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and our family iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The successful completion of this dissertation would not have been possible without the help of a number of individuals. I would like to thank Dr. Mark Abkowitz, my advisor and committee chairman, for his accessibility, guidance, support, and limitless encouragement. I thank my committee members, Dr. James Clark, Dr. Mark Cohen, and Dr. Eugene LeBoeuf, for their insight and advice throughout this project. Thank you to Dr. Edsel Daniel, John Minor, Dr. James Dobbins, and Dr. Kristen Shepherd, for their input and help during various stages of my research. I would also like to thank the 22 anonymous panelists who participated in my Delphi survey for all of their time and effort. I would like to thank my wife, Layne, for standing by me through six years of graduate school. Without her love, none of my goals would be achievable. Thank you to Eleanor and Caroline, my two wonderful daughters, who have helped to remind me of why I began this process. Thank you to all of my family for their support throughout the years, and particularly to my mother and father, Patricia and Paris Bryant, for the many sacrifices they have made for me and my education. Most importantly, though, I thank God for seeing me through a total of 23 years of school and enabling me to finally achieve this goal. i