About the BOL Program

Disclaimer: Now formally known as the MS in Business and Organizational Leadership

Novelist Leo Tolstoy said: “Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.” As Tolstoy wisely observed, change must begin from within. Personal transformation is the focus of the Master of Science in Business and Organizational Leadership program. The goal of the program is in keeping with Greek philosopher Plutarch, who said: “The purpose of education is not to filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire” – a fire that ignites an unquenchable thirst for lifelong learning. And the light from that fire, is meant to be shared with others. Throughout the program, students connect coursework with personal development and professional practice, and are encouraged to choose research topics that benefit their companies, their communities, or the environment. This is consonant with the principles of Neumann’s Franciscan Tradition of social and ethical responsibility, stewardship, and servant leadership, which are embedded in the OSL program.

Student Scholarship: Capstone Research Projects

The Business and Organizational Leadership Capstone Research Project is a culminating experience designed to provide students with an opportunity to demonstrate mastery of the field of Business and Organizational Leadership. The Capstone Service Research Project (CSRP) is an action-based creative expression of leadership that includes a “deliverable” – or, “end product,” purpose, or intended use of the research data – to a sponsoring organization; or a realistic service template that represents a scholarly contribution to the leadership field of study. It may also involve: the creation of a business model or plan; a strategic plan or analysis; a clear set of recommendations; a social, educational, or public service; a financial scholarship program; or a public awareness campaign regarding a timely and compelling issue. But whatever the topic, it must have socially redeeming value in keeping with the Franciscan Principles and Tradition.

Delaware Business Journal Article

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The strategic leadership program was just what I was looking for with the creation of this camp
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Patricia Demiranda ’14
MS in Business and Organizational Leadership

Enhancing Inclusive Disaster Preparedness and Recovery Planning Through Community Inclusion: A Program Plan for the Delaware County Department of Emergency Services

Overcoming barriers to Disaster Preparedness and Recovery information and services is a core component for enhancing community resiliency. Traditional metrics for determining potential barriers to Disaster Preparedness and Recovery information and services, called Access and Functional Needs, within the fields of Emergency Management, Public Health, and Human Services have not been universally used in a coordinated manner at a national level and do not yet include lessons learned during the COVID-19 Pandemic response. Updating these metrics to develop a new system inclusive of themes from each independent field and the pandemic response will enhance capacity for Inclusive Disaster Preparedness and Recovery Planning (IDPRP) to better determine needs within communities targeted for planning and services. Incorporating members of the community will expand capability both to determine, and overcome barriers identified. Two proven methods for the incorporation of community leaders and do this work are Functional Assessment Service Teams and Community Ambassador Programs.

Enhancing Inclusive Disaster Preparedness and Recovery Planning Through Community Inclusion: A Program Plan for the Delaware County Department of Emergency Services

Danielle Koerner

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The Use of Stay Interviews to Curtail the Emergency Medical Services Staffing Crisis

Fred W. Wurster III

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The Use of Stay Interviews to Curtail the Emergency Medical Services Staffing Crisis

This Capstone will highlight the current staffing crisis that is impacting Emergency Medical Service (EMS) organizations across the United States. According to the Ambulance Association of America (AAA) and the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians (NAEMT), EMS organizations are facing some of the most challenging times as it relates to recruitment and more importantly, retention. Retention of personnel in an EMS organization is the critical structure that allows for ambulances to respond to and arrive at emergency situations in a timely fashion. Imagine calling 911 for a medical emergency and an ambulance takes hours to arrive or even worse an ambulance not showing up all. Unfortunately, one or both instances are occurring in areas across the United States today. Some areas such as North Carolina, are plagued with such shortages that they have requested ambulances from the Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA) to simply staff ambulances for 911 calls (Donnelly-DeRoven, 2022).

Advancing Diversionary Programs to Maintain Low Level Juvenile Recidivism Rates

This Capstone Research Project was intended to enhance current juvenile diversionary programs to reduce juvenile crime and recidivism rates. After conducting research this Capstone Research Project focused on the need for advancing referrals to juvenile diversionary programs and minimizing out of home placements for juvenile delinquents. The research first examined the average number of times a juvenile delinquent has been arrested and the number of pre-determined risk factors the delinquent has been exposed to. The researcher then examined pre-determined risk factors that predominantly affect at risk youth.

