Field Office Research Articles

Centralized vehicle leasing in humanitarian fleet management: the UNHCR case

Purpose – Fleet management is a key function in humanitarian organizations, but is not always recognized as such. This results in poor performance and negative impacts on the organization. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrates how the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) managed to substantially improve its fleet management through the introduction of an Internal Leasing Program (ILP), in which headquarters procures vehicles and leases them to field offices. Design/methodology/approach – This paper develops a framework for fleet management based on a longitudinal case study with UNHCR. It compares fleet performance indicators before and after implementation of an ILP. Findings – At UNHCR, vehicle procurement was driven by availability of funding. Fleet management was highly decentralized and field offices had limited awareness of its importance. These systems and behaviors led to major challenges for the organization. The introduction of the ILP positively impacted fleet management at UNHCR by reducing fleet size, average age of fleet and procurement costs. Practical implications – This paper provides fleet managers with a tool for analyzing their fleet. The frameworks and actions described in this paper contain practical recommendations for achieving a well-performing fleet. Originality/value – This paper is the first to analyze fleet management before and after introduction of an ILP. It describes the benefits of this model based on empirical data, and develops frameworks to be used by researchers and practitioners.

Modeling the impact of distance between offices and borrowers on agricultural loan volume

Purpose – Farm Credit is a major provider of credit to agricultural producers in Oklahoma and nationally. The decision to place a new Farm Credit office reduces borrower search and travel costs and should increase loan volume. The purpose of this paper is to model the new loan volume as function of distance from east central Oklahoma county centroids to Farm Credit offices. The model is then used to predict the impact of placing new offices in underserved areas. Design/methodology/approach – County aggregate new loan volume is regressed on distances to Farm Credit branch and field offices and other variables expected to impact agricultural loan volume. The estimated model is used to predict new loan volume impact of adding additional branch and field offices in counties that did not have these offices. Confidence intervals are used to measure the significance of predicted loan volumes. Findings – Distances from county centroids to both branch and field offices were found to significantly reduce new loan volume. The results were used to simulate the addition of new branch and field offices. The simulation predicted the added annual new loan volume associated with office additions. Practical implications – Using spatial models, Farm Credit of east central Oklahoma and other agricultural lenders can better plan for expansion (or consolidation). These models indicate counties where annual new loan volume will likely be higher (or lower for consolidation) than other nearby counties. The result can be improved borrower access and system financial performance. Originality/value – While spatial modeling has been utilized in other sectors, little has been done relative to agricultural credit access and impact on loan volume. The model here explicitly models the impact that distance to Farm Credit offices have on annual new loan volume.

A Grounded Approach to Citizenship Education: Local Interplays Between Government Institutions, Adult Schools, and Community Events in Sacramento, California

Following a grounded, bottom-up approach to language policy (Blommaert 2009; Canagarajah 2005; McCarty, 2011; Ramanathan, 2005), this paper investigates available resources and discourses of citizenship in Sacramento, California to those situated within the citizenship infrastructure. It analyzes how the discursive framing of local and national educational policies affects prospective citizens and the ways that resources and discourses differ across educational sites. These sites include a government field office, citizenship classes at adult schools and community centers, and a law school-sponsored citizenship fair. This article argues that adult schools and community events introduce their own de facto and de jure policies, in conjunction with top-down governmental policies, that tend to reduce the complexity of naturalization at the expense of full participation. Both top-down and bottom-up educational policies consequently affect prospective citizens’ understanding and enactment of citizenship.

Organizational Secrecy and the FBI’s COINTELPRO–Black Nationalist Hate Groups Program, 1967-1971

In this article, we explain how secrecy influenced the communication and decision-making processes within COINTELPRO-Black Nationalist Hate Groups, the FBI’s covert program to disrupt left-leaning Black political organizations between 1967 and 1971. Memos exchanged between the FBI Director and field offices reveal how the organization strategized to conceal its identity as the source of anonymous communication. The Bureau developed explicit techniques for managing the content of their messages, the materials used to construct print messages, and the distribution of those messages. The Bureau’s techniques suggest that organizational secrecy involves a high degree of coordination between members, but it may also endanger the organization’s longevity and the public welfare.

