No description available.

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore Tennessee high school counselors’ and dual enrollment advisors’ perceptions of student readiness for dual enrollment within the context of school, institutional, state, and federal policies as aligned with adolescent development theories in order to inform both policy and practice. Twelve purposely sampled participants from three school districts within the First Tennessee Core Region responded to questions via a recorded phone interview. Participants reflected on the readiness of their students for dual enrollment in the academic, social, and emotional domains. Additionally, participants identified strengths and weaknesses of dual enrollment programs and the Ready Graduateinitiative in Tennessee through the lenses of their school, post-secondary institutions, and their students and shared ideas for the improvement of programs and increasing student readiness.

The diploma thesis focuses on marketing analysis and proposal for the creation of a marketing plan of the company OMAP Finanční skupina, a. s. with a focus on marketing communication of the company. Suggestion of the partial marketing activities for the second half of the year 2021 and 2022 is reflecting theoretical background mentioned in the first chapter, further on the summary of marketing analysis based on the survey.

”Nu är goda råd dyra”, heter det sedan gammalt i en svensk krissituation. I denna licentiatavhandling, vars rubrik kopplar till talesättet, behandlas svensk energirådgivnings utveckling och framtid. Forskning visar att i ett alltmer digitaliserat samhälle behöver energirådgivningen utvecklas för att bättre nå målgrupperna - hushåll, småföretag och organisationer. Digitala tjänster ger många möjligheter, men den viktiga personliga kontakten med energirådgivaren går inte att ersätta fullt ut. Med hjälp av fokusgrupper, intervjuer och samtal med energirådgivare, villaägare och enskilda experter har kunnat konstateras att den personligt genomförda rådgivningstjänsten är efterfrågad, angelägen och framgångsrik när byte av värmesystem, större ombyggnationer eller nybyggnationer är aktuellt. Att pröva idéer och lösningar, helst i hemmamiljön inför en ombyggnad, är uppskattad rådgivning. I samtalet, där inte enbart tekniska detaljer och lönsamhet diskuteras, kan alla i hushållet engageras. Energirådgivningen kan bli mer framgångsrik, men då krävs ett större kommunalt engagemang och en tydligare samverkan med andra statliga styrmedel. Hållbara råd kan alla få i Sverige idag och de goda råden är gratis! Med hjälp av dessa kan kanske kriser undvikas… / Att använda energin effektivare än vad som görs idag inom både industri, transporter och byggnader är en väg till ett mer hållbart samhälle. Den rika delen av världen har här ett speciellt ansvar. I Sverige har den kommunala energirådgivningen under närmare fyrtio år varit ett av statens styrmedel för att på olika sätt bistå lokala beslutsfattare att effektivisera energianvändningen, men också öka andelen förnybar energi i systemet. Denna licentiatavhandling har studerat energirådgivningen under tidsperioden, men också dokumenterat och analyserat rådgivningen ur ett samhällsperspektiv. Forskning visar att i ett alltmer digitaliserat samhälle behöver energirådgivningen utvecklas för att bättre nå målgrupperna - hushåll, småföretag och organisationer. Internet är idag den vanligaste sökvägen för de som önskar information kring energirelaterade frågor. Digitala tjänster ger många möjligheter, men den viktiga personliga kontakten med energirådgivare går inte att ersätta fullt ut. I studien har fokusgrupper, intervjuer och samtal med energirådgivare, villaägare och enskilda experter genomförts och analyserats. Resultat visar att den personligt genomförda rådgivningstjänsten är efterfrågad, angelägen och framgångsrik när byte av värmesystem, större ombyggnationer eller nybyggnationer är aktuellt. Studien visar också att personliga samtal med energirådgivare är värdefullt för att pröva idéer och lösningar som är hämtade från internet samt att hemmet är den lämpligaste platsen för framgångsrik rådgivning. I denna situation är rådgivarens sociala kompetens central. Kvinnors synpunkter och erfarenheter har ofta gått förlorade. Vidare har ett för stort fokus lagts på tekniska detaljer och lönsamhet, medan många beslut tas av miljöskäl eller sociala orsaker som upplevd ökad komfort. Energirådgivningen kan bli mer framgångsrik, men då krävs ett större kommunalt engagemang och en tydligare samverkan med andra statliga styrmedel. / Improving the efficiency of energy use across all the sectors – industrial, transport and households – is one of the many necessary approaches to be adopted to ensure sustainable development. The countries of the developing world have to play a key role in such a transition. In Sweden, for close to half a century now, the municipal energy-advising function has been a governmental instrument to support decision-makers in bringing about systemic changes to improve energy efficiency on the one hand and the share of renewable energy in the mix, on the other.  This licentiate thesis has its focus on this function over the said time-period. It has also documented and analysed the energy-advising function from a social perspective. The research shows that in an increasingly-digitalised society, energy-advising must be developed further to be able to reach and impact different categories of energy users – households, small and medium scale enterprises and organisations – more effectively. The Internet happens to be the first resort of most people seeking information on energy-related issues, these days. Digital services do offer a range of possibilities but cannot substitute for the much-needed personal contact, which is provided by the energy-advising function. In this thesis, focus groups, interviews and conversations with energy advisers, homeowners and experts have been availed of, and subsequently analysed. The results also show that personal energy advice is actually popular, indispensable and effective, where replacement of interior heating systems, refurbishment or new building constructions are concerned. This research also shows that interactions with energy advisers are useful to test and verify the suitability of ideas and solutions obtained from the Internet. Besides, the home in which these solutions may eventually be tried out, is the perfect place for having such conversations. In this context, the social skills of the energy adviser assume paramount importance. It has been noticed that the viewpoints and experiences of women in households have often been ignored.  Further, the focus on finding solutions has sometimes been narrowed down to the technical and economic aspects, while at other times, decisions have been based on environmental or social factors like maintenance of comfort levels. In order to make the energy advising function more effective and avail of what it has to offer for the journey towards greater sustainability, it needs to be given the importance it deserves by the municipalities and there is also a need of stronger interplay among the other governmental instruments. / Bo och leva energieffektivt. Kommunal energirådgivning som medspelare i människors vardag

