March
March Dissertation Defenses
Candidate: Michael Kranak
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Psychology
Title: Serial and Concurrent Response Presentation: Their Effects on Resurgence
Committee: Dr. Stephanie Peterson, Chair, Dr. Richard Malott, Dr. Alan Poling, Dr. Claire St. Peter
Time/Place: Friday, March 1, 2019, 9 to 11 a.m., 2734 Wood Hall
Candidate: Tiffany B. White
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: School of Public Affairs and Administration
Title: A Pilot Study: Identifying the Characteristics of Postsecondary Offices of Disability Services Associated with High Graduation Rates
Committee: Dr. Robert Peters, Chair, Dr. David Hartmann, Dr. James Leja
Time/Place: Friday, March 1, 2019, 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., 1024 College of Health and Human Services
Candidate: Kohei Togashi
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Psychology
Title: Reducing Problem Behaviors in a School Setting: A Practitioner Model Project
Committee: Dr. Richard Malott, Chair, Dr. Stephanie Peterson, Dr. Carmen Jonaitis, Dr. Steven Ragotzy
Time/Place: Monday, March 4, 2019, 1:00 to 3:30 p.m., 2734 Wood Hall
Candidate: Yu Du
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Educational Leadership, Research and Technology
Title: Design Parameters for Planning Cluster Randomized Trials of Cognitive Skill Interventions: An Empirical Analysis Using the Collegiate Learning Assessment
Committee: Dr. Jessaca Spybrook, Chair, Dr. Gary Miron, Dr. David Reinhold
Time/Place: Monday, March 11, 2019, 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., 3120 Sangren Hall
Candidate: Michael D. Berghoef
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Sociology
Title: At the Crossroads of Race, Class and Culture: Identifying the Unintended Consequences of Technology on the Agency of Blues Musicians
Committee: Dr. David Hartmann, Chair, Dr. Douglas Davidson, Dr. Susan Morris
Time/Place: Monday, March 11, 2019, 10 a.m. to noon, 3205 Sangren Hall
Candidate: Rachael Postle-Brown
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Educational Leadership, Research and Technology
Title: Delaying Kindergarten Entrance by Participating in Pre-Kindergarten and the Relationship to Academic Achievement in Elementary School: Red-Shirting and Achievement Scores
Committee: Dr. Sue Poppink, Chair, Dr. Brett Geier, Dr. James Grant
Time/Place: Monday, March 11, 2019, 1 to 3 p.m., 4402 Sangren Hall
Candidate: Sita Karki
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Geological and Environmental Sciences
Title: Developing Early Warning Systems for Debris Flows and Harmful Algal Blooms
Committee: Dr. Mohamed Sultan, Chair, Dr. Racha Elkadiri, Dr. Richard Becker, Dr. Donald (Matt) Reeves, Dr. Alan Kehew
Time/Place: Tuesday, March 12, 2019, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., 1120 Rood Hall
Candidate: Shilpa Lakhanpal
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Computer Science
Title: Exploring the Dynamics of Scientific Research
Committee: Dr. Ajay Gupta, Chair, Dr. Rajeev Agrawal, Dr. Xiaozhong Liu, Dr. Edward Eckel
Time/Place: Monday, March 11, 2019, 2:30 to 4:30 p.m., C-122 CEAS, Parkview Campus
Candidate: Erica Schlau
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Counselor Education and Counseling Psychology
Title: A Case Study of a Jail Participating in an Animal-Assisted Crisis Response Program
Committee: Dr. Jennifer Foster, Chair, Dr. Alan Hovestadt, Dr. Angela Moe
Time/Place: Tuesday, March 12, 2019, 1 to 3 p.m., 2401 Sangren Hall
Candidate: Cody Morris
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Psychology
Title: A Component Analysis of an Electronic Data Collection Package
Committee: Dr. Stephanie Peterson, Chair, Dr. Wayne Fuqua, Dr. Heather McGee, Dr. Lloyd Peterson
Time/Place: Tuesday, March 12, 2019, 2 to 4 p.m., 3713 Wood Hall
Candidate: Jamie L. Hirsh
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Psychology
Title: Functional Analysis of Excessive Crying in Infancy: Two Empirical Case Studies
Committee: Dr. Wayne Fuqua, Chair, Dr. Stephanie Peterson, Dr. Amy Damashek, Dr. Dilipkumar Patel
Time/Place: Wednesday, March 13, 2019, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., 3723 Wood Hall
Candidate: Nardos Beyene
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Economics
Title: Liquidity Shocks and their Implication for Asset Pricing and Valuation Models
Committee: Dr. James Hueng, Chair, Dr. Eskander Alvi, Dr. Peng (Roc) Huang
Time/Place: Wednesday, March 13, 2019, 2 to 4 p.m., 5302 Friedman Hall
Candidate: Li Cheng
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: School of Public Affairs and Administration
Title: Are We Globalized? Transformative Education and Internationalization within NASPAA Programs
Committee: Dr. Matthew Mingus, Chair, Dr. Susan Hoffmann, Dr. Ming Li
