http://hdl.handle.net/10791/1 Tue, 21 Apr 2026 15:19:49 GMT 2026-04-21T15:19:49Z http://hdl.handle.net/10791/513 Title: INFORMAL FACULTY LEADERSHIP IN BLENDED LEARNING: A CASE STUDY IN PHILIPPINE HIGHER EDUCATION Authors: Raymundo, Maria Rowena Supervisor(s): Dr. Martha Cleveland-Innes (Athabasca University) Examining Committee: Dr. Agnieszka Palalas (Athabasca University); Dr. Heather Kanuka (University of Alberta); Dr. William Hunter (Ontario Tech University) Degree: Doctor of Education (EdD) in Distance Education Department: Centre for Distance Education Abstract: Blended learning initiatives in Philippine higher education expanded following pandemic-driven mandates for flexible delivery. However, existing capacity-building initiatives have largely focused on formal academic leaders or on developing individual faculty competencies. Faculty who influence colleagues’ blended learning practices without formal authority remain underrepresented in institutional programs. This study examined the conditions that supported and hindered informal faculty leadership in blended learning and considered how these conditions inform the design of capacity-building initiatives. The study was conducted as an exploratory qualitative instrumental case study within a multi-campus Philippine public university system. Participants were 20 faculty members identified as informal leaders in blended learning through peer, administrator, or self-nomination. Data were gathered through individual semi-structured interviews, a focus group discussion, and document review, and were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis to develop interpretive insights across participants’ accounts. The analysis produced four interrelated insights. First, informal leadership was enacted through contribution-oriented practice grounded in practical problem-solving, developing and sharing instructional materials, modeling, and collegial support rather than formal authority. Second, influence depended on legitimacy and voluntary uptake, making informal leadership relational and negotiated. Third, blended learning functioned as institutional infrastructure that sustained instructional continuity during disruption while operating under persistent constraint. Fourth, informal leadership developed as a patterned compensatory response to institutional misalignment, where institutional expectations exceeded available structural support. The study contributes a structural conceptualization of informal faculty leadership as compensatory institutional work and offers a conceptual lens that reframes capacity building in blended learning as a matter of institutional alignment rather than professional development alone. Strengthening informal leadership therefore requires attention not only to individual capability, but also to how workload, infrastructure, authority, and recognition are aligned with institutional expectations. Without such alignment, informal leadership remains compensatory and vulnerable to strain. Future research may examine institutional misalignment in other reform contexts beyond blended learning, explore how institutional alignment can be strengthened across higher education settings, and examine how compensatory informal leadership evolves over time. Graduation Date: Jun-2026 Mon, 20 Apr 2026 06:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10791/513 2026-04-20T06:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10791/512 Title: SELF-PERCEIVED WILDFIRE SMOKE EXPOSURE AND MENTAL HEALTH OUTCOMES AMONG CANADIAN ADOLESCENTS Authors: Avenant, Erin R. Supervisor(s): Dr. Gina Martin (Athabasca University) Examining Committee: Dr. Alana Ireland (Athabasca University); Dr. Kharah Ross (Athabasca University) Degree: Master of Counselling Department: Faculty of Health Disciplines Abstract: Climate change contributes to increasingly severe wildfires and wildfire smoke (WFS) in Canada. WFS exposure may impact adolescent mental health; however, there is little empirical research on this. In this thesis, survey data of self-perceived WFS exposure, mental health problems, and climate worry among adolescents were utilized. Through multiple linear regression, the relationships between WFS exposure and depression, anxiety, stress, and climate worry were explored. Findings indicated that depression, anxiety, stress, and climate worry scores among participants who experienced only WFS in the last 12 months were not significantly different compared to non-exposed participants. Individuals who experienced WFS and four or more other climate change related acute events had higher anxiety, stress, and climate worry than non-exposed participants. These findings are relevant to the mental health counselling field. Counsellors may benefit from specialized training, and adolescents exposed to multiple climate change related acute events may benefit from counselling support. Graduation Date: 2026-06 Mon, 20 Apr 2026 06:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10791/512 2026-04-20T06:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10791/511 Title: MANAGING ENTERPRISE RISK UNDER PANDEMIC UNCERTAINTY: A TRANSCENDENTAL PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY Authors: Burgess, Andrew Joseph Supervisor(s): Dr. Kam Jugdev (Athabasca University) Examining Committee: Dr. Teresa Rose (Athabasca University); Dr. Ana Azevedo (Athabasca University); Dr. Thomas Walker (Concordia University) Degree: Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) Department: Faculty of Business Abstract: This dissertation examines how organizational leaders experienced managing the risk management process during the COVID-19 pandemic, a period marked by sustained uncertainty, compressed decision cycles, and volatile operational conditions. The study sought to understand what it was like to lead and execute risk work in this context and how risk management practices were maintained, adapted, or reconfigured over time. Using a transcendental phenomenological approach, the study drew on in-depth, semi-structured interviews with twenty participants in the Canadian oil and gas industry who were responsible for enterprise risk, finance, operations, or executive decision-making. Data were analyzed using systematic phenomenological procedures, progressing from horizontalization and clustering of significant statements to textural and structural descriptions, culminating in an integrated synthesis of essence. Findings indicate that risk management during the pandemic was experienced as a dynamic balancing act between stabilizing controls and adaptive learning. Participants described (a) the enabling and constraining role of governance and decision architecture, (b) the importance of communication cadence and cross-functional channels for coordination and trust, (c) reliance on information artifacts and deliberate signal management to support sensemaking, and (d) persistent agency-constraint tensions, including workload strain and morale risks, that shaped what was feasible in practice. The dissertation offers a conceptual framework that links formal systems and lived practice to continuity-oriented controls and adaptation-oriented learning, clarifying how crisis conditions reveal both strengths and fragilities in risk processes. Practical implications are provided for leaders seeking to design resilient risk governance, improve information quality and escalation pathways, and sustain organizational capacity during prolonged uncertainty. Graduation Date: 2026-06 Thu, 16 Apr 2026 06:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10791/511 2026-04-16T06:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10791/510 Title: HOOPS AND HURDLES: EXPLORING BARRIERS TO MENTAL HEALTHCARE FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLES IN THE PEACE REGION Authors: Mah, Mikayla Reanne Supervisor(s): Dr. Emily Doyle (Athabasca University) Dr. Kristin Petrovic (Athabasca University) Examining Committee: Dr. Jessica Kaiser (Athabasca University) Degree: Master of Counselling Department: Faculty of Health Disciplines Abstract: Securing mental healthcare services in Canada may be a challenging task for Indigenous Peoples who access publicly funded services in rural communities. Whether mental healthcare is culturally appropriate, accessible, and inclusive is determined by the healthcare institution, and the frontline workers who provide services. This research project sought to explore frontline mental healthcare practices delivered by Northern Health mental healthcare professionals, in the Peace Region, British Columbia (BC). This project clarified how institutions such as Northern Health, organize, direct, and dictate the work of frontline professionals relating to decolonizing and culturally safe work practices. The project provided insight for organizations and mental health professionals how service provision may improve for Indigenous Peoples and communities in the Peace Region. The findings of this study advocate for enhanced Indigenous community collaboration, clarifying decolonizing practice guidelines, and creating opportunities to advance ongoing cultural competency. Graduation Date: 2026-06 Tue, 14 Apr 2026 06:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10791/510 2026-04-14T06:00:00Z