This qualitative study examines the perceptions of managers in organizations that offer sabbaticals as an employee benefit. This dissertation explores how this benefit impacts the organization through the changes in the employee upon returning. Twelve participants comprised of managers of employees who have taken a sabbatical in organizations…

Organizations that are actively pursuing social media opportunities to communicate, collaborate, and build relationships should consider reviewing how social media might best be leveraged by the organizations. This commentary explores the potential influence of social media on human resources management (HRM), organizational culture, and employee…

Following a prologue in Chapter 1, Chapter 2 delves into the pivotal role of departmental culture and leadership in shaping parental leave experience. Findings reveal that the parental leave policy at one R1 institution fell short in providing adequate support due to the absence of proactive guidance from supervisors and department heads. The…

The quality of higher education (HE) is dependent on many factors, including the quality of teaching. As any profession, teaching is based on internal values and motives of individuals. The goal of the research is to identify the most dominant career drivers of academic staff based on their career motives and values in order to provide HE managers…

Every higher education institution should have an employee handbook designed to meet its standards for employee conduct and ensure compliance with applicable employment laws. A well-crafted handbook will support the success of an institution's goals, save administrative time and reduce the risk of legal claims and liability. This brief article…

In this article, we argue that sick leave and its management within the university involves exchanges of moral capital. The circulation of moral capital supports a moral economy, in turn underpinning the political economy of the corporate university. The forms of moral capital are diverse, sometimes easily recognized as such, more often hidden in…

The hiring of faculty is at the heart of developing and maintaining programs, as well as the success and achievement of students, in all educational systems, and the California Community College System is no exception. While hiring practices may vary in terms of specifics in the 72 community college districts in California, basic principles and…

Focused on academic departments in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields in the United States, we attempt to map department chairs' awareness of family friendly policies and investigate possible determinants of their knowledge levels. Based on a sample of STEM department chairs in American research universities, we find…

Research has shown that "last hired, first fired" policies maximize the number of teachers subject to reductions in force by eliminating those teachers that are lowest on the pay scale first. Until now, advocates of effectiveness-based reduction-in-force (RIF) policies could only point to simulated policy exercises as evidence of the…

Higher education managers are under increasing pressure from governments to reduce costs by adopting more flexible staffing practices and tensions can arise as institutions seek to sustain motivation and morale across a diversifying workforce. This paper considers how institutional management and governance practices facilitate innovative…

On February 1, 2012, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels signed a "right to work" (RTW) provision in the state's labor laws, making Indiana the 23rd RTW state in the nation. In addition to becoming the 23rd RTW state in the nation, Indiana is the first in more than a decade to pass a law undermining the ability of unions to organize and…

There are two worlds that exist in the academe: a world where the tenure system remains strong and a world dominated by the absence of tenure. In this article, the author cites the differences between these two worlds. In a world where tenure remains strong, academic departments benefit from a stable, dedicated workforce composed of tenured and…

Improving employee performance in an organization seems to cycle back and forth among six broad approaches. Rather than debate which approach is most effective, the argument is made that each approach is simply one aspect of a larger behavior system. The ultimate answer, then, is to integrate these approaches within an overarching behavior systems…

This report describes results from the AISD Central Office Work Environment Surveys administered in 2005-2006 through 2007-2008.

In April 2009, a high school principal in a large Arizona school district met individually with 18 of his most senior teachers to inform them that they would not have a job the following year. Why didn't tenure protect them from wholesale dismissal? The answer is they all had one thing in common: they were retirees who had been leased or hired…