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Best Practices: Does it mean the same thing in the Aboriginal community as it does in the Health Authorities when it comes to diabetes care? / Population Health

The purpose of this study was to identify Core components perceived by faculty to be effective in their prominent graduate entrepreneurship education programs. The study sought to identify the best practices in graduate entrepreneurship education programs from the perceptions of faculty in the field. Research questions guiding the study were: (1) What Core components related to the following Broad question areas are perceived by faculty to be effective in their prominent graduate entrepreneurship education programs: Activities and initiatives; Adult education principles and practices; Alumni and mentoring; Course offerings; Curriculum and degrees; Faculty data; Institutional characteristics; Instructional methods; Student companies; and Student data. (2) What other Core components and/or general observations are identified by faculty in the survey comments? (3) What are faculty perceptions of the popular marketplace publication rankings of graduate entrepreneurship education programs? A survey was distributed via the internet to faculty at 54 prominent graduate entrepreneurship education programs identified by The Princeton Review, US News & World Report, or the AACSB Entrepreneurship Spotlight Challenge. The survey was developed through several phases using panels of individuals with expertise related to this study. The resulting 106 Core components were divided into 10 Broad question areas and were evaluated individually and averaged for each Broad question area. Questions regarding the accuracy of graduate program rankings and student intent were also included, along with demographics, open-ended questions regarding additional Core components, and additional survey comments. The results of the study indicated the most important Core components in the Broad question areas were Alumni and mentoring and Institutional characteristics, while the Curriculum and degrees area was perceived to be much less important to graduate entrepreneurship education effectiveness. The results also indicated that student intent and popular marketplace publications were only moderately accurate in evaluating entrepreneurship education effectiveness. Four top programs dominated the perceptions of faculty as effective programs: Stanford, Babson, MIT, and Harvard. Findings indicated that faculty perceptions differed from other measures of effectiveness of graduate entrepreneurship education programs.

This dissertation in practice was designed to provide an evaluation case study of two institutions, one college and one university, in the field of online learning and quality assurance. The writer evaluated these two institutions of higher learning to discover what online teaching criteria are required and what quality assurance processes are being used to assess the quality of the institutions* online courses. An analysis of the data revealed that both institutions were at the appropriate stage of development, support, training and quality assurance measures for their sizes, online populations and for the length of time they have been involved in online learning. Findings revealed that both institutions had a quality assurance process in place that is appropriate to their location, population and faculty. There is much to be learned by examining the two different credentialing and quality assurance approaches to online teaching and learning that these two different institutions employ for anyone interested in improving their institutions* processes.

Strategic planning in conservation of natural protected areas should include a human component, since human activity can threaten the health of the natural site. It is the competition for the resources that makes management of these areas a contentious issue. Effective education is key in resolving such issues and in ensuring that informed decisions are made concerning the uses of these valuable natural assets. This study tests this assumption in two phases.The first phase addresses the need to present a wider picture on the current state of environmental education practices in Mexico: Who is engaging in environmental education practices? How important is it for their organization? Who are they targeting and which methods and settings are they choosing and what environmental issues are they addressing? To achieve this, we administered a survey to 118 representatives from conservation and environmental education agencies and organizations in Mexico. Results show that conservation non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are taking the lead in the field of environmental education in Mexico. Education appears to be an important tool that is used widely by environmental and conservation organizations. At the same time, there seems to be a serious lack of funding.The second phase concentrates on conservation education, a specific aspect of environmental education that focuses on biodiversity issues. This is a growing field in Mexico, thanks especially to the system of Natural Protected Areas and the supporting network of conservation NGOs. This phase of the study presented a comparative analysis of perceived roles of education in the conservation of nature, between Mexico and the US and between practitioners and funders. In this phase we also compared the prescribed parameters defined by well known frameworks from academia with those perceived by education and conservation practitioners. We used a combination of online surveying and content analysis to evaluate this issue. Results illustrate that there are similarities between Mexico and the U.S., but with key differences in the target audiences, methods and settings. Funders do not consider education one of their high priorities, while practitioners do. This discrepancy may hamper the growth and maturation of conservation education in Mexico.

