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105
Bess’s indication that the same opportunities were not available across all levels of the
organization was seconded by Francesca, who described her own employment categorization as
an exempt employee, meaning unable to earn overtime for extra hours worked beyond a certain
threshold, as important to her ability to participate versus some of her colleagues. Asked whether
she was supported by her supervisor, Francesca shared:
[My supervisor] wasn’t deeply concerned, I think for me anyway.…And this is only for
me. I can’t speak for the other people in my organization, but I think she trusts that as
long as the work is getting done…if I want to take an hour to exercise, it’s fine. But…I'm
sure there are people in my office whose supervisors would not be okay with it. And I am
also a manager and have worked there for a long time and am exempt, so I'm not hourly.
Francesca highlighted her role proactively seeking to participate and her supervisor’s assent,
rather than encouragement. Her ability to control her own time without impacting timekeeping or
work performance supported Bess’s earlier comments. Aside from Allison, whose supervisor
supported her attendance because she noticed the impact it had on Allison’s anxiety, no other
participant indicated their supervisor offered overt encouragement beyond permission to
participate. Furthermore, participants expressed a ubiquitous understanding that not everyone
had the same opportunities for physical activity, suggesting devoted efforts at culture change
would need to occur for PCU to encourage all employees to participate.
Messaging and Communication. Survey responses and interviews indicated that both
CLS and PCU offered inconsistent messaging relating to employee physical activity.
Participants’ perspectives again described the need for comprehensive involvement of all levels
of the university to effect organizational change. Means of message delivery also emerged as an
area that could be improved.
Object Description
| Title | Physical activity interventions to reduce rates of sedentary behavior among university employees: a promising practice study |
| Author | DeFrank, Ginny Mary |
| Author email | ginnydefrank@gmail.com;defrank@usc.edu |
| Degree | Doctor of Education |
| Document type | Dissertation |
| Degree program | Organizational Change and Leadership (On Line) |
| School | Rossier School of Education |
| Date defended/completed | 2020-06-19 |
| Date submitted | 2020-08-11 |
| Date approved | 2020-08-11 |
| Restricted until | 2020-08-11 |
| Date published | 2020-08-11 |
| Advisor (committee chair) | Malloy, Courtney |
| Advisor (committee member) |
Canny, Eric Stowe, Kathy |
| Abstract | The purpose of this study was to understand factors influencing employee participation in a university-offered physical activity program to inform recommendations for other institutions of higher education seeking to address high rates of university employee sedentary behavior with physical activity programming. The instructor-led program was held four times per week beginning at noon each day and lasted one hour in duration on a university campus in the western United States. The program, which was offered at no cost to employees, typically served 20-30 participants each week. The Clark and Estes Gap Analytic Framework (2008) was employed to assess relevant knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences affecting university employee engagement with the physical activity program. The study utilized a convergent parallel mixed methods design, engaging 24 university employees by means of a fifty-four-item quantitative survey. Six survey respondents also participated in interviews. Research findings revealed the importance of the interplay of employee factual and metacognitive knowledge, as well as motivation influences including self-efficacy and expectancy value within the organization’s cultural models and settings. Recommendations for other institutions seeking to engage employees in physical activity were informed by the findings and supported by a review of literature. Recommendations include the use of training, communication strategies, information guides, modeling, and opportunities for reflection to meet employee knowledge and motivational needs. Evaluating and changing organizational policies, cultural values, and existing physical activity programming was recommended to ensure employees understand an organization’s support for participation in physical activity. Additionally, implications for practice involved a focus on the role of instructors and the development of communities of continuity to support and improve rates of university employee engagement in physical activity during the workday. |
| Keyword | sedentary behavior; physical activity; workplace physical activity; physical activity intervention; university physical activity; exercise |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Provenance | Electronically uploaded by the author |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Rights | DeFrank, Ginny Mary |
| Physical access | The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the author, as the original true and official version of the work, but does not grant the reader permission to use the work if the desired use is covered by copyright. It is the author, as rights holder, who must provide use permission if such use is covered by copyright. The original signature page accompanying the original submission of the work to the USC Libraries is retained by the USC Libraries and a copy of it may be obtained by authorized requesters contacting the repository e-mail address given. |
| Repository name | University of Southern California Digital Library |
| Repository address | USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 7002, 106 University Village, Los Angeles, California 90089-7002, USA |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Filename | etd-DeFrankGin-8921.pdf |
| Archival file | Volume13/etd-DeFrankGin-8921.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 114 |
| Full text | 105 Bess’s indication that the same opportunities were not available across all levels of the organization was seconded by Francesca, who described her own employment categorization as an exempt employee, meaning unable to earn overtime for extra hours worked beyond a certain threshold, as important to her ability to participate versus some of her colleagues. Asked whether she was supported by her supervisor, Francesca shared: [My supervisor] wasn’t deeply concerned, I think for me anyway.…And this is only for me. I can’t speak for the other people in my organization, but I think she trusts that as long as the work is getting done…if I want to take an hour to exercise, it’s fine. But…I'm sure there are people in my office whose supervisors would not be okay with it. And I am also a manager and have worked there for a long time and am exempt, so I'm not hourly. Francesca highlighted her role proactively seeking to participate and her supervisor’s assent, rather than encouragement. Her ability to control her own time without impacting timekeeping or work performance supported Bess’s earlier comments. Aside from Allison, whose supervisor supported her attendance because she noticed the impact it had on Allison’s anxiety, no other participant indicated their supervisor offered overt encouragement beyond permission to participate. Furthermore, participants expressed a ubiquitous understanding that not everyone had the same opportunities for physical activity, suggesting devoted efforts at culture change would need to occur for PCU to encourage all employees to participate. Messaging and Communication. Survey responses and interviews indicated that both CLS and PCU offered inconsistent messaging relating to employee physical activity. Participants’ perspectives again described the need for comprehensive involvement of all levels of the university to effect organizational change. Means of message delivery also emerged as an area that could be improved. |
