Public Administration Research Colloquiums
The School of Public Administration has developed regular public administration research colloquiums. The aim of the colloquiums is to bring together faculty expertise, students, and community for an intellectual dialogue with prominent researchers on topics relevant to public affairs and administration. Faculty members and featured speakers with national and international reputations discuss their research and the research process. Student research in the School of Public Administration and the College of Health and Public Affairs has been enhanced through the initiation of these monthly Public Administration Research Colloquiums. The research colloquiums focus on the current topics in public administraton and bring community leaders, scholar, and students together.
2011-2012 Series:
Wedesday, February 20, 2012; HPA II, Room 247; 4:00 - 5:30 p.m.
RSVP by 2/28 to lobryne@knights.ucf.edu
Dr. Qian Hu will discuss an exploratory study of social networking sites (SNS) use by members of the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA). Through an online survey of the ASPA membership, this study explores how ASPA members, who represent researchers and practitioners from the private, public, nonprofit sectors, and public administration students, are using social media in their study, work, and management practices. A preliminary content analysis of the Facebook pages for ASPA, ASPA sections, and chapters has also been conducted to understand the current use of SNS by ASPA. Furthermore, this study investigates how ASPA as a professional association can use social media as an effective platform to engage membership in future activities and services. In the end, this study aims to provide suggestions on how public administration can make good use of social media to promote public service spirit, engage citizens, and improve public services
Wednesday, November 30, 2011, HPA II, Room 247; 4:00 - 5:30 p.m.
University of Central Florida participants in the 6th Seoul Field Trip will share findings and experiences from their study abroad program in Seoul, South Korea. Participants will share information on the innovative strategies and cultural shifts occurring in Seoul, which have resulted in Seoul becoming a world-class city where technology and innovation intersect with the promotion of work-life balance and an improved quality of life. Topics include changes in human resource management system, performance system, e-government, social service infrastructure, city management and competitiveness. Using the relationship between Seoul Metropolitan Government and Korea University as an exemplar, opportunities for future partnerships will be offered along with preliminary information on the 7th Seoul Field Trip. In conclusion, a brief presentation of student experiences in pictures and video will also be presented.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011; HPA II, room 247; 4:00 - 5:30 p.m.
Dr. Roberts will discuss her experiences as a career executive with Federal, State and local government and the private sector, with a focus on changing practices and trends which have impacted public administration in the Federal Government during the past 30 years. Government reform efforts will be highlighted which have led to the Federal public administration we have today, e.g., zero-based budgeting, performance-based management, quality management, matrix management, benchmarking, and reinventing government. Examples will be shared from her work with NASA, the U.S. Departments of Justice and Transportation, Xerox Corporation (President's Exchange Executive), the President's Council on Management Improvement, and the President's National Performance Review, which illustrate how Federal agencies and the workforce have led and responded to changing requirements and expectations. Dr. Roberts will conclude with what she believes are implications for public administration in the 21st Century.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011; HPA II, Room 247; 4:00 - 5:30 p.m.
Dr. Sun will discuss her research on the effect of fiscal decentralization on economic growth. Fiscal decentralization has been argued to provide many potential benefits to enhance economic development, including cost-saving about information transfer from local to central governments, improved local accountability, a diverse provision of public goods and services, laboratory effects of local policies, and so forth. On the other hand, inefficiencies could be associated with fiscal decentralization as well, such as fiscal disparities, “race to bottom” competition among local governments, poor governance, distorted taxation system, etc. Dr. Sun will provide empirical evidence of the effect of fiscal decentralization on economic growth based on her study of 361 metropolitan areas in the U.S. She will also explain the policy implications of the study.
