When a policy is launched, its success is  dependent on a variety of stakeholders. As the politics of decision  makers, executives, staff, clients, and social workers begin to  influence the implementation process, their beliefs—and subsequent  actions—determine the fate of the policy.

Often  a social worker must step out of the comfort of his or her social  service world and may find himself or herself making difficult decisions  about ethical issues and/or may find himself or herself involved in  implementing policies that he or she feels is against his or her social  work values. How does a social worker handle the intricacies and  challenges of policy implementation on both a personal and professional  level?

In this Discussion, you explore policy implementation and the challenges faced by social workers during policy implementation.

By Day 3

Post your thoughts on whether  social workers might try to undermine the implementation of specific  policies. What ethical issues might they confront? Discuss how social  workers can implement policies that they feel may be against their  social work values. Discuss a specific policy’s impact that you would  try to mitigate in the implementation phase. Provide an experience you  have had with a policy you had difficulty implementing or a policy you  are aware of that you would have serious qualms about implementing.

Discuss on how multiple factors contribute to the failure  of people to implement specific policies. In your opinion, do you think  frontline social workers are perceived as people who cause specific  policies to not be implemented?

Be sure to support your post with specific references to this  week’s resources. If you are using additional articles, be sure to  provide full APA-formatted citations for your references.
 

Jansson, B. S. (2018). Becoming an effective policy advocate: From policy practice to social justice  (8th ed.). Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole Cengage Learning Series.
Chapter 13, “Troubleshooting the Implementation of Policies in Task 7” (pp. 460-487)
 

Lane, S. R., & Humphreys, N. A. (2011). Social workers in politics: A national survey of social work candidates and elected officials. Journal of Policy Practice, 10(3), 225–244. doi:10.1080/15588742.2011.582809.

Instructions

After reviewing your chosen case study, craft a 5-page response (plus title and reference pages) based on research literature and personal experience in higher education:

In addition to the prompts for your case study, address the following:

• Identify the primary sources of revenue at the selected institution.
• Analyze the principles behind the primary expenditures in the selected institution.
• Develop solutions to resolve financial challenges faced by the selected institution.
• Explain why you believe this four-part plan will be successful.
• Identify any other actions you believe are necessary:      
  • Would you eliminate or change any part of the plan?        
    • Support your comments with examples.
    • Provide the reason for your recommendation and identify the anticipated results.

Case Studies

Community College

You are the vice president for finance and administration at Muddy Water Community College (MWCC). Enrollment at MWCC is strong, with just over 5,000 students. Approximately 80 percent of the college operating revenue comes from tuition and public funding. It is February and the fiscal year ends on June 30. The state has not sent the last 3 million dollars of your annual state appropriation. The state treasurer claims that sales tax income is well below expectations and property tax income is lower than expected. Your college has a small endowment of less than 6 million dollars. There is enough operating cash to pay salaries through the end of April. Complete the following:

• Develop a short-term plan with specific action to resolve the short-term problem.
• Create a long-term plan that will prevent this situation from recurring.
• Explain how and when you expect to repay the loans if borrowing funds is a part of your short-term plan.

Private College

You work at Excellent College (EC), a private, secular college in the Northeast. Due to a drop in enrollment, EC is experiencing reduced tuition revenue that has caused severe financial problems. EC must reduce its operating expense to offset the lost tuition revenue. Nearly every way to cut the operating expense budget has been identified and necessary actions have been taken. The one expense area not considered is the employer-paid employee benefits package, which includes health care coverage, a life insurance policy, and an 8 percent of base salary contribution to the TIAA/CREF pension fund. As vice president for finance and administration, you must develop a plan for reducing the expense of the employer-paid benefits package. Address the following:

• What specific actions will you take, including expected results and related timeline?
• Will you include the option for voluntary retirement?      
  • If so, what incentives will you offer employees to encourage voluntary retirement?
• How will you communicate your actions to the college community?      
  • You must be clear about the actions that will be taken while trying to minimize any negative reaction from faculty, employees, and staff.

College Turnaround

Progressive College (PC) is an independent private college that targets adults who want to finish their undergraduate degrees. Competition from other area colleges squeezed the student enrollment at PC and it is facing some financial challenges. The college has a negative net-asset position and very little operating cash. Fortunately, the chairman of the board has the resources to fund PC until it can develop a recovery plan. You are vice president for finance and administration at PC and you have been charged to work with the college president and administration to develop a turnaround plan. After many meetings and discussions, you have developed a four-part financial recovery plan as follows:

• Do not increase tuition at a rate higher than inflation.
• Do not use financial aid as a means to reduce price.
• Use adjunct faculty during times of growing student enrollment.
• Eliminate academic programs that no longer respond to the needs of the market.

Additional Requirements

• Include title and reference pages.
• Include at least four professional and scholarly references.

It is often not possible or practical to study an entire population, so researchers draw samples from which they make inferences about a population of interest. In quantitative research, where generalization to a population is typically valued, a researcher’s ability to make such inferences is only as good as the sampling strategy she or he uses to obtain the sample. Once an appropriate sample has been obtained, data collection should involve valid and reliable measures to ensure confidence in the results, as well as the ability to generalize the research outcomes. Although generalization is typically not a goal in qualitative research, sampling is just as important in qualitative and mixed methods research, as is obtaining reliable and valid results. Indeed, for quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods research, sampling strategies and accurate data collection methods are critical aspects of the research process.

Specific methods of data collection (e.g., surveys, interviews, observations) produce specific types of data that will answer particular research questions, but not others; so here too, as covered in previous weeks, the research questions inform how the data will be obtained.  Furthermore, the method used to collect the data may impact the reliability and the validity of that data.

For this Discussion, you will first consider sampling strategies. Then, you will turn your attention to data collection methods, including their strengths, limitations, and ethical implications. Last, you will consider measurement reliability and validity in the context of your discipline.

With these thoughts in mind, if your last name starts with A through L, use Position A. If your last name starts with M through Z, use Position B.

Position A: Probability sampling represents the best strategy for selecting research participants.

Position B: Nonprobability (or purposive) sampling represents the best strategy for selecting research participants.

By Day 4

Post a restatement of your assigned position on sampling strategies. Explain why this position is the best strategy for selecting research participants. Support your explanation with an example and support from the scholarly literature. Next, select a data collection method (e.g., surveys, interviews, observations) and briefly explain at least one strength and at least one limitation. Then, identify a potential ethical issue with this method and describe a strategy to address it. Last, explain the relationship between measurement reliability and measurement validity using an example from your discipline.

Be sure to support your Main Issue Post and Response Post with reference to the week’s Learning Resources and other scholarly evidence in APA Style.