Racial and Ethnic Diversity and Inclusion Efforts of Public Park and Recreation Agencies

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
KangJae Jerry Lee ◽  
Jonathan Casper ◽  
Myron Floyd
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Diversity ◽  
Public Park ◽  
Diversity And Inclusion ◽  
Park And Recreation Agencies ◽  
Park And Recreation

Understanding the Agency-Foundation Relationship: The Role of Nonprofit Foundations in Delivering Local Park and Recreation Services

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Andrew Pitas ◽  
Samantha Powers ◽  
Andrew Justin Mowen
Keyword(s):  
Service Delivery ◽  
Nonprofit Organizations ◽  
Public Park ◽  
Parks And Recreation ◽  
The Great Recession ◽  
Recreation Service ◽  
Park And Recreation Agencies ◽  
Park And Recreation ◽  
Potential Strategy ◽  
Equitable Outcomes

Inadequate funding is a common and longstanding concern for local public park and recreation agencies. Traditionally, these services are funded predominantly through tax-based allocations, supplemented by other streams such as earned revenue, dedicated levies, and sponsorship agreements. Cost-cutting measures such as outsourcing, overall staffing reductions, and an increasing reliance on a parttime workforce have also become increasingly common in the context of local park and recreation service delivery. Partnership with nonprofit organizations represents another potential strategy to adequately fund local park and recreation services.Partnerships between local park and recreation agencies and nonprofit park and recreation foundations have a long history, and help support local park and recreation agencies in a variety of capacities. Their importance may also be growing as a function of the decline in tax-based support and earned revenue due to both the Great Recession and the global COVID-19 pandemic. Such partnerships are not unique to local parks and recreation however, and are common—and widely studied—at the national and transnational level. Despite their importance to local park and recreation service delivery, and the established body of knowledge examining these partnerships at the national and transnational level, the local agency-foundation relationship remains understudied. In this manuscript we begin to address this gap by providing a clearer picture of the agency-foundation relationship, and identifying strategies for how local park and recreation agencies can most effectively leverage these partnerships. To do so, we employ a qualitative research method, interviewing leaders from both local public park and recreation agencies and nonprofit park foundations. Results illustrate a variety of motivations for initiating an agency-foundation relationship (funding/capacity, deteriorating conditions, and equity), as well as a number of distinct benefits of such a partnership (increased operational capacity, advocacy and outreach, expertise, and non-governmental status). Respondents also identified various characteristics of a successful agency-foundation relationship (effective communication, clear roles and responsibilities, strong connections, and flexibility/responsiveness), and challenges to success (competition for scarce resources, and equity). Based on these results, we propose several strategies to help local park and recreation agencies maximize these partnerships (communicate frequently and with purpose, build relationships, formalize ties, and strive for equitable outcomes).

Utilization of a multisite financial reimbursement program to promote racial/ethnic diversity and inclusion in therapeutic cancer clinical trials: The iMPACT Study.

2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (29_suppl) ◽  
pp. 85-85
Author(s):  
Hala Borno ◽  
Sylvia Zhang ◽  
Elena Nieves ◽  
Dana Dornsife ◽  
Robert G. Johnson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Trials ◽  
Low Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Ethnic Diversity ◽  
Phone Call ◽  
Cancer Clinical Trials ◽  
Impact Study ◽  
Low Socioeconomic ◽  
Diversity And Inclusion ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Racial Ethnic

85 Background: A lack of racial/ethnic diversity among cancer therapeutic clinical trial (TCT) participants remains a critical problem. The significance of costs, both direct and indirect, associated with cancer TCT participation are increasingly understood. Here, we report findings observed in the IMproving Patient Access to Cancer clinical Trials (IMPACT) study, a pilot feasibility study investigating the feasibility and efficacy of offering a financial reimbursement program (FRP) during cancer TCT discussion with or without additional outreach in improving enrollment and diversity. Methods: Participants for this study were recruited at two Comprehensive Cancer Centers (CCCs) from April to September 2019. Patients were randomized 1:1 to receive a brochure about a FRP at time of consent for a TCT or receive brochure and outreach through a scripted follow-up phone call regarding the FRP. Results: No difference in TCT enrollment was observed between study arms. Among 170 patients approached to participate, 132 (78%) provided consent. The participant mean age was 57 years old (std dev = 14 years). Among participants 57% were male and 49% were white. The remaining major racial/ethnic groups were Black (5%) Asian (13%) and Hispanic (26%). The proportion of non-whites was greater among IMPACT study (43%) compared to CCC TCT (28%) participants. Among FRP participants, 24% reported a household income < $25,000 and 14% from $25,001 to $56,000. Conclusions: This study observed that offering an FRP as part of TCT discussion is feasible and effective at CCCs. An outreach phone call is not required in order to influence enrollment in TCT. FRP recipients are racially/ethnically diverse and low socioeconomic status.

