In this dissertation, I use a single qualitative case study methodology, participant observation, focus groups, and semi-structured interviews to explore how a rural school’s closure influenced the lives of residents in one rural farming community: Limerick, Saskatchewan, Canada. Three “stand alone” papers comprise this dissertation. In the first paper, I investigate the impacts of the school’s closure on rural families. In the second paper, I explore the ways Limerick School’s closure affected adults without school-aged children. In the final paper, I assess school closure’s impact on gendered volunteer roles. Using social ecological theory and socialist feminist theory, I argue that the school’s closure had far-reaching implications for community members and that these implications varied depending on stage of life, gender, and roles within the family and community contexts. Together, these papers not only make a contribution to filling the gap in existing literature pertaining to rural school closures, but they also strengthen our scholarly understanding of the school-community relationship in the rural context.

The purpose of this study is (1) to determine the need for a creative program of interaction among the various community agencies, and (2) to determine the sound processes to be used in bringing about desirable social change through interaction among the agencies. Improving social conditions that affect the welfare of youth in the community is the primary concern of this study.

"Principals and teachers are being challenged as never before to provide more abundant living and learning in the schools of America. More and more we hear such typical expressions as; 'the schools should provide the children of our country with real experience in living and learning rather than artificial experiences.' These real experiences are seldom found in the routine presentation of subject matter. Furthermore, teachers cannot hold exclusively to traditional subject matter and make use of the newer concept of education to which they subscribe. Many of the problems of the school have their origin in the community which the school serves. The school cannot solve these problems in isolation or without assistance from the community. One of the primary purposes of education is to improve the quality of community living through more active individual participation in community experiences. To accomplish this we must mobilize the educational forces to use the community as a laboratory of learning"--Introduction. / "August, 1950." / Typescript. / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science." / Advisor: Mildred Swearingen, Professor directing paper. / Includes bibliographical references.

This project study was an evaluation of a first year learning community program for community college students enrolled in developmental coursework at a community college in California. The program had never been evaluated. The evaluation used learning community students' and faculty members' perception as a basis for evaluation, specifically concentrating on areas that promoted student success and areas that needed further refinement. Only former program participants and the program faculty members were eligible for the study. Of the 78 eligible participants, responses from 51 students and the 2 faculty members were collected. The theoretical framework was grounded in Tinto's work with learning communities. Data for the evaluation were collected using surveys with open-ended questions as well as interviews with faculty. The qualitative analysis required theme identification using key words from the surveys and interviews. The results from the study indicated that the learning community provided a social support for student learning that was considered a strength for the program but that various elements of programming such as class scheduling and policies were considered areas needing improvement. The project evaluation resulted in an administrative evaluation report. The findings may be incorporated as recommendations for program improvements and documentation of best practices at the community college. The implication for positive social change is that other community colleges may be able to use the recommendations generated in the report to improve their learning community programs so that their students might be encouraged to persist towards degree completion.

The primary purpose of this study is to develop a model community organizing plan for persons wishing to establish a grassroots citizen action organization. Existential in nature, this model will be geared toward easy and practical application, i.e. a "cookbook” approach to the process of organizing a citizen action organization. A secondary purpose of this study is to provide students and beginning community organizers with a basic theoretical and historical orientation by which to understand the field of community organization.

ABSTRACT Introduction: An increase in the population of older adults is a growing public health concern. Health promotion and prevention programs provide a myriad of physical, social and psychological benefits for older adults, and recent health care trends has seen the emergence of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) in providing these programs. However, to date little is known about these programs, commonly titled, “community paramedicine”. Methodology: This study utilized a mixed methods, interpretivist qualitative approach to understand older adults experiences with a novel community paramedicine program, the Cardiovascular Health Awareness Program by EMS (CHAP-EMS), operating in a subsidized housing building in Hamilton. Participant observation and semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants of the program in addition to surveys of non-participating building residents. Data was analyzed using thematic analysis. Results: Six themes arose from the participant data including: filling the health care gap; motivators to attend; relationships between the paramedics and participants; social connectedness; the added value of EMS skills; and changes due to the program. Conclusion: Community paramedicine programs may provide older adults with access to social support, opportunities for social engagement and a reliable environment to discuss their health. However, barriers such as conflict between residents, conflicting beliefs of the program, and language barriers may impede participation in this initiative if left unaddressed. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

The purpose of this thesis is to add a sense of community to a primary level classroom and allow students an opportunity to share their progress with peers. Having a sense of community in the classroom will help the teacher and the students build relationships and reduce the amount of stress and anxiety that students feel, which could impact student learning. This thesis explores programs that have been created to help students build social and life skills that contribute in a community. This thesis also focuses on how the students can make thesis changes within themselves rather than as a community. [ST1] This thesis will teach students how to analyze themselves and then utilize that information to be a part of a community and build relationships with others. To complete this thesis, various programs and books have been reviewed and evaluated. Since there is a lack of focus on building a sense of community in the research, five sessions have been created to focus on building positive relationships and building a sense of community within a school setting. [ST1] Rephrase

The purpose of the study was to find out if there is a significant amount of involvement among workforce personnel and to try to identify the types of activities that were most prevalent. The study attempted to gauge community and economic development involvement by surveying participation in a variety of programs. The following organizations were studied: The State Board for Community and Junior Colleges, The Mississippi Manufacturers Association, The Mississippi Entrepreneurial Alliance, The Manufacturing Extension Partnership of Mississippi, The Society for Human Resource Managers. Over two dozen other organizations were also included in a survey along with data from the federal Workforce Investment Act, the Mississippi Legislative Accountability Report, and the corresponding WIN Job Centers. The following research questions were used in the study: 1. Are community college’s actively encouraging their workforce personnel to be involved in statewide groups and local civic organizations? 2. Do community college workforce personnel actively engage in meeting with, or serve in leadership roles in, statewide groups and civic organizations? 3. Are community college workforce personnel actively engaged in working with the Workforce Investment Act (W.I.A), and their respective local WIN Job centers? 4. Do demographic variables affect the level of involvement with local civic groups, state-wide economic development groups, WIN Job Centers, or the State Board for Community and Junior Colleges? 5. Do community college workforce personnel work with businesses in their district in addition to the traditional state training contracts they may administer? The study supported the following conclusions: 1. Community colleges are not actively encouraging their workforce personnel to be involved in statewide groups and local civic organizations. 2. College workforce participation in statewide associations designed to promote community and economic development is low. 3. Community colleges do a very good job of partnering and embracing the concept of taking the colleges’ programs to the community through the medium of the WIN Job Centers 4. There is a strong commitment to businesses in the local community college district.

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