<p> Research on the relationship between policing and homeland security has focused on issues associated with the gathering of information related to potential acts of terror such as crime mapping and environmental design such as CompStat, intelligence-gathering activities and methodologies, and effective reporting methods. However, there seems to be insufficient research focusing on methodologies and systems leading to the &ldquo;natural&rdquo; sharing of information that can be converted into actionable intelligence between law enforcement and faith-based organizations such as the Muslim-American community. This research considers an organized cultural competency program of sharing and community-building between local police and a specific faith-based community, in which the emphasis is on an overall cultural shift where all members of the agency and community have the opportunity to interact outside of their regular duty-related interactions; such as, patrol functions, responding to emergencies, and the enforcement of ordinances and laws. By implementing a long-term, interactive program facilitated by a cultural competency committee, based on feasible activities, it would appear that closer, personal relationships develop where police and community members get to &ldquo;know each other,&rdquo; rather than attempting to reactively &ldquo;deal&rdquo; with each other when placed in an incident or unexpected interaction. By implementing a program that has all members of law enforcement and congregants taking part, and evaluating the interaction on a regular basis, community leaders and their constituents become more trustful and informed when an incident does occur. </p><p> In this study, the Executive Community Outreach Program (ECOP) is implemented with the South Brunswick Police Department and Islamic Society of Central Jersey under the guidance of a representative Cultural Competency Committee. An effective program serves to develop effective relationships that lead to greater information-sharing and the identification of potential threats and vulnerabilities, as well as a stronger and closer community. Based on the research, an organized process by which local law enforcement and the Muslim community may develop effective relationships in order to share information would seem to be a prudent course of inquiry</p>

<p> The release of a toxic chemical into the drinking water near Charleston, West Virginia, early in 2014 brought national attention to yet another toxic chemical incident. When local and state officials announced their ignorance of the potential health hazards associated with the particular chemical, it raised questions about the functionality of the Kanawha Putnam Emergency Planning Committee, a Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) created as a result of the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act of 1986 (EPCRA). Local officials&rsquo; lack of awareness was particularly curious, because that very same county was the site of the Union Carbide chemical leak that stimulated Congress to create and pass the EPCRA. In the post-9/11 homeland security environment, knowing of the existence of a hazard plan &ndash; particularly in a community where an incident has occurred &ndash; would seem to be of paramount concern. In addition, considering the community right-to-know provisions of the EPCRA, what are the policies for the release of the sensitive information to the public in a post-9/11 world? </p><p> A review of the literature produced no current research on LEPCs related to either functionality or to release of hazardous chemical information to the community. The most recent survey was conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency in 2008. Peer-reviewed scholarly research has not been published since 2001. It was determined that a survey instrument was necessary to determine the impact of the events of 9/11 on the functionality of LEPCs, and on their policies governing the release of hazardous chemical information to the public. </p><p> An instrument was developed using a combination of questions derived from the review of literature about prior inquiries into LEPCs or release of information in the wake of 9/11, standard research methodology and questions were adapted from the 1999 and 2008 National LEPC surveys. The instrument&rsquo;s content was validated by a jury of experts, revised, and pretested with 26 LEPC leaders from two states. The data was analyzed for internal correlation (consistency) using Cronbach&rsquo;s &alpha;. The Cronbach&rsquo;s &alpha; was recorded as .834, indicating strong reliability for the 17 scaled items of the 29 total questions. </p><p> Preliminary data from the pretest suggested that the events of 9/11 did not have a statistically significant impact on the functionality of LEPCs, but did result in major measurable changes in the policies related to the release of sensitive hazardous chemical information to the public. Further validation and refinement of the instrument is necessary before wider usage. The information gathered is valuable, however, as it can guide policymakers concerning the efficacy of current legislation, regulations, and policy. It can also inform them if legislation, regulations, and/or policy require modification to ensure the intent of the original legislation (EPCRA) is being met.</p>

<p> Our world continues to be impacted by large-scale disaster events. These severe disaster events create impacts that are shared across local, regional, and national boundaries. As a result, individuals, communities, and organizations are increasingly confronted with disasters that challenge their social, economic, and operational stability. To be resilient, individuals and communities rely on resources and services provided by organizations to enable each to plan for, respond to, and recover from disasters. If organizations are not prepared to respond to disasters, individuals and communities, in turn, will also not be prepared to respond to disaster events, as a consequence. Similar to the concept of civil defense prominent during the Cold War era, civil security is now required in the present day, pointing to the need for individuals, communities, and organizations to better prepare our nation by enhancing resilience. Resilient organizations also provide a competitive advantage over organizations that do not implement measures to become more resilient, yet many organizations do not know their resilience posture, and, in turn, struggle to prioritize resilience or allocate resources to enhance their resilience. To help enable organizations to invest in their resilience, it is important for organizations to discover and understand their organizational resilience score. </p><p> This research extends prior research that developed a methodology and survey tool for measuring and benchmarking organizational resilience. Subsequent research utilized the methodology and survey tool on organizations in New Zealand, whereas this research study utilized the methodology and survey tool to study organizational resilience within the state of New Jersey as part of a comparative study. The results obtained from previous research were compared against organizational resilience data captured on New Jersey based organizations. Survey data created from this research provide valuable information on organizational resilience strengths and weaknesses that can enable New Jersey based organizations to learn their organizational resilience posture and begin to develop a business case for additional investment in organizational resilience. </p>

