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Virginia's mandated student outcomes assessment program, as created by Senate Joint Resolution No. 83 in 1986, allowed community colleges in the Commonwealth latitude in developing their own assessment strategies. These strategies have developed slowly and with some inconsistency. The purpose of this study is to determine the congruency of beliefs about the implementation of Virginia's student outcomes assessment program between purposefully selected members of the Virginia General Assembly and community college assessment practitioners. Data for this study were derived from the review of public documents, and the execution of a survey instrument, the results of which were used to develop interviews with designated state legislators and community college assessment practitioners. The interviews became the primary data source for the study. Findings indicate that the legislative participants believe that used by all community colleges across Virginia would be more appropriate than approaches specifically geared to individual institutional missions. Practitioner respondents differ on this issue. The legislators generally believe that the use of a standardized testing approach administered across all community colleges could be beneficial. The practitioners beliefs differ, though not markedly, from the legislative group. Legislators are evenly divided on the issue of using assessment results for institutional comparison. The practitioner group express reservations concerning this prospect. There exists modest differences of belief between the groups concerning the appropriation of general funds to support individual community colleges based on assessment results. The study findings point to congruence of belief among legislative and practitioner respondents when considering the implementation of outcomes assessment in the area of general education. Agreement of beliefs is also found among the practitioner and legislative groups in the implementation of assessment guidelines affecting the communication of assessment results with the citizenry, accountability issues relating to discontinuance of programs, quality assurance, etc., and the role of assessment in Virginia’s college transfer processes. / Ed. D.

This study was conducted to describe the status and perceived need of wellness and employee assistance programs in the public school systems in Virginia. There were 132 superintendents asked to respond to a mailed survey; 124 responded, for a return rate of 93.93%. The school systems having these programs were grouped by wealth, according to the composite index of the school system, and size, according to the number of teaching positions in the school system. The results of the analysis indicated that there are a variety of wellness programs throughout the state. Wellness and employee assistance programs occur in large and small school systems with teaching staffs ranging from 43 to 8,124. The composite index of school systems having one of these programs ranged from .2016 to 1.000. There was a significant perceived need of these programs as indicated by the positive responses to an open-ended question. Of the 124 school systems responding, 47, or 37.90%, had wellness programs, and 38, or 30.64%, had employee assistance programs. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Objective 20.15 states that by the year 2000, 75% of the workplaces with 50 employees or more should offer a health promotion program. This study established the baseline necessary to measure the growth of these programs in Virginia and will assist personnel directors by providing information about the types of programs that now exist throughout the state. / Ed. D.

Few studies exist which systematically address the topic of attempted adolescent parricide, particularly within a family violence context. This study, through qualitative research techniques: (a) determined the incidence of attempted adolescent parricide; (b) examined variables associated with the phenomenon; (c) derived a behavioral portrait of adolescents who attempt parricide through TFA Systems (tm); and (d) compared actual and attempted parricide. Select case studies from the research literature served as the actual parricide group for comparative purposes. This descriptive study identified counselors in Virginia and West Virginia who had worked with parricidal clients within the preceding 2 years. Through questionnaire completion and personal interviews with respondents, counselors provided substantive information on youth who attempted parricide, including: (a) detailed demographic data; (b) youth and family social history variables; (c) circumstances surrounding the act; (d) counseling involvement; and (e) a TFA behavioral portrait. Although precise figures are lacking, it was found that adolescent parricide comprises approximately 2% of all yearly murders, and that for each successful parricide, there is at least one additional attempt where the parent does not die. Youths who attempt and those who commit parricide are close cousins who share many commonalities, including: an abusive home environment; youth and parental alcohol or drug use or abuse; a runaway history; problem behaviors; and school difficulties. The fact that the victim survives in attempted parricide is explained more by fortuity and weapons choice than by differing motive. A TFA profile analysis revealed that, at the time of the killing, youths who committed parricide fell into the Acting-Feeling or Acting-Thinking behavioral patterns. Youths who attempted the act shared the Acting-Feeling and Acting-Thinking patterns, but also evidenced a Feeling-Acting pattern. A stronger affective component appeared to be evidenced by attempters, when compared with actuals. Actual and attempted parricide offenders were found to share many variables with other high-risk or at-risk youths. Future research may wish to focus on some of these common variables. Recommendations for further study of attempted adolescent parricide were presented. / Ph. D.