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2010 - 2011 Series:
April 20, 2011; HPA II, Room 247; 4:00 - 5:30
In order to fully understand the collaboration process of service partnerships, it is important to examine the antecedents of collaboration, the collaboration itself and the outcomes of such collaboration (Gray & Wood, 1991). The purpose of this dissertation is to assess the situational factors that lead community-based organizations staff to participate in service partnership, the influence of such factors on collaboration practices and the extent to which collaboration process influences the perceived outcomes of collaborative efforts. This study will use structural equation modeling to assess the relationships between exogenous variables (situational factors) and endogenous variables (inter-organizational collaboration and collaborative outcomes). This dissertation can contribute to the study and practical field of inter-organizational collaboration and nonprofit management.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011; HPA II, Room 247; 4:00 - 5:30 p.m.
This study seeks to test Hirsch’s second ghetto thesis in the city of Baltimore, Maryland. Hirsch suggested that the role of government, public policies, and administrative discretion were responsible for the re-segregation of African Americans into second ghetto communities in Chicago. Many scholars have used Hirsch’s framework to explain ghetto formation. This investigation seeks to extend the literature in several ways. First, several national policies were investigated to determine their impact on African American mobility in Baltimore: the Housing Act of 1937 (public housing), the Housing Act of 1949 (urban renewal), and the Interstate Highway Act of 1956 (transportation). Second, Baltimore officials were specifically highlighted as facilitators of second ghetto development based on the unprecedented discretion devolved from the above public policies. Third, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology was used to underscore the spatial and temporal parameters of urban African American mobility based on the public policy decisions of local administrators.
March 23, 2011; HPA II, Room 247; 4:00 - 5:30 p.m.
In this study, the concepts of managerial support, job satisfaction and organizational commitment were examined and compared with the nonprofit, for-profit and public sectors. In this context, the job satisfaction and organizational commitment levels depending on managerial support within education and health sectors in Turkey were questioned. The job satisfaction and organizational commitment scale and 750 survey forms were distributed to the organizations. Of those forms, 614 were evaluated. As a result of analysis, it was identified that there was a linear relationship depending on administrative support between the overall satisfaction level and organizational commitment. Some differences in terms of the managerial support, job satisfaction, and commitment in were found the three sectors. In addition, while there were no differences in terms of age, sex, marital status and education among demographic variables, less satisfactions and commitment were found among doctors in comparison to other participants.
January 26, 2011; HPA II, Room 247; 4:00 - 5:30 p.m.
Police behavior literature suggests that the nature of police profession gives patrol officers the choice of exercising discretion when practicing daily policing activities. The study uses a motivational perspective to examine factors that affect Turkish patrol officers' responsiveness in enforcing the law. It aims to investigate the role of both extrinsic and intrinsic motivation and also attitudes toward selective enforcement on officer decision to responding street contingencies. The study develops and validates measurement models and also structural equation modeling (SEM) to investigate causal pathways among latent variables. Based on findings, to what extent extrinsic and intrinsic motivational variables and individual attitudes might affect responsiveness of patrolman will be discussed.
November 17, 2010; HPA II, Room 247; 4:30 - 5:30 p.m.
Dr. Hawkins will discuss his research on centralized and decentralized metropolitan governance. Metropolitan areas are comprised of government and non-government organizations. The extent to which exchange relations among governments are centralized and linked to particular network actors has implications for coordinating local actions and policies and resolving governance issues across a region. Dr. Hawkins will provide evidence of these exchange relations among network actors in eleven large metropolitan areas. He will also share his results of a network analysis of these regions.
October 20, 2010; HPA II, Room 247; 4:00 - 5:30
Dr. Knox’s research applies critical theory to analyze public policies surrounding the Florida Everglades. Critical theory suggests conflicting interests and policy agendas will be reflected in FL Everglades restoration policy, most noticeably through communicative distortions and blockages that suppress and conceal tensions between environmental and economic priorities. Dr. Knox’s case study challenges a number of assumptions of mainstream policy research. The case study results demonstrate that mainstream policy research actually relies on a comprehensive set of assumptions that it fails to recognize. Moreover, her analysis suggests that a set of unacknowledged premises constitutes a paradigm in need of articulation and assessment.
September 29, 2010; HPA II, Room 247; 1:30 - 3:00 p.m.
