School of Public Administration

This dissertation evaluates the veracity of Richard Scott’s three pillars of
institutionalization: regulative, normative, and cultural-cognitive. The test of his theory is
whether the processes and practices within the environments of the three pillars can
account for differences between academic performance and athletic performance in
Miami-Dade County, Florida public schools. Scott’s model of institutionalization works
better in predicting academic success than it does athletic success in the context of this
study as evidenced by the majority of the findings coming from the scholastic realm.
The primary methodological approach was to obtain publicly available measures
of academic performance and resources for 31 high schools in Miami-Dade County, FL,
and then evaluate relationships between these academic indicators and measures of 􀀃
􀀃school athletic performance. Pearson (parametric) and Spearman (non-parametric)
correlation coefficients were calculated to estimate the strength of association between
school characteristics and measures of academic and athletic performance. These
analyses further informed the construction of stepwise multiple linear regression models
that regressed the dependent variable (a measure of academic or athletic performance)
with a range of possible independent variables all related to individual school
characteristics.
Improvement in the academic categories included in this dissertation (math,
science, reading, and writing) has been the goal of a great deal of legislation that deals
with education at the federal, state, and local level. The top indicator of a school’s
academic performance was the number of highly qualified teachers within a school.
Cultural-cognitive pillar indicators of socioeconomic status, including minority rate and
percentage of students in a school who are eligible for free lunch, were negatively
associated with academic performance. Thus, normative and cultural-cognitive processes
can have a significant impact on whether laws and legislation have their intended effect.
In the end, it is reasonable to conclude that all three pillars complement each other in
interdependent ways within Scott’s institutional framework with different pillars taking
prominence as time and circumstances change.

The study compares and contrasts general accounting practices and
procedures as they are applied in profit and not-for-profit organizations.
The data from which this study was made was gathered from
existing publications in the fields of accounting and association
management as well as policy and practice statements issued by the
American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). The
study describes the differences in for-profit and not-for-profit
accounting practices and procedures as they exist in current practice.
The study represents a state-of-the-art overview of not-for-profit
accounting procedures of use to anyone establishing operating guidelines
for such an organization.

This is a study of intraurban rail rapid transit
systems in relation to possible implications for an urban
area over a period of 250 years. Two digital computer
simulation models using the DYNAMO computer language are
integrated to explore the results of assumed relationships
between intraurban rail rapid transit usage and an urban
area under highly pure conditions that are also assumed.
One computer simulation model is developed for use as a
rail rapid transit sector with Forrester's urban model and
is then integrated with the urban model as a sector.
The conclusions reached in the study are related
to the simulation results and state that an intraurban rail
rapid transit system may serve as a catalyst for an urban
area's revival under conditions where it is used in place
of automobiles to a high degree. However, it is also concluded
that the rail transit usage may need to be accompanied
by other specific policies in order to produce any tangible
long run changes in the urban area equilibrium conditions.

This descriptive study investigates and highlights the approaches
and processes of resolving employee/union grievances in private
business and industry in the United States. Dealing exclusively
with unionized companies, the study examines the nature of grievances
in the industrial world, contractual and actual approaches and
processes followed in resolving grievances (union-management
discussions, mediation, arbitration, right to strike, etc.), and
analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of the various approaches
and processes. Resources include research of current literature
and a survey of practitioners in the industrial relations field -
union officials, industrial relations executives from business, and
labor arbitrators.

Most of the debate within public budgeting has centered on whether the incremental or non-incremental approach is best. In a theoretical context, little attention has been paid to the actual execution of an entity's budget. Specific theoretical objectives must be met for execution to take place: the objectives have been arranged in different ways, yet the basic requirements have remained constant. The dissertation compared these established theoretical objectives with actual budget execution; it concentrated on whether actual budgeting practice met the requirements of budget execution as depicted in normative theory. The research question asked to what extent is practice consistent with theory. The reality of budget practice was determined through survey responses. The questions were based on the procedures required for carrying out the theoretical objectives of execution. Surveys were sent to budget practitioners within the two-county area in southeast Florida. These individuals are responsible for public sector budgeting within their various entities on a state, county, and local level. The survey asked for the respondents perceptions of actual practice as it related to budget execution within their entity. The individual responses were evaluated and analyzed. Factor Analysis was used to determine the loading of eleven specific objectives. The patterns created by the factor loading were explored; it established how the objectives were viewed and whether there was a monolithic approach to execution. The results of the factor loading suggested that, in practice, budget objectives are not recognized as a cohesive process. Theory failed to match actual budget execution. Established procedures found in theory are only partially recognized by those who practice budgeting. A chi-square analysis of the survey results were examined to establish internal validity of the survey instrument and determine whether the responses were influenced by the independent variables. The results of the chi-square failed to note any influence on the responses.

Internet technologies provide a criminal opportunity for stock manipulation and fraud that costs investors millions of dollars every day. In order to reduce this loss and craft policies and procedures to deter future losses, securities regulators have been seeking to understand the process of Internet securities fraud, including the actions of investors and fraudsters that contribute to that process. The purpose of this study is to determine the properties of the Internet communication environment associated with fraudulent stock schemes in order to contribute to these efforts of securities regulators. In addition, an aim of this study is to introduce Foucault's concept of power/knowledge as a means for theory development in the fields of finance, criminology and public administration that specifically addresses manipulation and fraud in the stock market.