The purpose of this quantitative, non-experimental study was to explore the relationship between the implementation of the Tennessee Promise scholarship program and the two-year Tennessee community college retention rates and graduation rates of first-time, full-time Tennessee students from rural Appalachian counties. Results from this study may help higher education stake-holders better understand the features of Tennessee Promise that are influencing an increase in community college retention and graduation rates for Tennessee students from rural Appalachian counties. The theoretical framework that guided this research was the social capital framework. Data including use of Tennessee Promise, county of origin, retention, and graduation was collected via secure email from seven Tennessee community colleges. The null hypotheses of twelve research questions were tested through SPSS via two-way contingency table analyses using crosstabs. The results revealed that retention and graduation rates of first-time, full-time Tennessee students from rural Appalachian counties attending the participating Tennessee community colleges were significantly higher with the use of Tennessee Promise.

No description available.

With robo-advisors and regulation eventually changing the market conditions of thefinancial advisory industry, traditional advisors will have to adapt to a new world of asset management. Thus, it will be of interest to traditional advisors to further explore the topic of how to automatically evaluate soft aspects such as client preferences and behavior, and transform it into portfolio allocations while retaining stringency and high quality in the process. In this thesis, we show how client preferences and behavioral aspects can be translated into quantitative parameters, suitable for an asset allocation model based on prospect theory. A risk profiler, a type of questionnaire, is found to be an appropriate tool to use in this process. Further, we show that the impact of the parameters on the resulting portfolio allocations is consistent with prospect theory and the preferences of the investor. Finally, we conclude that the optimized portfolio allocation generated by the model suit the investor's preferences. / Allteftersom robotrådgivning och regleringar förändrar marknadsvillkoren för finansiellrådgivning kommer traditionella aktörer behöva anpassa sig till helt nya förutsättningar. Därmed är det av intresse för traditionella rådgivare att ytterligare undersöka hur man automatiskt kan utvärdera mjuka faktorer, såsom kunders preferenser och beteende, och omvandla dem till portföljallokeringar samtidigt som man bibehåller stringens och hög kvalitet i processen. I denna avhandling visar vi hur kundpreferenser och beteendemässiga aspekter kan översättas till kvantitativa parametrar för en allokeringsmodell baserad på prospektteori. En riskprofilerare, en typ av frågeformulär, visar sig vara ett bra verktyg att använda i processen. Vidare visas att parametrarnas effekt på de resulterande portföljerna är förenliga med prospektteori och investerarens preferenser. Slutligen drar vi slutsatsen att den optimerade allokeringen passar investerarens preferenser.

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which enrollment management models have been successfully implemented within the 28 Florida community colleges. The study also sought to determine when enrollment management structures began and whether expected benefits were achieved. Analysis of the data collected in this study indicated the following five major findings. First, enrollment management concepts and practices have been implemented at some level within the 23 Florida community colleges surveyed. This was evident by the use of the word "enrollment" in the organizational titles as well as in the titles of the individuals who were responsible for the models. Second, enrollment management models reported were determined to be relatively new in comparison to four-year institutions. The literature on enrollment management demonstrated that four-year colleges began enrollment management practices in the early-to-mid 1970s. Much of the existing literature on enrollment management has been based on the experiences at four-year institutions. Third, some enrollment management divisions appeared to have key enrollment offices displaced. The key enrollment offices selected in this study were supported throughout the literature. Those offices represented were as follows: Admissions, Records and Registration, Financial aid, Orientation, and Advising. Fourth, increasing enrollment was the strongest reason for implementing the enrollment structure and subsequently was the strongest benefit realized. The anticipated decline in high school graduates, and the expectation of subsequent declining college enrollments during the 1970s, provided the impetus for the adoption of models of enrollment management. The fifth finding was that moving key enrollment offices such as financial aid into the enrollment management organizations would be an improvement to existing models. As enrollment management concepts are implemented into practice, the realignment of related offices may be necessary to effectively accomplish goals.

No description available.

This study examined the use of an institutionally-specific risk prediction model in the university's College of Education. Set in a large, urban, public university, the risk model predicted incoming students' first-semester GPAs, which, in turn, predicted the students' risk of attrition. Additionally, the study investigated advising practices within the College of Education via semi-structured interviews with the College's advising staff and a document analysis of students' advising notes in an attempt to find thematic links between undergraduate retention and usage of an advising center. Data were analyzed to determine the accuracy of the risk model in the College of Education. The results of this study are used to inform the College of Education's administration, faculty, and staff about the implications of risk prediction and to suggest potential treatments to increase retention rates. Furthermore, recommendations for future research are discussed for this study's institution and for the field of education. / Educational Psychology