Date of Award
2003
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Programs for Higher Education
Advisor
Anne E. Mulder
Committee Member
Delores M. Smiley
Committee Member
Barbara Packer
Keywords
academic offerings, administrative positions, applied dissertation, associate degree students, bachelor's degree, baccalaureate degree, baccalaureate degrees, career opportunities, community needs, core competencies, criminal justice, degree path, environmental scanning, ethnographic interviews, focus groups, formative committees, higher education, implementation plan, implementation strategies, needs assessment, nonexperimental research, occupational analysis, public safety, public safety administration, public safety agencies, public safety departments, quantitative research, research design, Southeastern Public Safety Institute, SPC, St. Petersburg College, strategic plan, strategic planning, student needs assessment, survey research, SWOT analysis
Abstract
St. Petersburg College (SPC) was established in 1927 as a junior college; the name was changed to St. Petersburg College effective June 6, 2001, in legislation designating SPC as a 4-year college. The problem was that the college was awarded the opportunity to expand its academic offerings and did not have a strategic plan for the implementation of a public safety baccalaureate degree. The purpose of the applied dissertation was to provide a degree path for current associate degree students and for public safety professionals to advance to administrative positions in public safety agencies.
Seven questions were developed for this research study: What is the appropriate strategic planning model to use for the project? What would be the appropriate criteria to assess the needs of a public safety baccalaureate degree? What are the current needs and interests of the community, St. Petersburg College, public safety departments, other SPC programs, and current and former SPC students for a baccalaureate degree in Public Safety? What are the key information sources, including assessment data and environmental scanning, for St. Petersburg College and for the Southeastern Public Safety Institute? What would be the appropriate components for a baccalaureate degree program in Public Safety at SPC? What implementation strategies need to be developed to finalize the strategic plan? What are the critical areas of future evaluation of the implementation plan?
The results of this applied dissertation were directly related to the problem statement and causative analysis and applied directly to the outcomes and solutions produced. The research design was nonexperimental, describing and examining relationships using survey quantitative research and ethnographic interviews. Two formative committees, three needs assessments, two focus groups, and a SWOT analysis were used to gather data to answer the research questions.
An analysis of the data revealed that 94% of the student needs assessment survey respondents thought a degree would enhance career opportunities and 70% of the student respondents stated an interest in pursuing a public safety administration degree. The agency needs assessment survey summary stated that 96% of the respondents thought the degree was beneficial to employees seeking promotion, 85% stated the degree would be beneficial to individuals seeking employment, and 90% stated a preference for the bachelor's degree in public safety administration. The two focus groups produced an occupational analysis and the core competencies for the degree. The formative committees recommended that a strategic plan for the implementation of a baccalaureate degree in public safety administration should be presented to the administration for future planning and implementation purposes.