Unlike most native American reservations in the United States, the Seminole and Miccosukee Tribes in Florida are more economically developed. The purpose of this research is to understand this economic development process of the tribes in Florida. Accordingly, there are three key questions guiding this study: What have been the priorities of the Native American reservation population in conceptualizing sustainable economic development? What external institutional factors have enabled or hindered economic development on Native American reservations? What internal tribal governance factors affected sustainable economic development on Native American reservations? I interviewed Seminole and Miccosukee tribe members and leaders to obtain insights into the research questions. I conducted 42 such interviews, spanning tribal council members, tribal members residing in the reservations and off the reservations, and others working directly with the tribes. My main findings are as follows. The Seminoles as well as Miccosukee have emphasized education as important. They actively practice their sovereignty, taking independent decisions on their development priorities, including education and environment. They take their own economic development decisions, without depending on extensive federal assistance. Moreover, they have successfully managed their gaming operations to the benefit of their members, in supplying education, healthcare, and other operations generally undertaken by municipalities. Internally, there are key differences between the Miccosukee and Seminoles. Whereas the Seminoles seek integration with the mainstream economy (for example, they own the Hard Rock Cafe, a large international franchise), the Miccosukee have been focused on their local ecology to sustain their environment. Governance wise, the Seminoles have a structurally sophisticated internal governance structure, whereas the Miccosukee model is smaller, grassroots-based. From a policy perspective, the main finding is that the tribes be allowed to exercise their sovereignty to fulfill their own economic development goals. External federal and state government relationships should be based on mutual respect and reciprocity in relationships. Distrust could be inimical to the tribes’ economic progress. Support should be provided to the tribes to develop their own governance structures appropriate to their economic development priorities.

Access to early childhood education not only leads to improved social, academic, and health outcomes for children, but can also carry the same benefits into adulthood. Early education and care programs can work against some of the negative effects of social factors such as socioeconomic status, discrimination, social support, and work demands which have been linked to physical and mental health outcomes. Early education programs could intervene not only in the life of a child, but also impact parents, families, and populations. This thesis will review the research showing early childhood education leads to better social and health outcomes and that there is a lack of adequate access to early childhood education for low-income families in Massachusetts. This thesis presents three state-level policy options for making early childhood education more accessible to low-income families in Massachusetts: lengthen the certification period of child care vouchers; reduce the administrative burden on families including eliminating the need for double documentation; dissolve the child care subsidy waiting list by making child care services an entitlement for families at or below 50% State Median Income. These policy options are evaluated based on the criteria of political feasibility, equity and fairness, administrative ease, effectiveness, and cost. Based on this policy analysis, a recommendation is made for Massachusetts to lengthen the certification period of child care vouchers, as well as reduce the administrative burden on families including eliminating the need for double documentation.

This study spatially analyzes emergency 911 call-for-service records from January 1, 2000 through December 31, 2009 for motor vehicle accidents inside the corporate limits of Johnson City, Tennessee. Records were compared according to the land use classification for adjacent properties, roadway type, and traffic signal proximity. Data were evaluated through ArcGIS software using proximity analysis, point pattern analysis, and hotspot analysis. Motor vehicle accidents evaluated during this study consist of accident locations reported to the Washington County Emergency Communications District concerning property damage, personal injury, and fatalities. Results indicate localized areas with the highest number of traffic accidents contain the most motor vehicle injury accidents. Twice as many motor vehicle accidents occur near commercial properties compared to residential properties. Motor vehicle accidents are more likely to occur on arterial thoroughfares. Approximately 40% of injury accidents happen at roadway intersections, with 22% occurring at signalized intersections.

Prostate cancer in the United States shows great disparities among race and socioeconomic status. Disparities in cancer rates in South Carolina are severe. Cancer control policies are lacking in ways to identify reasons for high risk populations and cost-effective ways to do so. An innovative spatial visualization program called the GeoViz Toolkit was used to determine areas of high Prostate Cancer incidence and mortality in South Carolina (rates obtained from the South Carolina Central Cancer Registry) compared with socioeconomic variables (education, income, lack of health insurance, and living in rural areas) and race. From there, recommendations were made using the South Carolina Cancer Alliance's "South Carolina Comprehensive Cancer Control Plan" objectives for Prostate Cancer for the top counties that were determined to have the highest need of intervention. These 11 counties include Colleton, Hampton, Allendale, Barnwell, Fairfield, Dillon, Marion, Marlboro, Williamsburg, Bamberg, and Orangeburg.

Parents of elementary school children in the small, rural area of Unicoi County, TN were surveyed to determine their attitudes toward health, nutrition, and Unicoi County Schools' Wellness Policy. Elementary school classrooms were randomly chosen to receive surveys for the children's parents to return by mail. Data were compiled and analyzed using SPSS software. Over 99% of parents stated that nutrition education in schools was important, and 96% stated schools played an important role in their child's health. The assessment provided meaningful data and laid groundwork for future nutrition education programs. The research showed rural, lower-income parents are supportive of positive nutritional changes in schools.

