This qualitative case study was part of a larger, multi-year National Science Foundation funded project that centered upon a networked improvement community (NIC) of nine institutions seeking to improve racial climate in STEM graduate programs. We were particularly interested in the role of STEM graduate students at two NIC institutions in…

This study focuses on a contested area of shared governance, intercollegiate athletics. The researchers consider how faculty perceptions of organizational politics shape their orientations toward collaborative decision-making in this domain. The results provide insights into ways social cognitions about campus-level decision-making affect faculty…

In today's knowledge economy, collaboration and competition are critical in success. New postsecondary organizations have emerged in the higher education landscape, including consortiums and inter-institutional and interdisciplinary partnerships. One new organization is the Higher Education Center (HEC) in which multiple institutions partner to…

An introduction to the missing linkages between the fields of organizational behavior and higher education is provided. A discussion of why gaps persist and of alternative theoretical perspectives for organizing the application of behavioral science to higher education are included. (Author/MLW)

The concept of organizational culture as explored in recent literature is defined, the application of the concept to colleges and universities is examined, and the concept's relevance to research and practitioners in postsecondary education is discussed. (MSE)

Crises can, under certain conditions, be transformed into instruments of organizational good. Undergoing crisis in an organization--calling attention to problems and labeling them as crises--may be a preferable management strategy to coping with prolonged periods of shrinking resources. (MLW)

Ethnography, which records and describes culturally significant behavior of a particular group, is suggested as a method for college self-evaluation. The potential and limitations of the method are outlined, and current uses in education are discussed. (MSE)

The phrase "community of scholars" contains a contradiction. Actions that strengthen the community weaken the scholarship and actions that strengthen the scholarship weaken the community. Continuing tradeoffs between community and scholarship produce many of the unique organizational properties that universities exhibit. (Author/MLW)

Four studies of leadership reach different conclusions, all apparently consistent with the experiences of practitioners. The themes of functionalism and culturalism in the study of organizations are illuminated and the usefulness of research using multiple points of view to examine a limited number of cases is suggested. (Author/MLW)

The concept of faculty effectiveness, individually and as a group, is examined, changes in the criteria of effectiveness in the course of faculty careers are considered, and suggestions for assessing effectiveness are discussed. (MSE)

Theories of organizational effectiveness are examined for their application to higher education, and the competing values model for assessing college effectiveness is recommended as a research and administrative vehicle. (MSE)

Four contingency theories of leadership are explored and contrasted. Predictions of leader types and leader behaviors that would follow from each are counterposed. External functions of the leader and interactions with organizational members who are not subordinates are discussed. (Author/MLW)

Administrators use different organizational perspectives, or "frames," to help them understand situations, problems, and day-to-day activities. In higher education, four frames are identified as bureaucratic, collegial, political, and symbolic. Frames used by 32 college presidents are analyzed according to content, complexity,…

This article theorizes that white college faculty are relatively uninvolved in institutional responses to racial diversity because of ambivalence, and that behavioral responses will thus be unstable and dependent on institutional context that either arouse or regulate positive and negative affect. Implications for institutional interventions are…

An interpretive case study examines the organizational disintegration of a community college that experienced a sudden loss of leadership, focusing on how its culture both contributed to and prevented organizational chaos. It addresses how leaders can honor the culture and mission of educational organizations and simultaneously work to transform…