The purpose of this study was to ascertain important information that was lacking about current school/business collaborative activities in the Commonwealth of Virginia and to compare those activities to the findings of a study conducted by Larkin C. Phillips of school/business collaborative activities during the 1990-91 school year. This study used the same survey questions that were used by Phillips and was designed to provide the following information: (a) Common characteristics of school divisions in Virginia that conducted collaborative activities during the 1998-99 school year as compared to the 1990-1991 school year,(b) The types of collaborative activities conducted in Virginia during the 1998-99 school years as compared to the 1990-1991 school year,(c) Current resources used to manage collaborative activities as compared to the 1990-91 school year, and(d) Types of businesses that participated in collaborative activities in 1998-99 as compared to the 1990-91 school year.A survey was sent to all superintendents of public school divisions in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Superintendents from 99 school divisions, 76 percent of the school divisions in Virginia, returned the survey. The responses indicated that 72 percent of the responding divisions conducted school/business collaborative activities during the 1998-99 school year. This was an eight percent decrease from the 1990-1991 school year. Of the school divisions reporting no collaborative activity in this study 89 percent were located in rural areas. In contrast, more than 90 percent of the school divisions in cities and suburbs indicated collaborative activity with businesses. Small school divisions and less wealthy school divisions were less likely to conduct collaborative activities than were larger and wealthier school divisions.The most conducted collaborative activities in the typical Virginia school division at all grade levels were: providing career awareness activities; providing special awards for pupils, teachers or the school; donating or loaning equipment or materials; and sponsoring tutoring programs for pupils. As compared to the Phillips study, there were large increases in businesses providing tutoring at the elementary and middle/junior high school levels. And at the high school level there was a 22 percent increase in partners providing internships for students.During the 1998-1999 school year in Virginia the management of collaborative activities was most often managed totally at each participating school. The person most likely to initiate collaborative activity with business was the building principal.The most likely type of businesses involved in collaborative activities with school divisions was service, civic, manufacturing and retail. The mining industry was least likely to be involved in collaborative activities. / Ed. D.

The purpose of this study was to investigate differences in academic performance and persistence among freshman participating in fraternities, corps of cadets, and athletics in comparison to matched samples of non-members. The study showed that, on average, students were adversely affected by participation in athletics and fraternities when sex, race, college, major, and academic ability were controlled. There was no evidence to conclude that participation in these organizations had any consistent effect on persistence. / Ph. D.

The goal of this research project was to determine if introducing intergenerational interactions would supplement or detract from the use of horticulture as a therapeutic tool when working with elderly adults and preschool children. The program was set up to compare independent group activities with intergenerational activities. A group of elderly adults in the University Adult Day Service and a group of preschool children in the University Child Development Laboratory School took part in both separate age group and intergenerational activities. There were three sessions each week: one for the children's group, a second one for the elderly adults' group, and a third one that combined both groups. The same activity was done during all three sessions each week, with modifications to make the activity appropriate for each age group and to make it more interactive for the intergenerational group. These activities took place in the campus building where the day care centers are located. Four volunteers assisted with the activities. Two worked with the children's group both during separate and intergenerational activities, and two volunteers similarly assisted with the elderly adult group. Video cameras were used to record each session. These videos were viewed and evaluated after the 10-week horticulture therapy program was completed to score attendance and participation during separate age group activities, and attendance, participation, and interaction between the two groups during intergenerational activities. This data was used to determine if introducing intergenerational interactions affected the individual's attendance or participation, and to determine if the interactions between the two groups showed any change over time. Several variables were shown to affect the outcome of research. The first variable discussed is the effect of the staff, volunteers, or administration on the participants and the activities. Staff and volunteers can greatly affect intergenerational interactions by: 1) failing to encourage participation from participants of all ages, 2) lacking experience or having discomfort in working with special populations, 3) failure to establish adequate communication with the researcher or with each other, or 4) demonstrating a negative attitude towards the project. The second variable in research is the limitation introduced by data analysis using video. While video recording is useful in evaluating data, it can cause problems due to a limited viewing area, limited viewing angles, blocked screens, or unfamiliarity with recording equipment. Videos were used to assess participation and interaction. Participation scores include three categories: "no participation" for present but inactive participation, and "working with direct assistance" or "independent participation" for active participation. Participation was affected by the horticulture activities' set up, difficulty level, and availability of assistance from volunteers. Children's participation during separate group activities was affected mainly by the difficulty level and set up of activities. Elderly adult's participation during separate age group activities was affected mainly by each individual's abilities and availability of assistance. Children's intergenerational participation scores show an increase in the category of "working with direct assistance", while elderly adults' intergenerational scores show an increase in the categories of "no participation" and "independent participation". In part, the change in intergenerational participation was due to a decrease in the assistance available from volunteers for each individual. Lastly, the percentage of total interaction time between the generations during activities increased over time. However, the introduction of intergenerational interactions detracted from the use of horticulture as a therapeutic tool for elderly adults and preschool children. It is recommended that intergenerational programming may not be useful to fulfill specific horticulture therapy goals for these groups. At the same time, the intergenerational activities involving horticulture plant-based activities were more successful at increasing interactions than the craft-type activities. Therefore horticulture may be a useful activity for intergenerational programs with a goal of increased interaction and relationship development. / Master of Science

This thesis is about openness in the architecture. After traveling and experiencing many different cities in Europe, I was intrigued with open spaces in cities, which offer a stage for different public interactions. I discovered that all these public spaces are formed by the surrounding architecture. This made me wonder about how architecture, as it becomes more independent today, could express and embody this openness within itself. I picked up my site at the end of the King Street in Old Town, Alexandria, Virginia, which is currently unappealing to the public. I decided to create a urban plaza for the waterfront in an architectural way by generating a pavilion, which will provide various kinds of information and satisfy needs to the visitors and public. The pavilion has several different services and lies in an area with flood issues. In response to these conditions, I made all the projects suspended between columns and assigned them different heights according to the context of the site and their own functions. The different levels of the projects generate vertical open spaces in order to let the surrounding environment flow seamlessly into the pavilion. The entire project has been organized under a glass structured roof with a central staircase that ascends from King Street to the Potomac River, which has all the accesses to each level. There is a designed channel in the middle bay, placed within the girder to direct rain back into the river. / Master of Architecture

The purpose of this study was to examine how extracurricular activities and parental monitoring relate to rural youth violence. Gender differences were examined across all of the study variables. Self-report data were collected from 235 teenagers from a rural, ethnically diverse, Virginia community. Correlations revealed a significant inverse relationship between church activity as well as parental monitoring and weapon carrying. Significant mean level differences existed between males and females on the following variables: time spent in aerobic exercise activities, time spent in toning exercise activities, weapon carrying frequency, and level of parental monitoring. In addition, time in non-school clubs was the best predictor of sample youth classification in either the "violent" category or "nonviolent" category. Findings emphasize the importance of parental monitoring for youth as well as the need for more programs and after-school activities to meet the needs of all youth. / Master of Science

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