This study draws on the experiences and insights of current college and university presidents to understand whether transactional, transformational or a combination of these leadership strategies advances an institution-wide diversity agenda. The qualitative elite interview study demonstrates that both styles of leadership appear important and…

Boundary units of an organization uniquely experience the tension between adaptation to environmental variation and maintaining stable outcomes for the rest of the organization. In our world of just-in-time supply chain systems, lot-sizes of one, lean manufacturing and an increasing focus on services, traditional forms of buffering such as queuing…

Studies of high-performing schools, where all students learn more than similar students in other schools, show common design elements. These elements are comprehensive, affecting the whole school, and include: (1) Clear mission guiding daily activities; (2) High, unyielding expectations that all students will learn; (3) Frequent monitoring of…

Teacher effectiveness has the largest impact of school effects on student learning, and research indicates that top-quintile teachers produce learning gains three times (3X) that of bottom-quintile teachers. However, the supply of these "3X" teachers is limited. Meanwhile, 3X teachers affect only a small portion of children each year, no more than…

Increasingly, U.S. colleges and universities are reaching out locally, nationally, and internationally to a variety of audiences, articulating their important role in society. One major objective of this outreach is to attract the financial resources that will enable these institutions to achieve their educational aspirations. One might imagine…

From 1996 to 2005, West Virginia produced the greatest percentage (56.25 percent) of institutional re-brandings in the country. In addition, the state experienced the largest proportion (25 percent) of "college-to-university" re-brandings than any other state. This study embarked on discovering possible reasons for this phenomenon and…

Using a cross-case analysis of three distinct participatory program evaluations, this paper contributes to current discourse on how evaluators create opportunities for learning. Although each team of evaluators intended to promote planned process use, post-evaluation discussions amongst them identified evidence where use emerged throughout the…

This paper explores the conduct and outcomes of an action learning activity during a period of intense organisational change in a medium-sized vocational education and training organisation in Victoria, Australia. This organisation was the subject of significant change due to government-driven and statewide amalgamation, downsizing and sector…

This position paper investigates the merits and potential benefits of creating a new, more comprehensive professional association for members of the learning assistance and developmental education profession. This task was assigned to the College Reading and Learning Association/National Association for Developmental Education (CRLA/NADE) Working…

How do principals adjust to new standards and measurement rulers of school performance when they are coupled with high-stakes consequences? Adopting a contingent view of leadership and a multiple accountabilities framework, this qualitative study explores how high school principals enacted their accountability in New York City, by comparing two…

Many authors (Kezar, 2005; Duke, 2002; Keeling, Underhile, and Wall, 2007; Matier, Sidle, and Hurst, 1994) propose a new model of higher education organizations or a style of decision making whose central component is collaboration. This key characteristic helps make full use of all of the institution's resources to increase the likelihood that it…

In this chapter, the author contemplates the future of accreditation in the changing landscape of higher education in the United States. He presents a set of proposals for how accreditation can regain the confidence of college leaders and public policymakers. He begins with the assumption that changes in accreditation--some significant in their…

The Division of Student Affairs at the University of Michigan has engaged in an iterative strategic process to create and implement a set of long-range goals. This strategic journey continues to evolve, bringing together the guiding framework of strategic planning steps, a reflective process with an assessment component within each step, and a…

In this paper we propose that all knowledge is made through social processes and is political (of the people involved). If one invests in a relational or historical ontology (a philosophical choice) there are implications for the way action learning is practiced. We illuminate some of these "relational practices". We purport that action learning…

Despite the popularity of performance funding among policymakers and policy advocates, only half of all states have ever created a performance funding system for higher education. State performance funding systems have also been surprisingly unstable. Nearly half of those states that established performance funding systems for higher education…