Thesis (D. Min.)--Trinity International University, 2005. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 152-153).

Thesis (D. Ed. Min.)--New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, 2007. / Includes abstract and vita. Includes final project proposal. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 123-131, 210-217).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2000. / Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 226-246).

Thesis (D. Ed. Min.)--New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, 2006. / Abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 145-150, 218-223).

abstract: This mixed methods research study explores the experiences of Board Certified music therapists who completed a university-affiliated (UA) internship as part of their education and clinical training in music therapy. The majority of music therapy students complete a national roster (NR) internship as the final stage in clinical training. Limited data and research is available on the UA internship model. This research seeks to uncover themes identified by former university-affiliated interns regarding: (1) on-site internship supervision; (2) university support and supervision during internship; and (3) self-identified perceptions of professional preparedness following internship completion. The quantitative data was useful in creating a profile of interns interviewed. The qualitative data provided a context for understanding responses and experiences. Fourteen Board Certified music therapists were interviewed (N=14) and asked to reflect on their experiences during their university-affiliated internship. Commonalities discovered among former university-affiliated interns included: (1) the desire for peer supervision opportunities in internship; (2) an overall perception of being professionally prepared to sit for the Board Certification exam following internship; (3) a sense of readiness to enter the professional world after internship; and (4) a current or future desire to supervise university-affiliated interns. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.M. Music Therapy 2013

abstract: Cross-sector interactions are regularly seen in healthcare, education, defense, public safety, and other social service contexts where the public interest and the private individual intersect. While interest in cross-sector relationships is neither new nor novel, the organizational dynamics and contexts continue to change and challenge our understanding of what is meant by partnership, alliance, collaboration, or cooperation between independent organizations from different sectors. One type of cooperative arrangement between nonprofits and government are affiliated foundations, which are part of the landscape of emerging organizational hybrids and expanding government-nonprofit relationships. Affiliated foundations are nonprofits designed to support a specific entity by generating charitable resources. This dissertation looks at one specific context for affiliated foundation/ "parent" relationships through a multi-case study of local educations in Florida. Specifically, this research examines how local education foundations carry out a partnering relationship with the school district. Through a combination of three instrumental case studies of local education foundations, and fifteen other purposely selected foundations, this dissertation presents the results of a cross-case analysis of the partnership between local education foundations and school districts. Partnership is conceptualized across four dimensions: 1) attention, 2) successive engagement, 3) resource infusion, and 4) positional identity. This research reveals that through the four dimensions of partnership, we can account for the variation across embedded, interdependent, or independent local education foundations in relation to the school district, or their "parent" organization. As a result, local education foundations reflect different relationships with school districts, which ultimately impacts their ability to carry out their work as charitable organizations, derived from the community in which they operate, and designed to generate resources and support for public education. By looking at this specific context, we can consider the complexities of an affiliated relationship between two structurally separate but linked organizations assumed to act as partners, but working to achieve a partnership. Where cooperation, collaboration, and innovation are intended outcomes of affiliated foundation/government relationships, this research considers the role of affiliated foundations among more traditional cross-sector relationships where services and contracts tend to dominate. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Public Administration 2014

Research studies have indicated that Black male collegians have the lowest retention rates in the higher education setting in predominately White institutional (PWI) settings. Several factors, such as spirituality, involvement on campus, and other positive experiences are cited as contributing to a lower retention rate for Black males in the PWI higher education setting; however, research in the PWI religiously affiliated setting has been limited. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore the campus engagement experiences of religiously involved Black males who attended religiously affiliated PWIs. Astin's student involvement theory and Astin, Astin, and Lindholm's findings on spiritual development in the higher education setting are used as a conceptual framework. The research questions explored how religiously involved Black males who were at religiously affiliated PWIs during college described their campus engagement experiences, how their religious belief influenced their campus engagement, and how other factors influenced their campus engagement and contributed to their graduation. Interviews with 8 Black male participants were analyzed for codes and themes using Merriam and Tisdell's coding method. The themes that emerged suggested that although participants perceived initial negative experiences, overall, they had positive campus experiences due to involvement experiences. The participants recalled that their religious engagement fostered more participation in religious involvement, developed their spiritual identity, and that family and community fostered engagement. This study may contribute to positive social change by providing administrators of religiously affiliated PWIs with approaches to increase the engagement and retention of Black male students.

