Analysis of staff knowledge of client rights in West Virginia institutions for the developmentally disabled was undertaken in this study. Even with the identification of guaranteed rights for institutionalized individuals through federal and state legislation, standards, policies, and judicial decisions, whose findings have shown that violation of client rights continues to occur in most institutions. A review of the literature indicated that one possible cause for the continuation of rights violations may be the staff limited understanding of client rights. The literature also has revealed few studies have attempted an investigation in this area. This study involved 644 full-time staff who were representative of one of six different job categories. The staff were employed in one of three West Virginia institutions for the developmentally disabled. It was hypothesized that if differences in staff knowledge of client rights were identified, this information could be used to direct staff training and policy-making decisions and perhaps minimize the continuous violations of client rights. That significant differences in knowledge of client rights did exist when different job categories of staff were compared within each institution as well as across institutions. It was found that significant relationships in knowledge of client rights exist between staff with different job longevity rates, but the correlation was too low to be considered a reliable predictor of limited value. No significant differences in staff knowledge of client rights were found between the three institutions. The implication of these research findings and the future need for research in this area are discussed. / Ed. D.

During 1999-2001, potential den trees and denning success of black bears was investigated on industrial forest lands and national forest lands in Virginia and West Virginia. One hundred and fifty seven potential den trees were found on five study areas, 135 on national forest lands and 22 on the industrial forest lands. Twenty-seven hollow potential den trees were found, 22 on national forest lands and 5 on industrial forest lands. Densities of potential den trees ranged from 12.5/km2 to 437.5/km2 on the national forest lands and on the industrial forest lands the densities ranged from 0-187.5/km2. There were significantly higher densities (F1, 69=5.86, P=0.0181) of potential den trees on the national forest land than on the industrial forest land. There were also significantly (F=2, 68=7.86 P=0.0008) higher densities of hollow potential den trees based on the stand age class. Denning success for females expected to have cubs was 98% (n=46) in tree dens on national forest lands and 100% (n=8) on industrial forest lands. Denning success for females expected to have cubs was 76% (n=55) in ground dens on national forest lands and 80% (n=5) in ground dens on industrial forest lands. Females expected to have cubs on the national forest lands had an overall denning success of 89% (n=80) and on industrial forest lands there was overall, 92% (n=13) denning success. Chi-square tests showed that abandonment of dens by bears was significantly higher (x2=19.02, 1df) in ground dens than in tree dens. Litter sizes were not different from national forest lands and industrial forest lands (t=-0.36, 44df, P=0.84). The mean litter sizes on the national forest lands was 2.55 (SE=0.16) cubs per litter and on the industrial forest land 2.4 (SE=0.22) cubs per litter. / Master of Science

School consolidation, which involves closing one or more schools and combining them into a single school, is a common phenomenon in rural Appalachian communities due to out-migration and lack of funding for public schools. When school consolidation occurs, the local school may be closed, or students from other communities may be bused to the school. Community residents, however, do not always agree with the decision to consolidate their local schools. When this disagreement occurs, residents may choose to participate in organized resistance activities to show their opposition, make their voices heard to local politicians and the media, and seek an alternative to the proposed consolidation. This case study of school consolidation in one rural Appalachian county seeks to document and analyze the struggle in which community residents engaged in an effort to prevent local schools from being consolidated. Data was collected in the form of semi-structured interviews conducted with members and sympathizers of a resistance organization called TOPS. TOPS was formed in 2001 to oppose school consolidation, but its members were not successful in keeping their local schools open. Many schools in McDowell County have been consolidated or are scheduled to be consolidated in the near future. For example, Big Creek High School, which was at the center of many consolidation debates, will be closed in 2010. Its students will be bused to a new, consolidated high school. I conducted interviews during fall 2006 and spring 2007 to determine community members' grievances concerning consolidation, to establish a narrative of their struggle against state government officials, and to provide a basis for analyzing the movement's failure to achieve its goals. I used these interviews, along with TOPS' documents, local newspaper articles, and literature from other anti-consolidation efforts, to examine possible reasons why TOPS was not successful. Social movements literature, particularly the concepts of framing and repertoires of contention, formed the theoretical basis of this analysis. / Master of Science

Thesis (Ph. D.)--West Virginia University, 2009. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains x, 431 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 416-431).

Based on author's thesis (doctoral)-- West Virginia University, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 267-288) and index.

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