This study reviews if the glass cliff phenomenon is occurring in U.S. higher education presidential hires. This topic is essential to review as U.S. higher education institutions are primarily presided over by male presidents. Female presidents do exist, but more often at more risky institutions. One reason for the lack of equity may be the glass…

Using school management settings, this manuscript developed important substantial leadership models such as "instructional," "constructive," and "distributed." University leadership and especially in the private sector is an understudied topic. While private universities need to generate revenue for profits and…

Governing boards of organizations have come under scrutiny in recent decades for financial problems, leadership scandals, and a variety of other uncomfortable reasons. Trustees might have prevented challenges and scandals if the appropriate board oversight were in place including the right board structures, practices, culture, governance, and…

This article develops a two way of a scholarship of practice for independent college and university presidents: one loop from practitioners to researchers and the other loop from researchers to practitioners. We used the results of survey completed by presidents of independent institutions in California, New York, and Tennessee to develop this…

While the extant literature related to firm financial performance and chief officer turnover is extensive in the for-profit literature, less is known about this relationship in the nonprofit setting, particularly universities. Further, the moderating role of corporate governance on performance -- turnover sensitivity has not been studied in the…

This purpose of this qualitative exploratory study was to identify culturally relevant fundraising strategies that can empower leaders of public, under-resourced, tuition dependent HBCUs on how to effectively reduce tuition dependence. University presidents and advancement professionals face a growing dilemma of identifying ways to strengthen…

Higher educational institutions (HIEDs) are complex organizations at a pivotal moment in history (Bourgeois, 2016; Guskin & Marcy, 2002; McGee, 2015). Their leaders, defined as the chief executive or president, are essential regardless of whether they have traditional academic backgrounds or nontraditional ones (Buller, 2021; Ivory, 2017;…

The purpose of this qualitative feminist phenomenological study was to explore women's perceptions of professional advancement to the president role within higher-education administration due to the lack of progress of diversifying college presidencies. To examine challenges that women face as they navigate the career advancing pipeline, it…

Minimal research has explored the leadership experiences of private liberal arts college presidents. The work of a college president is much more challenging and complex than at any time in our modern era. A literature review defined the college president's complex role and the importance of their leadership performance to support institutional…

This study explores eight chief enrollment officers' lived experiences. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the eight chief enrollment officers at Ohio's public and private four-year institutions addressing two research questions. First, "what experiences influence a chief enrollment officer's ability to lead," produced six…

The purpose of this qualitative research study was to explore the story of how John C. Reynders, 12th president of Morningside University, was able to bring the university back from the brink of closure when he took office in 1999, as well as the leadership challenges, victories, and life events that helped shape his 23-year tenure. Using the…

While extensive research explores student belonging in higher education, the experiences of faculty, staff, and administrators remain relatively unexamined. Employing case studies at three private, liberal arts colleges in the United States and semi-structured interviews with presidents as well as selected faculty, staff, administrators, this…

This multi-site case study explored the uncommonly discussed yet organic intersection between the study of crisis communication and the study of crisis leadership and in turn, what it means in the context of a college presidency. This study has a unique focus on women presidents at small, private colleges and the ways in which they communicate…

This study explores the potential link between institutes of higher educations' (IHEs') presidential skill sets and institutional health. The study uses Leadership Theory as a general theoretical framework and Skills Theory of Leadership in particular as a focal lens. A review of the literature indicates a significant gap in research on IHE…

Tuition-driven higher education institutions are continually faced with financial and enrollment challenges and other associated challenges exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. This action research case study sought to provide a blueprint for private, non-profit higher education institutions to use as a guide in the presidential search process…