Time/Place: Thursday, March 14, 2019, 9 to 11 a.m., 4550 Sangren Hall
Candidate: Omar Abu-Ghalyoun
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Mathematics
Title: The Role of Sampling Variability in Developing K-8 Preservice Teachers’ Informal Inferential Reasoning
Committee: Dr. Mariana Levin, Chair, Dr. Christine Browning, Dr. Steven Ziebarth, Dr. Stephanie Casey
Time/Place: Thursday, March 14, 2019, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., 6625 Everett Tower
Candidate: Micole D. Dyson
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Educational Leadership, Research and Technology
Title: The Efficacy Actions of Priority School Leaders During the Dynamic Change of School Reform
Committee: Dr. Louann Bierlein-Palmer, Chair, Dr. Brett Geier, Dr. Joseph Morris
Time/Place: Thursday, March 14, 2019, 1 to 3 p.m., 2401 Sangren Hall
Candidate: Kathryn Wilson
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Educational Leadership, Research and Technology
Title: The Social-Construct of Race and Ethnicity: Ones’ Self-identity after a DNA Test
Committee: Dr. Gary Miron, Chair, Dr. D. Eric Archer, Dr. June Gothberg
Time/Place: Thursday, March 14, 2019, 1 to 3 p.m., 4305 Sangren Hall
Candidate: Rita S. Gordon
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Educational Leadership, Research and Technology
Title: University Auxiliary Services: A Review of Factors Impacting Privatization Decisions
Committee: Dr. Louann Bierlein Palmer, Chair, Dr. Daniel Gaymer, Dr. Deborah Thalner
Time/Place: Friday, March 15, 2019, 1 to 3 p.m., 2401 Sangren Hall
April
Candidate: Katrina Elizabeth Koehler
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Physics
Title: Sensitivity of the Theoretical Electron Capture Shape and Comparisons to Experiment
Committee: Dr. Michael Famiano, Chair, Dr. Lisa Paulius, Dr. Thomas Gorczyca, Dr. Michael Rabin
Time/Place: Friday, April 5, 2019, 8 to 10 a.m., 2202 Everett Tower
Candidate: Yuqian Shen
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Statistics
Title: A Two-Stage Bayesian Variable Selection Method with the Extension of Lasso for Geo-Referenced Count Data
Committee: Dr. Georgiana Onicescu, Chair, Dr. Joshua Naranjo, Dr. Kevin Lee, Dr. David Lemberg
Time/Place: Friday, April 12, 2019, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., 6625 Everett Tower
Candidate: McKenna Corlis
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Psychology
Title: Examining the Effects of Cell Phone Use on Caregiver Supervision and Child Injury Risk
Committee: Dr. Amy Damashek, Chair, Dr. Scott Gaynor, Dr. Amy Naugle, Dr. Neelkamal Soares
Time/Place: Monday, April 22, 2019, 8 to 10 a.m., 2734 Wood Hall
Candidate: Monica Barreto
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Psychology
Title: A Single Session of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to Promote Health-Related Behavior Change: A Randomized Control Trial
Committee: Dr. Scott Gaynor, Chair, Dr. Amy Naugle, Dr. Amy Damashek, Dr. Sara Custodio
Time/Place: Monday, April 29, 2019, 10 a.m. to noon, 2734 Wood Hall
Candidate: Majid Mastali
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Civil Engineering
Title: Assessing Infrastructure Elements Using Automated Object Detection Technique in Smart City Applications
Committee: Dr. Jun-Seok Oh, Chair, Dr. Osama Abudayyeh, Dr. Alvis Fong
Time/Place: Monday, April 29, 2019, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., CEAS E-121, Parkview Campus
Candidate: Jesse Anguiano
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Graduate College
Title: Repression and Resistance: A Social History of the Gay Social Movement of Tijuana, Mexico 1980-1993
Committee: Dr. Vincent Lyon-Callo, Chair, Dr. Angela Moe, Dr. Kristina Wirtz, Dr. Ruben Martínez
Time/Place: Monday, April 29, 2019, Noon to 2 p.m., 125-E Walwood Hall
May
Candidate: Keith Russo
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: English
Title: Playing Merlin: Authorship from Geoffrey of Monmouth to Neomedievalism
Committee: Dr. Eve Salisbury, Chair, Dr. Nicolas Witschi, Dr. Rand Johnson, Dr. Richard Utz
Time/Place: Tuesday, May 7, 2019, 2 to 4 p.m., 2033 Brown
Candidate: Latif Ibraheem
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Title: Development of Heat Transfer Correlations for Low-Reynolds Numbers, Transitional Flows in Horizontal Circular Pipes
Committee: Dr. Claudia Fajardo, Chair, Dr. Parviz Merati, Dr. HoSung Lee, Dr. Christopher Cho, Dr. David Meade
Time/Place: Tuesday, May 14, 2019, 3 to 5 p.m., F-115 CEAS, Parkview Campus
Previous dissertation defenses have been digitized and archived by the Western Michigan University Libraries ScholarWorks Dissertations page. Use the advance search located on the left side of the page to get dissertations sorted by author, subject, department, year published, and more.