American higher education exists today in an environment of accountability. The public is demanding full participation in addressing the considerable social, health and economic problems facing society. Despite explicit statements of commitment to public service and community outreach however, according to numerous studies conducted over the past twenty years, universities are not articulating this commitment in faculty roles and rewards. This study advances the discussion of roles and rewards at one particular model of institution — the urban university. The focus is on the behavior and attitudes of academic leaders at these unique institutions to determine the extent to which faculty public service activities are valued . The liberal arts/humanities/sciences schools at urban universities are the unit. of analysis based on the knowledge these faculty can contribute to the solution of social problems. A descriptive research design was developed to determine the prevalence of certain attitudes at a sample of urban universities. Cross-sectional and case study methods were used to survey 70 institutions. Based on the findings of the study, the conclusion is drawn that, overall, strategies, rewards and structures at the majority of liberal arts/humanities/sciences schools that were part of this study are not in alignment with the public service mission. Authors of organizational theory claim that congruence — alignment of goals and rewards — is necessary for success. Interviews with deans of schools that were determined to be "successful" in aligning rewards yielded common philosophies regarding articulating the service mission. For example: • Boyer's broadest view of scholarship has been incorporated into efforts to redefine faculty roles and rewards. • "The partnership is the new concept that replaces volunteer work with creative, mutually-rewarded research and teaching in the community setting."

A comprehensive homeless policy includes emergency housing, transitional housing, permanent housing, and prevention components. Researchers have determined that all four categories of homeless assistance are essential to address the needs of the diverse groups that comprise the homeless population. This dissertation focuses on the prevention component which is designed to assist those in marginal economic circumstances who experience an unavoidable housing crisis. Several states have state-sponsored and state-funded homeless prevention programs. The Commonwealth of Virginia authorized funding for the Homeless Intervention Program (HIP) in FY 1989-90. A Short-Term Study of the first group of participants conducted by Johnson, Brooks, Hambrick, and Richardson (1991) provided evidence that the 1989-90 participants remained in stable housing for six months after leaving the program. The Longer-Term Study discussed in this dissertation was conducted four years after the participants received HIP assistance and involved enrollees from two of the eight original program sites. The data were gathered through the use of mail and telephone surveys and focused interviews. The results indicate that HIP contributed to the housing stability of the majority of the longer-term study participants who have, in the four years since receiving HIP assistance, remained housing self-sufficient. This study recognizes the implications of the time dimension in program evaluation as put forth by Salamon (1976). Accordingly, in addition to ascertaining whether there was a diminishment in the staying power of HIP, other program results more closely associated with latent and sleeper effects were uncovered.

Recent studies conducted by oversight agencies show that improvements are needed in Federal personnel office (FPO) operations. The existing literature and research in the field of public personnel administration provides little guidance as to what types of changes or interventions will improve service quality. The purpose of this study is to identify organizational variables that influence FPO service quality. This study is based on the multiple-constituency model of organizational effectiveness and the body of literature pertaining to service quality research conducted in private sector service industries. The investigator developed a conceptual model of FPO service quality based on the findings from service quality research and from various Federal personnel studies. Using the conceptual model as a guide, the statement of the problem became: How do the organizational dimensions of FPO access, human resource management (HRM) program design, FPO staff qualifications, FPO staff attitudes, Federal manager status, and Federal manager support influence the quality of FPO service as perceived by Federal managers? Within these six dimensions, sixteen variables were identified for testing. The research design was based on determining the association of sixteen predictor variables to the criterion variable of perceived service quality, using analytical surveys randomly administered to 72 personnel specialists and 269 Federal managers in six Federal government organizations. Of the sixteen variables tested, six had a significant relationship to managers' perceptions of service quality. These were FPO proximity, HRM program responsiveness, FPO staff training, FPO service standards, and a managers' supervisory level and authority for HRM actions. The primary significance of the study is that it extends service quality theory to Federal personnel administration, it provides an additional dimension to the current multiple constituency models of personnel office effectiveness, and it provides guidance on how to improve FPO service quality.

Public housing, in growing urban communities like Daytona Beach, Florida is involved in a perpetual struggle for its continued existence. Public housing programs face serious problems in addition to financial difficulties. Many have acquired the reputation of being worse living environments than the slums they were supposed to replace. Although public housing originally served the so called "working poor", it has gradually become the "housing of last resort" for America's poorest citizens. Over the years, it has become obvious that public housing has acquired a rather poor image of being a large conglomeration of low income citizens housed in large impersonal concrete structures. The focus of the study centers on the examination of public housing, its occupants and the negative image that seems to be perpetuated within these lower income areas of cities like Daytona Beach, Florida.

The State Comptroller is an important state official. This research is intended to determine whether method of selection of the state comptroller (election or appointment), organizational configuration of the state comptroller's agency, professional qualifications of the state comptroller, or length of tenure served by the state comptroller have an impact on the effectiveness of the performance of the state comptroller’s agency. This research utilized a multi-constituency model of effectiveness. Under this model, effectiveness was defined as satisfaction of the needs of major constituencies of the state comptroller’s agency. Major constituencies of the state comptroller’s agency were identified. Variables to determine effectiveness for each constituency were also identified. Cross tabulations were prepared that compared the measures of effectiveness for each constituency (dependent variables) to the independent variables; method of selection, organizational configuration, certification of the state comptroller, and length of tenure of the state comptroller. In summary, the research produced the following findings: Method of selection was found to be a factor in satisfaction of the needs of the financial community, an external constituency of the state comptroller's agency. Generally, more political, higher profile comptrollers, those appointed by and serving at the pleasure of the governor and those who are directly elected, were found to be more effective than lower profile, less political comptrollers appointed at lower levels of government. Method of selection was not found to be a factor in satisfaction of the needs of other, internal constituencies. Organizational configuration of the comptroller’s agency in the context of the larger government was not found to be a factor in effectiveness. Professional certification of the state comptroller was not found to be a factor in effectiveness of the state comptroller. Elected comptrollers, who are less likely to be professionally certified than comptrollers selected by other methods, are effective. Tenure in office on the part of the state comptroller is not a factor in effectiveness of the comptroller’s agency.

Thesis (M.A.)--Ball State University, 2009. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Feb. 08, 2010). Includes bibliographical references (p. 51-58).

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The objective of this study is to examine the effect of existing nursing home services on the elderly. In addition, it will also examine the effectiveness of the Alternative Health Service Project, The servlces provided under the project include: Alternative Living Services (adult foster care, boarding care, congregate living); Home Delivered Services (home health services and personal care assistance) ; and Adult Day Rehabilitation (ambulatory health care and health related supportive services in a day center. AHS clients reside. in two of Georgia’s ten Department of Human Resources aistricts, .Oistrict III (Atlanta), DIstrict X (Athens), are 50 years old or older, and either reside in a nursing home or have been certified. for nursing home care prior to receiving prolect services. All potential clients receive a health and. social needs assessment:. Of those persons who are felt to he appropriate for alternative services, 75 percent are referred Coservice group, the remainder are assigned to a control group and are not offered AHS services. The existence of the control group allows AHS to comnare the effectiveness of project services with nursing home care and other services available in the community, Since the population of the elderly in this community is increasing yearly, the availability of various services to address their needs is imperative. Until recently, the nursing homes are the only care centers available to the elderly. The various documented abuses by these nursing homes demand that alternatives should be found, The Alternative Health Service is one that is being presently explored. The main sources of information were Georgia Department of Medical Assistance Annual Reports and interviews with clients. In addition, the writer used other publications such as books, periodicals and journals.