<p> This multi-site case study is really the story of three same-state community colleges (Bridge and Buffer Community College, Grants and Reserves Community College, and Crystal Ball Community College) two years after they suffered a potentially catastrophic 50% reduction in state allocations. This study examined their responses to those reductions and attempted to frame those responses according to existing research on strategic activity and strategic positioning. </p><p> The theoretical framework used, referenced as a theoretical mesh, consisted of academic capitalism (Slaughter &amp; Leslie, 1997; Slaughter &amp; Rhoades, 2004), resource dependence theory (Pfeffer &amp; Salancik, 1978), state relative autonomy perspective (Dougherty, 1994), and neo-institutional theory (DiMaggio &amp; Powell, 1983). The synthesis of these theories facilitated the analysis of the findings of this study. </p><p> This study identified three key phenomena: The <i>Quartering of Community Colleges</i> to conceptualize and organize the abundance of external pressures facing community colleges, <i>Mandates to Neutralize </i> to explain the importance of an aggressive and formal approach to neutralizing external pressures, and <i>Embedded Community Colleges</i> whose strategic positions are strengthened through a deliberate, committed approach to fostering close relationships with their local communities.</p>

<p> Studies suggest that the academic identity of liberal arts faculty is changing due to the introduction and use of new managerialism practices in higher education. Increasingly, faculty members are being asked to take on tasks considered to be outside of traditional teaching, research, and service functions. These tasks are largely administrative in nature, and while previous research has documented some shifts in faculty duties, none has detailed the explicit impacts these shifts have on faculty identity. </p><p> This phenomenological study documents how 15 tenured and tenure-track liberal arts faculty members at a well-respected and highly ranked research 1 (R1) university in the Mid-Atlantic region have experienced new managerialism. It tells a story of a faculty devoted not only to research but also to teaching&mdash;one that values both the high caliber of undergraduate students and his colleagues and the strong academic tradition and reputation of the institution. The data in some ways paint a portrait of what one would expect to find: faculty members who fervently believe in the intellectual freedom that comes with tenure. At the same time, the data challenge previously held generalisms, such as a faculty member's primary identification with his or her discipline. The study also details concerns about what has been described as the rapidly expanding administrative core of the university&mdash;those individuals not primarily focused on conducting research or teaching students. </p><p> My conclusions question higher education's societal role and the academy's present challenges and opportunities, and depict faculty members who are clinging to an idealized image of the professoriate of the past and, at the same time, attempting to define their future identity.</p>

<p> Classroom scheduling in higher education is a complicated process involving many different stakeholders across the campus. These stakeholders may include, but are not limited to faculty, students, administrators, and boards of trustees. Due to the culture and practices, as well as the conflicting interests of each of these groups, the scheduling process of academic classrooms and instructional laboratories may not always be efficient. This inefficiency often results in the underutilization of an institution&rsquo;s space. This study supplements the limited research available by examining and benchmarking best practices in efficient classroom scheduling in higher education at private, non-profit institutions of higher education in the United States. An electronic survey instrument was developed to serve a variety of purposes: to assess factors affecting the classroom scheduling process; to explore internal and external forces that influence classroom scheduling from the viewpoint of the institution&rsquo;s registrars tasked with classroom scheduling; and to develop a list of best practices in efficient classroom scheduling from feedback and input that can be adapted by any institution. The survey was pilot tested on a panel consisting of five registrars recruited through an announcement placed on the LinkedIn group entitled College and University Registrars. The data resulting from survey and registrar feedback were then used to develop a list of best practices in classroom scheduling. These practices formed the framework for developing a benchmarking self-score sheet to evaluate institutional practices and identify opportunities for improvement.</p>