The purpose of this study was the development and field testing of an instrument for predicting adult education dropouts. The test instrument was designed to predict whether or not a student enrolling in an adult education high school review course would become a dropout. The sample consisted of eight classes of adult education students enrolled in a General Education Diploma (G.E.D.) review program. The developed test instrument used descriptive word pairs. These word pairs were antonyms. The word pairs were designed to elicit attitudinal responses from the students. The student's responses to these word pairs were used in the prediction of the potential dropout. Stimulus pictures of hypothetical persisters and dropouts were used to stimulate the responses. The developed test instrument was used to measure the difference between the student's attitude toward the pictured hypothetical persister in Form I of the test instrument and that student's attitude toward the pictured hypothetical dropout in Form II. The difference between the student's scores on Form I and Form II of the developed test instrument was computed. The difference-score was matched to the student's subsequent behavior: dropout or persister. The interpretation of the data in the context of this research indicated that the study with a high difference-score is more likely to become a dropout and that the student with a low difference-score is more likely to become a persister. In this study the student's attitudinal responses to descriptive word pairs were used in analysis of the data. Analysis was performed in order to evaluate the contribution of specific descriptive word pairs and the relation of these word pairs to the prediction of the potential dropout. Analysis indicated that certain of the descriptive word pairs were found to be useful as predictors of student behavior: dropout or persister. It was concluded that the use of the developed test instrument using certain descriptive word pairs could be effective in predicting the potential dropout. It was recommended that early prediction of the potential dropout and sufficient concentration on effective guidance would be productive and would motivate the student to continue working toward his original goals.

At the time of this study the private schools in Volusia County were enjoying much publicity portraying them as institutions that provided a "better" quality of education for their students. A review of the literature revealed this view to be shared by many evaluators of current education programs. The findings of these evaluators were based on varying methodologies of obtaining data. In most cases, the public school students and the private school students were compared in unmatched groups. This study takes issue with the methodology used in those previous studies. The number of intervening variables allowed to interact makes the results suspect. In the present study, public and private school students were matched on five variables: sex, ethnic background, socioeconomic level, geographical location, and IQ. This decreased the number of intervening variables allowed to interact between the groups. The sixth grade students of seven private schools in Volusia County participated in the study. For each of the 187 private school students, a public school sixth grade student of the same sex, ethnic background, socioeconomic status, geographical region, and IQ was chosen. These students were given the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills in Mathematics, Language and Reading. Comparison of scores between groups showed that the public school sample scored significantly higher on the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills than the private school students. The public school students had a mean standard score of 535 compared to a mean of 500 for private school students. Converted to grade equivalents, the scores of public school students yielded a mean placement of eighth grade, seventh month versus seventh grade, seventh month for private school students. This reflected an achievement level one year greater for the public school student than the private school student. When these results were submitted to careful statistical controls, it was found the assumption of homogeneity of variance was not violated.

The complex problems of the twenty-first century cannot be effectively addressed with twentieth century top-down bureaucratic governance alone because of limited stakeholder participation in collective decision making and/or implementation. The somewhat limited stakeholder participation in the policy process, especially, that of target populations, can impact generating viable solutions to complex problems. Collaborative governance has emerged as a promising alternative to traditional management in addressing contemporary complex problems. Collaborative governance is thus a type of governance that promotes joint participation of state and non-state stakeholders in decision making and/or implementation by using agreed upon processes of engagement to collectively address problems. Such governance is especially beneficial for addressing the challenges posed by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). This dissertation uses the collaborative governance concept to explicate the efforts of HIV Health Services Planning Councils in Broward County and Palm Beach County of South Florida with the purpose of accentuating how collaborative governance works in providing various categories of services to meet the needs of people with AIDS (PWAs), as part of the implementation of the Ryan White CARE Act. The study focuses on critical variables of collaborative governance such as facilitative leadership and institutional design, the collaborative process variables such as trust building, commitment to the process and shared understanding, and outputs such as allocation priorities of the Councils. This study employed mixed methods in collecting data from various relevant sources.

This dissertation examines administrative roles within the context of everyday public administration. Specifically, it studies the relationship between administrative roles assumed by public administrators and (1) the perceived presence of administrative discretion, (2) individual level beliefs regarding involvement in policy formulation and (3) tenure with organization. This dissertation has a three-fold purpose. First, it delineates the types of roles assumed by public procurement specialists. Second, it tests whether administrative discretion, beliefs regarding participation in policy formulation and organizational tenure are significant in explaining the assumption of certain types of roles. Finally, the dissertation evaluates the implications for the public procurement process of the predominance of certain roles. vi The theoretical logic for this dissertation draws on the theory of representative bureaucracy and role theory. ... It is found that administrative discretion, individual expectations and organizational tenure are indeed important predictors of the assumption of administrative roles. Administrators who believe that they have access to relatively high levels of discretion and those who believe they should be involved in policy formulation are more likely to assume a representative type role. On the other hand, with increased tenure public administrators are less likely to assume a representative type role.