The perceived challenges for Seventh-day Adventist higher education in the 21st century according to its future leaders, the leadership necessary to meet these challenges, and the system's development of leaders were examined using a two-phase process of sample identification/selection and data collection. The sample identification and selection phase involved "expert identification" by individuals holding current positions in SDA higher education. The data collection phase involved elaborated, semi-structured interviewing. According to the paticipants, Seventh-day Adventist higher education is different from mainstream higher education in mission, culture, and understanding of its 21st century challenges. SDA higher education may seemingly face many of the same challenges as mainstream higher education, but the cultural differences change the nature of the overlapping challenges. They make many of the standard leadership suggestions, available in the higher education leadership literature, unworkable. There are also challenges to the system which are unique to SDA higher education. Almost all of these involve the church which sponsors these colleges. The SDA church is currently examining itself and redefining its mission in terms of the 21st century. The purpose of the SDA colleges and the role they play in the church's mission is one aspect of this redefinition. Proposals concerning the future of these colleges range from maintaining the status quo to closing the schools. These proposals must be discussed and understood at the local church level. The perceived leaders find it difficult to prepare themselves for their leadership roles. The unique subculture contains factors which discourage openly identifying future leaders and providing resources for their continued education. Even though the participants are not well acquainted with the literature of higher education leadership, two categories may be useful to the future of the system. Transformation theory, especially the concept of "trans-vigorational leadership," would be helpful to a system with a deeply ingrained church subculture and distinctive academic cultures. Cultural or symbolic theory would help the system define itself, the priorities of its constituency, and the changes needed to accomplish its 21st century mission.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UMASS/oai:scholarworks.umass.edu:dissertations-5752 |
| Date | 01 January 1996 |
| Creators | Thorman, Linda Seal |
| Publisher | ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst |
| Source Sets | University of Massachusetts, Amherst |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Source | Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest |
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