<p> The ubiquity of technology in our daily lives sometimes obscures the fact that there are segments of American society who continue to experience a digital divide. The focus of this quantitative study was to explore a measurement instrument that can assess technology capacities among higher education institutions; thus, helping detect whether digital divides are present in this unit of analysis. A conceptual model of technology capacity based upon Barzilai-Nahon's (2006) digital divide index served as the theoretical foundation for this research. </p><p> Employing confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses, this study found that the ability to access technology along with the student experience with technology were the two factors that best defined technology capacity for an institution. Additionally, this study recognized that institutional characteristics such as institution location, size, Carnegie classification, and sector influence differences in institutional technology capacities. The research found the technology capacities of rural institutions trailed the technology capacities of institutions located in cities, suburbs, or towns. It was also found that institutions with more than 20,000 students and doctoral institutions far exceeded the capacities of smaller institutions and those of other Carnegie classifications. </p><p> One challenge of this study was the available data sets originally gathered in 2008 and 2009 by EDUCAUSE. The results garnered from these data sets revealed there was a digital divide within higher education. However, with the speed of change in the technology landscape, further research is needed to determine whether these divides persist today. The validated instrument developed by this study will make future and repeated measures of technology capacity attainable for researchers.</p>

<p> The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the perceptions of Lesbian and Gay senior administrators regarding their self-identity and coming-out in the workplace, and their perceived effectiveness as leaders at higher-education institutions. Senior administrators in this study were second line, and reported to the President/Chancellor or Provost of an institution; their titles generally were Provost, Vice President, or Dean. Past research studies did not specifically address the self-identity and perceived leadership effectiveness of Lesbian and Gay senior administrators at colleges and universities, and the effect their coming-out had on their workplace experiences. </p><p> This study used a qualitative phenomenological approach within a constructivist paradigm. After the initial participants were recruited for the study, a snowball technique of purposive sampling was used to identify additional participants. In-depth interviews were performed with eight participants who were self-identified as Gay or Lesbian and who occupied a senior administrative position at a college or university in the United States for at least 3 years. </p><p> The analysis of the findings from the lived experiences of the senior administrators in the workplace revealed four main themes, which were memorable leadership experiences, coming-out in the workplace, Lesbian and Gay identity and leadership effectiveness, and multiple self-identities of Lesbian and Gay leaders in the workplace. The lived experiences of these self-identified Lesbian and Gay senior administrators were affected by their past and present experiences; they described those experiences as memorable, either as accomplishments or as challenges. The participants' choice to come out at their workplaces was affected by the "comfortableness" they felt with their coworkers, the partners in their lives, the needs of LGBT students, and the views of the institution president or other influential individuals. The participants perceived their Lesbian and Gay identity to be both an integral part of their self-identity, which they reported to have "very successfully" integrated into their leadership, and of their leadership effectiveness.</p>

<p> The primary purpose of this study was to determine if effective university police officers differ from less effective university officers based on their perceptions/dispositions according to perceptual psychology theory. By establishing that effective university police officers possess specific dispositions, strategies can be developed to identify these dispositions in police officer candidates during the hiring process and to continue supporting their dispositional growth afterwards. This could potentially lead to the hiring of effective university police officers who are more likely to become engaged in the university community and ultimately improve organizational effectiveness. Effective university police officers typically approach their duties with the same philosophy as effective educators, social workers, or coaches would approach their work. Four dimensions associated with officer effectiveness were studied: perceptions of self as identified, perceptions of others as able, perceptions of purpose as larger, and a frame of reference as people-oriented.</p>

<p> Prior research has explored many facets of innovation, provided models of governance maturity, and analyzed the impact of corporate decision-making on innovation. However, there is little research on IT governance maturity in higher education or on IT innovation in organizations outside of the IT industry. Findings from previous research were ambiguous regarding whether a mature IT governance process helps or hinders innovation. This study fills a gap in existing knowledge by reviewing the literature and examining the interaction of IT governance and information technology innovation at five major U.S. universities. It provides insights into the structures and processes necessary for IT governance to facilitate technology innovation and the factors required for effective IT governance in higher education. </p><p> Highly effective IT governance processes focused on collaboration and communication were associated with greater integration of radical innovation into institutional processes than effective IT governance processes that focused primarily on the prioritization of large enterprise projects. Incremental technology innovations were pervasive among all schools studied. IT governance was found to be more effective under a delegated model of decision-making authority that empowers IT governance bodies than under a CIO-centric model. The inclusion of a faculty, students and business units in IT governance committees was associated with a stronger innovation culture.</p>