Polls and Elections: Campaign Field Offices and Voter Mobilization in 2012

During the last several presidential elections, much attention has been paid to campaign field offices. A number of analyses have investigated the impact of field offices on vote choice, but there have been very few investigations of whether and to what extent campaign field offices influence voter turnout. Using data from the 2012 election, I examine the impact of Obama and Romney field offices on county‐level turnout. I find that the presence of campaign field offices in counties across the United States increased turnout by a small amount. The results presented here add to the literature on campaign effects by showing that field offices—an increasingly important component of modern presidential campaigning—can influence levels of political engagement.

The Ground Game in the 2012 Presidential Election

Relatively little research has examined the effects of campaign-led field activity in a competitive election. In this article, we leverage a unique data set containing the location of every Barack Obama and Mitt Romney field office and county-level data on the presidential vote to understand how communication with voters in the field may have affected the outcome of the 2012 presidential election. We find that the presence of Obama field offices was associated with greater Obama vote share at the county level, although we cannot detect a similar relationship for Romney field offices. We conduct additional robustness tests to address the potential limitations of these observational data. Ultimately, we conclude that even if Obama’s field organization out-performed Romney’s, the aggregate impact of Obama’s field organization was not large enough to determine the outcome of the 2012 presidential election.

Citizenship Policy from the Bottom-Up: The Linguistic and Semiotic Landscape of a Naturalization Field Office

This article follows a bottom-up approach to language policy (Ramanathan, 2005; Wodak, 2006) in an analysis of citizenship in policy and practice. It compares representations of citizenship in and around a regional branch of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), with a focus on citizenship swearing-in ceremonies for adults and children, discourse of a USCIS field officer, and the linguistic landscape and social semiotics inside and surrounding the USCIS building. These local meanings of citizenship are contrasted with top-down, national meanings of citizenship that are enforced through Immigration and Naturalization Act policy, the naturalization test, and official discourse. Findings indicate that while the de jure citizenship policy of the local field office is to provide informational assistance to its community, its de facto practices suggest that help is prioritized for certain members of the population, in systematic and visible ways.

Influence of Organizational Culture on Strategic Involvement of Middle Level Managers in Public Forest Sector in Kenya

This study sought to explore the organizational culture and its impact on management in the context of Public Forest Sector institution in Kenya. It particularly considered the extent to which organizational culture influence strategic involvement of middle levels managers. The study was carried out using descriptive survey due to the levels of objectivity required and the ease to make comparisons between the effects of organizational culture on strategic involvement of middle level managers in the Public Forest Sector. Using quantitative data was necessary to determine whether any statistical relationship exist between the organizational culture profile and the involvement in the strategy process by middle level managers in the research organization. The targeted population was the middle level managers based at the organization’s headquarter and field offices. Stratified random sampling was used to obtain a sample proportional to 10% of the population. Culture rating was found to be very accommodative to the employees. Furthermore, management is advised to find ways of encouraging team work and also incorporate and involve the employees in decision making to enhance the organizational culture of the institution. It has also been recommended that employees should be allowed to give feedback on management issues as part of fostering growth of culture. The study revealed that the management has maintained a good working environment by consistently giving opportunities to the employees to make their contribution with regard to decision making. Communication between workers and their immediate supervisors has also been found out to be good. In turn, this could lead to better output from employees.

Closing the Gap in State Legislative Races: The Effect of Campaign Spending on Ballot Drop-off

This article analyzes ballot drop-off in state legislative elections. Publicly available campaign finance information and election turnout results from the State of Oregon from 2008-2014 were used to test the collective and individual effects of various campaign expenditures on ballot drop-off. The results show that overall campaign expenditures have a statistically significant effect on reducing ballot drop-off. However, the effects of specific types of expenditures vary; media and professional expenditures help to reduce ballot drop-off, but field and general office expenditures have little effect.

