Research exploring the challenges department chairs face has long suggested the role is difficult and lacks tangible reward (Buller, 2012, 2015; Gmelch et al., 2017). Yet, as higher education demographics, settings, and organizational expectations change and chairs function in more uncertain and increasingly complex institutional environments, it…

Chief diversity officers (CDOs) are leaders in higher education and are called upon to play a transformational role in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Williams and Wade-Golden (2013) position CDOs as change agents, strategic partners, and invested advisors on our college campuses (Aguilar, 2020; O'Neil Green, 2013). Although the role of…

Some institutions have sought to centralize the supports they give students by developing a center or office dedicated to international students, led by a director or manager overseeing international student support. However, these directors are also not given the resources needed to fully support international students. Our study focuses on the…

Sex discrimination in educational contexts is an ongoing problem despite the passage of Title IX in 1972. Many schools have not aligned their policies with new laws protecting students from bullying and harassment, and many professionals are unaware of their new obligations in regards to new state regulations. This article presents the findings…

In this article we analyse the inclusion of students with disabilities in the field of university attendance, emphasising the importance of attitudes of teachers as well as the rest of the university community as a whole for inclusion to be successful. The effect of variables of gender, education and training and contact with students with…

Collaboration among the four universities in the University of Houston System became popular in late 1999 and early 2000. Efforts to work collaboratively to deliver course work to our public were relatively successful according to our evaluations. This study sought to determine the extent to which those efforts were perceived as being valuable by…

This study identifies four patterns of how college presidents (N=32) interpret their own leadership roles and defines them in terms of a president's target of attention, mode of action, and relatedness to college life. It concludes that the presidency is not a singular, objective event but a subjective construction that may be experienced in…

Presents the author's views and philosophies in reflection as a former dean of Graduate Studies, Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Considers how form guards against the arbitrary use of power, but imaginative power is necessary to overcome the tyranny of mere rules and the inertia of disciplinary structures. (SG)

Leadership in higher education is considered from the perspective of its symbolic dimensions. Results of a study of presidential perceptions of leadership are also examined in order to uncover the symbolic forms that leaders use to accomplish their goals. Organizational symbolism and interpretations of leadership are considered. Topics include:…

The extent to which college presidents incorporate single or multiple vantage points in evaluating good leadership was studied, based on Bolman and Deal's framework as adapted by Birnbaum. They suggest that leaders implicitly use different cognitive "frames" to define their role and understand organizational behavior. A frame helps the…

Investigates how top management teams (611 executives) in 372 U.S. higher education institutions make sense of important issues affecting strategic change in modern academe. Under changing conditions, top management team members' perceptions of identity and image are key to the sense-making process and serve as important links between the…

The commitment of administrators to the work role, the institution, and the career was studied using data from a survey and interviews of mid-level administrators at a large research university. A total of 256 administrators responded to the survey, and 6 participated in followup interviews. Approximately 80 percent of the respondents were found…

Theories implicit in college presidents' definitions of leadership are examined, since understanding presidents' leadership models may affect how they interpret their roles and the events they encounter. The source of the theory that is analyzed is the organizational leadership literature. Research traditions in organizational leadership are…

A survey of newspaper editors and journalism school deans and faculty members revealed that media criticism by journalism schools occurs infrequently and that both academic and media people have mixed reactions about its advisability. (GW)

What does business want from higher education? What does higher education want from business? To shed light on these issues, the author conducted an interview with presidents of two distinctly different higher education systems, James H. Craiglow and Stephen J. Reno. Craiglow is the chancellor of Antioch University, a private five-campus…