial surfing reef (ASR) at Mount Maunganui, New Zealand, was evaluated. GIS, multibeam echo soundings, oceanographic measurements, photography, and wave modelling were all applied to monitor sea floor morphology around the reef. Results showed that the beach-state has more cellular circulation since the reef was installed, and a groin effect on the offshore bar was caused by the structure within the monitoring period, trapping sediment updrift and eroding sediment downdrift. No identifiable shoreline salient was observed. Landward of the reef, a scour hole ~3 times the surface area of the reef has formed. The current literature on ASRs has primarily focused on reef shape and its role in creating surfing waves. However, this study suggests that impacts to the offshore bar, beach-state, scour hole and surf zone hydrodynamics should all be included in future surfing reef designs. More real world reef studies, including ongoing monitoring of existing surfing reefs are required to validate theoretical concepts in the published literature. Aramoana Beach Dunedin (New Zealand) ArcGIS ArcSDE artificial surfing reef backscatter Baseline Data Collection bathymetry bathymetric surveying beach morphodynamics beach-state and morphology breaking wave height coastal engineering coastal environment coastal management coastal monitoring coastal processes coastal structures currents economic value EIA environmental data management environmental impact assessment geographic information systems geoid geomorphic surfing break categorisation GIS groin hydrodynamic modelling hydrographic surveying hydrography ICZM incline plane modelling integrated coastal zone management Main Beach Mount Maunganui (New Zealand) Manu Bay Boat Ramp Raglan (New Zealand) measuring water levels morphological coupling multibeam echo soundings oceanography offshore wave transformations Palm Beach Reefs Gold Coast (Australia) RTK GPS salient surf zone hydrodynamics surfing break components surfing reefs surfing tourism surfing wave climate surfing wave parameters Tay Street Mount Maunganui (New Zealand) wave breaking intensity wave climate wave focusing wave modelling wave peel angle wave section length wind effects on waves

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