Advancing Diversionary Programs to Maintain Low Level Juvenile Recidivism Rates

Sara Howell

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Community Paramedicine and Mobile Integrated Health: An Innovative Approach to Medicine to Provide Care for Patients With Social Determinants of Health

Elizabeth C. McCall

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Community Paramedicine and Mobile Integrated Health: An Innovative Approach to Medicine to Provide Care for Patients With Social Determinants of Health

Community Paramedics provide healthcare for patients who suffer from various social determinants of health. According to Dr. Gina Agarwal, an associate professor in the Department of Family Medicine at McMaster University, the patients typically include homeless persons, people living in poverty, those suffering from addiction and mental health disorders, patients seen as frequent users of both Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and the emergency room (E.R.), and chronically ill persons who are considered high-risk for readmission to the hospital.

Keeping Low Income Families in Their Homes: by removing the burden of costly home repairs

For citizens living only just above the national poverty line, a simple home repair may become a large problem, especially when other stressors have occurred in their lives that may require an unforeseen financial burden. According to the Population Reference Bureau (2022), “The Census Bureau reported that 37.2 million people, or 11.4% of the U.S. population, were living in poverty in 2020, based on official poverty threshold.” In an article written by Susannah Snider and Emma Kerr for U. S. News publication, they refer to a study conducted in 2018 by the Pew Research Center located in Washington D.C., Pew defined the economic breakdown as follows; for a family of 3 an annual income of less than $40,100 was considered low income, $41,000 - $120,400 was considered middle and more than $120,400 was considered upper income varying by region and state. (Snider & Kerr, 2020) The researchers’ findings suggested that many people describe themselves as middle class, however, many of them may fall outside of this definition.

Keeping Low Income Families in Their Homes: by removing the burden of costly home repairs

Jacquelyn Krom

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Next Step Leadership Initiative:
A Plan for Urban Youth

Connor Quealy

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Next Step Leadership Initiative:
A Plan for Urban Youth

This Capstone will highlight several key issues impacting the lives of youth in lowincome/urban areas, such as the impacts of violence on youth and the current state of education and where it is failing, as well as poverty. Constant violence against or around youth leads to personal issues to trouble in school. Education has often been a way out of poverty for those less fortunate. Still, with recent budget cuts in schools across the United States, the cycle of poverty is continuing in these communities. Throughout the Capstone, the two cities to be examined will be Philadelphia, PA, and Camden, NJ, because both cities have been experiencing significant issues in the discussed areas. The year 2020 marked one of the deadliest years in Philadelphia. Camden also experiences, on average, a significantly higher number of murders for the size of the city. The Capstone will also examine two youth development programs in Camden and how they help lead youth to brighter and successful futures.

Improving Leadership and Communication within Government Organizations: A Qualitative Pilot Study

Effective, efficient, clear, and concise communication throughout any organizational leadership hierarchy is a quintessential component to sustainable long-term success. The purpose of this qualitative study, which consisted of a sample size of five total participants, was to discover where communicative deficiencies exist, what impact these deficiencies have on the dissemination of pertinent workplace knowledge and information, which leadership style(s) contribute to the deterioration, or improvement of, communicative solidarity, and to develop a communicative needs assessment and set of ethical communicative guidelines.

Improving Leadership and Communication within Government Organizations: A Qualitative Pilot Study

Steven Serrano

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A Program Model to Recruit and Retain More Black Teachers into the Educator Pipeline to Accelerate Achievement for Black Students in Pennsylvania

Shayna Terrell

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A Program Model to Recruit and Retain More Black Teachers into the Educator Pipeline to Accelerate Achievement for Black Students in Pennsylvania

Substantial research has been conducted to measure the disproportionate rates of achievement gaps between Black and White students. Studies performed to investigate the existing gaps have measured Black teachers' impact on Black students and the impact the lack of teacher diversity has on student achievement. There is limited research that combines all three variables to make a case for building a focused strategy specifically for recruiting Black teachers into the profession. This analysis intends to highlight the benefits of having a Black teacher for Black students and address the lack of diversity in the teacher workforce, specifically in Pennsylvania. The researcher will use data collected and analyzed as evidence for the need to develop a focused strategy for recruiting more Black teachers into the teacher pipeline.