Health Care Professionals Learn Signs of Human Trafficking

Health Care Professionals Learn Signs of Human Trafficking

Design of Network Architecture in Underground Structure Field Information Based on VI-GNSS

Recently, the integrated utilization of technology with IT is in demand for the effectiveness of field management together with the prevention and prompt action on safety accident at construction site. In addition, the establishment of construction site support system is necessary to implement the securing of worker's safety, smooth work instruction, efficiency in construction, and others. Data standardization and network architecture were designed regarding data and sound information for data transmission between systems and management. These were to construct USFSS based on integrated 2014년 10월 29일 접수 Received on October 29, 2014 / 2014년 12월 26일 수정 Revised on December 26, 2014 / 2015년 1월 5일 심사완료 Accepted on January 5, 2015 * 본 연구는 국토해양부 첨단도시개발 연구개발사업의 연구비 지원에 의해 수행되었음. 1 한국건설기술연구원 ICT융합연구실 ICT Convergence and Integration Research Division, Korea Institute of Construction Technology ※ Corresponding Author E-mail : wkddydrn@kict.re.kr VI-GNSS 지하구조물 현장정보 네트워크 아키텍쳐 설계 / 전흥수 · 장용구 · 오창균 · 김민관 65 VI-GNSS technology in this research. In the stability test of data for each system constructed through it, around 98% stability was secured between workers and for transfer vehicle system within underground structure and field server system in regards to the data transmission stability, around 100% stability was secured between field server system and control system, respectively. Also, in the sound transmission stability test, around 99% reliability could be secured with 1km distance as its standard in case of sound transmission from underground structure construction site to field office near the field through wireless FRS system.

Predictive habitat models derived from nest-box occupancy for the endangered Carolina northern flying squirrel in the southern Appalachians

ESR Endangered Species Research Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsSpecials ESR 27:131-140 (2015) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00662 Predictive habitat models derived from nest-box occupancy for the endangered Carolina northern flying squirrel in the southern Appalachians W. Mark Ford1,*, Andrew M. Evans2, Richard H. Odom3, Jane L. Rodrigue4, Christine A. Kelly5, Nicole Abaid6, Corinne A. Diggins7, Douglas Newcomb8 1U.S. Geological Survey, Virginia Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA 2Department of Geography, Texas Agricultural and Mechanical University, College Station, TX 77843, USA 3Geospatial and Environmental Analysis, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA 4U.S. Forest Service Northern Research Station, Princeton, WV 24740, USA 5North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, Asheville, NC 28803, USA 6Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA 7Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Conservation, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA 8U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, North Carolina Field Office, Raleigh, NC 27606, USA *Corresponding author: wmford@vt.edu ABSTRACT: In the southern Appalachians, artificial nest-boxes are used to survey for the endangered Carolina northern flying squirrel (CNFS; Glaucomys sabrinus coloratus), a disjunct subspecies associated with high elevation (>1385 m) forests. Using environmental parameters diagnostic of squirrel habitat, we created 35 a priori occupancy models in the program PRESENCE for boxes surveyed in western North Carolina, 1996-2011. Our best approximating model showed CNFS denning associated with sheltered landforms and montane conifers, primarily red spruce Picea rubens. As sheltering decreased, decreasing distance to conifers was important. Area with a high probability (>0.5) of occupancy was distributed over 18662 ha of habitat, mostly across 10 mountain ranges. Because nest-box surveys underrepresented areas >1750 m and CNFS forage in conifers, we combined areas of high occupancy with conifer GIS coverages to create an additional distribution model of likely habitat. Regionally, above 1385 m, we determined that 31795 ha could be occupied by CNFS. Known occupied patches ranged from <50 ha in the Long Hope Valley in North Carolina to approximately 20000 ha in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park along the North Carolina-Tennessee boundary. These findings should allow managers to better define, protect and enhance existing CNFS habitat and provide a basis for future surveys. Owing to model biases, we view this as only a first approximation. Further research combining den selection with foraging habitat use across the full range of elevations, landforms and forest types is needed to increase predictive accuracy of CNFS distribution and sub-population viability. KEY WORDS: Carolina northern flying squirrel · Topographic gradients · Nest-box · Occupancy · Red spruce-Fraser fir · Southern Appalachians Full text in pdf format PreviousNextCite this article as: Ford WM, Evans AM, Odom RH, Rodrigue JL and others (2015) Predictive habitat models derived from nest-box occupancy for the endangered Carolina northern flying squirrel in the southern Appalachians. Endang Species Res 27:131-140. https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00662 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in ESR Vol. 27, No. 2. Online publication date: March 06, 2015 Print ISSN: 1863-5407; Online ISSN: 1613-4796 Copyright © 2015 Inter-Research.

