MPA Capstone Booklet April 2016

SCHOOL OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

MPA CAPSTONE PRESENTATIONS

April 29, 2016

Presenters

Room: CEC 118 Alumni Panelists: Lilly Blasé, Nellie Spangler, Faiz Rab, Donald Gross Marybeth Stranglen 1:00–1:15 PM Sustaining a Growing Nonprofit Organization through Professional Development Over the past 30 years, there has been an emergence in research regarding professional development in nonprofit organizations. The subject matter is broad in nature and encompasses talent management, human resource management, evaluation, culture, rudimentary professional skills building, leadership training, succession planning and organizational development. Project Harmony is a small, but growing nonprofit organization that has identified professional development as critical to the success of their current establishment, and to their future success as well.

The goal of this research is to determine how a nonprofit organization like Project Harmony cultivates professional development and leadership skills for current and new staff.

Patrick Kilcoyne 1:30–1:45 PM Articulating an Art Form’s Value: Establishing and Communicating Value in Theatre for Young Audiences Artistic organizations are occasionally referred to as “nonessential” nonprofits as they do not deal with areas often more seen as necessary in society, such as those focused on health, welfare, and education. In addition, their work toward achieving their missions is often difficult to measure. These factors lead to a variety of challenges for arts administrators seeking to market and fundraise for their organizations. One area of the arts which may find these efforts particularly difficult is the field of Theatre for Young Audiences. Beyond simply being arts organizations, additional complications arise from the disconnect between the primary beneficiaries of the art form, the young people, and those who connect them to the art, their parents and teachers. As these young people are unlikely to be able to contribute financially to the organization, the donor base of these organizations must also come from people who are not the primary beneficiaries.

As there is very little literature on the subject of arts administration which focuses on this concentration, this project turned to the leaders of six major TYA organizations to learn how their organizations reconcile these complications and produce products which are simultaneously valuable to the young people and able to resonate with parents, educators, and potential donors.

Lydia Sand 2:00–2:15 PM Professionalizing the Sector: Exploring Approaches in Development of the Young Nonprofit Workforce Developing human resources in nonprofit organizations is an important strategy to produce sustainability (Anheier, 2005, p. 272). Yet it is only recently that management has shifted from volunteer-run to professionally staffed organizations (Hwang & Powell, 2009, p. 269-270). Increasingly, nonprofit organizations need to adapt to new funding constraints and requirements as donors want to see where and how programs are effective. Management practices such as strategic planning, program evaluation, and independent financial audits are not only recommended, but required to provide organizational legitimacy (Hwang & Powell, 2009, p. 269-270). However, not all nonprofits find their staff equipped to handle the new sector requirements. There are numerous outlets for professional development, including but not limited to, formal education, professional associations, and professional networks. As the need for professional nonprofit employees continues to grow, this project will identify the types of professional development needed to fill this gap within the professional network of the Young Nonprofit Professional Network of Greater Omaha (ynpnGO). In particular, this research question asks what types of programs are needed by young nonprofit professionals in Omaha for their professional development and the extent to which ynpnGO could implement them.

Luke Hoffman 2:30–2:45 PM Strategic Plan for ynpnGO ynpnGO is a local chapter of the national organization that is almost two years old and just received its official nonprofit status from the IRS. This organization needs a strategic plan to develop approaches that will steer the organization in the right direction in the long term. This organization is completely run by volunteers, and currently has limited financial resources. With the appropriate plan in place ynpnGO can be well positioned to tackle the issue of “labor loyalty” where the majority of nonprofit professionals and the new global workforce have trouble acquiring the training and professional development needed to stay at a position or find the right one in the evolving workforce.

Jody-Ann Coore 3:00–3:15 PM Improving college readiness: A process evaluation of an education supporting nonprofit The Avenue Scholars Foundation’s (ASF) mission is to “ensure careers for students of hope and need through education and supportive relationships” (ASF). However, English as a Second Language (ESL) students and English Language Learners (ELL) participating in Avenue Scholars Migrant Education Program (ASMEP) are graduating high school without being college ready, proficient in English, or competitive for the AKSARBEN scholarship for postsecondary education (PSE). According to the Nebraska State Accountability (NeSA) 2014-2015 report for grade 11 students: 84% of ELL students are not proficient in Reading and 83% are not proficient in Math. Being less than proficient results in lower scores on the COMPASS (placement test for entrance into Nebraska’s community colleges) leading to students having to take extensive non-credit bearing developmental education coursework. This results in a delay in matriculation and degree attainment. One criterion for becoming an Avenue Scholar is financial need. Program administrators for the ASMEP are concerned that a high number of seniors for the 2015 cohort were ineligible for the AKSARBEN scholarship through ASF because they needed two or more developmental education courses.

