Magister Commercii - MCom / This paper tested the purchasing power parity hypothesis for Botswana and South Africa using cointegration analysis. The data used are the spot exchange rate between the two countries (rand and pula) and their consumer price indices. / South Africa

The purpose of this non-experimental, quantitative, comparative study was to determine whether there were significant differences in fall-to-fall retention and graduation rates, between first-time, full-time students who engaged in at least one early post-secondary opportunity (EPSO) while in high school and those who did not. Archival data for this study were collected from the participating community college between 2015 and 2018. The sample for this study included 2,911 students enrolled in academic programs at the community college and included retention rates and graduation rates for students who participated in EPSOs (N = 622) and those who did not participate in EPSOs (N = 2289). Other data collected for each participant included: (a) socio-economic status as determined by Pell eligibility, (b) at-risk status as determined by an ACT score of 17 or below, and (c) gender. Chi-square tests using a two-way contingency table with cross tabs or independent sample t-tests were used to evaluate each of the research questions. The findings demonstrated that participation in EPSOs resulted in increased retention and graduation rates. Findings from this study may contribute to the existing body of knowledge as to whether high school participation in EPSOs is associated with improved retention and graduation rates at community colleges.

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Dropping out of high school is an issue that has faced the educational system for years. At a high school in Mississippi, the dropout prevention plan implemented was not beneficial to all at-risk students because it mainly focused on academic issues. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to understand why students dropped out of high school and to gather strategies for a dropout prevention plan. The conceptual framework was based on 5 factors: general deviancy, deviant affiliation, family socialization, structural strain, and academic quandary. The research questions inquired about experiences that caused students to drop out and suggested strategies for a new dropout prevention plan. Data collection methods included interviews with 18 teachers, 3 counselors, and 20 former students who dropped out between 2007 and 2012. Interpretive data analysis was used to analyze data. Open and axial coding was used to develop themes about why students dropped out of high school. Those themes included behavioral issues, peer and work-related influences, family structure, school environment, and academic problems. Data analyses indicated that tutoring, staff development, mentoring, counseling, parental involvement, teenage mother programs, and alternative options were useful in preventing students from dropping out. These findings were used to develop a high school dropout prevention plan to benefit at-risk students. The overall goal for this project was to decrease high school dropout rates. By implementing the high school dropout prevention plan, schools may enable more students to further their education and become productive citizens within their communities.

While community-oriented policing was touted as a new paradigm in American policing, little data reflects its success in reducing crime and/or increasing crime clearance rates. Researchers have failed to definitively describe community policing as a successful style of policing, leaving much more research to be done on its effectiveness as a crime reduction method. Using Trojanowicz's seminal conceptualization of community-oriented policing as the foundation, the purpose of this correlational study was to determine whether there are statistically significant associations between community-oriented policing, crime rates, and crime clearance rates for the 9 municipalities of Carteret County, North Carolina. Data for community-oriented policing methods were collected from the police agencies via personal contact with an agency representative, while data for violent crime, property crime, violent crime clearance rates, and property crime clearance rates were obtained from the State Bureau of Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Uniform Crime Report. The results of Spearman's rho and a chi-square test for independence indicated that there was a statistically significant relationship between community-oriented policing and the violent crime rate (p = .03), the violent crime clearance rate (p = .03) and the property crime clearance rate (p = .009). This study may enhance positive social change for police agencies in North Carolina by providing specific recommendations to better implement successful community policing strategies in their communities.

The problem is Florida is ranked as having the 10th largest incarceration rate in the United States, with a recidivism rate of almost 30%. Therefore, this researcher conducted a systematic review of the literature to determine any benefits to providing college courses to inmates, including the reduction of recidivism. To determine the effectiveness of higher education in prisons, three states that offer higher education options were reviewed. The Campbell Collaboration outlined the framework for the systematic review protocol. Multiple electronic databases were searched for literature including Education Resource Information Clearinghouse (ERIC), Google Scholar, Journal Storage (JSTOR), LesixNexis Academic, National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS), ProQuest, and Psychological Information Database (PsycINFO). In addition, the Campbell Collaboration website was also reviewed to search for additional systematic reviews relating to the availability of postsecondary education opportunities in the prison system. There is growing concern about the problem of mass incarceration in the United States as well as increasing recidivism rates. Although several federal policies have been enacted in an attempt to decrease the number of America’s prison population, the findings revealed that the most cost-effective method is providing inmates with an opportunity to earn a college degree during incarceration. The implications of this research may have an impact on many entities such as legislative and policy measures, availability of economic resources, improved family and community structures, an increase in the number of taxpayers, and the reduction of prison inmates.

No description available.

Schools in the United States have struggled with graduation rates for nearly 140 years. School divisions are continuously searching for new and creative curriculums to address changing student needs. From the U.S. Department of Education to local school board members, educators are working to discover creative and accountable alternatives to address these issues. Development of online programs continues to offer students some of the curriculum resources they need for success and provides an alternative way to approach instruction for school systems. Educators in Lee County are researching new policies and programs to assist students in obtaining their high school diplomas. Understanding perceptions of the administrative staff plays a key role in program development and implementation of programs for students. This qualitative case study addresses the particular issue of perception in relation to the implementation of a new form of instruction. By understanding staff perceptions education leaders can develop plans and procedures to address issues related to staff development and program implementation. The following set of policies and procedures were necessary for the online program: Each individual school needed the opportunity to use the program as they deemed necessary for student needs.The online program would be used as a secondary curriculum to assist students in the areas of dropout prevention, alternative education and credit recovery.Administrators provide consistency of the implementation to all students in the county.