Profiles in History

In February of 2012, Division S-12 of the Soil Science Society of America conducted their first field tour at Anza Borrego Desert State Park in Southern California. The tour focused on soils and geomorphology within the park. Field stops the first day included the Texas Dip (buried paleosol), Yaqui Ridge (dissected pediments and duripans), Kumeyaay Indian Village (cultural resources), Stag Cove (ancient fans and petrocalcic horizons), and Butte Pass (alluvial fan recycling). Day two of the field tour included a visit to the Stout Research Center Paleontology Lab, Font's Point and the Freeman Overlook, where badlands soil classification and mapping as well as land use were discussed. The final field stop on was the Clark Dry Lake playa where soils and evidence of seismic events were observed. First Division S-12 Field Tour at Anza Borrego Desert State Park, California. The 2012 field tour was Division S-12's first since it was formed by a merger of the National Society of Consulting Soil Scientists into the Soil Science Society of America in 2011. Shown above, S-12 members gathered for a group photo with the iron eagle sculpture produced by artist Ricardo Breceda. Photo courtesy of Philip Scoles, Terra Science, Inc., Portland, OR. Sodium–affected soils (SAS), or sodic soils, are soils that have been adversely affected by sodium salts and/or exchangeable sodium. They commonly occur in arid, semiarid, and subhumid climates. To a much lesser extent they occur in humid climates such as that of south-central Illinois. These soils present soil mapping and management challenges for approximately 946,943 acres (383,214 ha) in 20 Illinois counties. Sodium Affected Soil (SAS) Training in South-Central Illinois Field training was provided by Resource Soil Scientist, Bryan Fitch (Marion, IL) and MLRA Project Leader (Carbondale, IL), Dr. Sam Indorante to 45 employees from NRCS field offices and local Soil and Water Conservation Districts. The one-day training included both in-class study and field work using Electro-Magnetic Induction meters (EM-38) to locate SAS in farm fields. In the photo above, Brian Fitch (left) and Sam Indorante (center) discuss SAS at the training site in Clinton County, Illinois. Contributed by Dr. Sam Indorante, USDA-NRCS, Carbondale, IL. Members of the California Forests Soils Council and the Professional Soil Scientists Association of California convened June 25–28, 2015 for their annual meetings and co-sponsored field tour of an area known for third largest wildfire in California's history, the 257,314-acre (104,131 ha) Rim Fire of 2013. The field tour, coordinated by Dr. Ronald Taskey, focused on the soils and ecology developed on contrasting plutons and parent materials of the central Sierra Nevada Mountains. Participants learned about the influence of volcanic-granitic and granitic-metamorphic geologic contacts on soil development. Fire ecology was discussed, as well as responses to various management practices on different soil types. California Forest Soils Tour in the Rim Fire Area In the photo above, Drs. Ronald Taskey (left) and Robert Graham (right) discuss the properties of a coarse-textured soil derived from the granodiorite of Sawmill Mountain in Stanislaus National Forest. In addition to learning and professional development, the organizations’ members enjoyed three days and nights of camaraderie and camping at the Pine Mountain Lake Campground near the town of Groveland. Photo courtesy of Kerry Arroues, USDA-NRCS (retired), Hanford, CA.