Room: CEC 221 Alumni Panelists: Todd Reckling, Adele Johnson, Sue Clausen-Wright, Connie Coltrane Robert Caldwell 1:00–1:15 PM An Outcome Evaluation of the BringITon Technology Challenge Program There is a lack of information technology (IT) career and post-secondary outreach opportunities for Omaha area secondary youth. Additionally, according to IT professionals and faculty members, the current IT workforce and postsecondary student population in Omaha metropolitan area is not a representative sample of the community (e.g. gender, race and ethnicity).

Pat Morris 1:30–1:45 PM Understanding Philanthropists’ Motivation to Support Public–Private Partnerships in Omaha, NE This project explores the impact of major community public-private partnerships in Omaha, NE with an emphasis on the motivating factors behind financial contributions given by donors to these projects. Identifying donor motivation was done through face-to-face interviews with high net-worth community philanthropists. Utilizing comparisons between the qualitative data gathered during the interviews and the theoretical research concerning motivation and philanthropy, the author will propose recommendations for future public-private partnerships for the private, public and nonprofit sectors to consider. This topic is relevant and beneficial to public administration because financial resources continue to become more difficult to secure, and public-private partnerships might be a long-term and sustainable funding model for future community development projects in Omaha, NE.

Robert Gottsch 2:00–2:15 PM Can Company Fire Inspections Prevent Large Loss Fires?

How effective is the fire inspection policy of Omaha Fire and Rescue in preventing the occurrence of fire in the City of Omaha? The city’s current fire inspection policy requires a visual inspection of all occupancies on a timely basis to ensure life safety codes and fire codes are maintained. Is this current policy, the visual inspection of occupancies on an annual basis, achievable and effective? If the current policy is not achievable does it have an impact on the future occurrence of fire in these specific occupancies? To determine the success or failure of the current policy, inspection data that has been gathered since the policies inception will be evaluated. This inspection data will be compared with other fire departments throughout the United States who have similar policies. Comparing the inspection data with similar departments may reveal areas of concern and provide possible recommendations to enhance the current inspection policy of Omaha Fire and Rescue.

Blake Renner 2:30–2:45 PM Evaluating Implementation of Staff Rounding on an Inpatient Behavioral Health Unit The U.S. health system and the general public face ongoing issues generated by both acute and chronic mental illness.

In recent years available inpatient beds have continued to decline and health systems face continuing pressure to achieve better results with less resources. Inpatient stays are often funded or partially funded by federal, state and local governments that face tough choices in light of budget constraints and are demanding more efficient use of resources.

With the implementation of the Affordable Care Act there has been a shift from payment based on volume to payment based on the value of services provided. Innovative programs such as dedicated nurse rounding have shown promise in improving quality of outcomes for inpatient mental health stays, but proper implementation is key to success and sustainability of such programs. While nurse rounding programs have become an accepted part of the culture of many medical inpatient floors, implementation on inpatient behavioral health floors is still a relatively new concept. Research on nurse rounding, program implementation and resistance to change provide a framework for the case study which examines the implementation of a nurse rounding program at a Mid-Western hospital. The case study seeks to answer the research questions, “What key factors contribute to the successful implementation of nurse rounding on an adult inpatient behavioral health unit? What barriers exist to successful implementation?”

Claire Buddenberg 3:00–3:15 PM Single Parent Success: An Evaluation to Support Single Student Mothers at College of Saint Mary Despite the personal, social, and economic benefits of a well-educated society, many disadvantaged groups continue to face additional adversity while attempting to earn a postsecondary degree. Particularly, many postsecondary institutions have not yet created systems that support single parent students. In contrast, College of Saint Mary (CSM), a small, private university for women in Omaha, Nebraska, has several programs and services for single mothers. CSM has been nationally-recognized for its Mothers Living & Learning (MLL) program, which allows single mothers to live on-campus with their children while they pursue their degree. These student mothers also have access to additional support services offered to all single parent students. Considering current retention and graduation data for these students, this project seeks to answer the following question: How should College of Saint Mary improve current programming and services to increase the success of its single parent students?

Room: CPACS 208 Alumni Panelists: Charlotte Frank, Mariana Johnson, Wendi Chiarbos Jensen, Stephanie Clark Laura Wise 1:00-1:15 PM Congressman Brad Ashford’s District Office Strategic Plan Congressman Brad Ashford has been a Congressman for Nebraska’s 2nd District for one year. His District Office located in Omaha created a strategic plan a year ago when the office first opened, but it has not been updated since.