DISCOVERING THE TRUTH BEHIND THE NUMBERS

The research conducted in this Capstone is focused on Black American students and their college graduation rates to examine how tertiary institutions might better support and retain students of color. In 2018, 16,616,400 students enrolled in a 4-year degree granting institution 2,012,854 of those students graduated within 4 years and only 195,656 were Black students. The researcher analyzed other factors that could influence Black student graduation rates in the U.S. Those factors include but are not limited to the following: lack of sufficient financial assistance, a deficiency of Black diversity and cultural competency among instructors, administrators, and academic advisors, student under-achievement specifically among Black students. The researcher constructed a list of recommendations for administrators of undergraduate 4-year degree granting institutions in the U.S. to evaluate and implement to increase Black Student Graduation rates are as follows; increase Title IX funding for Black students, additional forms of financial assistance, increase academic support and increase Black instructors.

Discovering The Truth Behind The Numbers For More Equitable Education

Chadwick Johnson

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Planning for the Future: The Importance of Leadership Development and Succession Planning

James V. Cartafalsa

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Planning for the Future

Succession Planning and Leadership Development allow an organization to plan for the future. This paper will provide the steps needed to create an effective Leadership Development Plan. The researcher will identify the benefits of succession planning over outsourcing and other means of replacing leaders. Research on the importance of leadership development and succession planning is vital because, in the current climate of persistent and rapid change, insights are needed into established areas of successful organizational projections, such as longterm and short-term, financial, and staffing which is essential to the sustainable management of organizations.

Recommendations for State Representative Morgan Cephas and the Tustin Recreation Center

It is well documented throughout literature that poverty bestows a plethora of adverse effects on persons who endure it such as homelessness, food insecurity, toxic stress, and insufficient education, just to name a few. It is also well documented that poverty negatively affects the aesthetic of and infrastructures within a community in which it inhabits. Poverty, writes Psychologists Adamkovi and Martončik (2017) of the Institute of Psychology at the University of Prešov in Prešov, Slovakia, is a dangerous phenomenon because it fosters inequality by limiting opportunity.

Recommendations for State Representative Morgan Cephas and the Tustin Recreation Center

Michaiah Young

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Medical Care for the Homeless: Utilizing Convenient Care Clinics to Supplement Current Treatment Options

Anthony Brogno

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Anthony Brogno on Reflections on Leadership Practice:

“As John Adair, an action-centered leadership thinker (2016) explained, leadership is broken down into three general functions: building and maintaining teams, motivating and developing individuals and achieving common tasks. This sums up the major components of leadership as they revolve around teams and people, and leadership is irrelevant if not for the human element. Numerous publications are available that discuss leadership and the qualities leaders should possess; however, I feel my leadership qualities are driven from within my heart and stems from the compassion I have for success and relationships.”

Richard Souders on Neumann University’s Business and Organizational Leadership (BOL)

Neumann University’s Business and Organizational Leadership (BOL) master’s degree program was very informative and educational. Throughout the OSL courses students were charged to reflect upon their own values and principles. Ethics and examples thereof were provided to clearly illustrate the conduct a professional should strive for. According to Neumann University’s website, the Franciscan tradition entails 'respect for individuals, concern for the environment and social responsibility.' These are good traits for an individual to possess regardless of their career or role. Since these traits are positive, humanitarian qualities they contain much value in any scenario. For this reason, it is effortless to relate these principles to strategic learning and a learning organization.”

Business Plan to Replace Hard Phones with Softphones for Ascensus for Cost-Effective and Efficient Communication

Rich Souders

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Single-use Plastics: Personal and Corporate Behaviors and Attitudes towards Stewardship and Solving the Pollution Problem

Jose H. Paulino

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Jose Paulino on Stewardship:

“Underlying the responsibility of caring for the environment, is the idea that as humans sharing the Earth with the vast ecosystems, we are charged with the tall and honorable task of caring for what we are borrowing on a temporary basis, and leaving the world not only inhabitable, but more suitable than we found it.”