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Papers by Laura Littlepage

Routledge eBooks, Jun 22, 2023

IU Public Policy Institute, Jul 1, 2015

The rapid increase in the use of service learning raises important public policy questions about ... more The rapid increase in the use of service learning raises important public policy questions about who is being served and whether partner agencies have the capacity to meet student demand for community-based experiences. This article uses a large sample of nonprofit organizations and a comparative framework to examine the characteristics of partner agencies and the scope and nature of college student community involvement. Multivariate analysis tests these factors on a community agency’s ability to engage more students, particularly service learners. The findings are generally optimistic about agency willingness to involve students, suggesting widespread community benefits from their involvement. While organizational size and capacity predict current student engagement, an agency’s past experience with students and its perceptions of student benefits have the greatest impact on its willingness to take on future students.

Experiential education can take many forms and is now common throughout undergraduate and graduat... more Experiential education can take many forms and is now common throughout undergraduate and graduate curricula; in part, because of the presumed public benefits of connecting an educational curriculum to community problem solving (Kuh, 2008). Given the joint involvement of university and community institutions in experiential education and the diverse motivations for encouraging student community involvement, this academic practice can be viewed through three lenses: (1) for the student as a form of student learning, (2) for the campus as a public policy instrument to promote civic engagement, and (3) for the community as a service delivery tool for community organizations (Littlepage, Gazley, & Bennett, 2012). Most of the research about student service learning has focused on the first two aspects (Bailis & Ganger, 2006; Imperial, Perry, & Katula, 2007; Jones, 2003). This poster will examine all three sides of the relationship through the lens of a service learning class called Do th...

Center, founded in 1992, is one of the largest of its kind in the country. Faculty and staff with... more Center, founded in 1992, is one of the largest of its kind in the country. Faculty and staff with expertise in program evaluation, policy analysis, planning, and facilitation, work with governmental agencies, nonprofit organizations, and private businesses on a wide variety of policy issues.

Tourism Economics, 1998

Gambling is intuitively considered as part of the tourism ‘package’. This paper empirically asses... more Gambling is intuitively considered as part of the tourism ‘package’. This paper empirically assesses this perception in the context of actual casino development in Indiana and simulated impacts of a hypothetical casino in Israel. In both contexts, the sources of demand for gambling, the extent to which these are ‘tourist’ sources and the question of gambling-generated demand displacing existing tourist demand, are examined. Despite the rather different market and political contexts in Indiana and Israel, the findings on the gambling-tourism relationship and the effect of gambling on local economies, are remarkably consistent. In both cases, gambling is seen to be grounded in import-substitution rather than pure ‘export’ activity. Additionally, in both cases there is evidence that the introduction of gambling displaces tourist demand. The policy implications of these findings point to the need to differentiate between local and national impacts of gambling and between the local fisca...

Review of Public Personnel Administration, 2011

Functional theory suggests that people choose activities based on their perception of how well th... more Functional theory suggests that people choose activities based on their perception of how well the work matches their personal motives.This process implies that worker motivations vary by activity even when controlling for typical motivational antecedents. Although this perspective is common in the volunteering literature, the public service motivation (PSM) literature has not formally considered functional theory hypotheses.Yet PSM theory asserts a relationship not to government work itself, but to activities related to public service such as volunteering.This study evaluates functional theory in regard to PSM based on using a survey of recipients of the Daily Point of Light Award (DPOL) and the President’s Community Volunteer Award (PCV). After controlling for common PSM antecedents such as gender, level of education, religious participation, and age, PSM and its subdimensions exhibit some variance across volunteering domains (viz., religious, educational/school, human services, a...

Review of Public Personnel Administration, 2008

This research note reports a confirmatory factor analysis for three of Perry's (1996) public ... more This research note reports a confirmatory factor analysis for three of Perry's (1996) public service motivation (PSM) subdimensions: self-sacrifice, commitment to public interest, and compassion. A mail survey of national award-winning volunteers constitutes the sample. Results indicate strong support for Perry's instrument, most noticeably better results for self-sacrifice than those found in Perry's original exploratory work. Implications and recommendations for PSM instrument development are discussed.

