An evaluation of Te Rau Puawai workforce 100: Evaluation overview

In July 2001, the Maori & Psychology Research Unit of the University of Waikato was asked to conduct an evaluation of the Te Rau Puawai programme, a joint venture between the former Health Funding Authority and Massey University. The overall goal of the programme is to contribute at least 100 Maori graduates to the Maori mental health workforce within a five year period. The overall aim of the evaluation was to provide the Ministry of Health with a clearer understanding of the programme including: the perceived critical success factors, the barriers if any regarding Te Rau Puawai, the impact of the programme, the extent to which the programme may be transferable, gaps in the programme, and suggested improvements. Through archival search, questionnaire surveys and interviews, evaluative data was collected from major stakeholders in the Te Rau Puawai programme

An evaluation of Te Rau Puawai workforce 100: Addressing the recruitment and retention of Maori students in tertiary education institutions: A literature review

To evaluate the Te Rau Puawai programme, the Ministry of Health commissioned the Maori and Psychology Research Unit of the University of Waikato in July 2001. The overall aim of the evaluation was to provide the Ministry with a clearer understanding of the programme including: the perceived critical success factors, the barriers if any regarding Te Rau Puawai, the impact of the programme, the extent to which the programme may be transferable, gaps in the programme, and suggested improvements. To achieve this end, a review of relevant literature was undertaken to provide a framework to understand the patterns that arose from the information that we collected as part of this evaluation. The review of literature is presented in this technical report

An evaluation of Te Rau Puawai workforce 100: Academic mentor's perspectives

To evaluate the Te Rau Puawai programme, the Ministry of Health commissioned the Maori and Psychology Research Unit of the University of Waikato in July 2001. The overall aim of the evaluation was to provide the Ministry with a clearer understanding of the programme including: the perceived critical success factors, the barriers if any regarding Te Rau Puawai, the impact of the programme, the extent to which the programme may be transferable, gaps in the programme, and suggested improvements. As an integral component of the Te Rau Puawai programme and as a specialised source of support, academic mentors were identified as an important group to receive comment from. This report documents the evaluative exchange that occurred by way of email questionnaire, that we had with 18 out of 46 academic mentors of Te Rau Puawai bursars in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences responded to our questionnaire

An evaluation of Te Rau Puawai workforce 100: Perspectives of Te Rau Puawai bursars

The Te Rau Puawai programme is an attempt to change the nature of the Maori mental health workforce. To do this, Maori with aspirations to work, or to continue to work in the mental health workforce, are supported, financially and academically, to complete a tertiary qualification relevant to the field. To evaluate the Te Rau Puawai programme, the Ministry of Health commissioned the Maori and Psychology Research Unit of the University of Waikato in July 2001. The overall aim of the evaluation was to provide the Ministry with a clearer understanding of the programme including: the perceived critical success factors, the barriers if any regarding Te Rau Puawai, the impact of the programme, the extent to which the programme may be transferable, gaps in the programme, and suggested improvements. The evaluation team set out to gather the experiences and perspectives of recipients of Te Rau Puawai services by asking all bursars to complete a questionnaire and volunteer for follow up interviews or focus groups. Sixty two bursars responded to our questionnaire, and we complete focus group or individual follow up interviews with 19 bursars

An evaluation of Te Rau Puawai workforce 100: Te Rau Puawai support team and staff perspectives

To evaluate the Te Rau Puawai programme, the Ministry of Health commissioned the Maori and Psychology Research Unit of the University of Waikato in July 2001. The overall aim of the evaluation was to provide the Ministry with a clearer understanding of the programme including: the perceived critical success factors, the barriers if any regarding Te Rau Puawai, the impact of the programme, the extent to which the programme may be transferable, gaps in the programme, and suggested improvements. The Te Rau Puawai support team were identified as an important source of support for bursars particularly the support provided by the coordinator and administrator. This report documents the perspectives of four members of the telephone support team (including the coordinator), and individual interviews held with the coordinator and the administrator in addressing the objectives of the evaluation

