BY

There are several people to whom I owe a great deal of gratitude for their contributions towards the completion of my dissertation. The list needs to start with my advisors, Drs. James Brown and Tom Stertz. I sincerely thank them for always being positive role models and going out of their way to be supportive of my mission, especially in light of the timing I needed to meet. I will always remember how well they treated me and I will indeed “pay it forward!” I would like to thank my committee members for their time and efforts evaluating my work at all stages leading up to the completed dissertation. In particular, I thank my chair, Dr. Sasha Ardichvili, for always providing sound advice and for pushing me to a higher level of research. And to Dr. Susan Staggs, I am especially grateful for the assistance with the behavioral model used in my study and for guidance on conducting focus groups. I would like to extend my sincere appreciation to the faculty, staff and students at the University of Wisconsin-Stout who helped me in one way or another during the collection of data for my study. Whether it was by providing data directly or throug