Studies have attempted to explain the linkage between achieving success in the field of entrepreneurship and the pedagogy instituted to teach the skills entrepreneurs need to achieve success in their chosen endeavors. It is widely known and well documented that people have experienced entrepreneurial success with limited, and sometimes no formal entrepreneurial training. The ever present question of “can entrepreneurship be taught” has been debated from many varying perspectives. The late Peter Drucker pragmatically once said “The entrepreneur mystique? It’s not magic, it’s not mysterious, and it has nothing to do with the genes. It’s a discipline. And, like any discipline, it can be learned” (Drucker, 1985). A study conducted by the Center for College Affordability and Productivity recently determined that almost half of Americans with college degrees are overqualified for their jobs. Many studies have also concluded that college graduates accumulate greater lifetime earnings than non-college graduates. Yet the escalating costs of attending college and the diminishing prospects of job security after attaining a college degree have brought the cost of education to the precipice of a potential “education bubble”. Student loan debt exceeds One Trillion Dollars and the typical student loan needs to be repaid over ten years at nearly seven percent interest. Similar to the recently experienced “housing bubble” there is a genuine concern, as it relates to education, that today’s populace is paying too much for something that yields limited value. Therefore, the question of “can entrepreneurship be taught” should be supplanted with “can entrepreneurship be learned?” “Are graduates capable of applying their academic training to produce tangible results?” If there are too many academic degrees being generated that are unable to be absorbed into a stagnant job market, it would stand to reason that a college degree, from a business school iv or any co-curricular discipline, without significant concentration in the study of entrepreneurship, serves only a limited purpose in a growing, capitalistic society that is predicated on job growth. Centers for entrepreneurship provide an excellent foundation for invigorating new college graduates from multiple academic disciplines with the motivation and desire to achieve success in business as entrepreneurs. This comparative analysis of two thriving and vibrant Centers for Entrepreneurship at major universities in the growing central Florida region examines their best practices and compares them to current national guidelines established by the Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers, a 200 + member organization domiciled in the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana that serves as the key junction for university-based entrepreneurship centers across the United States to collaborate, communicate and jointly advance excellence in entrepreneurship (www.globalentrepreneurshipconsortium.org). The evaluator and author of this dissertation implemented procedures similar to those used in accreditation reviews and applied professional judgment techniques to design a connoisseurship evaluation of entrepreneurship centers at two major universities --- The Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of South Florida in Tampa, FL and The Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, FL. We have all heard the Horatio Alger “rags to riches” stories of entrepreneurs who “bootstrapped” their business ideas without benefit of any formal business or entrepreneurial education. But it is just as great a likelihood in the coming years that we will admire those who give the credit for their success to the concepts they mastered in an entrepreneurial studies program and how their alma maters provided mentors through their centers for entrepreneurship who saved them from committing an abundance of mistakes by trial and error as they transported v their business ideas from conceptualization to realization. This research will assist centers of entrepreneurship as they strive to incorporate standards of excellence to benefit students who endeavor to become business and job creators in the future.

To ensure medical residents are prepared to work in complex and evolving settings, postgraduate medical education is transitioning to competency-based medical education, which is known as Competence by Design (CBD) in Canada. To understand how CBD is operationalized within specific residency programs and how it contributes to patient, faculty, and learner outcomes, there is a need to engage in program evaluation. However, the actual extent that, reasons for, and methods in which CBD programs are engaging in program evaluation remain unclear. Furthermore, minimal attention has been given to building program evaluation capacity within medical education programs (i.e., doing evaluation and using evaluation findings). In this research project, I explore and formally document: (a) the extent that and the ways in which CBD programs are engaging in program evaluation, (b) the reasons why these programs are engaging or not engaging in program evaluation, (c) the actual and potential positive and negative consequences of these programs engaging in program evaluation, (d) the ways that these programs build their capacities to do program evaluation and use evaluation findings, (e) the ways that program evaluators currently support these programs, and (f) the ways that program evaluators can help stakeholders build their capacities to do program evaluation and use evaluation findings. Through this research, I contribute to the limited body of empirical research on program evaluation in medical education. Confirming how CBD programs are engaging in program evaluation can advise stakeholders and program evaluators on how best to support CBD programs in building their capacities to do program evaluation and use evaluation findings, inform the design and implementation of other medical education programs, and, ultimately, enlighten program evaluation research on authentic and current evaluation practices in medical education. To meet the objectives of this study, I used a three-phase, sequential mixed methods approach. In Phase 1, I conducted a survey of Canadian program directors whose programs have transitioned to CBD to determine: (a) the extent to which CBD programs are engaging in program evaluation, and (b) the reasons why CBD programs are engaging or not engaging in program evaluation. In Phase 2, I interviewed interested program directors to explore: (c) how CBD programs are engaging in program evaluation, and (d) the ways in which CBD programs can build their capacities to do program evaluation and use evaluation findings. In Phase 3, I interviewed Canadian program evaluators to investigate: (e) how program evaluators are currently supporting CBD programs in program evaluation, and (f) how program evaluators can help CBD programs build their capacities to do program