<p> One of the most overlooked and complex problems that universities and colleges face nation-wide is how to reduce and eliminate research misconduct. Because of the confidential nature of allegations of research misconduct and the high rate of underreporting, administrators at scholarly institutions struggle with understanding the cause of such behavior. Without a clear picture of the prevalence of misconduct or the barriers to reporting, leaders at institutions of higher learning find themselves at a disadvantage when dealing with these problems. This uncertainty coupled with a growing regulatory emphasis from federal funding agencies, results in a reactionary approach while questionable practices go unchecked. </p><p> In the early 2000s, federal funding agencies began requiring colleges and universities to provide training in the responsible conduct of research prior to receiving funding. The Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) training covers research misconduct (falsification of data, fabricating data, and plagiarism) as well as other topics related to research misbehaviors (mentoring, peer review, data management, authorship, etc). This emphasis on training, while well intended, has not had a significant impact on faculty and student knowledge about misconduct. </p><p> Authentic Leadership Theory is based on Aristotle&rsquo;s concept of authenticity and has gained attention over the last decade. It is comprised of four main components: Balanced processing, internalized moral perspective, relational transparency, and self-awareness. These types of leaders focus on moral standards and values and that is what guides his or her leadership. </p><p> This study evaluates the impact authentic leaders have on shaping the ethical attitudes of faculty when they are placed in direct departmental supervisory positions. A survey of faculty from 15 Mississippi colleges and universities was conducted. Results indicate that the self-awareness and relational transparency constructs of authentic leadership influence faculty attitudes towards objective research integrity issues, but the direction of influence conflicts with each of the constructs. Additional variables failed to reach a level of significance suggesting that other variables, not historically associated with organizational leadership and research integrity, are influencing faculty&rsquo;s ethical perceptions. Additional attention is focused on barriers to effective leadership caused by the compliance focused culture of institutions of higher learning.</p><p>

In their attempts to create a comprehensive cybersecurity posture, chief information security officers (CISOs) can only be as effective as the resources they garner. In the federal context, budgets and spends are ultimately under the auspices of the agency heads who set priorities and direction. This study sought to gain insight on the impact of organizational power and politics in the cybersecurity post-budgetary process within U.S. federal government agencies through a comparative examination of budgeted versus actual spending. It addressed one research question: To what extent do power and politics impact the federal cybersecurity budgetary cash windfall allocation and the resultant organizational cybersecurity posture? The literature of organizational power and politics establishes means to measure the impact of individual and group power on budgets, funding, allocations, expenditures, and gamesmanship. Applied in the federal cybersecurity arena, the impact of power and politics on budgets and spend can be measured to better understand and mitigate risk factors in cybersecurity posture. A quantitative cross-sectional causal-comparative approach with a CISO survey was leveraged to study the topic ex post facto. The study utilized three phases of data collection from publicly available sources and primary data collection, as well as five phases of data analysis covering 2009 to 2016, to examine civilian cabinet-level agencies across the executive branch of the federal government. Findings showed that most agencies were budgeting cybersecurity in a comprehensive fashion. However, actual expenditures were significantly reduced from budgetary allocations and remained focused on the area of technology, leaving the people, process, and policy aspects of cybersecurity posture at times unfunded. Further, the results showed that the agency head and CISO had little to no power or political connectedness and there were intractable barriers against improving their dyadic relationship. The CISO’s career at the agency and political awareness, among other factors, were statistically significant in predicting the differences of cybersecurity technology budgets and spends, but the greatest effect was seen in agency head connectedness and political connectedness. Considering the vital importance of the CISO in the federal sphere, these findings point to issues that need to be further studied and addressed to effectuate a comprehensive cybersecurity posture.

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A comprehensive survey of more than 1,500 former participants in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) along with more than 300 semi-structured interviews with former WIC participants were designed and conducted in order to identify the barriers influencing eligible program participants to leave the program prematurely. Results from the two phases of data collection were used to determine why eligible families are leaving the WIC program, to better understand the program participation barriers cited by former program participants in order to facilitate the development of a typology of program "leavers," and to identify the policy and organizational components that provide context for premature WIC program departure by participants. A narrative approach to organizational understanding and Symbolic Interactionism are utilized to provide a theoretical framework for highlighting program areas which may contribute to the participation barriers discovered in this research. Implications for public administration and policy evaluation are provided. / Ph. D.