A dissertation is presented on the bioreduction of hematite (α-Fe2O3) nanoparticles. The study shows that an alternative extracellular electron transfer mechanism other than the classical 'direct-contact' mechanism may be simultaneously employed by Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 during solid-phase metal reduction. This conclusion is supported by analysis of the bioreduction kinetics of hematite nanoparticles coupled with microscopic investigations of cell-mineral interactions. The reduction kinetics of metal-oxide nanoparticles were examined to determine how S. oneidensis utilizes these environmentally-relevant solid-phase electron acceptors. Nanoparticles involved in geochemical reactions show different properties relative to larger particles of the same phase, and their reactivity is predicted to change as a function of size. To demonstrate these size-dependent effects, the surface area normalized reduction rates of hematite nanoparticles by S. oneidensis MR-1 with lactate as the sole electron donor were measured. As evident from whole cell TEM analysis, the mode of nanoparticle adhesion to cells is different between the more aggregated, pseudo-hexagonal to irregular shaped 11 nm, 12 nm, 99 nm and the less aggregated 30 nm and 43 nm rhombohedral particles. The 11 nm, 12 nm and 99 nm particles show less cell contact and coverage than the 30 nm and 43 nm particles but still show significant rates of reduction. This leads to the provisional speculation that S. oneidensis MR-1 employs a pathway of indirect electron transfer in conjunction with the direct-contact pathway, and the relative importance of the mechanism employed depends upon aggregation level and the shape of the particles or crystal faces exposed. In accord with the proposed increase in electronic band-gap for hematite nanoparticles, the smallest particles (11 nm) exhibit one order of magnitude decrease in reduction when compared with larger (99 nm) particles, and the 12 nm rates fall in between these two. This effect may also be due to the passivation of the mineral and cell surfaces by Fe(II), or decreasing solubility due to decrease in size. / Ph. D.

One of the most important aspects of monetary policy is an understanding of the transmission process: the mechanism through which the monetary policy actions of the Central Bank impact on aggregate demand and prices by influencing the investment and consumption decisions of households and firms. Thus, commercial banks are regarded as conveyers of monetary policy shocks and are expected to adjust retail interest rates in response to policy shocks one-to-one. In practice, commercial banks adjust their retail rates in response to changes in monetary policy with a lag of several months and this delay is often viewed as an impediment on the ability of the Central Bank to steer the economy. Several reasons, such as credit rationing and adverse selection, switching costs, risk sharing, consumer irrationality, structure of the financial system, menu costs and asymmetric information are some of the causes advanced for commercial banks retail rates being sticky. In spite of the important role of pass-through analysis in the monetary policy transmission process, it has received very little attention in Sub-Saharan Africa, especially in Cameroon and Nigeria, which have implemented a series of reforms. To this end, this study gives a comparative analysis of interest rate pass-through in Nigeria and Cameroon using retail rates (lending and deposit) and a discount rate (policy rate) from January 1990 to December 2010 for Nigeria and from January 1990 to June 2008 for Cameroon. The study examines the magnitude and speed of retail rate adjustments to changes in the Central Bank policy rate as well as examining the possibility of symmetric and asymmetric pass-through in both countries. In addition, the study also investigates whether there is pass-through of monetary policy from one country to the other. The empirical analysis employs four different types of co-integration techniques to test the presence of a long run co-integrating relationship between retail and the policy rates in order to ensure that the relationship detected is robust. Three sets of analyses are carried out in the study. Following Cottarelli and Kourelis (1994), the study employed a co-integration technique, firstly, to analyse pass-through for the entire sample, secondly, to analyse symmetric and asymmetric pass-through using a ten year rolling window analysis in an error correction framework. Finally, the policy rates were swapped around to investigate if there are transmissions of impulses from one country to the other. Overall, evidence from the entire sample and rolling window analysis suggests that monetary policy in Cameroon is less effective. This is perhaps one of the reasons why the Banque Des Etats De L’Afrique Centrale (BEAC) is unable to sterilise the excess liquidity of the banking sector in Cameroon. The long run pass-through of 0.72 and 0.71 for the entire sample, and the average long run pass-through for the rolling window of 0.78 and 0.76 for the lending and deposit rates, suggest that monetary policy is highly effective in Nigeria compared to Cameroon. The empirical evidence confirmed asymmetric adjustment in six rolling windows in the lending rate in Nigeria. Three rolling windows indicated that the direction of rigidity is downward, supporting Scholnick’s (1996) collusive pricing arrangement between banks, and the other three suggested that the lending rate is rigid in the upward direction, corroborating Scholnick’s (1996) customer reaction hypothesis. The deposit rate in Cameroon was also found to adjust asymmetrically and the direction of rigidity is downward, supporting Hannan and Berger’s (1991) customer reaction hypothesis. The investigation of impulse transmission between the two countries revealed that only the policy rate in Nigeria exerts some influence on the deposit rate in Cameroon. Policy recommendations are also discussed.