Sandra Shropshire, Jenny Lynne Semenza and Karen Kearns
The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive assessment of promotion and tenure for librarians in light of increased scrutiny and expectations by the administration of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive assessment of promotion and tenure for librarians in light of increased scrutiny and expectations by the administration of Idaho State University (ISU). This increased rigour was prompted by a move up in the Carnegie Classification System.
Design/methodology/approach
A literature review was performed using library databases, as well as assessing peer institution promotion and tenure documents. Additionally ongoing feedback from University administrators was solicited. The process took for the creation of a new promotion and tenure document for ISU library took two years from the beginning of the project to the final approved document.
Findings
The study found a dearth of performance benchmarks in both literature and peer institution policies and required the authors, along with other library faculty, to create evidence based benchmarks for ISU aligned with traditional standards of teaching, research and service.
Originality/value
This paper is an inclusive assessment of the literature on faculty promotion and tenure, the policies of ISU’s peer institutions, and the change of Carnegie Classification’s impact on the ISU policies.
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Robin A. Kearns, Nicolas Lewis, Tim McCreanor and Karen Witten
If our school closes, we lose our community. (Opunake & Coastal News, 2002, p. 1)
Abstract
If our school closes, we lose our community. (Opunake & Coastal News, 2002, p. 1)
Karen M. Gross Lopes, Marie Anne Macadar and Edimara Mezzomo Luciano
The relationship between citizens and government has been gradually changing from government centered to citizen centered. These changes can be understood from the public value…
Abstract
Purpose
The relationship between citizens and government has been gradually changing from government centered to citizen centered. These changes can be understood from the public value perspective, which is a promising way to foster the use of electronic services (e-services) by citizens. The purpose of this paper is to analyze how key drivers for public value creation can enhance adopting electronic public services by citizens. The use of e-services as a basis for applying smart technologies is also discussed.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative study based on both a systematic literature review and a case study of an e-service provided by a Brazilian state government.
Findings
The study identifies that creating public value happens only after adopting e-services and that public value can be perceived directly by those who use the service or indirectly by the observation of people who have adopted it. A two-dimensional framework showing the direct and indirect factors that drive public value creation is proposed based on the data collection and literature review.
Research limitations/implications
The proposed conceptual framework remains untested and the data collection in the Brazilian context might be a limitation. Other studies could gather data based on the collective uses of e-services.
Originality/value
The framework can be used in other studies concerning public value creation. Public managers might consider its drivers when planning e-services as a way to link them to social, political and collective issues in addition to smart technologies.
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Penelope Carroll, Karen Witten, Melody Smith, Victoria Egli, Suzanne Mavoa and Marketta Kytta
The overarching aim of our research is the social and environmental sustainability of cities, with a focus on ensuring the rights and needs of the children who live in them are…
Abstract
The overarching aim of our research is the social and environmental sustainability of cities, with a focus on ensuring the rights and needs of the children who live in them are considered in policy and planning arenas. How do we, as researchers, work ethically and effectively with children to foreground their voices and produce robust evidence to inform policies and processes which promote their wellbeing in child-friendly cities, and in line with Sustainable Development Goals? Children have the right to be heard, and their views taken seriously, in policy and planning arenas. Conducting ethical and effective child-centred research requires balancing considerations of children’s rights to genuine participation and their rights to protection at all stages of the research process. This balance requires methodological flexibility and a situated ethical approach, where researchers and participants together determine appropriate research pathways. In this chapter, the authors reflect on ethical and methodological insights gained during a decade of conducting urban-related research with children. The various projects used different methods and provided different lessons; but common to all was an understanding of the importance of relationship-building, of supportive and engaged adults, and of methods which were respectful, age/culturally appropriate and ‘fit for purpose’. These factors are crucial to ethically enable the foregrounding of children’s voices, the collection of robust data and effective dissemination of research with children.
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Elizabeth C. Vozzola, Paul A. Cimbala and Karen Palmunen
Moral exemplars provide us with important case studies of optimal moral flourishing. Although most historians rate Abraham Lincoln as the most moral American president, their…
Abstract
Moral exemplars provide us with important case studies of optimal moral flourishing. Although most historians rate Abraham Lincoln as the most moral American president, their analyses do not utilize the perspective of moral development theory or research. This project asked whether such a perspective could contribute to a better understanding of Lincoln’s abundantly well-examined self and actions. This study examined the moral self of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln through close textual analysis of his brief autobiographical writings and his ethical turning point, his 1854 Peoria Speech attacking the morality of slavery. Even the limited sample of one major speech and three brief writings about life events provided evidence for the usefulness of McAdams’ method of examining life narratives for central themes and textual elements and for Colby and Damon’s (1992) method of interviewing exemplars and identifying common traits. Our methods allowed for no carefully constructed interview or clarification questions but rather relied on historical texts constructed for political goals. Major figures in the exploration of moral selves suggest that the centrality of morality to people’s sense of self lies at the heart of moral motivation and action. Studies of historical moral exemplars provide individuals and organizations with powerful role models for optimal ethical functioning and highlight the importance of fostering the centrality of morality in organizational leaders.
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Karen J. Grant, Maureen Mayhew, Lorena Mota, Michael C. Klein and Arminée Kazanjian
– The purpose of this paper is to explore refugees’ experiences of the barriers and facilitators involved in finding a regular family doctor.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore refugees’ experiences of the barriers and facilitators involved in finding a regular family doctor.
Design/methodology/approach
Hermeneutic phenomenology was used to produce an integrated description sensitive to the lifeworlds of refugees who came from multiple cultural perspectives. Participants consisted of refugees from Iran, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Vietnam, and Latin America who arrived in Canada between 2005 and 2007. Texts for analysis came from first language focus group discussions and interviews with the interpreters for those groups.
Findings
The principal themes that emerged from the experience of barriers were “futility,” “dependence,” and “relevance.” Themes related to the experience of facilitators were “inclusion,” “congruence,” and “benefit to family.” These themes provide key messages about sources of patient decisions to seek or not seek care, not comply, attend irregularly, and not disclose symptoms, which can be used by doctors and other health providers to enhance care planning.
Practical implications
The factors that facilitate refugees’ access to a regular family doctor have implications for the development of culturally appropriate healthcare information, policies that support adequate interpreter services, and cultural sensitivity training for physicians.
Originality/value
Previous research documents barriers such as lack of language access, differences in health beliefs, and lack of knowledge about western healthcare systems. However, little is known about how refugees experience these barriers, nor how they overcome them. This study contributes a rich and deeper understanding of how refugees experience these barriers and elucidates factors that facilitate their process of obtaining a regular family doctor.
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Biennial budgeting and appropriations cycles have been a popular idea among many members of Congress for the past twenty years. Despite widespread bipartisan support for biennial…
Abstract
Biennial budgeting and appropriations cycles have been a popular idea among many members of Congress for the past twenty years. Despite widespread bipartisan support for biennial budgeting in the 1980s, the first House vote on the subject, in 2000, resulted in a narrow defeat for biennial budgeting. This article analyzes the merits of biennial budgeting and the reasons for its defeat, arguing that during the 1990s biennial budgeting lost its sense of urgency because of the erasure of the federal deficit and became a more partisan issue than it previously had been.