Through the regulation of land development and the built environment, local governments play a key role in mitigating and reducing the energy consumption and Greenhouse Gas emissions associated with current and future growth. The Energy Sustainable Florida Communities Survey measures the energy sustainability capacity of local governments in Florida in terms of the level of adoption of green innovations, policies and practices fostering energy efficiency, conservation, and renewable energy. The project seeks to identify the influence that community economic and nvironmental conditions have on local overnment’s adoption and diffusion of these ractices, particularly those devised to implement lorida’s energy legislation.
September 8, 2010; HPA II, Room 247; 4:00 - 5:30 p.m.
Dr. Bryer will discuss his research on the "Costs of Democratization," which builds on democratic and institutional design theories, including his work on the concept of a “democracy bubble.” He argues that if costs are not accepted by governments to better prepare citizens to be effective participants in the decision-making process, then the democratization experiment of giving citizens easy access to decision-making, might best be called for the facade it is and terminated. He presents case examples from regulations.gov, Obama Administration public participation initiatives, various social media in government initiatives, and the Learning and Design Forum as practiced in the City of Los Angeles.
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2009 - 2010 Series:
April 29, 2010; HPA II, Room 247; 3:00 - 5:30 p.m.
Network analysis is a field of study that focuses on social relations among a set of actors – people, teams, organizations. Network analysis has been used to analyze and understand the structure of intra- and inter- organizational relationships. In the process of working in this field, researchers have developed a set of distinctive theoretical perspectives sympathetic with systems theory and complexity theory. Social network research is also characterized by a distinctive methodology encompassing techniques for collecting data, statistical analysis, and visual representation. The purpose of this workshop is to introduce participants to the theory and methods of (social) network analysis and its applications in public policy and management. Several network analysis examples from different settings using UCINET, a widely used social network analysis program, will be presented. The participants will be introduced to UCINET Program in the second half of the workshop.
March 25, 2010; HPA II, Room 247; 4:00 - 5:30 p.m.
During the Serbian-Bosnian conflict of the early 1990¿s, twenty thousand Bosnian women were sexually assaulted. Several global organizations have concluded that these assaults were not isolated by- products of war but rather systematic and organized commissions of sexual violence. Based on qualitative analysis of reports documenting such assaults, this work asserts that the governing forces of Serbia employed systematic sexual violence as public policy in Bosnia during the conflict of 1992 to 1995. If systematic sexual violence can be explicitly recognized as public policy, it can be differentiated from other forms of sexual violence by its intent -- that is, its policy goals. Then, as with genocide, we can legally define systematic sexual violence by its intent rather than its scale. Occurrences of mass rape would no longer be necessary in order to trigger our attention to this policy of abuse.
March 4, 2010; HPA II, Room 247; 4:00 - 5:30
February 25, 2010; HPA II, Room 247; 4:00 - 5:30 p.m.
Over the last two decades the operating work environment has become exceedingly more challenging and complex. To wit, communication and information technology have grown exponentially, increasing the pace, scope, and scale of work. Such technology has also increased the globalism and geographic dislocation of organizational work. The global reach of today's business, coupled with the increasing immediacy afforded by current technology, strategic issues, and problems, produces greater interconnectivity within and across organizational boundaries. Traditional organizational forms have been typically insufficient to respond effectively to such changes. One modern form includes different kinds of tightly coupled collaborations that exist across traditional team and organizational boundaries; such collaborations have been observed in the past in the face of large scale crisis events that require the interdependent responsiveness of multiple agencies. This talk will first elaborate the core features of these collectives, multiteam systems, differentiating them from more traditional organizations and from large-scale teams, and second present findings of a programmatic research stream on the core functioning of such systems.
February 18, 2010; HPA II, Room 247; 4:00 - 5:30 p.m.