The primary purpose of this study was to ascertain institutional and individual responses to legislated changes in faculty retirement policies. This study focused on the impact and influence of early retirement incentive programs on faculty retirement behavior in selected Commonwealth of Virginia Universities. Fundamental changes in federal and state statutes directly affected the staffing and retirement patterns of tenured faculty in higher education. Some changes in the retirement process purported to save institutional dollars while other changes broached broader philosophical issues regarding the role of older workers and retirees in an aging society; the issue of productivity of younger and older workers; the compatibility of the tenure system with the elimination of mandatory retirement; and related issues pertaining to the faculty supply/demand equilibrium. This study described the legal and organizational domains of the faculty retirement process in the Commonwealth of Virginia and identified pertinent federal and state statutes applicable to the early retirement process. Selected state and university officials provided insight into their processes for adapting retirement legislation to institutional goals, needs, agenda, and expectations. Faculty staffing patterns and retirement trends were analyzed in detail for one of the participating institutions and analyses of institutional and personal variables relative to the faculty retirement process were provided. The results of the research confirmed that the State-authorized faculty Early Retirement Incentive Program served its purpose in selected instances. Similarly, the Governor’s one-time early retirement window successfully encouraged attrition from the faculty ranks. Consistent with other findings, the federal legislation raising the mandatory retirement age had little affect on faculty retirement behavior; however, the need for state legislative action applicable to the retirement process to be consistent and compatible was evident. / Ed. D.

Virginia Tech contributes significantly to social and economic progress at the regional, state and national levels through its teaching, research and public service activities. The study is motivated by the current debate on the appropriate level of support for higher education in Virginia's largest university. This study measures the benefits of the university's undergraduate teaching mission. The results suggest that a VT undergraduate degree significantly increases the lifetime earnings of the graduates and also leads to several other benefits to the graduate, to his/her family, and to society. This study can help policy-makers to better understand the important contribution of Virginia Tech's teaching mission to society, and thus make more-informed decisions regarding the appropriate level of support for higher education. / Master of Science

Many existing Piedmont hardwood stands are composed of trees that are largely under 45 cm in diameter and contain a desirable oak component, as well as large amounts of undesirable red maple and sourwood. In stands under even-aged silviculture, season of harvest can be used as an effective management tool to favor different species compositions. If oak or other hardwood production is the management objective a dormant season harvest will result in increased sprout vigor of all oak as well as non-oak species. If pine conversion is the objective then a growing season harvest will reduce the vigor of all hardwood species and allow for easier competition control. The higher densities of all classes of regenerants on better sites indicates control will be more difficult. / Master of Science

There are two objects to which this book points: One- a process in which both the designer and the designed take part. The process was "sensed" in the making of the book itself, and the thesis was named. The book is at once an expression of this process, and a part of the process expressed. Its nature is a result of a relationship described as reciprocal. The other- a building. In designing an addition to the Blacksburg Virginia Middle School, thoughts about light and surface, ground and figure, earth and sky guided decisions made in the process. The result is regarded as both created and discovered. / Master of Architecture

I examined impacts of thinning on bird population densities and habitat use in Appalachian mixed-hardwood forests during 1984 and 1985 at three thinned and three unthinned stands in the Jefferson National Forest, southwestern Virginia. Densities of shrubs, saplings, trees, and snags, canopy and ground cover, and foliage volume were the structural variables most influenced by thinning. Populations of shrub/understory birds were higher in thinned stands than unthinned stands. Canopy-dwelling species showed variable population responses to thinning. Habitat use similarities were used to group 13 bird species into three categories: (1) shrub/conifer species included the tufted titmouse, blue-gray gnatcatcher, wood thrush, ovenbird, and hooded warbler, (2) generalist species included the eastern wood-pewee, red-eyed vireo, black-and-white warbler, and scarlet tanager, and (3) mature/deciduous species included the white-breasted nuthatch, solitary vireo, blackburnian warbler, and worm-eating warbler. Shrub, snag, and conifer density and ground cover were the four habitat variables most important in separating used from unused sites. Foraging behavior and resource use of seven bird species were examined in two thinned and two unthinned stands. No differences in foraging methods or niche breadth were found between the stands for all species. Differences in foraging and tree heights were due to tree height differences between the stands. For most species, foraging resource use was equal to availability. Short, small diameter trees were rarely used. Oaks were used most often, and red maple and conifers were rarely used for foraging. The opportunistic nature of avian foraging behavior and the vegetative differences between thinned and unthinned stands led to the foraging differences noted. / Master of Science