This qualitative case study was part of a larger, multi-year National Science Foundation funded project that centered upon a networked improvement community (NIC) of nine institutions seeking to improve racial climate in STEM graduate programs. We were particularly interested in the role of STEM graduate students at two NIC institutions in…

This study focuses on a contested area of shared governance, intercollegiate athletics. The researchers consider how faculty perceptions of organizational politics shape their orientations toward collaborative decision-making in this domain. The results provide insights into ways social cognitions about campus-level decision-making affect faculty…

In today's knowledge economy, collaboration and competition are critical in success. New postsecondary organizations have emerged in the higher education landscape, including consortiums and inter-institutional and interdisciplinary partnerships. One new organization is the Higher Education Center (HEC) in which multiple institutions partner to…

Ethnography, which records and describes culturally significant behavior of a particular group, is suggested as a method for college self-evaluation. The potential and limitations of the method are outlined, and current uses in education are discussed. (MSE)

Analysis of data concerning the relationship of Ph.D. recipients' graduate institution's reputation and pre-employment research productivity to their selection for entry-level faculty employment revealed bias in favor of Ph.D.'s from elite institutions over those with greater research productivity, but in smaller magnitude than shown in an earlier…

The concept of organizational culture as explored in recent literature is defined, the application of the concept to colleges and universities is examined, and the concept's relevance to research and practitioners in postsecondary education is discussed. (MSE)

A survey of board chairmen, presidents, academic vice presidents, and faculty senate or union presidents investigated (1) their expressed goals, (2) the extent of their agreement (consistency) or disagreement (diversity), (3) organizational characteristics associated with consistency or diversity, and (4) how campus constituents see presidents as…

The implications for researchers and administrators are considered if the organizational environment is interpreted as "enacted." Objective and enacted environments are differentiated and the ways are suggested for how administrators might identify what they need to do and how they do it, given the socially constructed organization in which they…

The cognitive processes through which college presidents make inferences and learn may bias their judgments under uncertain conditions. Data indicate that these biases may cause them to overestimate their own effectiveness. Leadership is in part a social attribution used by leaders and by followers to explain unusual organizational processes.…

The concept of faculty effectiveness, individually and as a group, is examined, changes in the criteria of effectiveness in the course of faculty careers are considered, and suggestions for assessing effectiveness are discussed. (MSE)

Theories of organizational effectiveness are examined for their application to higher education, and the competing values model for assessing college effectiveness is recommended as a research and administrative vehicle. (MSE)

An introduction to the missing linkages between the fields of organizational behavior and higher education is provided. A discussion of why gaps persist and of alternative theoretical perspectives for organizing the application of behavioral science to higher education are included. (Author/MLW)

The phrase "community of scholars" contains a contradiction. Actions that strengthen the community weaken the scholarship and actions that strengthen the scholarship weaken the community. Continuing tradeoffs between community and scholarship produce many of the unique organizational properties that universities exhibit. (Author/MLW)

Four contingency theories of leadership are explored and contrasted. Predictions of leader types and leader behaviors that would follow from each are counterposed. External functions of the leader and interactions with organizational members who are not subordinates are discussed. (Author/MLW)

A brief history of academic women in the nineteenth century illustrates the potential for creatively merging historical analysis and contemporary social theory to examine higher education as an organization. Concepts of power, influence, and organizational change are used to give new perspectives to traditional historical study. (MSE)