Organizations are restructuring into collaborative systems in order to address complex problems by combining expertise distributed across functions, knowledge specialties, and geographic locations. Often times these systems face complex and multifaceted goals requiring distinct teams of public managers to coordinate their efforts and compile crucial information distributed across a network. This presentation will render an understanding of the requisite motivational, cognitive, and behavioral dynamics that enable virtual organizations (aka networks) to function effectively in preparedness and response to disasters. Emergency and disaster management requires intergovernmental networks with federal, state and local governmental units in order to share responsibilities, information, expertise, and communication. A better network of public agencies with private and nonprofit sector organizations is critical for the success of disaster preparedness, response, and recovery.
January 28, 2010; HPA II, Room 247; 4:00 - 5:30 p.m.
The first part of this research uses methods of network analysis to explain local economic development policy adoption. Development policy adoption is hypothesized to be a function of diffusion that results from a city government’s structural embededness within a metropolitan network of organizations and local governments. The number and diversity of institutions and their interactions are sometimes referred to as “institutional thickness” (Amin and Thrift 1995, pg. 102), in which a thicker institutional fabric leads to more common knowledge and innovative capacity that can support economic growth. This idea is tested using survey data generated from twelve metropolitan areas. Methods of network analysis are used to construct independent variables that indicate a city’s structural network position. The results of a zero inflated poison regression indicate that a city’s position within a larger network of local governments and metropolitan network actors increases local policy adoption. The second part of this research tests the idea that depending on the obstacles to cooperation for economic development, local governments seek out network actors to reduce the transaction costs of forming an agreement. This implies a non-additive relationship. A series of regression models with interaction terms is used to test this hypothesis.
MEASURING THE IMPACT OF PHILANTHROPY USING MARKET DATA
November 19, 2009; HPA II, Room 247; 4:00 - 5:30 p.m.
The new philanthropy marketplace is changing rapidly due to the economy and the 5 living generations of our population. The Community Foundation of Central Florida’s DonorEdge initiative is the tool to bridge the gap between the old marketplace of giving from the heart and the new marketplace of investment.
INCREMENTALISM AFTER THE STORM: MEASURING THE SUCCESS OF THE EVACUATION OF NEW ORLEANS DURING HURRANCE GUSTAV - HAVE WE LEARNED ANYTHING?
November 12, 2009; Business Administration Room 221; 6:00 - 7:30 p.m.
Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath have become the touchstone for failure at every level. Subsequently, the measure of hurricane preparedness and response is now compared to the experience of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Hurricanes are complex events, from the warnings to the evacuation, response and recovery. This lecture will discuss the observed changes made in evacuation planning in the New Orleans region since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and measured during the evacuation for Hurricane Gustav in 2008.
GOVERNMENTAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT CAPACITY IN RESPONSE TO DISASTERS IN CHINA
November 5, 2009; HPA II, Room 247; 4:00 - 5:30 p.m.
High performance in response to disasters requires an ability to assess and adapt capacity rapidly, restore or enhance disrupted or inadequate communications, utilize uncharacteristically flexible decision making, and expand coordination and trust of emergency response organizations. The presentation will focus on diffusion of disasters and government prevention strategies before they become uncontrollable using China as example. China is one of the countries which have a wide range of disasters and suffer more serious losses.
THE IMPACT OF INCOME INEQUALITY ON SOCIAL CAPITAL AND ADVERSE SOCIAL OUTCOMES
October 22, 2990; HPA II, Room 247; 4:00 - 5:30
An interdisciplinary approach to policy and governance recognizes that many social welfare problems are interrelated, and policy-makers seeking solutions have long recognized a need to address the root causes of these problems. There is much evidence that income inequality is one of these root causes but theorists caution that the relationships are complex and causal arrows could run in any direction. Recent research suggesting the effect of income inequality is mediated by social capital has further complicated the relationship. This session will discuss on-going research utilizing structural equation modeling (SEM) to investigate the contextual pathway between income inequality, social capital and selected outcomes in the four disciplinary areas of health care; criminal justice; social work and public administration. One of the key problems in this relationship involves the difficulty of measuring social capital. This session will present preliminary results of a test of a social capital measurement model at the county level.
