SCHOOL OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
SCHOOL OF PUBLIC ADMINISTR ATION
CAPSTONE PRESENTATIONS Fall 2018
Presenters
Panel 1 | Online Room: CPACS 213 Alumni Panelists: Jessica Jones, Ben Kalinkowitz, Gayle Malmquist, Jennifer Talorio Tune in online with Zoom using this link: https://unomaha.zoom/us/j/6036877455 1:00 PM: Kody Clark An Organizational Analysis of the Omaha Spielbound Board Game Café and Nonprofit Organization; and the Feasibility of Replicating its Organizational Model In a world with children and adults more connected to smart phones and technology and relying less on inperson social interactions, board games provide a method to facilitate that social interaction in a positive manner. Board game cafes are also becoming increasingly popular in cities and provide a medium for that game play by creating a community center. In Omaha, Spielbound has developed both a for-profit board game café and a nonprofit organization that focuses on the positive outcomes of board game play and board game creation with seniors trying to remain cognitively sharp, school-aged children striving for different mental challenges, and a community in need of in-person positive social interaction. Spielbound’s specific model appears to be unique and unexplored in social science research. This research project focuses on gaining a better understanding of how Spielbound operates its two entity model and what benefits it sees from its nonprofit outreach activities. A literature review focuses on the benefits of board game play and the arguments for and against nonprofit organizations operating for-profit enterprises. The methodology for this paper uses qualitative methods, centered on in-depth interviews with the CEO of Spielbound, the board of directors, staff, and community members impacted by outreach efforts. The findings show the challenges encountered by an organization attempting to operate both a nonprofit outreach organization and a for-profit café and how they successfully navigated those challenges. It also shows the benefits that Spielbound sees from its unique model. A goal of this project was to show how Spielbound operates to see if it can replicated in other cities. The interviews showed that this could and should be done by other organizations hoping to create a positive and inclusive community center focused around board game play.
1:25 PM: Sommer Fousek Strategic Issues and SWOT Analysis at the Nebraska Academy for Early Childhood Research The SWOT analysis is a fundamental component of the strategic planning process (Helms & Nixon, 2010; Pickton, 1998) that identifies organizational strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. As internal and external environments continue to grow in complexity and interconnectedness, the SWOT analysis not only serves as a guide for future action and strategic planning, but also creates an opportunity for organizational intentionality and deliberate thought. There is little research available regarding the application of a SWOT analysis to collaboration research networks. This paper applies a SWOT analysis to the Nebraska Academy for Early Childhood Research, a relatively new collaborative research network that aims to achieve sustainability and organizational growth. Qualitative data was gathered via a focus group and interview with NAECR leadership; results were categorized into themes and sub-themes, then inserted into the SWOT analysis framework. The framework provided a guide for the alignment of internal characteristics with the external environment, as well as the identification of several, broad strategic issues. Recommendations are provided based upon findings.
1:50 PM: Joseph Gudenrath El Paso’s Downtown Revitalization: Is it working and what strategies are most effective? The pressure and responsibility for spurring economic development is being increasingly bestowed on local governments. A variety of policies, strategies, tactics and campaigns have been utilized by communities across the country with varying levels of success, and instances of failure. Following the deterioration of downtown cores over the past seventy years, many communities have focused on downtown redevelopment to not only rebuild its urban core, but to establish an economic engine benefiting the entire community. In 2007, the City of El Paso initiated an effort to reestablish its downtown and spark additional economic development and investment. This research paper examines property valuation growth within the downtown throughout this time period and associated with incentive agreements, a commercial façade improvement grant program, investments in public facilities, and cross border traffic patterns. Findings indicate that overall property value growth within the downtown is lagging behind citywide growth, but specific efforts appear to be impacting valuation growth. The analysis emphasizes the challenge of spurring economic development and the unpredictability of tactics.
2:15 PM: Rebecca Cheek First Officer Qualification Rule and its Impact on Safety Safety regulation in commercial aviation is intended to proactively improve air service nation-wide and is continually updated and amended to address challenges in safety. Some regulations are controversial among industry leaders and draw public attention. The First Officer Qualification (FOQ) regulation that was implemented in 2013 following the Colgan Air crash of 2009 has become a controversial regulation in the eyes of some critics that suggest the regulation has led to a pilot shortage and negative perceptions of the airline pilot career path. This regulation significantly increased the number of flight hours commercially licensed pilots must obtain prior to flying for a regional airline. This project includes a literature review discussion of prior studies concerning FOQ and its impacts on the pilot profession, and contributes an analysis of incident and accident data to examine potential safety effects of the regulation. Regional airline incidents that are determined to be caused by human factors are analyzed to assess any significant differences in pilot proficiency before and after FOQ implementation.