With the increasing importance of the third mission of universities, namely the commercialisation of science and research, universities have established various mechanisms such as technology transfer offices, business incubators and more. Since many investors tend not to invest in university spin-offs and start-ups due to the risk associated with their early stage, universities have established their own investment units, referred to as university-affiliated venture capital, to provide funding for university spin-offs and start-ups. As there is little academic research on the structure and functioning of these investment units, this paper contributes to this research by analysing the structure and investment process of university-affiliated venture capitals. For this purpose, 10 investment units in Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden were analysed. Among the key findings of this work is the recognition that UVCs essentially look for the abilities ofthe founders and the possibility of developing them into an effective team when selecting ventures. Inaddition, the financing instruments offered, and the ticket sizes of the investment units could be identified. While many UVCs use both equity investment and convertible loans, there is a slight bias towards convertible loans as the potential target companies are at such an early stage that valuations are very difficult to conduct and the UVCs have limited resources. Ticket sizes generally vary between 25,000 and 100,000 thousand euros. / Med den ökande betydelsen av universitetens tredje uppgift, nämligen kommersialisering av vetenskap och forskning, har universiteten inrättat olika mekanismer som tekniköverföringskontor och företagsinkubatorer. Eftersom många investerare tenderar att inte investera i universitetsavknoppningar och nystartade företag på grund av den risk som är förknippad med deras tidiga skede, har universiteten inrättat sina egna investeringsenheter, så kallat universitetsanknutet riskkapital (UVC), för att tillhandahålla finansiering för universitetsavknoppningar och nystartade företag. Eftersom det inte finns så mycket akademisk forskning om strukturen och funktionen hos dessa investeringsenheter, bidrar denna uppsats till denna forskning genom att analysera strukturen och investeringsprocessen för universitetsanknutna riskkapitalbolag. För detta ändamål analyserades tio investeringsenheter; i Danmark, Finland, Nederländerna, Norge och Sverige. Bland de viktigaste resultaten av detta arbete finns insikten att UVC:er i huvudsak letar efter grundarnas förmågor och möjligheten att utveckla dem till ett effektivt team när de väljer ut företag. Dessutom kunde de finansieringsinstrument som erbjuds och investeringsstorlekarna identifieras. Även om många UVC:er använder både kapitalinvesteringar och konvertibla lån, finns det en viss övervikt för konvertibla lån eftersom de potentiella målföretagen befinner sig i ett så tidigt skede att värderingar är mycket svåra att genomföra och UVC:er har begränsade resurser. Investeringsstorlekarna varierar i allmänhet mellan 25 000 och 100 000 tusen euro.

In this study a comparative approach between both the Sámi of northern Sweden and the Three Affiliated Tribes of North Dakota in relation to the constructions of the Letsi Reservoir and Garrison Dams will be given. The comparison will help create an understanding of what kinds of impacts they had to a number of factors. These factors include financial, environmental and cultural impact to the aforementioned groups, with the Imperial mindsets of the State in question.

This dissertation investigates the relationships between reinsurance activities and primary insurers' financial performance in U.S. property-liability insurance market from several perspectives. The first essay investigates the relationship between ceding insurer performance and the affiliation, domicile, and authorization of its counterparties. Specifically, we provide empirical evidence that ceding insurer financial performance is positively related to the use of affiliated reinsurance, the use of foreign reinsurance, and the use of affiliated reinsurance that is ceded to the low-tax, lightly-regulated domiciled counterparties; and negatively related to the use of unauthorized reinsurance. These results are consistent with the cost of information asymmetry theory. The second essay investigates reinsurance counterparty relationships in U.S. property-liability insurance. Firm-specific characteristics determinants of counterparty relationships are examined. We also analyze the relationship between firm performance and reinsurance counterparty relationships. We find that concentration in reinsurance counterparties, especially in unaffiliated counterparties, is adversely related to insurer performance due to higher information asymmetry. On the other hand, relationship with foreign counterparties is positive related to performance, suggesting the foreign reinsurers may have a favorable position in terms of tax treatment, specialized service, among other factors. / Business Administration/Risk Management and Insurance