PERCEIVED SCHOOL QUALITY AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH MONETARY HOUSING VALUE: SCHOOL FACILITY AGE AND ITS ASSOCIATON WITH HOUSE SALE PRICE / A STUDY OF THE ORLANDO AREA
September 24, 2009; HPA II, Room 247; 4:00 - 5:30 p.m.
Schools are seen as an access of future opportunity for children. Consequently, school quality is often identified as a significant influence on housing choice and thereby monetary housing value. This cross-sectional study employs multivariate regression analysis to assess the relationship between school attributes on single-family housing values in the Orlando, Florida metropolitan area. The model includes facility age as a measure of perceived school quality, along with a series of control variables, to assess the relationship between public school facility age and the corresponding housing values within the associated school attendance zone. The key findings demonstrate that there is a relationship between school attributes, including age, on single-family housing values in the sample. It was found that facility age correlated with housing sale price, with both newer and historic school facilities being positively associated with monetary housing value. These findings are intended to aid community development and urban revitalization policy discourse. The implication is that if communities invest in new schools, or renovate schools in older communities, then this could aid in community development initiatives and urban revitalization efforts in those neighborhoods.
CIVIC ENGAGEMENT IN PUBLIC SERVICE IN COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE
August 27, 2009; HPA II, Room 247; 4:00 - 5:30 p.m.
Public administration has a multi-dimensional process. Public service delivery is complex and requires partnership with other organizations (public and private) and citizenry. Democratic understanding and participatory social culture is very important for democratic societies. Collaborative or participatory governance can be described as active involvement of citizens and civic organizations in government decision making processes. The term “governance” is, generally viewed as steering, the process that influences decisions and actions within the private, public, and civic sectors. This presentation will describe collaboration and governance in the perspective of deliberative democracy and citizen participation. The presentation uses civic engagement examples from Metropolitan Orlando Region and Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, Turkey.
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2008 - 2009 Series:
Thursday, March 19, 2009, HPA II, Room 247
4:00 - 5:30
The creation of public private partnerships (PPP)’s for infrastructure development in the United States has recently increased as more state and local governments realize their benefits in alternative means of financing new road and bridge construction. Long term leases, however, pose significant risks, as traditional means and mechanisms designed to ensure that private contractors act in the public interest are inadequate in the face of the vastly more complex PPP arrangements. In many cases procurement officials as well as public managers do not have the requisite knowledge to 1) clearly identify program goals, project objectives, and specifications; 2) use evaluation or selection criteria that are valid enough to choose the best private partner; and most important 3) cannot effectively administer contracts and monitor private partner performance over a multigenerational time period. These risks have led to an increased call for greater citizen/customer awareness and engagement to ensure greater acceptance of the final product, e.g., a toll financed roadway. Our presentation will assess the effectiveness of existing citizen participation mechanisms, e.g. those relevant to transportation planning. We will also propose additional engagement citizen roles and
structures, drawing from experiences in public procurement and other policy areas.
Thursday, March 5, 2009, HPA II, Room 247
4:00 - 5:30
Drs. Arrington and Marlowe will present their book: The Search for Sustainable Governance: An Overview. This book explores the rich meanings of “sustainability” and how it relates to “public leadership” and “governance” by studying one state, Florida. While these concepts have broader value, they are understood best by an in-depth examination in a limited arena. Moreover, Florida is often considered a “bellwether State” and a harbinger of things to come in America. The State is in an uncertain period of hopeful transition from the traditional vision to grow its population base to a new vision calling for a “sustainable Florida”. Success in realizing Florida’s new vision will demand understanding of the rich meanings of sustainability, and consensus in support of the precepts of “sustainable governance”. The authors’ purpose is to contribute to this understanding and consensus. Two areas of public policy are examined from a sustainability perspective, taxation and budgeting; and growth management. The book also examines what is labeled as the “shift from bureaucratic government to sustainable governance.” This is an analysis of current theory
and practice of new ways of building sustainable governmental institutions and
effective working relationships among public, private, and non-profit sectors.
