Rankings dominate higher education policy making, although little is known about the experiences of those involved in perpetuating rankings. This paper explores middle-level academic leaders' sensemaking about university rankings and related policies in East Asia. Since university rankings have affected higher education policies and strategies…

Anecdotal evidence suggests that there is growing concern about increasing administrative burden within universities around the world. At the same time, the literature explicitly devoted to the issue of administrative burden within universities remains relatively scant. Drawing on various bodies of literature and reflections on the situation at…

How do a university leader's publication patterns change after appointment? Until now, few studies have examined whether administrative burden has a significant effect on a leader's publication patterns. This study seeks to evaluate changes in individual publication patterns in relation to academic productivity and increased administrative load.…

Numerous universities throughout the world have established top-level advisory boards -- informal bodies and councils that the institutional leadership may consult on issues perceived as important. Through a series of qualitative interviews with members of such entities as well as representatives of the institutions appointing them, the article…

We explored the relationship between board characteristics and sustainability of higher education institutions in the United Kingdom (UK). We analysed 153 UK universities using data for the year 2019. Our analysis revealed that board size, the number of students on the board, and the number of academic members on the board were found to have…

Leadership in administration does not operate in a vacuum. Every decision comes with consequences for those tasked to make them, and foreseen career consequences, which often materialize during performance evaluations, may support or constrain administrators' leadership. This article explores how and why administrators factor in foreseen…

Acting as a governmental tool to enhance competitiveness and integrate research and education by merging a local university and a provincial academy of sciences, this case study provides an example of a novel cross-sectoral complementary merger in higher education in China. Through a qualitative analysis of its three-stage process and the factors…

The modern educational environment is characterized by an increase in the influence of factors of uncertainty and instability. Based on a comparative analysis of the concepts of control, their improved typology has been formed. To form the model of the risk control system, the authors have chosen the concepts of control, focused on the management…

Universities consist of students, faculty and staff, interacting through multiple layers of organization and on a variety of time scales. They are complex adaptive systems (CAS) yet the bulk of scholarship on higher education analyzes them using conventional social science methods, with little work that tries to understand them using complexity…

During the pandemic, organizational effectiveness remains at a very low level. Many universities are underperforming when a pandemic hits a country. When the pandemic subsided, the organization's effectiveness became exciting again This study aims to examine the effect of transformational leadership and years of service or experience of…

Much of the university spin-offs (USOs) literature either focuses on the influence of parent universities or the external environments on enterprise performance in economies with one aspect almost always neglected, that is, the role of USOs' corporate governance. In this study, we examine the effects of USOs' corporate governance structure which…

The shift towards an ecological university may be the key to achieving greater levels of social justice within higher education. This assumes that we could change the root metaphor of higher education--away from the current industrial model that is infused with neoliberal ideology and towards a more sustainable ecological model. This change…

A growing body of research has shown that AI can play a critical role in helping institutions tackle pernicious challenges -- from "summer melt" to student retention, academic success, and well-being. That's more important than ever at a time when colleges and universities are grappling with shifting demographics, declining enrollment,…

Students and faculty in higher education increasingly reflect more diverse backgrounds, but this diversity remains rare in many leadership roles. In Leading from the Margins, Mary Dana Hinton celebrates the unique strengths of marginalized individuals, inviting them to embrace their leadership potential and make a difference. Drawing from Hinton's…

Public university governing boards exist to serve the people of their states. It should, therefore, be easy for the public to know what governing bodies are doing. University governance, however, isn't always as transparent as it should be. Often, the public is given little advance notice of when and where meetings will be held and what issues…