Nonprofit Management and Leadership, 2012

Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 2012

College student volunteerism and interest in community-based learning are on the rise. Are commun... more College student volunteerism and interest in community-based learning are on the rise. Are communities ready for them? This article examines the “supply side” of student engagement: nonprofit capacity to accommodate students. Our analysis of a large random sample of nonprofit managers in two contrasting communities finds that many of the volunteer management (VM) functions assumed to be important in any volunteer context also are important to student engagement. We also find role differentiation between interns, service learners, and general volunteers in the VM tools used to engage these students and the outcomes that can be expected. Despite variation in reported outcomes, nonprofit managers consider some aspects of VM to be essential to all campus–community partnerships. We find that each type of student involvement contributes to organizational capacity in specific ways and that student engagement depends on adequate VM capacity (VMC). Our conclusion discusses how the findings c...

Journal of Urban Affairs, 1997

ABSTRACT: Public policy makers at the state and local levels will continue to face the issue of g... more ABSTRACT: Public policy makers at the state and local levels will continue to face the issue of gaming in spite of recent public backlash. Many state and local governments have looked toward gaming as a means to increase revenues without raising existing taxes. There are several issues that a community should consider when deciding to take this approach, such as: Is the local market sufficient for what is being proposed? What will happen to state and local revenues when more and more casinos are added to an area? Do the funds come from inside or outside the community? Does the availability of gaming create demand or just fill existing demand? In response to these issues, this article utilizes ZIP-code level and aggregate data on casino operations in 1994 in the Chicagoland area to model the market for casino gaming. The findings of these simulations estimate the effects on the market created by the opening of four Indiana casinos. Local decision makers will find this report a useful tool as they consider similar proposals in their own communities.

Routledge eBooks, Jun 22, 2023

IU Public Policy Institute, Jul 1, 2015

The rapid increase in the use of service learning raises important public policy questions about ... more The rapid increase in the use of service learning raises important public policy questions about who is being served and whether partner agencies have the capacity to meet student demand for community-based experiences. This article uses a large sample of nonprofit organizations and a comparative framework to examine the characteristics of partner agencies and the scope and nature of college student community involvement. Multivariate analysis tests these factors on a community agency’s ability to engage more students, particularly service learners. The findings are generally optimistic about agency willingness to involve students, suggesting widespread community benefits from their involvement. While organizational size and capacity predict current student engagement, an agency’s past experience with students and its perceptions of student benefits have the greatest impact on its willingness to take on future students.

Experiential education can take many forms and is now common throughout undergraduate and graduat... more Experiential education can take many forms and is now common throughout undergraduate and graduate curricula; in part, because of the presumed public benefits of connecting an educational curriculum to community problem solving (Kuh, 2008). Given the joint involvement of university and community institutions in experiential education and the diverse motivations for encouraging student community involvement, this academic practice can be viewed through three lenses: (1) for the student as a form of student learning, (2) for the campus as a public policy instrument to promote civic engagement, and (3) for the community as a service delivery tool for community organizations (Littlepage, Gazley, & Bennett, 2012). Most of the research about student service learning has focused on the first two aspects (Bailis & Ganger, 2006; Imperial, Perry, & Katula, 2007; Jones, 2003). This poster will examine all three sides of the relationship through the lens of a service learning class called Do th...

Center, founded in 1992, is one of the largest of its kind in the country. Faculty and staff with... more Center, founded in 1992, is one of the largest of its kind in the country. Faculty and staff with expertise in program evaluation, policy analysis, planning, and facilitation, work with governmental agencies, nonprofit organizations, and private businesses on a wide variety of policy issues.