LOW-INCOME HEALTH CARE NETWORKS: INITIAL CONDITIONS, EXTENT, AND INTENSITY RELEVANT TO COUNTY GOVERNMENT PARTICIPATION
Thursday, February 26, 2009, HPA II, Room 247
4:00 - 5:30
This research examines networks of counties and nongovernmental organizations in the delivery of low-income health care services. Using complexity theory and resource dependency theory, health care networks emerge as a possible adaptation for meeting community health care needs. Consequently, this study explores the existence, complexity, and intensity of health care networks for low income, uninsured, and underinsured county residents.
This study focuses on four aspects of low-income health care networks. First, the initial conditions under which low income health care networks may form will be examined. Second, the study will identify the impact of county involvement based upon county participation levels. Third, the numbers and types of health care providers that participate in the network will be examined. Finally, a model that explains the relationship between county conditions and the intensity of network functions will be tested.
THE APPLICATION OF STAKEHOLDERMANAGEMENT THEORY TO HEALTHCARE ORGANIZATIONS
Thursday, January 29, 2009, HPA II, Room 247
4:00 - 5:30
Stakeholder management theory represents a segment of Strategic Management Theory which was originated by Richard Freeman, in his 1984 book Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach. Freeman's conceptual framework was later extended, adapted and applied to the healthcare industry by John Blair and Myron Fottler in their 1990 book titled Challenges in Healthcare Management: Strategic perspectives for managing key stakeholders. This session will discuss the evolution of Stakeholder Management Theory as well as strategies for identifying, assessing and managing key stakeholders in healthcare organizations.
THE POLITICS OF PRESIDENTIAL DISASTER DECLARATIONS: EISENHOWE TO OBAMA
Thursday, January 15, 2009, HPA II, Room 247
4:00 - 5:30
Dr. Sylves’ talk and presentation will be about the old and new politics of presidential declarations of major disaster and emergency. I will demonstrate that while disasters and calamitous misfortunes of various types
are empirical realities, presidential decisions about whether or not to approve or deny governor-requested declarations for these events is also much about political and social constructions of reality.
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT NETWORKS IN RESPONSE TO TERRORIST EVENTS: COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVES
Thursday, December 4, 2008, HPA I, Room 207
4:15 - 5:45
Bahadir Sahin will address the differences in emergency management networks in different countries. Emergency management networks of four countries will be examined for their efforts in response to extreme terrorist events hit New York City in 2001, Istanbul in 2003, Madrid in 2004, and London in 2005. Multi-organizational coordination in response to and recovery from terrorism disasters will be compared in these four cases. The four cases will also be compared in terms of efficiency/effectiveness of different crisis management systems and practice. The study uses complex adaptive systems theory in analyzing the cases.
POLICY NETWORKS AND LOCAL DEVELOPMENT DECISION
Thursday, November 20, 2008, HAP II, Room 247
4:00 - 5:30
Urban policy emerges from the network of interdependent government and non-government interests within metropolitan areas. Largely absent from the urban policy and public administration literature is analysis of how the structural relationships between actors in the regional policy network shape the competitive actions and development decisions of local governments. This study identifies the characteristics of the economic development network in a sample of large MSAs and explores how the relations among policy actors influence intergovernmental relations.
PUBLIC SERVICE & LEADERSHIP PROGRAM AT UCF's DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
Thursday, November 6, 2008, HPA II, Room 345
4:00 - 5:30
Public Service and Leadership Development (PSLD) Program aims to contribute to developing, strengthening, and maintaining highly skilled, competent, and professional public service leaders. This program help meet the current and future leadership needs of the core public administration. The program offers leadership development programs and courses that will help to strengthen the participants’ leadership and management capacities. This is third consecutive group of officials visiting the University of Central Florida in the last two years. There are currently nine (9) participants in the program who are Chief Inspectors from Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Turkey. The colloquium presentation will describe the PSLD program within the Department of Public Administration as well as a presentation from one of the Chief Inspectors, Dr. Erkan Toprak on personal experiences as an administrator abroad and the participant.