<p> National security depends on having skilled professionals leading their organizations through the preparation, mitigation, response and recovery phases of an emergent situation. The Certified Protection Professional (CPP) credential is the current yardstick that attempts to codify and measure the knowledge and competencies required for security leadership. Does the attainment of this industry credential provide adequate proof (or evidence) of proficiency of the required security leadership knowledge and competencies? During an adverse situation, it is too late to learn that the security leader does not possess the knowledge and competencies required for success. </p><p> This mixed-methods research explored the required knowledge and competency expectations of security leadership and the claims made by the leading security industry credential. The research included an extensive literature review, an evaluative study of recent security leader job descriptions, and the development and validation of a novel survey instrument designed to capture the perceptions of security leaders regarding the knowledge and competencies required for success. The survey instrument also identified the type of proof (or evidence) preferred to adequately demonstrate proficiency of the knowledge and competencies. </p><p> This research validated the CPP knowledge requirements and identified 19 key competencies necessary for security leadership. The results indicated that security leaders agree that proof of proficiency is required, and that they would prefer a certification assessment scheme with a higher level of job fidelity than the current multiple-choice test format within the CPP framework. The survey instrument provided quantitative information in support of the findings. Opportunities for improvement to security industry policy and practice are suggested along with recommendations for future research agendas.</p>

M.Tech. Business Administration (MBA) / This study examines the extent to which the e-government innovation, the Employee Self Service, has diffused or been adopted by employees within the Gauteng Provincial Government. The study draws on the diffusion model which involves employees' perceptions of five key attributes of innovations namely, Relative Advantage, Compatibility, Complexity, Trialability, and Observability, to determine their relative influences on the rates of adoption and or non-adoption of the Employee Self Service. The results of the study demonstrate the relevance and usefulness of determining which attributes of innovations are perceived to be the most important, as informing a strategy for the successful introduction of the Employee Self Service as an e-government initiative. Findings show that respondents have generally adopted the Employee Self Service.

<p> Since it was first identified in the early 1980's, HIV/AIDS has become one of the world's most devastating epidemics, disproportionately affecting people in developing countries, particularly in Africa. A number of domestic and international efforts emerged to address the epidemic, including the creation of the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) in 2003, which brought a huge surge in U.S. funding for global HIV/AIDS programs. Given the historical, political and public opposition to increasing funding for foreign assistance programs, this sudden spike in U.S. spending on global HIV/AIDS raises questions over how the policy process resulted in broad bipartisan political support for the creation of PEPFAR. While some previous literature focuses on various components of the politics surrounding the creation of PEPFAR, there has been little academic research which attempts to provide a complete picture of the policy making process that led to PEPFAR. In particular, previous research has not adequately addressed certain aspects of the policy making process, or provided a comprehensive explanation of the interests and events that shaped the policy process. In addition, previous research has not utilized existing theories of policy making or agenda setting. </p><p> This dissertation used punctuated equilibrium theory and the advocacy coalition framework as complementary lenses to explore the political processes and identify the key factors that generated and reinforced the emergence of PEPFAR. This research utilized a detailed case history, which drew on a range of primary and secondary sources, and was supplemented by analysis of quantitative data. The overarching research question, which guided this dissertation, was: how did the politics of global HIV/AIDS and the process of policy formation result in the creation of PEPFAR? Additionally, this dissertation examined the interests and events that shaped the policy process leading up to PEPFAR; issue framing as well as public and congressional attention to the global HIV/AIDS epidemic leading up to PEPFAR; and the political agreements that were negotiated to satisfy the competing interests of various stakeholders. </p><p> My findings highlight a number of key elements of the policy process which enabled PEPFAR, including the importance of: both congressional and presidential leadership on global HIV/AIDS leading up to PEPFAR; the formation of broad coalitions resulting from activism among a range of interest groups; successful use of humanitarian rationales by Congress and the President to justify the program; and the evolution in the framing of global HIV/AIDS away from prevention and sexual behavior toward treatment and innocent victims. This dissertation builds on previous literature on the influences on decision-making around U.S. foreign assistance programs and contributes to research on policy change. By better understanding the process that led to a major change in one particular area of foreign assistance, academics, policymakers, and advocates can gain greater insight into how such factors can be employed to build potential political support for future large-scale humanitarian endeavors.</p>

This study examines the relations between the state and an ethnic minority in Israel. In focusing upon the Arab region of the Little Triangle, the study analyzes the state's policies and the impact that they have had upon the jurisdictional boundaries and autonomy of Arab local government. This study highlights the uniqueness of Israel as a bi-national state and proposes two models for majority-minority, and central-local government relationships in Israel. At the heart of these models are the granting of relative autonomy to the Arab citizens in Israel, and a move toward changing the essence of Israel from a "Jewish State" to the "citizens' state". These models will promote stability, cooperation, and understanding between Arabs and Jews in Israel, particularly in border regions, such as the Little Triangle.