Therefore, the District Office needs a new strategic plan. While the Congressman has both a D.C. office and a District Office that work together in some aspects, they have two separate and distinct roles. The District Office in Omaha focuses on constituent casework and the status of businesses, public, and nonprofit organizations in the 2nd District. The D.C. Office mainly focuses on policy. Because of these different functions, it is possible to focus a strategic plan on the District Office in Omaha. The Omaha Office has been functioning for only one year, and in its first year, the office mainly addressed day-to-day tasks that needed to be completed and not necessarily focusing on long-term issues. Looking to the future, the District Office needs a strategic plan to position itself for success in all aspects of the organization including internal operations, processes, and effectiveness. Bryson states that the benefits of strategic planning include improved decision making by allowing management to focus on crucial issues and not in-the-moment crises (2011). How does one create a strategic plan for Congressman Brad Ashford’s District Office?

Stephen Mehlhaff 1:30-1:45 PM Understanding the Effect the E-Governance Act of 2002 had on the Breadth of Public Comments Received by the Securities and Exchange Commission The rulemaking comment period is a process open to the public to provide feedback on proposed administrative rules.

Administrative rules have the force of law and are used to implement policy directives for agencies. The E-Government Act of 2002 requires federal agencies, “to the extent practicable,” to accept public comments on their rules electronically and to ensure that one or more federal websites contains those comments and other materials normally maintained in rulemaking dockets. Access to the comment process has been made easier because of the internet, making it available so anyone with an internet connection can view proposed rules and provide their perspective via regulations.gov. The administrative agency is then tasked with reviewing these comments and deciding what, if any, changes to the proposed rule should be made. Research has provided evidence that comments made during the comment period do influence the rulemaking process.

Neal Bonacci 2:00-2:15 PM Social Media use Best Practice for Law Enforcement The Omaha Police Department (OPD) adopted social media (Facebook) in 2009 merely as a means of providing photographs of their officers in action on the streets of the city and as a community outreach endeavor (Tierney, 2013).

As social media drastically grew over the last decade or so, OPD increased their social media presence into multiple platforms, developed a department wide policy for its use by employees, and social media is now an important tool in attaining the agency’s overall mission and goals as a local law enforcement agency.

Rachael Cohen 2:30–2:45 PM Is There a Relationship Between Recidivism and Juvenile Perceived Treatment in Detention?

With a growing number of juveniles being detained, it is important to understand how best to prevent them from reoffending. Research suggests that recidivism can be affected by the way juveniles are treated by law enforcement and detention officials, including probation officers. The goal of this project is to study the relationship between recidivism and juvenile treatment while in detention at the Douglas County Youth Center. The findings aim to shed light on practical means by which to reduce youth recidivism rates.

Spencer Head 3:00–3:15 PM K-12 School District Funding in Nebraska: Forging an Equitable Formula for All Districts In 1990 the Nebraska Legislature passed the Tax Equity and Educational Opportunities Support Act (TEEOSA) as a way to ensure that the State is providing enough funding to support public school systems. For the 2015/2016 school year nearly 97% of all TEEOSA aid will go to 35.5% of the school districts according to the Nebraska Department of Education’s 2015 state aid certification. It is time to take a serious look at the TEEOSA formula and determine whether or not it is meeting expectations. If it is not, proposals need to be made to ensure that an equitable formula is created to replace it.

Room: CPACS 213-Online Presenters Alumni Panelists: Lisa Fox, Josh Zodieru, Erin Moran, Jim Harrold Gretchen Hubbard 1:00–1:15 PM Examination and Analysis of Congressional Policies, Strategies, and Decision-Making Pertaining to Oversight of Private Contractors Serving in Intelligence Roles and the Impacts of Bounded Rationality Theory This research focuses on what strategies and methods congressional intelligence committees currently employ for the oversight of private contractors working in intelligence roles and makes recommendations for potential areas of improvement. The congressional decision-making process is also examined closely and bounded rationality theory is used to explain limitations that exist. In recent years, questions have been raised about the rapid expansion of the contracting workforce and the government’s understanding of how contractors are used to support intelligence duties.

The intelligence community benefits greatly from the knowledge and expertise of private contractors and developing a stronger oversight plan will provide improved accountability and direction for the relationship between the government and private contracting firms. By examining the congressional approaches and decision-making process, suggestions can be developed to strengthen the government’s oversight plan and address concerns.