THE ROLE OF ANALOGICAL REASONING IN DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN POLICYMAKING
Thursday, October 23, 2008, HPA II, Room 247
4:00 - 5:30
In recent years a large literature has appeared on the role of analogical reasoning – the use of historical analogies as a cognitive aid to decision-making – in the field of foreign policy analysis, a body of work to which the author has contributed. This literature has been inspired mainly by research drawn from cognitive and social psychology, and most of all perhaps by the bounded rationality tradition of scholars like Herbert Simon. However, the application of analogical reasoning to domestic (as opposed to foreign policy) cases is still in its infancy. This talk suggests that the application of cognitive models to domestic policy analysis is long overdue, and that we can expect such approaches to bear fruit in domestic situations (such as major crises like Hurricane Katrina and the Detroit riots of the 1960s) which in many ways ‘mimic’ the cognitive demands placed on decision-makers confronting foreign policy situations.
COMMUNITY VALUES AND RENEWABLE ENERGY ALTERNATIVES
Thursday, October 16, 2008 - HPA II, Room 247
4:00 - 5:30
The clean energy revolution is an opportunity for communities to choose technologies that serve broader goals of community development. Dr. Canan will present an award-winning research approach that measured the structure of community values and used that structure to recommend alternatives for renewable energy production.
GLOBALIZATION OF DISASTERS: A FIRST-HAND REPORT ON THE WENCHUAN EARTHQUAKE IN CHINA IN 2008
Thursday, October 9, 2008 - HPA II, Room 247
4:00 - 5:30
Disasters require coordinated action among multiple actors, including international organizations, across many jurisdictions under conditions of urgent stress, heavy demand and tight time constraints. The problem is socio-technical in that the capacity for inter-organizational coordination depends upon the technical structure and performance of the information systems that support decision making among the participating organizations. Interactions among human managers, computers, and organizations under stress are complex and not well understood. Yet, coordinating response operations to extreme disasters is an extraordinarily complex task for public emergency managers. This presentation will focus on the interactions among multiple organizations that evolved in response to the Wenchuan Earthquake in China in 2008, examining the relationships among organizations in terms of timely access to information and types of supporting infrastructure.
CAN (WILL) SOCIAL NETWORKS TRANSFORM GOVERNMENT?
Thursday, October 2, 2008 - HPA II, Room 345
4:00 - 5:30
The biggest challenge in government's use of social networks starts with a basic question tied to the role of public participation in the government process itself: Do we want public participation because we
authentically believe that it will improve governmental processes, or do we encourage public participation because "we have to?" Public participation provides elected officials with a diversity of knowledge and experience to help them debate policy issues and make better decisions. While the Internet presents challenges (real and perceived) to government to engage constituents, its dramatic influence on citizens' preferences and expectations to communicate and receive information cannot be ignored. Both sides have very different perceptions of what public participation means and should be. Enterprise social networks address these problems by enabling constructive participation designed to provide government with new and diverse information to expand solution choices and a better sense of possibility.
SOCIAL CAPITAL AS A SUCCESSFUL METHOD FOR PREVENTING SUBSTANCE USE
Thursday, September 18, 2008 - HPA II, Room 345
4:00 - 5:30
Substance use, such as alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana, is a threat to the health and well-being of the youth, their families, and society as well. Government supports and implements several programs to protect youth from substance use. The aim of this study is to explain youth behavior with social capital in terms of their social interactions with peers, community, and parents. Social capital refers to individuals embedded in web of social relations and their behaviors guided by social structure. The study focuses on bonding and bridging social capital. The type of activity children participate in, the time and type of activity they interact with their family and the type of peer groups youth interacted with are considered as predictor indicators of youth behavior. This study focuses on the relationship between youth substance use and the impact of parents, peers, and youth activities. The study uses the United States Department of Health and Human Service, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Office of Applied Studies collected in 2006. National Survey on Drug Use and Health was analyzed with Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Findings show that there is a relationship between youth substance use and bonding social capital (interactions with close relatives). Correlation varies for age, gender, and ethnicity. The study contributes to the social capital literature and demonstrates social capital as a policy and intervention tool.
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