This study presents an understanding of the role of transparency in the communication processes of agencies of the United States Federal Government, as guided by principles of stakeholder management, models of public relations, and a model for government agency communication. These theories and models all suggest that increased openness in organizations will result in improved organizational functioning and in some instances, increases in organizational trust. The perspectives presented in this paper were collected through eighteen semi-structured in-depth interviews of professional communicators for various agencies in the United States Federal Government. The data shows that government communicators recognize the need for transparency in a democratic government, and also illustrates factors that both enhance and constrain transparency. Most of the limited research on government agency communication has focused on media relations and agency spokespersons. The value this exploratory study provides is that it illustrates government communicators understand the value of transparency in communication practices and provides a model for transparency in government agency communication. The research also shows a need for future research to strengthen theory, expand models, and provide examples of how to effectively implement transparency enhancing practices in government communication.

This thesis will describe and interpret the development of this Relief Society wheat storage program from its inception in 1876 to 1940 when the program was transferred to the General Church Welfare Committee. Emphasis will be placed on the sisters' attempts to store grain and the problems they encountered. The thesis will also discuss the effects of outside forces on the program and the different ways the sisters used the grain. The final chapter will deal with the relationship between the movement and the history of the Relief Society and its parent organization, the Mormon Church.

The purpose of this study is to examine nine essential planning principles in the selecting and implementing an aid project. These nine principles will then be used to analyze BYU's involvement with the ADS dairy project. The project is presented from a historical viewpoint. An analysis is mainly given retrospectively at the end of the history of the BYU involvement phase of the project.

The primary aim of this study is to discover how leadership competencies affect the perceived effectiveness of crisis management. Leadership skills exhibited by public managers in crisis times may help eliminate panic and help victims recover from the difficult situation as soon as possible. The existence of effective leadership in a crisis is one of the most important inputs in order to diminish the harmful effects of crises and disasters. The absence of effective leadership in times of crisis may be one of the most significant problems in the public administration because it may result in loss of human life and property. By answering the following research questions this study provides useable knowledge for public managers and leaders during crises: Are there any different leadership features or characteristics for effective leadership at time of crises than the leadership in normal time? What is the role of effective leadership in managing crises and disasters (natural or man-made)? How do a public administrator's leadership traits and skills impact the effectiveness of crisis leadership? How do a public administrator's leadership behaviors (task-, people-, and organization-oriented behaviors) influence the effectiveness of a crisis leadership? With the aim of revealing these relations, a self-reported survey was sent to 2,095 current and former Turkish public security network managers. The study found that the core leadership competencies (decisiveness, flexibility, communication, problem solving, managing innovation and creativity, team building, managing and organizing personnel, motivating, networking and partnering, decision making, scanning the environment, and strategic planning) have a positive relationship with the effectiveness of crisis leadership. Among three categories of leadership behaviors, task-oriented leadership behaviors were found with the highest level of impact on the effectiveness of crisis leadership. The study indicated the importance of the core leadership competencies in the effectiveness of crisis leadership. According to the results, the hypothesis testing with the covariance structure model supported the positive impact of the core leadership competencies on the effectiveness of crisis leadership. This study contributes to the literature on leadership during crisis situations, and also provides proposals for public managers and practitioners in order to increase their effectiveness in leading their organizations during a crisis situation.

This study explores the associations between the independent variables of organizational motivations and culture with the dependent variable of organizational commitment to local jail reentry partnerships. A cross-sectional, mixed methods design was used based primarily on a quantitative survey mailed to organizational informants involved in jail reentry activities within three central Florida counties. Qualitative data was also collected by observing conveniently sampled reentry meetings and analyzing the content of social artifacts, such as meeting handouts, minutes, e-mails, and other related documents. This study extends the literature by using the theoretical framework of Oliver (1990) to develop measures of organizations' motivations (i.e., reciprocity, stability, efficiency, asymmetry, and legitimacy) to partner with jails in reentry. It also extends the literature of Fletcher, Lehman, Wexler, Melnick, Taxman, and Young (2009) by furthering the development of valid measures of interorganizational relationships. Fletcher and associates found two levels of relationships (i.e., structured and unstructured); whereas this study found that organizations are linked according to elements (i.e., linking clients, services, providers, data, program evaluation and grant funding, and management) within increasing levels of complexity. Bivariate and multivariate analyses indicated positive associations between the predictor and outcome variables, as hypothesized. However, the sample size was not large enough to determine the strength or significance between the variables. The directed content analysis of the qualitative data supported the presence of the theoretical constructs, but also indicated that they were not mutually exclusive or exhaustive. Two of the three counties ended formal reentry meetings, so a case study approach was used to analyze the three counties using the theory of loose coupling (Orton & Weick, 1990; Weick, 1976). Although all three counties experienced the same external pressures to begin formal meetings, there were differences in partnership structures, leadership goals, and events which serve to explain why only one county was able to sustain those formal meetings. Results of this study have both research and practical implications. The development of valid measures for moderating variables in reentry will allow researchers to relate those variables to reentry program outcomes. By exploring the associations between organizational motivations and cultures with varying levels of commitment to interorganizational relationships, correctional officials will better understand who will partner, why, and to what degree. As a result, we may better understand the extent to which reforms targeting offender reentry can be successfully planned, implemented, and sustained. There are limitations to this study. Methodological errors associated with surveys, the primary data collection method herein, include the following: measurement, coverage, sampling, and nonresponse (Dillman, Smyth, & Christian, 2009). Despite having a relatively large sample size for analysis at the organizational level, the correlation design and small sample size (N = 68) limit the ability to draw causal inferences.