evaluation and use evaluation findings. Overall, the Phase 1 findings show that: (a) over three quarters of respondents indicated that their program does engage in program evaluation and most invite stakeholders to participate. However, most programs rarely leverage the expertise of a program evaluator and acknowledge interpreting quantitative program evaluation data is a challenge. Additionally, (b) most programs engage in program evaluation to improve their program and make decisions. However, most programs do not have an employee whose primary responsibility is program evaluation. They do not receive funding for program evaluation which affects their abilities to engage in program evaluation. Moreover, some programs do not engage in program evaluation because they do not know how to do program evaluation. The Phase 2 findings show that: (c) when program directors do engage in program evaluation, they are using ad hoc evaluation methods and a team-based format. However, program directors of CBD programs are struggling to engage in program evaluation because of limited available resources (i.e., time, financial, human resources, and technology infrastructure) and buy-in. Additionally, (d) program directors are building their capacity to do evaluation and use the findings from their specialty/subspecialty program evaluation. The Phase 3 findings show that: (e) program evaluators are supporting CBD programs by responding in a reactive way as temporary and external evaluation consultants. Finally, (f) program evaluators can help CBD programs build their capacities to do program evaluation and use the findings by using a participatory evaluation approach, leveraging existing data, encouraging the use of program evaluation approaches that are appropriate to the CBD implementation context, or encouraging programs to share findings which establishes an accountability cycle. In light of these findings, I discuss ways to engage in program evaluation, build capacity to do evaluation, and build capacity to use evaluation findings in CBD programs.

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In the U.S., wealth is unequally distributed across racial and income groups. Scholars have promoted numerous strategies to address inequalities in wealth, but evidence about their effectiveness is limited. This dissertation examines whether community-based organizations can help low-income individuals improve their credit usage and credit scores as part of a strategy to help them build their wealth. Credit histories and scores influence access to affordable loans and other forms of credit as well as employment and housing opportunities, insurance rates, and utility and rental deposits. As a result, credit plays an important role in individuals’ ability to weather financial crises, increase savings, and build wealth. Specifically, I assess the impacts and implementation of a program model that integrates financial education and counseling into employment services for low-income job seekers. The study uses a comparison group design to assess program impacts, comparing the outcomes of program participants to those of a matched group of low-income individuals who were seeking assistance from public employment agencies that did not offer financial or credit counseling. I use multivariate regression analysis to assess differences in the outcomes of program participants and comparison group members and to examine whether some organizations were more effective than others in helping participants achieve the outcomes. I also conduct a qualitative assessment of the organizational, programmatic, and contextual factors that influenced program implementation and outcomes across the five organizations in the study. I found that community-based organizations can help low-income individuals make progress in building positive credit histories. By combining financial education and counseling with employment services, the programs increased job seekers’ receipt of financial counseling relative to the comparison group, and program participants were more likely than comparison group members to have an increase in positive activity on their credit reports two years after entering the program. However, overall the program did not increase the likelihood that participants had a credit score or that they had a prime score after two years. Only program participants who had substantial recent credit activity when they entered the program were more likely than their counterparts in the comparison group to have a prime credit score after two years. Some organizations were more effective than others in helping low-income individuals achieve the targeted credit outcomes. Four of the five had impacts on whether participants had positive activity on their credit reports. One organization also had positive impacts on the likelihood of having a credit score and of having a prime score among all individuals who received financial counseling while two others had positive impacts on scores for subgroups of participants. One organization had no positive effects. The implementation analysis revealed that environmental, organizational, and programmatic factors interacted to produce differences in outcomes across organizations. Organizational and managerial experience with and commitment to the model and goals and integration of the model into the organizations’ core services were critical to effective implementation. The three organizations whose financial coaches embraced the model’s credit-building approach, which counsels individuals to use credit responsibly, had more positive impacts on credit outcomes than those that did not. The results also provide evidence that the characteristics of the communities the organizations served influenced outcomes. Communities’ racial composition was correlated with indicators of economic health, the presence of financial institutions, and credit availability, and the findings indicate that individuals in mixed race and majority-Hispanic communities were better able to access credit than those in majority-Black communities. This dissertation contributes to the policy and research literature in a number of ways. It uses a rigorous methodology to assess program effects, examines change in credit behavior and outcomes, assesses how implementation processes influence outcomes, and includes a broader segment of the low-income population than past studies, including those who lack credit histories. The findings provide evidence that low-income people of color face significant barriers to accessing mainstream forms of credit and suggest that policies are needed to increase consumers’ understanding of credit and access to credit at affordable rates and terms. The findings contribute to research and theory on the wealth accumulation process and can inform the work of policymakers and practitioners seeking to increase the financial well-being of low-income people of color. / Sociology

