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…

Institutional Advancement (IA) professionals employed in higher education institutions play a critical role in building relationships with external constituents that lead to philanthropic support for strategic priorities. While IA activities have been part of the fabric of higher education since the 18th century, IA has only been a recognized…

Measures of human efficiency under increases in mental workload or attentional limitations are vital in studying human perception, cognition, and action. Assays of efficiency as workload changes have typically been confined to either reaction times (RTs) or accuracy alone. Within the realm of RTs, a nonparametric measure called the "workload…

This paper reports the findings of a study conducted on stakeholders' perception of who influences the decision-making processes in Ontario's public postsecondary education institutions. The study identified and interviewed representatives of those stakeholder groups that are frequently written about as the main forces behind decision making in…

The study reported on attempted to establish the strength of faculty agreement or disagreement with statements implying that they perceived decisionmaking for selected issues to be legitimate on their respective campuses, and compared these results from campus to campus. The survey uncovered complex patterns that varied with the issue involved,…

Ninety undergraduate students, acting as jurors, viewed a videotape of a male or female aggressive, assertive, or passive defense attorney and a male prosecuting attorney in a simulated courtroom trial. The aggressive and assertive presentation styles resulted in significantly more "not guilty" verdicts than the passive style, for both the male…

An attempt is made to demythologize certain aspects of academic administration that even knowledgeable and experienced academic administrators often ignore at the peril of effective leadership. Eight essays are presented which question these myths associated with upper level administration in universities. These myths tell us that administrators…

Two studies involving 195 undergraduates investigated memory errors occurring when the context standard used in judging target behaviors differs from the category norm standard available when behaviors are recalled. Results support a "natural" tendency to use the current categorical meaning of a judgment to reconstruct the referent of…

This review is an attempt to understand the responsibilities of governing boards regarding decision making in academic affairs, i.e., those decisions which have a direct bearing on the educational curriculum, the quality of instruction, the instructors and the students. (Author/PN)

Explored the impact that fees would have on college students' perceptions of counseling. Participants (n=350) represented a cross-section of potential consumers. Although subjects seemed to take fees into account on a covert level, findings suggest that fees are not the most important factor in decisions to seek counseling. (RJM)

Reported are results from two runs of the simulation "Bureaucratic Bargaining," developed to help students understand the inherent tension between roles and belief systems in American foreign policy decision making. To determine their belief systems, 165 students enrolled in an introductory international relations course were tested with…

The perceptions of department chairpersons concerning the leadership roles of academic deans in several schools/colleges of a major research university were identified, based on interviews with 55 chairpersons. The typical chairperson was male, from the College of Letters and Science, had served for about 4 and one-half years, was a full…

The role of institutional research and the relationships between institutional researchers and state agencies from the perspective of state agency staff is reviewed. The statutory and pragmatic roles and responsibilities of institutions, state higher education agencies, and legislative and executive agencies are considered. (MLW)

Problems faced by a college dean in his first year are described and ways of finding solutions discussed. (JD)

Studied the effects of three different career counseling environments on client perceptions of the environment and client behavior. Results indicated that the career resource center is perceived more positively and is associated with a higher proportion of clients returning for career exploration than a professional office or interview room. (RC)