This study's purpose was to explore the college choice process for foster care youth who are aging out of Florida's protective services system. The research methodology included three components. First, a survey of the Independent Living Coordinators throughout the state of Florida solicited data regarding participation rates and enrollment patterns among foster care youth. Next, in a meeting setting, a survey was administered to foster care youth, probing the extent to which they considered certain college choice decision factors. Finally, upon completion of the survey, participants remained for a guided focus group discussion to further explore their decision criteria.The results of the Independent Living Coordinator survey indicated that foster care youth enrolled in higher education programs far less frequently than non-foster care youth. The survey also demonstrated that of those foster care youth who participated in postsecondary programs, more than half chose c ommunity colleges.The survey administered to young persons transitioning out of the child welfare system indicates that, in general, these youth agreed that the four decision factors they considered most strongly when investigating higher education options were increased income potential, independence, a career goal, and the desire for respect or status. The subsequent focus group discussion confirmed that the complexity of the admissions process, one's academic preparedness, and financial considerations were important when deciding whether to attend postsecondary education. The discussion also revealed nine choice factors that were not specifically addressed either on the survey or in the focus group discussion guide, seven of which could be considered prominent. Those factors were: the desire to be the first in the family to obtain a degree, time management challenges, the presence or absence of a partner during the academic pursuit, family members detracting from the goal, whethe r or not there was a break between secondary and postsecondary education, hardships as motivators, and one's age at the beginning of a postsecondary pursuit. Analysis of the data further revealed that of all the decision factors mentioned either on the survey or in the subsequent discussions, financial concerns top the list.

As a perturbation method, averaging is a mathematical tool for dynamic analysis of time-periodic and space-periodic dynamical systems, including those governed by partial differential equations. The control design procedure presented in this work uses averaging techniques, the well-developed linear control strategies, and finite element methods. The controller is designed based on the linear averaged dynamics of a time- or space-periodic system. The controller is then used for trajectory tracking or stabilization of the periodic system. The applicability and performance of the suggested method depend on different physical parameters of the periodic system and the control parameters of the controller. The effects of these parameters are discussed in this work. Numerical simulations show acceptable performance of the proposed control design strategy for two linear and nonlinear time- and space-periodic systems, namely, the one-dimensional heat equation and the Chafee-Infante equation with periodic coefficients. / M.S. / Dynamic analysis and control of dynamical systems with varying parameters is a challenging task. It is always of great help if one can perform the analyses for an approximate system with constant parameters and use the results to study and control the original system with varying parameters. Averaging is a mathematical tool that is used to approximate a system with periodic parameters with a ``simpler'' system with constant parameters. In this research averaging is used for design of controllers for systems with periodic parameters. First, an approximate system with constant parameters, called the averaged system, is determined. The averaged system is used for design of a controller which can be then be used for the original system with periodic parameters.

Neste trabalho estudamos a dinâmica assintótica de problemas parabólicos sob vista de diferentes teorias, particularmente interessados na estabilidade das propriedades dinâmicas dos sistemas. Estudamos a equi-atração no caso não autônomo pelos semifluxos skew-product, que transformam o sistema dinâmico não autônomo em um autônomo num espaço de fase conveniente. Para modelos multívocos, em que o semifluxo é uma função cujos valores são conjuntos, desenvolvemos a decomposição de Morse e mostramos sua equivalência com a existência de um funcional de Lyapunov, que é um resultado muito importante na teoria de semigrupos. Também estudamos a continuidade da dinâmica assintótica de um problema parabólico em um domínio ilimitado quando o aproximamos por domínios limitados específicos. / In this work we study assimptotic properties of parabolic problems under some different view of points, particularlly interested in the stability properties of the systems. We study equi-attraction in the non autonomous case using skew-product semiflows, which transform the non autonomous dynamical system into a autonomous one in a convenient phase space. For multivalued semiflows, in which the semiflow is a set valued function, we develop the Morse decomposition and show its equivalence with admiting a Lyapunov funcional, wich is a important result on the semigroup theory. We also study the continuity of the asymptotic dynamic for a parabolic problem in an unbouded domain when we approach it by bounded ones.

Neste trabalho estudamos a dinâmica assintótica de problemas parabólicos sob vista de diferentes teorias, particularmente interessados na estabilidade das propriedades dinâmicas dos sistemas. Estudamos a equi-atração no caso não autônomo pelos semifluxos skew-product, que transformam o sistema dinâmico não autônomo em um autônomo num espaço de fase conveniente. Para modelos multívocos, em que o semifluxo é uma função cujos valores são conjuntos, desenvolvemos a decomposição de Morse e mostramos sua equivalência com a existência de um funcional de Lyapunov, que é um resultado muito importante na teoria de semigrupos. Também estudamos a continuidade da dinâmica assintótica de um problema parabólico em um domínio ilimitado quando o aproximamos por domínios limitados específicos. / In this work we study assimptotic properties of parabolic problems under some different view of points, particularlly interested in the stability properties of the systems. We study equi-attraction in the non autonomous case using skew-product semiflows, which transform the non autonomous dynamical system into a autonomous one in a convenient phase space. For multivalued semiflows, in which the semiflow is a set valued function, we develop the Morse decomposition and show its equivalence with admiting a Lyapunov funcional, wich is a important result on the semigroup theory. We also study the continuity of the asymptotic dynamic for a parabolic problem in an unbouded domain when we approach it by bounded ones.