Student governments are important actors in higher education governance and also in more general political processes, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. Most of the research on student governments has thus far focused on the relations with higher education authorities and political parties, often without investigating their internal dynamics,…

Although universities are often characterised as 'elite', institutions can attain status in multiple dimensions--reputation, research, money and selectivity. We studied 21st century public universities in the United States, using latent profile analysis to identify which universities followed each path to status. Most universities pursued none,…

Change is a constant both in life and on the typical community college campus. Two-year institutions are constantly adjusting to demographic transitions, workforce needs and the ever-shifting requirements of underserved enrollees. Flexibility around service may also call for internal change. Some community colleges have rebranded their names--a…

This paper offers a historical analysis of organizational identity development at a particular Dutch university, the Vrije Universiteit (VU) Amsterdam. Our analysis contributes to the discussion on what factors contribute to organizational identity maintenance and evolution. Whereas the literature suggests a rather straightforward development,…

Acting within a complex authority structure marked by shared governance, the governing boards of higher education institutions serve as the legal body holding ultimate responsibility for the institution's identity, mission, and institutional health. The past and current experience of Protestant theological schools has revealed institutional…

Faith-based colleges and universities in America have historically been described as "church-related." Unfortunately, this classification is too one-dimensional, revealing virtually nothing about how faith-based identity influences the mission, rhetoric, curriculum, or policies of institutions. Although scholars have advanced…

This paper reports on the opinions of teachers in Queensland Catholic schools regarding the identity, purposes and characteristics of Catholic schools. It draws on survey data from 2287 teachers in Catholic schools as well as semi-structured interviews with twenty teachers. Respondents were asked about their reasons for working in Catholic…

Research of the main university stakeholders has only been of a cross-sectional or short-term nature thereby limiting our understanding of how universities have evolved as a result of stakeholder influence. Indeed, neglect of stakeholders in strategic planning may result in both companies and universities becoming less successful and less…

This study proposes a mission-oriented framework for funding public research institutions (PRIs). Using a multi-case study approach and focus group interviews, a comprehensive framework was developed and refined. The framework encompasses three main dimensions: funding mechanisms, the amount of government funding, and organizational arrangements…

The European Commission recently incentivized universities to establish alliances in order to institutionalise regional collaboration through the European Universities Initiative (EUI). Alliances are envisioned to maintain Europe's global position and enhance regional integration. Their mission statements are ways of signalling identity and…

The inherent features of universities and junior colleges in Korea may be non-normative based on institution type, suggesting the blurring of organisational identities. This raises concern amid Korea's increasing popularity as an international education destination. There might be confusion in the global marketplace from the perspective of…

Academic drift has been a central concept in the study of higher education for the past half-century, with higher education scholarship locating the phenomenon in fieldwide status competition dynamics stemming from the postwar massification and neoliberalization of higher education. In this paper, I explore the origins and evolution of academic…

Purpose: Mission statements are usually related to strategic management and elements related to the organization's identity. Catholic higher education organizations (CHEOs) identity is based on the Charisma of the founder of the Catholic order or congregation. If in contradiction, it puts their organizational legitimacy at risk. If organizations…

Intentional synthesis of research findings is necessary to inform practice, particularly within the research on evaluation (RoE) literature. This study expands upon the work of Coryn et al. (2017) to synthesize the RoE studies pertaining to the domain of evaluation context. Findings from this study demonstrate that organization and program's size,…

Universities attend to multiple demands, making it challenging to identify their particular academic project, which can be defined as how the university understands its key purposes and develops its organisation and activities in service of such. While the three pillars of higher education -- teaching, research, and service -- are cited as being…