Understanding the College Choice Process of Catholic Homeschooled Students

The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand how Catholic homeschooled students navigate the college choice process. With the growth of homeschooling in the United States nearly doubling in the past eight years (Cogan, 2010), this study explored a segment of this growing population to give researchers and practitioners a deeper understanding of how they make their college choice. This study employed a basic, interpretive qualitative methodology. Data were obtained through interviews with 25 Catholic homeschooled students who applied to Benedictine College, a small Catholic liberal arts college in the Midwest. The study was guided by the literature on homeschooling, college choice theory, specifically Hossler and Gallagher's (1987) college choice model, and primary influences on college choice, including cultural and social capital. Several themes emerged through data analysis. First, participants aspired to attend college and had parents who expected them to go to college. Second, parents played an important role in college choice for all participants, but their knowledge of college planning and involvement in the college choice process varied. Participants were influenced by family, friends, faith, academics, finances, campus climate or "fit", and location/size of specific institutions. The students' college choice process was influenced also by the cultural and social contexts in which they interacted, including family values, friends, and the homeschooling environment. Third, homeschooled students in this study relied on the Internet, printed materials, word-of-mouth, and other resources to gather information to conduct their college search. Last, the primary deciding influences affecting the students' final choice of college included cost of attendance, academic program, campus climate, location, and divine intervention. Homeschooled students in this study navigated the college choice process rather independently. The college choice patterns and timing of their decisions were more similar to, than different from, previous studies on college choice of traditionally-schooled students. However, participants often lacked the information, guidance, and support to navigate easily through the process, emphasizing the importance and need for effective communication with colleges and universities

An evaluation of Te Rau Puawai workforce 100: Stakeholder perspectives

To evaluate the Te Rau Puawai programme, the Ministry of Health commissioned the Maori and Psychology Research Unit of the University of Waikato in July 2001. The overall aim of the evaluation was to provide the Ministry with a clearer understanding of the programme including: the perceived critical success factors, the barriers if any regarding Te Rau Puawai, the impact of the programme, the extent to which the programme may be transferable, gaps in the programme, and suggested improvements. There are a number of stakeholders who do not have a direct role in the provision of Te Rau Puawai. These people are not involved in the day to day running of Te Rau Puawai (as do, for example, the coordinator, support team or academic mentors), nevertheless they play an important role, contributing in a variety of ways to the programme

Influence of Workforce Education and Development on the Growth of Today’s Economy

This study investigates and reports on the status and influence of Workforce Education and Development and its importance on the economy. This report relies almost exclusively on data from the U.S. Department of Labor Statistics. This study also establishes that the skilled workforce depends on career and technical programs for skill training as the recipe to the success of economy growth in the U.S. The report also emerged from analysis of many other studies, especially, the Labor Bureau Statistics on the state of the economy, unemployment rate, the labor force, employment growth, and the importance of education and training as key to promoting economic growth in the country. The report also justifies and validates the author’s notion on the importance of workforce education and development in the 21st century as a way of developing economic growth and providing learning to make individuals competitive in the global economy

Tris+/Na+ permeability ratios of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors are reduced by mutations near the intracellular end of the M2 region

Tris+/Na+ permeability ratios were measured from shifts in the biionic reversal potentials of the macroscopic ACh-induced currents for 3 wild- type (WT), 1 hybrid, 2 subunit-deficient, and 25 mutant nicotinic receptors expressed in Xenopus oocytes. At two positions near the putative intracellular end of M2, 2' (alpha Thr244, beta Gly255, gamma Thr253, delta Ser258) and -1', point mutations reduced the relative Tris+ permeability of the mouse receptor as much as threefold. Comparable mutations at several other positions had no effects on relative Tris+ permeability. Mutations in delta had a greater effect on relative Tris+ permeability than did comparable mutations in gamma; omission of the mouse delta subunit (delta 0 receptor) or replacement of mouse delta with Xenopus delta dramatically reduced relative Tris+ permeability. The WT mouse muscle receptor (alpha beta gamma delta) had a higher relative permeability to Tris+ than the wild-type Torpedo receptor. Analysis of the data show that (a) changes in the Tris+/Na+ permeability ratio produced by mutations correlate better with the hydrophobicity of the amino acid residues in M2 than with their volume; and (b) the mole-fraction dependence of the reversal potential in mixed Na+/Tris+ solutions is approximately consistent with the Goldman- Hodgkin-Katz voltage equation. The results suggest that the main ion selectivity filter for large monovalent cations in the ACh receptor channel is the region delimited by positions -1' and 2' near the intracellular end of the M2 helix

Politics and unemployment in industrialized democracies

This paper provides an empirical appraisal of the influence of politics on the evolution of unemployment rates in 13 industrialized democracies (12 European Union countries and the U.S.) from 1960 to 1999. We conduct new tests of opportunistic and partisan business cycle models, using richer data and more general specifications than previous studies. In contrast to most previous studies, we pay particular attention to the importance of labor market structure in conditioning the influence of politics on unemployment. We also investigate the relationship between political stability and economic stability. The results suggest the existence of partisan effects, with higher unemployment rates prevailing under “right” parties than “left” parties. There is more support for “rational” partisan models that embody transient partisan impacts than for models with permanent effects. We find evidence that union power is associated with higher average unemployment rates, but that centralized bargaining institutions tend to lower unemployment rates. The evidence also suggests that more fragmented coalition governments are associated with higher unemployment rates than single party governments