Between 2022 and 2023, labor union and strike activity on college campuses increased to represent over 35,000 new workers, with many of these workers being graduate students (Herbert, 2023). As strike activity has continued into 2024 and beyond, it is necessary to understand how institutions responded to strikes to consider how their response may…

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…

The length of a college president's tenure is under six years, meaning that boards and institutions are increasingly grappling with the turnover associated with senior leaders. This turnover is seen in all sectors of higher education, especially in community colleges where the changing roles of these institutions are particularly pronounced. The…

The current higher education landscape poses a multitude of challenges both old and new that require governing boards to understand their fiduciary roles and act with strategic insight. Board retreats represent an often-underutilized opportunity--removed from everyday operational concerns--to focus on an institution's long-term strategic direction…

This study aimed to measure the satisfaction of Chinese university teachers with internal governance and explore its influencing factors. Building upon the framework of customer satisfaction models and the specific context of internal governance in Chinese universities, we developed a model for internal governance satisfaction in higher education…

Deploying systems-theoretical conceptuality, this paper improves understanding of the organisational consequences of the intensified societal engagement of a research university. Aligning its work with Luhmannian organisational analysis, it addresses the dynamic interplay between two modes of administrative decision-making communication, namely,…

State-level postsecondary education governance has experienced a lull in successful reform efforts since the turn of the century. However, in 2020, the Utah System of Higher Education and Utah System of Technical Colleges were formally merged following a multi-year effort by state legislators and higher education officials. Framed by the theory of…

This College of the Atlantic (COA) story provides some answers to the questions about how democratic systems of governance in a small, experimental college have shaped the students and institutional decision making. Born during the turmoil of the 1960s, COA went on to survive 50 years with its progressive roots intact. Part memoir (I was a faculty…

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…

Building a foundational approach for strategic enrollment management (SEM) is necessary to succeed in today's volatile higher education environment. It all begins with a mutual understanding of SEM and aligning the campus with the enrollment management organization. This article shares how to bring campus stakeholders together to optimize…

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…

Institutions of higher education (IHE) are increasingly prioritizing diversity, necessitating the recruitment of more faculty and staff leaders from marginalized populations to better support the university and underrepresented minority student groups. However, Muslim women leaders, as a religious minority group, have been largely overlooked in…

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…

This study aimed to explore the lived experiences of female leaders in postsecondary education, focusing on how intersecting identities influence their leadership and decision-making processes. Using a hermeneutic phenomenological approach and the theoretical framework of intersectionality, the research explored the relationships between gender,…