Cardboard Boat Building in Math Class

If you want to get the attention of a group of eighth grade math students, tell them they are going to build a life-size cardboard boat. To increase interest, follow up this statement by telling them that two to four of them will actually be rowing this boat across a small pond. will likely hear replies such as, You're nuts, and I'm not getting in that boat, or even, You have lost your mind. But you may also notice excitement, a willingness to try, and wonder in the eyes of students.Eighth grade math students at Oasis Charter Middle School in southwest Florida have completed this project for the past four years. What has now become a source of great student pride at the school began as a challenge by the eighth grade teachers to their students. The teachers sought to develop a capstone project, which brought together the key mathematical issues students should learn in their middle grades math classes (i.e., scale, volume, Pythagorean theorem). They also desired a project to engage students in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) disciplines to help young adolescents develop skills necessary to thrive in a 21st century workforce. As a result, the cardboard boat challenge was created and implemented. In this article, an overview of STEM education is shared, along with a discussion of the struggles and triumphs of the eighth grade students as they planned and built their cardboard boats.STEM education and the challenges of the 21st centuryWith increasingly new technologies, and a rapidly expanding knowledge base, the twenty-first century is changing how K-12 schools educate students. They can no longer expect that information they learn in a technologically-based class will be up-to-date a few years into the future (McLeod, Fisch 8c Bestler, 2009). As a result, young adolescents must understand how to think critically, problem solve, and collaborate with peers to overcome the challenge of a rapidly changing knowledge base; in essence, allowing students the opportunity to make sense of the world rather than learn isolated bits and pieces of phenomena (Morrison, 2006, p. 4). Further, policymakers claim that if students do not emerge from K-12 schools with the ability to enter the workforce understanding innovation, scientific knowledge, and the ability to discover new ideas, the economy of the United States will suffer (Committee on Prospering in the Global Economy of the 21st Century, 2007). Albert Einstein is quoted as saying, We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them, which summarizes the challenge of the new century in which middle school students must be able to look beyond current knowledge and work together to creatively construct novel solutions to unique problems.Unfortunately, many students are being turned away from entering the STEM fields once they enter college. This absence has been represented in literature using an analogy of a leaking STEM (NCES Digest of Educational Statistics, 2008). The leaking in the pipeline occurs at a variety of places, including high school and college (NCES Digest of Educational Statistics, 2008). Research findings have shown students leaving STEM fields for a variety of reasons, including an absence of a proper knowledge base and lack of interest in the field (American Association of State Colleges and Universities, 2005). A lack of diversity persists in the individuals receiving degrees in STEM fields, with women and minorities being much less represented (Blickenstaff, 2005; Katehi, 2009).According to a recent report from the White House, the United States graduates approximately 300,000 bachelors and associates degrees in STEM fields in the United States annually (PCAST, 2012). Further, PCAST (2012) states, Fewer than 40% of students who enter college intending to major in a STEM field complete a STEM (p. i). A 2011 report by the Office of Naval Research furthers this statistic by stating only 6% of high school seniors will get a bachelors degree in a STEM field (Office of Naval Research, 2011). …

A case history in architectural acoustics: Security, acoustics, the protection of personally identifiable information (PII), and accessibility for the disabled

This paper discusses the re-design of a field office to enhance the protection of Personally Identifiable Information (PII), physical security, and accessibility for the disabled at the Social Security Administration (SSA) field office in Roxbury, MA. The study, and its results can be used at federal, civil, and private facilities where transaction window type public interviews occur. To protect the public and its staff, the SSA has mandated heightened security requirements in all field offices. The increased security measures include: Installation of barrier walls to provide separation between the public and private zones; maximized lines of sight, and increased speech privacy for the protection of PII. This paper discusses the use of the Speech Transmission Index (STI) measurement method used to determine the post construction intelligibility of speech through the transaction window, the acoustical design of the windows and their surrounding area, how appropriate acoustic design helps safeguard personal and sensitive information so that it may be securely communicated verbally, as well as improved access for the disabled community, especially the hearing impaired.