<p> One of the primary the missions of colleges and universities is dedicated to student success. Traditionally, helping academically probationary students has been challenging for all educational institutions, because there are a multitude of factors involved for the schools and the students including, for example, demographics, socioeconomic issues, student motivation, and student time-management skills. The complexity introduced by these various factors creates obstacles in developing effective programs to aid and assist these students. At the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), there exists a course entitled Insights on Success that is designed as an intervention step to improve individual academic performance through self-discovery. The Insights on Success curriculum also works with students on several of the factors that are found in the current literature discussing academically probationary students and examining the factors that contribute to their poor performance, but this study focuses on the effectiveness of the Insights on Success course, itself. Effectiveness of the course for this study was determined by the improvement of the GPA scores of the probationary students who attended the class versus a control group of students who did not attend the class. </p><p> This research study evaluates the effectiveness of the Insights on Success course on the academic performance of probationary students attending baccalaureate degree programs within RIT's College of Applied Science &amp; Technology. This study presents the research design, discusses strategies for engaging the students, and explains the metrics that were assessed to determine the success or failure of the intervention.</p>

<p> This study examines presidential response to human-induced crises on public university campuses. The goal of the research was to understand specifically what actions and behaviors leaders in crisis take; what kinds of teams they assemble and the ways those teams function; how the leaders communicate--both to their teams and their institutional communities; and the ways their actions, behaviors and communications are understood by stakeholders of the campus. </p><p> A review of current literature on crises in higher education supports the research, and aided in the formulation of the four sets of research questions. Specifically, the compilation of research in crisis and crisis management; the role of the president in higher education; leadership and communication in crisis; and sensemaking and social cognition theory highlighted several gaps in understanding about leader behavior in crisis. The research questions, therefore, were structured to explore presidential actions and behaviors, teams and team function, intentional messaging and communication, and stakeholder perceptions in crisis. </p><p> Presidents at three large, public, research universities were the focus of the case studies. The findings emerged out of site visits to the campuses, personal interviews and review of historical documents and media coverage. While the leaders and the crises differed at each site, several common themes surfaced and the study revealed some important revelations and implications for both the literature and leaders in practice today. For instance, the findings demonstrated the significance of active, engaged leadership in crisis, highlighted the roles teams play in helping leaders to manage and resolve crises, and exposed the ways trust&mdash;both of the sort leaders bring to crisis and the kind they afford others with whom they work&mdash;influences leader actions and stakeholder perceptions. Ultimately, the research elicited a list of guidelines that presidents--as well as those who hire, support, or work with presidents&mdash;might consider as they prepare for and encounter crisis. </p>

<p> The following explores the phenomenon of perceived organizational culture change resulting from involvement in the establishment of program-level student learning outcomes assessment at colleges and universities. The goal of the research was to understand what elements of organizational culture may have changed on the part of the faculty and administration during the assessment development and implementation process, and how the combined effects may have shifted elements of organizational culture. </p><p> Two primary research questions guided the exploration of perceived organizational culture change. The first question focused on how the process of developing and implementing plans to assess student learning at the program level influences the attitudes, behaviors, values, and practices of faculty. The second question considered ways in which the assessment initiative changed or affected the program's organizational culture. </p><p> Critical to answering these research questions for each program studied was an understanding of the assessment development and implementation process. Further, it was important to identify and comprehend those decisions perceived most influential on the organizational culture of the program's faculty and administration. </p><p> The review of current knowledge supported and focused on research from the following four areas: 1. a basic history of assessment and the role of accreditation; 2. perceived cultural conflicts associated with assessment; 3. institutional interpretations of assessment; and, 4. research on organizational culture and the change process most relevant to higher education. </p><p> The researcher used the qualitative method of case study analysis and focused on efforts at three private liberal arts institutions. Selected from each institution were two programs of study that have successfully established learning goals and methods to measure student learning. </p><p> Across the three institutions and six programs studied, common themes and unique features emerged relative to the process of assessment development and the elements indicative of organizational culture change. Further, general assertions emerge concerning how the program's efforts affect attributes of organizational culture. </p><p> Both faculty and administrators may benefit from the conclusions of the research. Individuals charged with demonstrating academic integrity as well as those involved in the decision-making process regarding measuring student learning may also find the research valuable.</p>