Au cours de ces dernières années, la notion de la gouvernance d’entreprise fait l’objet d’un regain d’intérêt en raison de la faillite spectaculaire et des pertes importantes de quelques grandes entreprises (Enron, Worldcom…). Ainsi, le thème de la gouvernance des entreprises a pris, une préoccupation cruciale des chefs d’entreprise ainsi que par les investisseurs institutionnels. En effet, l’intérêt pour les bonnes pratiques de gouvernance d’entreprise a pris une importance de premier rang. Suite à cette attention accordée par les investisseurs aux pratiques de gouvernance, la notation de la gouvernance d’entreprise est devenue une pratique de plus en plus courante soit à travers des services de notation spécialisés ou avec l’intégration du système de gouvernance d’entreprise dans la notation financière. Notre objectif est d’identifier, à partir d’un échantillon de 132 entreprises françaises cotées sur la période 2002-2008, une structure de gouvernance appréhender par le fonctionnement du conseil d’administration, la structure de propriété et les caractéristiques du dirigeant. Plus précisément, notre travail consiste à calculer un score de gouvernance d’entreprise, comportant plusieurs variables, selon la méthode d’enveloppement des données (DEA). Les résultats obtenus montrent que les firmes françaises interrogées possèdent un indice d’efficience de gouvernance de 68 %. Ainsi, nous avons pu identifier des rapports entre le score de gouvernance et les autres caractéristiques des firmes. Ensuite, nous avons pu déterminer les pratiques qui permettent d’améliorer la qualité de la gouvernance, tout en se basant sur la performance de la firme. Enfin, nous avons pu établir, à partir d’un système d’équations simultanées, un lien de causalité entre la gouvernance et la performance de la firme. / Corporate governance has been the subject of a renewed interest for a few years because of the spectacular bankruptcy and of the significant losses of some large companies (Enron, WorldCom, Vivendi…). Thus, the theme of corporate governance has taken a key concern of business leaders and institutional investors. Indeed, interest in good corporate governance practices has gained importance in the forefront. Following the attention given by investors in corporate governance practices, the rating of corporate governance has become a practice increasingly common either through specialized rating services or system integration of corporate governance in credit ratings. Our goal is to identify, from a sample of 132 French listed companies over the period 2002-2008, a governance structure for understanding the functioning of the board of directors, ownership structure and characteristics of the leader. Specifically, our work is to calculate a score of corporate governance, with multiple variables, using the method of data envelopment analysis (DEA). The results show that French firms surveyed have a governance efficiency index of 68 %. Thus, we were able to identify links between the governance score and the characteristics of firms. Finally, we have established, from a system of simultaneous equations, a causal link between governance and firm performance.

To effectively provide services to citizens, local governments have had to be creative. One approach has been the creation of volunteer programs to meet demands and expanding needs. Volunteer programs hold promise for creating meaningful engagement opportunities for citizens. However, limited organizational capacity, inadequate volunteer management practices, and difficulties in maintaining volunteer retention are concerns plaguing local government volunteer programs. Volunteer programs are often structured around a set of best practices thought to be necessary for ensuring the retention of volunteers. To apply best practices across the board would suggest that local government volunteer programs are similar in organizational structure, budget size, amount of citizen engagement, accountability concerns, and that they adopt similar bureaucratic procedures. Using human relations and bureaucratic theories as theoretical frameworks, four research questions are asked and answered: 1) What are the managerial and political challenges in volunteer management and retention for local government volunteer coordinators?, 2) What challenges are local governments' volunteer coordinators facing in using volunteer management practices?, 3) What strategies are helpful in retaining volunteers in local government volunteerism?, and 4) What challenges do local government volunteer coordinators face in engaging citizens? Data collection for this qualitative study was conducted using online surveys and telephone semi-structured interviews. The findings suggest that creating meaningful work for volunteers and coordinating this work with local government managers was an important "best practices" challenge. Although local government volunteer programs also have a mission of engaging citizens, the practices actually used may directly conflict with their mission. Many volunteer management practices are supporting organizational goals rather than supporting the needs of volunteers. The study findings suggest that the best practices used by local governments are not given equal weight and "one size does not fit all." Instead, local governments must prioritize their practices carefully.

The number of academic institutions offering courses online has increased with courses being offered across almost all academic disciplines. Faculty members are often confronted with the responsibility of converting a face-to-face course to an online course while simultaneously dealing with new technologies and the interrelationship between the technology, content, and pedagogy. Best instructional practices may be applied inconsistently in the online environment due to faculty members' lack of proficiency in implementing such practices. Although Course Management Systems and Web 2.0 technologies make the task seem less daunting, faculty members still need guidance in consistently implementing best practices in online courses. The study examined the problem of academic institutions offering online courses without any validation or tracking processes to ensure course quality. An online instructional maturity model was developed to guide faculty members in implementing learner-centered practices in online courses. Survey methodology was used to collect data on instructional practices being implemented in the North Carolina Community College System. The model was developed from the survey findings using guidelines from the American Psychological Association Learner-Centered Principles, best practices found in the literature, and the People Capability Maturity Model. Feedback from an expert panel was used to refine the model.

The Arts Council of New Orleans is the official arts agency of New Orleans, located at 935 Gravier Street. The organization supports and develops the arts community through many different programming initiatives, including administering grants, managing a monthly Arts Market, and providing business training to artists. In this internship report, I discuss my role within the organization during my internship, which began in January 2013 and lasted through June 2013. I then analyze my observations of the organization’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, and provide recommendations for improving the Arts Council’s operations based on best practices and expert literature in the field of nonprofit management. The Arts Council hired a new CEO in May of 2013, after a seven-year period of operating under interim management. With a permanent leader now in place, the organization is in a position to apply my recommendations so it can grow into a stronger arts agency, and better serve the New Orleans community.

Dissertation characterizes the applicable best practices in human resource management and defines the essence of positive effect of applying best practices in human resource management on the performance achieved by the organization.