<p> Academic and behavioral success in middle school is a predictor of academic and behavioral success in high school. How best to provide a developmentally responsive education to students at the middle level is a challenge that American educators and policymakers need to address (Jackson et al., 2000). This case study provides an understanding of the unique organizational structures and school culture that contributed to a diverse school&rsquo;s fostering and sustaining the goals of a middle school reform initiative designed to contribute to students&rsquo; academic and behavioral success. </p><p> Once a low-performing school with high disciplinary referrals, Crossroads Middle School is now considered exemplary because of high ratings on district climate surveys and success in increasing student achievement for all student groups since implementation of the reform strategy. Notably, during the reform implementation, three principals led the school. Given this leadership turnover, the school&rsquo;s success cannot be attributed to one charismatic leader, but rather the organizational culture fostered by the instructional leadership team. Data include interviews with 19 past and present members of the instructional leadership team, meeting observations, and reviews of school documents and artifacts. This exemplary case study reveals the shared norms, values, and beliefs developed over time by the leadership team members as they designed and implemented the structures, policies, and practices needed to foster the goals of the reform. </p><p> Crossroads had and continues to have a student population that mirrors the demographics of its large diverse district. This diversity contributes to the relevancy of the findings for other school leaders in districts that have diverse student populations and who seek to improve middle level education. The results of this study may inform district leaders and school-based staff seeking to adopt a middle school model uniquely suited to developing middle school students, and seeking to develop a staff with skill sets unique to teaching students at the middle school level.</p>

The Purpose of the study was to highlight the primary care managers' perception of the barriers and opportunities in the implementation of the national guidelines for harmful drinking and alcohol abuse in KalmarCounty. The data was collected by questionnaires which were directed to all primary care managers in the county. The response rate was low, 40%. The data collection was complemented at a later stage with a non-response analysis. To analyze the results implementation theory with following terms were used: wants to, understand and know. In this study, the managers response showed an ambivalence and the willingness to use the national guidelines were not evident. On the one hand, patients with for harmful drinking and alcohol abuse is a tasks for primary care, but on the other hand, it was considered to a greater extent to be social services responsibility. The understanding of the use of guidelines existed and primary care has a tradition of making use of the guidelines, however in this case the respondents lack education. The ability to implement the national guidelines seemed lacking, which may be due to increased tasks and radical changes involving time constraints.

Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur företrädare i form av lärare vid idrottslärarutbildningar ser på Sveriges kulturtraditioner och dess påverkan i relation till friluftsliv i utbildningen. Studien utgår från en kvalitativ metod som bygger på semistrukturerade intervjuer med sju olika universitetslärare från olika universitet. Studiens resultat har analyserats utifrån Nyinstitutionell organisationsteori och begrepp som regulativa-, normativa- och kulturella villkor samt isomorfism.    Resultatet synliggör att respondenterna har en likartad bild av vilket innehåll och vilka kulturtraditioner som bör behandlas i friluftsundervisningen. Av resultatet framkommer även att denna samstämmighet bygger på Sveriges starka kulturtraditioner i friluftsliv, vilka har ett starkt fäste inom de specifika institutionerna. Vidare framkommer att respondenterna anser att kulturtraditionerna som finns i Sverige gynnar den utbildning och undervisning som bedrivs. Kulturtraditionerna ses som den centrala kärnan i det svenska friluftslivet, både utifrån ett samhällsperspektiv och undervisningsperspektiv.   Respondenterna anser även att friluftsundervisningen som bedrivs i dagens grund- och gymnasieskola är av varierande kvalité men att lärare i idrott och hälsa bör inrikta friluftsundervisningen på närområdet, med fokus på allemansrätten, ett grundligt friluftsliv och skapa förutsättningar för eleverna att känna sig trygga i friluftsmiljöer. Respondenterna synliggör även att friluftslivsundervisningen blir lidande av olika organisatoriska faktorer eftersom momentet friluftsliv upplevs tidskrävande. / The purpose of the study is to examine how representatives in the form of teachers at physical education teaching schools look at Sweden's cultural traditions and its impact in relation to outdoor activities in the education. The study is based on a qualitative methodology based on semi-structured interviews with seven university professors from different schools. The study results have been analyzed from “Nyinstitutionell” organizational theory and concepts such as regulative-, normative- and cultural conditions as well as isomorphism. The results reveal that the respondents have a similar picture of the content and the cultural traditions that should be addressed in outdoor education. The results also suggest that this consensus is based on Sweden's strong cultural traditions in outdoor activities, which have a strong foothold in the specific institutions. Furthermore, the respondents believe that the cultural traditions that exist in Sweden, promote the training and education that is carried out. Cultural traditions are seen as the core in Swedish outdoor activities, both from a social perspective and teaching perspective. The respondents also believe that the outdoor activities education that is conducted in today's primary and secondary schools are of varying quality, but that the physical education teachers should concentrate on outdoor activities in the local community, with a focus on “allemansrätten” (the right of public access), a basic outdoor life and create opportunities for students to feel safe in outdoor environments. The respondents also reveal that outdoor education is suffering from various organizational factors due to the element of outdoor activities being considered time consuming.