Crossing Blurred Lines: A Training Program to Train Teachers in Appropriate Sexual Boundaries

Boundaries between students and teachers were once clearly defined. Students only interacted with their teachers at school. Currently, however, boundaries are becoming increasingly unclear. As technology advances, students have more venues to interact with their teachers. In addition, teachers are asked to take on more roles in their students' lives. A significant number of teachers and students engage in inappropriate relationships and the possible damage to students is high. Unfortunately, current training programs do not adequately address how teachers can maintain appropriate boundaries with their charges. This paper outlines a proposal for a new training program to fill this gap. This program utilizes training techniques that have been shown to be useful for adult learners as it helps teachers establish and maintain boundaries as well as incorporating elements of effective prevention programs.

A Human Resource Training Program for Cross-Border Mergers and Acquisitions

Cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&A) have increased in the twenty-first century; however, the majority of cross-border mergers fail to achieve their financial objectives. Nonetheless, the number of merger failures has not stopped organizations from undertaking mergers. There are multiple sources and types of conflict associated with merger failure, which can all be traced back to the facts that human resource departments have not been utilized effectively and that there has been a lack of planning during the M&A process. Thus, this capstone proposes a training program as a reference for human resource departments to apply best practices for planning, training, and evaluating during the process of M&As, which will help potentially alleviate conflicts during the merger period.

Capacity-building through English language training to improve long-term resettlement success: A case study of the refugees along the Thailand-Burma border

Achieving long-term resettlement success is a challenge for many refugees seeking to restart their lives after displacement and being uprooted from their lives. Refugees must deal with finding employment, integrating into a society immensely different from what they have known their whole lives, and starting over from scratch. Learning a new language enables refugees to progress towards integration and long-term resettlement success, however, resettled refugees face a multitude of barriers in the U.S. to accessing language classes and attaining English proficiency. This study seeks to bridge this problem by exploring the possibilities of implementing a standardized language training program in the refugee camps to better prepare refugees for resettlement. A case study of the refugees along the Thai-Burma border demonstrated the significance of learning English in the camps on eventual English proficiency as well as the need for increased partnerships to overcome the barriers of lack of motivation and lack of funding. The author explores the possibilities of implementing a language training program in the camps by determining need, interest, barriers, and perceptions through the use of interviews, surveys, and focus groups of camp refugees, resettled refugees, and key organizational representatives. The significance of these results offers the possibility of leveraging and unlocking resettlement as a durable solution for more of the world's refugees in protracted situations.

Examining the Impact of Child Psychologists' Stigmatization of Parents on Treatment Outcomes Through a Developmental Lens

The purpose of this paper is to examine how child psychologists' specialized training inhuman development may make them more prone to stigmatize the parents of their young clients. The stigmatization of parents may lead to fewer parents seeking treatment for their children and to poorer treatment outcomes for those who work with a child psychologist. The process of stigmatization is summarized to provide context for the method through which parents receive stigma. A commonly used theory of child development, Erik Erikson's stages of ego development, is outlined to provide background on how child psychologists may interpret and evaluate a child'sdevelopment. Child psychologists' may identify parenting practices that seem to hinder or stunt children's emotional development, which would make the psychologist more aptto stigmatize and isolate parents from the treatment process. To demonstrate the unique ways in which a child psychologist may stigmatize parents of children at different developmental stages two case studies are included. Finally, a theoretical model of treatment is described that may be more inclusive, and less stigmatizing of parents. This model outlines how the parents' concerns about and observations of their children should be validated and reflected in the treatment process. This treatment modality would allow for child psychologists to more actively involve parents in treatment and provide more education and support around their children's unique emotional development needs. Through this treatment model and child psychologists' awareness of and attempts to reduce the stigmatization of parents, treatment outcomes for young clients may improve.

Development of the DORI-TBI: An Investigation to Develop a New Screening Measure to Determine Consultation with a School-Based Brain Injury Resource Team

Brain injury is the leading cause of disability and death in children in the United States. Student re-entry into the school setting following a traumatic brain injury is crucial to student success. Multidisciplinary teams within the school district comprised of individuals with expertise in brain injury are ideal in implementing student specific treatment plans given their specialized training and wide range of expertise addressing student needs. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to develop and initially validate a quantitative instrument that school personnel can use to determine if a student, identified as having a traumatic brain injury, will benefit from district-level consultation from a brain injury team. Three studies were designed to investigate the research questions. In study one, the planning and construction of the DORI-TBI was completed. Study two addressed the content validity of the DORI-TBI through a comparison analysis with other referral forms, content review with experts in the field of TBI, and cognitive interviews with professionals to test the usability of the new screening tool. In study three, a field administration was conducted using vignettes to measure construct validity. Results produced a valid and reliable new screening instrument that can aid school-based teams to more efficiently utilize district level consultation with a brain injury support team.

Nutrient Load Reduction: Challenges facing the Chesapeake 2000 Agreement

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States supporting a complex ecosystem that sustains many habitats and the organisms that depend on them. The bay also supports economic, recreational, and cultural activities to over 16 million people residing in the watershed. Changes within the watershed have caused excessive levels of nutrients, mainly nitrogen and phosphorous, to pollute the bay. The Chesapeake Bay Program, guided by a complex agreement, was created to address these and other issues and oversee the restoration of the bay. The most recent version of this agreement, the Chesapeake 2000, declares its continued commitment to restore the bay with over 100 goals to be met by the year 2010. Reports show that although intensive efforts have been made to promote nutrient reduction, very little reduction has actually resulted. This project described these efforts. The final results reveal obstacles affecting progress, shortcomings to current approaches and possible solutions for future implementation.

Behavior-Based Safety: Developing a Regional Guidance

A behavior-based safety program improves overall safety culture and safety performance of an organization. A solid behavior-based safety program is achieved by successfully implementing key components. Key components include management commitment to the process, an effective training program, a cohesive observation process and a successful data collecting and reporting system. This Applied Capstone project defines a regional approach for each of the key components of a behavior-based safety program. Recommendations resulting from the project provide the company studied guidance on developing a consistent behavior-based safety program.