스마트폰 기반 자연재난 피해조사 시스템 효율성 분석

현재 자연재해 피해조사는 현장에서 수기식 야장에 피해내역을 작성하고, 피해현장 사진과 단면도, 위치도와 같은 현장 정보를 취득한 후 사무실에서 현장조사내용을 정리하고 재난관리시스템(NDMS, National Disaster Management System)에 입력하여 전자재해대장을 생성하는 체계로 이루어져 있다. 그러나 이러한 피해조사 체계는 현장업무와 사무실에서 시스템에 입력하는 업무의 중복성 등으로 인하여 피해발생시 인력과 시간이 부족한 현실이다. 따라서 현장에서 신속하게 피해조사를 함과 동시에 NDMS의 전자재해대장을 자동으로 생성할 수 있는 시스템을 개발함으로써 인력과 시간부족 문제를 해결할 수 있는 방안의 마련이 시급하다. 본 연구에서는 스마트폰을 이용하여 현장에서 피해내역 입력 및 사진촬영, 단면도 작성, 위치도 입력을 하고, 저장된 정보를 NDMS에 등록함으로써, 신속한 피해조사가 가능한 스마트폰 기반 자연재해 피해조사 시스템의 효율성 분석을 위하여 실제 피해 현장에 시범적용하였으며, 그 결과 기존의 피해조사 시간과 비교하여 67%이상의 시간단축효과가 있는 것으로 나타났다. Current natural disaster investigation has following procedures. First, handwrite the contents of damaged part of environment in the filed book while you are in the field. Then, attain field information like the photographs of damaged field, location map of the filed, and sectional view of the field. Lastly, go to the office with all the information, and organize investigated information of the field to input the information in the NDMS(National Disaster Management System) which formulate electronic disaster report. However, these kind of investigating disaster procedures has its weak points such as deficiency of time and labor when disaster breaks out because its works are overlapped between field work and office work. In order to get rid of these problems we need to develop following system: quick investigation of disaster skills, in accordance with system of automatical formulation of the electric disaster report of NDMS. In this study, we analyzed efficiency of natural disaster damage investigation system using smartphone through trial application to damaged area. The system can be quickly damage investigation by input details damage, shoot photographs, draw cross-section, input location map using smartphone in field. As a result, we found that it has more than 67% of time cut as we used it on the field.

Group Cultures and the Everyday Life of Organizations: Interaction Orders and Meso-Analysis

Drawing on sociological conceptions of interaction, small groups, and group cultures, we argue that organizational studies benefits from a meso-analysis of everyday life. Small group cultures are a means through which colleagues and co-workers share embedded and powerful self-referential meanings that shape ongoing organizational activity. Through this perspective we argue for a group-level approach to organizations that emphasizes the local production of knowledge and structure. Drawing upon ethnographic research on field offices of the US National Weather Service, we emphasize the importance of shared awareness and memory, performance, and differentiation, building on a vibrant group culture in which workers collaborate and challenge each other. In conclusion we examine connections and differences among the group culture approach, and related approaches that emphasize inhabited institutions, institutional logics, institutional work, and organizational culture.

Ann Starrs: enabling women to fulfil their potential

Ann Starrs: enabling women to fulfil their potential

9.1.2 Two‐stage Multi‐objective Analysis in the Assignment of Federal Air Marshals

AbstractThe United States Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS) plays a critical role in ensuring safe travel aboard United States (US) air carriers. Federal Air Marshall agents, who operate out of field offices throughout the US, are assigned to accompany flights in order to deter and respond to hostile acts. In an era of limited resources, the FAMS is interested in optimally locating its field offices and agents to minimize the overall risk to the US air transportation system. This represents a highly constrained and complex optimization problem that resists standard techniques. In this paper, we demonstrate an approach that leverages the value‐focused thinking to model risk and optimize risk mitigation. Our approach uses a novel two‐stage approach to risk analysis that reduces the optimization burden and provides a solution to the FAMS.

Understanding Varying Approaches Among Conservation Professionals: A Case Study from Papua New Guinea

This article examines the internal workings, debates, and politics of a conservation organization implementing marine conservation projects in Madang, Papua New Guinea (PNG). It tracks the decision-making processes of staff at international, national, and field offices who define and implement marine conservation projects. The findings show that individual conservation actors conceptualize objectives and tools differently, have different notions of conservation versus development, and may support ignorance about particular project details to advance individual and organizational goals.