This case study focuses on changes in the administrative structure for public extension education in Florida between 1947 and 1965. Structure is defined as centralized or decentralized according to the locus of organizational authority, power, and accountability. The analysis explores the relationship between centralization and decentralization and the internal determinants of organizational size, task complexity, and client size and the external determinants of socio-economic and political environments. / Post-war changes in the administration of public higher education in Florida followed a national trend, meeting increased public demand through decentralization as reflected in the expansion of existing institutions and creation of new ones. The concurrent demand for funding of this expansion produced a counter movement for centralized accountability through stronger statewide governance. / Following this trend, Florida's institutions agitated for shifting responsibility for extension education to the individual institutions and away from the historically centralized structure under the General Extension Division at the University of Florida. In 1961, however, strong demands from business and Florida's unique space technology industry led the Executive branch to further centralize extension in the Florida Institute for Continuing University Studies (FICUS) to attain a more immediate and accountable response to public need. Institutional and legislative branch acceptance of FICUS was low, and with a change in the Executive branch, extension was decentralized to the institutions in 1965. / This study emphasizes public higher education's dual existence in the academic and political worlds. It presents an excellent example of the impact of the political world on higher education when it is perceived that the academic community is unresponsive. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-03, Section: A, page: 0689. / Major Professors: Allan Tucker; John S. Waggaman. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1992.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_76576 |
| Contributors | Chapman, Stephen Sanders., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 1002 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
Page generated in 0.0015 seconds