scholarly journals Racial and ethnic diversity in higher education: White privileged resistance and implications for leadership

2021 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 38
Author(s):  
Lidyvez Sawyer ◽  
Roberta Waite
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Racial Discrimination ◽  
Ethnic Diversity ◽  
Settler Colonialism ◽  
The United States ◽  
Diversity And Inclusion ◽  
15Th Century ◽  
White Settler ◽  
Diversity In Higher Education ◽  
White Settler Colonialism

Extrapolating history is crucial to mitigating the current underpinnings of racial and ethnic inequities in higher education; however, to establish sustainable change, one must consider its fundamental origin. The inception of 15th-century white settler colonialism is at the epicenter of modern-day racial discrimination and the normalcy of oppressive practices in the United States' education system (US) of America. To understand white settler colonialism and its denigrating manifestations is to understand the dynamics between those in power and those who are subjugated. America's white settler colonialism's horrific ideology is insidiously depicted through torture, persecution, brutality, plunder, and pillage (Traore, 2004). This ideology is the foundation that breeds our society's racial and ethnic hierarchy, including in higher education. Racial discrimination in higher education creates a partisan, culturally divided learning environment, frequently normalized in academic leadership. The purpose of this paper is three-fold: (a) to examine normalized whiteness in higher education, (b) to examine how mere talk about diversity and inclusion inhibits disruption in power to transforming modern-day consciousness of inequities, discrimination, and racism, and (c)  discuss action steps to promote leadership among black and brown raced individuals in higher education.

Social Context of Performance Appraisals in Public Parks and Recreation: A Statewide Study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Mulvaney ◽  
Mike Kianicka
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
Evaluation System ◽  
Employee Participation ◽  
Performance Appraisals ◽  
Public Parks ◽  
Appraisal System ◽  
Public Park ◽  
Parks And Recreation ◽  
Park And Recreation ◽  
Supervisor Trust

Well-designed performance appraisals provide a formal evaluation system to measure employees’ contributions to the agency while motivating staff and enhancing productivity levels. Despite their prominence and popularity, performance appraisal systems are often a contentious activity within public park and recreation agencies. Appraisal literature has indicated that many of these frustrations stem from issues such as (1) criteria that is not job related, (2) unclear or confusing rating levels, and/or (3) poorly designed processes and inconsistent implementation techniques. Recent research has also suggested many of these issues might be linked to the social dimensions surrounding the appraisal system. The purpose of this study was to build upon the previous appraisal research in public parks and recreation by exploring the role of two process proximal social context factors (employee participation and supervisor trust) on the utility of the appraisal system. More specifically, the cumulative effects of employee participation at various stages (job analysis, instrument development, appraisal interview, and training related to the appraisal system) and employees’ perceptions of their supervisor on employees’ reactions to their agency’s appraisal system were examined. Analyses indicated supervisor trust and employee participation significantly contributed to public park and recreation professionals’ satisfaction with their appraisal system, satisfaction with their appraisal interview, and their procedural and distributive justice perceptions with their appraisal system. Study findings and implications for management are discussed.

scholarly journals Basic Science in the USA: A Cultural Perspective

2021 ◽  
pp. 83-98
Author(s):  
Natalia TRAVKINA ◽  
Vladimir VASILIEV
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Ethnic Diversity ◽  
The United States ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Cultural Perspective ◽  
Cultural Stereotypes ◽  
Diversity And Inclusion ◽  
The Usa ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
Almost All

The change in value and cultural stereotypes, which has taken the form of cultural wars, has affected almost all United States public spheres. In recent years, it has been increasingly affecting the field of basic scientific research, including the fundamental sciences such as physics and mathematics. Despite the leading positions of the United States in the world scientific ratings, immigrants have traditionally played a vital role in American fundamental science. Changes in immigration inflows, as a rule, contributed to socio-cultural shifts, which largely determined the subsequent level of fundamental research. The ongoing change in ideological guidelines, under the banner of "racial and ethnic diversity”, has already touched both the physical and mathematical communities. New “measures to improve diversity and inclusion” among faculty and students at American universities have been an important, but not the only manifestation of this trend. Such changes can have implications for the United States position in world science, as well as for its scientific, technological and economic development.

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