Erik Servellon 1:30–1:45 PM Kingdon’s Three Streams Model and the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 Disaster policy formulation in America has typically been a reactive affair, shaped by current political and public opinion trends. Following Hurricane Katrina, a large public upheaval, created by a poor response at all levels of government and spurred on by extensive media coverage, forced the federal government to take action. This policy window was seen by politicians, policy champions, public administrators, and the general public, as an opportunity to overhaul disaster policy in America. The resulting policy would be named the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 (PKEMRA).

Samantha Weiss 2:00–2:15 PM Barriers to Implementing an Agency–Wide Proactive Behavior Management Plan Completely KIDS is an Omaha nonprofit providing after-school programming to students at five Omaha public elementary schools. There is one program manager who oversees all elementary programming, as well as a training and curriculum specialist who oversees the creation and implementation of curriculum, and provides necessary training to staff. There are five program coordinators who oversee the programs at each of the five sites, and then around 60 part-time staff, referred to as support staff, who implement the curriculum and lead the groups of children during the program time. Beginning in the 2014-2015 school year, the training and curriculum specialist changed the focus of behavior management and implemented a new training model for proactive behavior management. As part of the implementation, the training and curriculum specialist and the program manager provided multiple mandatory proactive behavior management trainings for both the support staff and the program coordinators. The training and curriculum specialist also provided two proactive behavior management trainings in the fall of 2015, and provided all support staff and coordinators with tip sheets and handouts to use for easy implementation and follow-up.

Aaron Burnett 2:30–2:45 PM An Analysis of the Implementation of Law Enforcement 28Es in Iowa Interlocal agreements (ILA) have continued to gain popularity in the public sector with more agreements being initiated yearly in the State of Iowa. Many of these agreements between neighboring jurisdictions are first attempts at cooperation and many experience difficulties and failures in the course of implementation. In spite of the difficulties many communities continue to engage in cooperation. The efforts of several jurisdictions to contract law enforcement services from neighboring communities is being studied in this project to find what motivation is driving communities to maintain ILAs (These agreements are referred to as 28Es in Iowa due to the section of the state code outlining ILAs).

Specifically, appointed officials of the partnering communities will be surveyed to find their motivation for maintaining their law enforcement ILA. The research question to be addressed is: What are the motivating factors behind small communities in IA seeking to maintain law enforcement agreements?

Mary Van Winkle 3:00–3:15 PM Sandhills Area Leadership Program Evaluation: Growing Leaders for Tomorrow’s Future In 1996 the Cherry County University of Nebraska Extension Office introduced the Sandhills Leadership program (SLP).

The mission and objectives of this program, targeted to high-school sophomores and juniors, is to develop awareness of rural, revitalization issues, to improve personal and community leadership capacities, increase community action, and further entrepreneurial skills. The Sandhills area, like so many rural, primarily-agricultural-based populations, is facing declining census numbers, supported in part to a lack of business and career opportunities. This has resulted in fewer of its younger residents choosing to remain in the Sandhills or returning following completion of higher education.

The United States Census reports an overall population decline in Cherry County from the years 2000 to 2010 of 435 residents. In urban populations this decline may not seem significant, but in this rural area where there is less than one person per square mile, this decline is concerning.

Room: CPACS 109A Alumni Panelists: Beth Cunard Garber, Annette Artherton, Carna Pfeil, Barbara Duncanson Dustin Rief 3:00–3:15 PM Measuring Fiscal Condition: A Case Study of Clarion, Iowa Utilizing the International City/County Management Association’s Financial Trend Monitoring System Municipal fiscal challenges can impact a city’s ability to meet fiscal and service-level demands, particularly during economic downturns. This is of particular significance as “globalized national economics” have become more and more volatile, placing local governments in a vulnerable “long-term” financial position (Hruza, 2015, p. 88). One of the greatest challenges with studying the fiscal condition within small municipalities, however, is data availability, yet this is often overlooked in the literature (Justice and Scorsone, 2013). The City of Clarion, located in North Central Iowa, has a population of 2,850 residents and is the county seat of Wright County (Census Bureau, 2012). As the City Administrator, Clarion was chosen as the focus for this study as both the Mayor and City Council expressed a need to understand the City’s current financial condition. A fiscal analysis based on the International City/County Management Association’s (ICMA) Financial Trend Monitoring System (FTMS) (Groves, Nollenberger, & Valente, 2003), using Ken Brown’s 10-Point Test of Financial Condition (1993) as an influence and benchmark in the selection of indicators and assessment of similar size cities to Clarion. The research question posed by this study is as follows: What is the fiscal condition of Clarion, Iowa?

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