Tourism Economics, 1998

Gambling is intuitively considered as part of the tourism ‘package’. This paper empirically asses... more Gambling is intuitively considered as part of the tourism ‘package’. This paper empirically assesses this perception in the context of actual casino development in Indiana and simulated impacts of a hypothetical casino in Israel. In both contexts, the sources of demand for gambling, the extent to which these are ‘tourist’ sources and the question of gambling-generated demand displacing existing tourist demand, are examined. Despite the rather different market and political contexts in Indiana and Israel, the findings on the gambling-tourism relationship and the effect of gambling on local economies, are remarkably consistent. In both cases, gambling is seen to be grounded in import-substitution rather than pure ‘export’ activity. Additionally, in both cases there is evidence that the introduction of gambling displaces tourist demand. The policy implications of these findings point to the need to differentiate between local and national impacts of gambling and between the local fisca...

Review of Public Personnel Administration, 2011

Functional theory suggests that people choose activities based on their perception of how well th... more Functional theory suggests that people choose activities based on their perception of how well the work matches their personal motives.This process implies that worker motivations vary by activity even when controlling for typical motivational antecedents. Although this perspective is common in the volunteering literature, the public service motivation (PSM) literature has not formally considered functional theory hypotheses.Yet PSM theory asserts a relationship not to government work itself, but to activities related to public service such as volunteering.This study evaluates functional theory in regard to PSM based on using a survey of recipients of the Daily Point of Light Award (DPOL) and the President’s Community Volunteer Award (PCV). After controlling for common PSM antecedents such as gender, level of education, religious participation, and age, PSM and its subdimensions exhibit some variance across volunteering domains (viz., religious, educational/school, human services, a...

Review of Public Personnel Administration, 2008

This research note reports a confirmatory factor analysis for three of Perry's (1996) public ... more This research note reports a confirmatory factor analysis for three of Perry's (1996) public service motivation (PSM) subdimensions: self-sacrifice, commitment to public interest, and compassion. A mail survey of national award-winning volunteers constitutes the sample. Results indicate strong support for Perry's instrument, most noticeably better results for self-sacrifice than those found in Perry's original exploratory work. Implications and recommendations for PSM instrument development are discussed.

Nonprofit Management and Leadership, 2012

Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 2012

College student volunteerism and interest in community-based learning are on the rise. Are commun... more College student volunteerism and interest in community-based learning are on the rise. Are communities ready for them? This article examines the “supply side” of student engagement: nonprofit capacity to accommodate students. Our analysis of a large random sample of nonprofit managers in two contrasting communities finds that many of the volunteer management (VM) functions assumed to be important in any volunteer context also are important to student engagement. We also find role differentiation between interns, service learners, and general volunteers in the VM tools used to engage these students and the outcomes that can be expected. Despite variation in reported outcomes, nonprofit managers consider some aspects of VM to be essential to all campus–community partnerships. We find that each type of student involvement contributes to organizational capacity in specific ways and that student engagement depends on adequate VM capacity (VMC). Our conclusion discusses how the findings c...

Journal of Urban Affairs, 1997

ABSTRACT: Public policy makers at the state and local levels will continue to face the issue of g... more ABSTRACT: Public policy makers at the state and local levels will continue to face the issue of gaming in spite of recent public backlash. Many state and local governments have looked toward gaming as a means to increase revenues without raising existing taxes. There are several issues that a community should consider when deciding to take this approach, such as: Is the local market sufficient for what is being proposed? What will happen to state and local revenues when more and more casinos are added to an area? Do the funds come from inside or outside the community? Does the availability of gaming create demand or just fill existing demand? In response to these issues, this article utilizes ZIP-code level and aggregate data on casino operations in 1994 in the Chicagoland area to model the market for casino gaming. The findings of these simulations estimate the effects on the market created by the opening of four Indiana casinos. Local decision makers will find this report a useful tool as they consider similar proposals in their own communities.