In this dissertation a study is undertaken of personnel evaluation of lecturing personnel at tertiary educational institutions. References are made to other tertiary educational institutions, but for reasons of confidentiality specific references are made to the Port Elizabeth Technikon in the text of the research document. This dissertation is based on the assumption that no uniform method exists for personnel evaluation for lecturing personnel at the Port Elizabeth Technikon. This assumption was strengthened during conversations with various academic personnel members on different post levels on the subject of personnel evaluation for lecturing personnel at tertiary educational institutions and during which a degree of negativity was detected about this subject. As it is known that various authors in the field of Personnel Administration regard personnel evaluation as an essential part of the personnel administration process, it was decided to embark on a research project on the subject of personnel evaluation for lecturing personnel at tertiary educational institutions. The complexity of the subject of personnel evaluation of professional employees, such as lecturing personnel, was duly recognised from the outset, and as a result thereof it was decided in consultation with the supervisors to do a normative study only, and to design and propose a normative model for evaluating lecturing personnel at tertiary educational institutions. In view of the importance of personnel evaluation in the development and motivation of personnel in organisational structures, it was decided to utilise the potential respondents currently available at the Port Elizabeth Technikon for an empirical study in order to research current attitudes on personnel evaluation at the Port Elizabeth Technikon. Firstly, however, a literature search was embarked upon, describing a theoretical framework for personnel evaluation. Certain normative criteria were extracted from the literature surveyed, and those were used in the empirical survey among lecturing personnel at the Port Elizabeth Technikon that followed the literature search. The research findings of the empirical survey were statistically analysed and reported, and a normative model for evaluating lecturing personnel at tertiary educational institutions was constructed. Certain recommendations were made regarding the research, and possibilities for further study into the subject under discussion were pointed out. / Thesis (MPA)-University of Durban-Westville, 1993.

The solution to South Africa’s growing skills crisis subsists in its ability to transform into a thriving knowledge economy. In a globalised world where it has become easy for skills to transcend borders, skills development and more importantly, skills retention strategies, ought to be an integral part of an organisation’s strategic framework in particular, and the country’s skills development strategy in general. Learnerships, viewed as a panacea for the skills crisis, is a legislated skills development initiative which falls under the Skills Development Act. This in turn resides within the Public Human Resource Management domain. A learnership is a vocationally-based training programme which is quality assured by the Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA) and has as its foundation experiential learning principles. To this end, the Institute of Internal Auditors administers the Internal Audit Technician (IAT) learnership. Internal audit is deemed a scarce skill, and the IAT is aimed at increasing the level of internal audit skills whilst filling the skills gap. Presently the IAT is in greater demand within the public sector as opposed to the private sector. This research was based on completed public sector IAT programmes and some key findings included a clear and disconcerting gap in consultation and communication between the supervisor and manager of the learner. Another was that the majority of learners had benefitted vastly from the communication module and recorded visible improvements in the way they communicated. Key recommendations include greater supervisory and management commitment towards the learnership programme and that all public sector internal auditors report directly to the Auditor-General. This will allow for internal auditors to conduct internal audits free of political interference and the concomitant fear from any form of reprisal, especially where corruption is involved. / Thesis (MPA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2011.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the administration and management of local Child Welfare Agencies. Appropriate and relevant knowledge and skills in administration and management processes are essential to ensure that Child Welfare Agencies function within the normative foundations of public administration. The Board ofManagement of the Agencies are voluntary in nature. The smaller and embryo agencies depend on untrained volunteers to provide both administrative and management leadership. Basic democratically determined administrative and management processes are necessary to make welfare services more economical, efficient and effective. The major objectives of this study were: - to examine the existing administrative and management structures and processes and their functions. - to determine the role of the Board of Management Committee structures and senior personnel in administration and management. - to determine the foundation principles of administration and management that guide the functioning of Child Welfare Agencies. This Study provided an opportunity for agencies to express their views on the existing situation and what the future ought to be like. The study viewed Public administration as a vast field of activity which can be classified into four (4) main groups viz: a. generic administrative and managerial, b. auxiliary, c. instrumental, and d. functional also referred to as line functions. Although this study focused separately on administrative and management functions, it should be noted that both dimensions ofgeneric administrative functions are performed along with the functional, auxiliary and instrumental activities. (v) In a Child Welfare Agency the Board of Management together with the middle and upper management of staff will determine the administrative and management processes of policy making, organising, staffing, financing, determining work methods and procedures and control. The aim of public administration is community welfare, therefore the administrative and management processes must be founded on normative foundations of public administration. The findings ofthis research will not only contribute to the established agencies but will be of great help to the embryo and developing agencies. / Thesis-(M.A.)-University of Durban-Westville, 1995.