Panel 2 | Online Room: CPACS 214 Alumni Panelists: Melissa Folsom, Valerie Nordstrom, Alice Schumaker, Tammy Webster Tune in online with Zoom using this link: https://unomaha.zoom.us/j/9883523914 1:00 PM: Courtney Sawle A Program Evaluation of the English Language Learner (ELL) School Home Liaison Program in Sioux Falls, South Dakota The Sioux Falls School District ELL School Home Liaison Program seeks to build bridges between school staff and parents that may be new to the United States or still learning English. The program is based on the premise that students perform better in school when their parents have strong relationships and communication with the school. The Liaison Program is comprised of 13 cultural and language experts (referred to as liaisons) that are divided amongst 21 schools in the district. Some core functions of the liaisons include: providing families with interpretation services, connecting them with community resources, providing transportation to school meetings, and advocating for both the parents and students. The study seeks to determine whether or not the core functions of the liaison position are regarded as important by the parents and if so, whether or not those parents feel they are getting adequate assistance in those areas. Surveys were mailed to 171 Spanish-speaking families across one high school, one middle school, and one elementary school. A primarily quantitative analysis of the responses reinforced the need for the Liaison Program while offering recommendations for possible improvement.
1:25 PM: Matt Hansen The Impact of Generational Cohorts in Nonprofit Human Resource Management The talent crisis facing industry as a whole due to the aging out of the Baby Boomer generation will create a void that cannot be ignored. Over 79 million Baby Boomers will retire between 2010 and 2020. A university setting is aging even more rapidly and is increasingly susceptible to this phenomenon as the majority of university employees are now between the ages of 55 and 75. This research project will ask the question; how can a university attract and retain millennial employees to fill this void? As our environment continues to morph and change, a university will need to be in-tune to the needs of millennial employees to stay competitive and be able to recruit and retain these employees. Identifying the attributes younger generations are seeking will provide a university a baseline for enhancing recruitment strategies as well as increasing employee loyalty among these generations by providing an environment where employee needs are satisfied. Ignoring the problem will lead to difficulty in recruitment, continuing the cycle of an aging-out demographic and most likely losing a high performance culture.
1:50 PM: Gayle Schanou Attraction and Retention of Millennial Employees in a University Setting The talent crisis facing industry as a whole due to the aging out of the Baby Boomer generation will create a void that cannot be ignored. Over 79 million Baby Boomers will retire between 2010 and 2020. A university setting is aging even more rapidly and is increasingly susceptible to this phenomenon as the majority of university employees are now between the ages of 55 and 75. This research project will ask the question; how can a university attract and retain millennial employees to fill this void? As our environment continues to morph and change, a university will need to be in-tune to the needs of millennial employees to stay competitive and be able to recruit and retain these employees. Identifying the attributes younger generations are seeking will provide a university a baseline for enhancing recruitment strategies as well as increasing employee loyalty among these generations by providing an environment where employee needs are satisfied. Ignoring the problem will lead to difficulty in recruitment, continuing the cycle of an aging-out demographic and most likely losing a high performance culture.
Panel 3 Room: CEC 128 Marian Ivers Board Room Alumni Panelists: Chris Anderson, Amy Carson, Abbi Miranda Carreto, Jim Temme 1:00 PM: Joseph Nabity Recommendations for Implementing ePhilantropy to Manage Supporter Relations and Fundraising Through Internet-based Technologies The introduction of the Internet and social networking technology has complicated the challenge of engaging with supporters for nonprofit organizations. It is important for nonprofits to determine what is the best method for communication with supporters to maximize the impact the organization has on its supporters. ePhilanthropy is an overall strategy for an organization to engage with supporters through the use of technology and the Internet. The Lofte Community Theatre (The Lofte) is a small nonprofit community theatre in Manley, Nebraska. In recent years, the theatre has begun reaching beyond its physical brick and mortar facility to connect with supporters through technology. A literature review was completed to identify best practices around ePhilanthropy strategies for nonprofit organizations. Board members from a nonprofit organization were interviewed and the organization’s website was assessed based on the themes in the literature. Recommendations were created based on the research findings for the organization to improve its ePhilanthropy practices.
1:25 PM: Megan Webb Funding for the Future: A Donor Analysis an Omaha Nonprofit Research in nonprofit fundraising has long focused on donor engagement and stewardship as a way to develop relationships and solicit gifts and funding for the organization. However, in recent years, research has developed that shows the need for donor analysis that goes beyond measuring individual gifts. Fundraising data initiatives such as Association of Fundraising Professionals Fundraising Effectiveness Project (AFP FEP) and Growth-in-Giving (GiG), as well as the Fundraising Report Card have sparked the need for nonprofit organizations to run full donor database analysis using key performance indicators (KPI) such as donor retention, average gift size and the percent of donors who upgrade, downgrade, lapse and reactivate yearover-year. Using the AFP FEP, this study examines the donor giving trends for one Omaha area nonprofit organization between 2008-2017 and offers insights into how these metrics measure up to national trends, how the metrics can be used to push fundraising efforts forward and what future research is needed.