Undergraduate research education occurs in a variety of formats including co-curricular, summer internship, and course-based formats. Research on such programs historically focuses on undergraduate outcomes particularly in STEM disciplines. Situated learning theories such as cognitive apprenticeship and community of practice feature in exploratory research on how research is associated with participant learning. However, there is a lack of practical research on the role of undergraduate research experiences as situated learning and on the type and implementation of practices associated with undergraduate research program delivery, particularly in natural resources disciplines. Understanding the roles of such mechanisms in providing the broad range of benefits to undergraduate and mentor participants is an area of further exploration. This research describes undergraduate research experience programs, associated outcomes, and outcomes' relationships with situated learning elements. The first research chapter sampled program coordinators using researcher-led respondent driven sampling and describes the population of natural resources undergraduate research experience programs during 2012-2016 across 127 such programs. Two-step cluster analysis using program characteristics identified seven variables that distinguish between seven program types. Variables included pay amount, academic preparation activities, graduate student mentorship, highest student classification allowed, affirmative action statement presence, undergraduate cohort siting, and summer duration. Program types were underclass intensive traditional, extended graduate student mentored, professional development, distributed intensive, site-based traditional, shorter duration intensive, and larger long-term types. The next research chapter explores how undergraduate participants in a subset of natural resources research experiences viewed their programs as situated learning and outcomes attributed to their experience. Exploratory factor analysis identified six situated learning domains associated with the practice of undergraduate research in natural resources disciplines: effective mentorship methods, project and task sequencing, mutual engagement, broad repertoire, specific repertoire, and joint enterprise. Outcome factors indicated moderate to strong gains in the following areas: general skills, career trajectory, academic and career readiness, communication of science, cognitive skills, and researcher identity development. Effective mentorship methods, sequencing, broad repertoire, and specific repertoire were significant predictors of increased gains across all outcome factors. The final chapter is a mixed-methods case study evaluation of a postgraduate mentored research experience program titled PINEMAP Fellowship. Participant outcomes associated with the fellowship lend support to prior literature on how participants, particularly a set of demographic groups, benefit from participation. Findings offer empirically-based considerations for program developers and coordinators in promoting and adapting programs to undergraduates' needs and goals as well as provide suggestions for further analysis of causal relationships. Additional research is needed to explain how and to what degree undergraduate experiences in natural resources and other disciplines provide positive outcomes for a diversity of participants. / Doctor of Philosophy / Undergraduates as part of their education may conduct research with faculty and graduate students, and students generally experience many different benefits from research participation. For example, a student may individually work with a research mentor during the academic year, or groups of students may work with several research mentors over the summer, and in some courses taken for credit students may conduct research-related activities. Research on summer-based programs varies greatly and typically focuses on undergraduate outcomes in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines. Studying these types of programs and their participants' outcomes is difficult and some areas have been understudied, particularly in natural resources disciplines. Further, there is a need to understand which kinds of training practices identified in theory provide the broad range of benefits to undergraduate and mentor participants. This research describes the variation in natural resources undergraduate research experience programs, and it suggests how undergraduates may benefit from participating in these programs. One chapter describes an estimate of the size and types of summer internship-style natural resources undergraduate research experience programs operating from 2012 to 2016. Surveys indicated 127 programs operated during that time and could be classified as either underclass intensive traditional, extended graduate student-mentored, professional development, distributed intensive, site-based traditional, shorter duration intensive, and larger long-term types. Program types were identified with seven important variables: pay amount, academic preparation activities, graduate student mentorship, highest student classification allowed, affirmative action statement presence, undergraduate cohort siting, and summer duration. Another chapter explores how undergraduate researchers in natural resources experienced a range of teaching and social learning practices including mentor's teaching practices, how learning activities were sequenced, engagement with others, general information and tools, project-specific information and tools, and research community purpose. Undergraduates also reported gains in general skills, career trajectory, academic and career readiness, communication of science, cognitive skills, and researcher identity development. Mentor teaching practices was an important factor in predicting how much students benefitted in each outcome, and most practices were associated with other outcomes. The last research chapter used different methods to evaluate the PINEMAP Fellowship program. Undergraduates experienced a variety of gains, particularly in communication skills, although generally their attitudes toward research did not change. Mentors in the program also experienced work-related, social and emotional, interpersonal, professional, and thinking skills gains. PINEMAP Fellowship participants' data supported other studies' findings on how participants, and particularly some demographic groups, benefit from participating in undergraduate research programs. Altogether, this study offers considerations for program developers and coordinators in promoting and adapting programs to undergraduates' needs and goals as well as provides suggestions for deeper analysis of how participants obtain their gains. Further research is needed to explain how and to what degree undergraduate experiences in natural resources and other disciplines provide positive outcomes for a diversity of participants.

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.