1:50 PM: Robia Qasimyar Salamat---An Evaluation of WISE Afghanistan’s Maternal Health Application Decades of conflict and economic instability wreaked havoc on Afghanistan’s healthcare infrastructure. The Afghan government has made strides since 2003 to increase the quality of and access to healthcare, especially for women. Even so, Afghan women still face various barriers to care, and Afghanistan’s maternal mortality rate remains one of the worst in the world. WISE Afghanistan, the Women’s Initiative to Strengthen and Empower, is a nonprofit organization that seeks to improve maternal healthcare in Afghanistan through its Salamat application. Salamat is a form of electronic medical record technology that allows providers to access and retrieve patient records on a tablet. The application also a reminder feature that contacts patients when they are due for another appointment. The current study utilized data collected during a pilot period from the application itself as well as baseline/endline surveys to analyze Salamat’s accessibility, patient return rates, and buy-in from public versus private health facilities. Results indicate that providers found it easier to access patient records through Salamat as opposed to manual record keeping, patient return rates slightly increased, and providers from public health facilities had more buy-in for Salamat than those from private facilities.
2:15 PM: Nathan Williams A Comparison of the Effects of Three Nebraska Communities’ Recycling Schemes on Per-Capita Waste Disposal In order to reduce the amount of waste that is landfilled in the United States due to the reduced number of landfills, the amount of material landfilled should be decreased. Per-capita waste disposed of in the United States has continued to increase over time. The increase in waste will continue to accelerate the need for more landfill space. In order to reduce the amount of waste that is going to landfills, recycling amongst other waste reducing strategies needs to be further implemented. In this paper the focus was to see the effect of two different communities recycling models compared to a community that has no city, residential or commercial recycling. A simple method of calculation was used by comparing the mean landfill disposal weight per-capita of three different communities over an eight-year time period. The results showed that a community that offered free curbside recycling and drop-off sites reduced the amount of per-capita waste that was landfilled by a mean average of .95995 pounds per-capita daily at a 95% confidence interval of the difference. At the same time, the community studied, that had only paid for curbside recycling and paid for commercial recycling did not reduce the per-capita daily waste that was landfilled by the studied community. To further reduce the amount of waste being landfilled it would be best to study communities’ practices that provide the highest rate of removal of waste being landfilled.
Panel 4 Room: CPACS 223 Alumni Panelists: James Davey, Margaret Dempsey, Jennifer Dreibelbis 1:00 PM: Melissa Mayo Boosting reading achievement by third grade: A program evaluation of Book Trust in 10 Title 1 schools Nationally, approximately 67% of children, 80% of whom come from low-income families, are not proficient readers by the end of third grade. One of the most significant barriers to early literacy, especially for children living in poverty, is access to books and reading materials in the home. To address the disparity in access, United Way of the Midlands collaborated with Book Trust, to bring their national literacy program to 10 Title 1 schools in the Omaha-Council Bluffs area in the 20162017 school year. Book Trust’s mission is to help elementary school children with little or no access to books fall in love with reading and become lifelong learners. This evaluation, which focused on results of the second year of the project, was to understand what effect the Book Trust program had on reading achievement and students’ motivation to read for the nearly 2,200 program participants. A quasi-experimental study design in this evaluation included a pre and post-test survey and reading assessment measures with a matched sample control group. Key findings emerged pointing to a larger effect of the Book Trust program on younger participants, particularly with the analysis of reading assessment data but negligible differences were found in students’ motivation to read between Book Trust and control group students. 1:25 PM: Rachael Cohen Stakeholder & SWOT Analyses for Courteous Kids Courteous Kids is a 501c3 nonprofit organization located in Omaha. They work with Omaha Public Schools, with plans to expand into other school districts. The goal of the organization is to teach manners and proper etiquette to prepare them to lead successful lives as leaders. There is limited available research regarding how etiquette and manners are taught but what is available argues that these are important for youth to develop. This Capstone project centered around stakeholder and SWOT analyses as part of a revitalized strategic plan for Courteous Kids. Strategic planning is important because it provides a plan for an organization going forward, looking at both short- (6-12 months) and longer-term (3-5) goals for the organization. Stakeholder analyses allow organizations to identify those who have power and interest within the organization and to develop ways in which to keep those individuals and organizations satisfied. SWOT analyses allow organizations to determine their internal strengths and weaknesses as well as external opportunities and threats (things over which they have no control). The organization can then find ways to address weaknesses and threats in an effort to improve not only their organization as a whole, but the services they provide to the community. Data for this project was collected by meeting with members of the board of directors and employees of Courteous Kids
1:50 PM: Laura McLean Barriers to Strategic Planning in American Churches Strategic planning practices offer a powerfully effective means to increase the impact of organizations. However, there is a noticeable gap in their adoption by religious congregations. The first step to encourage their increased use among religious congregations is to identify the obstacles to strategic planning that leaders of these organizations face. Pastors of 121 churches in the Central District of the Evangelical Free Church of America (EFCA) denomination were surveyed about their knowledge of and use of planning strategies. An online questionnaire was sent to every church in the district, with one follow-up reminder email. In addition to demographic information, questions were included about the use of mission statements, SWOT/C analyses, and other long-range planning tools. Results indicated that while these respondents were largely familiar with strategic planning and consider it a priority and important function of their jobs, they lack training and capacity. They also identified time pressures, potential for conflict, and the diversity of their contexts as other barriers.
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