Course Title: College and University Administration: Organization and Structure


        Instructor Professor Berta Vigil Laden
       Institution Vanderbilt
Office Number 615.343.8000
E-mail address ladenbv@ctrvax.vanderbilt.edu



The Course

College and University Administration is a Higher Education core course in the Department of Educational Leadership. The course examines the major trends and challenges of academic governance and leadership. The intent of this course is to provide students a synthesis and integration of contemporary issues of governance and leadership from conceptual and practical perspectives.

Three major questions form the core of this course:

Drawing on a variety of pedagogical techniques including case studies, lectures, and speakers, students will broaden their understanding of governance and leadership issues from different perspectives and actors, e.g., public and private colleges and universities, two- and four-year institutions, and other special focus colleges such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), predominantly Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), Tribal Controlled Colleges (TCCs), religious colleges, and women's colleges.

Course Format

The course will involve a variety of written and oral assignments and classroom activities including group and individual work, presentations, discussions, and lectures. Students are expected to demonstrate a high level of scholarship in all activities and assignments in keepingwith the norms of graduate coursework.

1. Class Participation.

Students are expected to contribute to class discussions in ways which demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of the material, and in a manner which reveals their strong interest in encouraging other students to engage in thoughtful and reflective dialogue.

2. Case Analyses/Presentations.

Students will have a number of in-class analytical assignments, readings, and oral presentations that represent core activities of group case studies each weekend.

3. Journal Article Critique.

Students will write a short review of a peer reviewed journal article that discusses an issue of governance or managing a university . Among acceptable peer referred journals are The Journal of Higher Education, The Review of Higher Education, The Journal of College Student Development, The Administration Quarterly, however, there are many others in the library worth considering. Your review should analyze and critique the authorÕs article in terms of presentation, style and substance, strengthens and weaknesses of the article, methodology used and its appropriateness to the problem described, application of findings and recommendations to a college and university problem, recommendations for how the article might be improved, and who could benefit from reading the article. Be sure to state in cover page and first paragraph the title, authorÕs name, date of publication, journal including volume number and pages of article. Include a copy of the article with the paper. This will be due the second weekend (4-5 pages).

4. Book Review.

Students will review the book, Moo by Jane Smiley. While this is a popular novel, Smiley, a professor herself, presents a rather rich picture of a midwestern university from the perspective of students, faculty, administrators, and professional staff. Smiley examines a number of typical issues colleges and universities deal with all the time: incoming freshman students, new faculty, tenure and promotion, research and grants, administration and governance problems, stress and burnout, retirement, and family. Aside from being an entertaining book, this review will provide you the opportunity to delve deeper into an issue presented by the author that also allows for drawing from the course. You are to review the book from the perspective of the course. First, give a brief overview of the book. Second, select a particular issue Smiley deals with and develop that fully in your review, drawing from the course discussions, readings, and guest speakers. We will discuss this in class, as well. This will be due the third weekend (7-10 pages).

5. Case Study.

Students will analyze a case of a source of change or power conflict at a college or university. In analyzing the case, you will be expected to draw from the course readings, other research literature, class discussions, guest speakers, and your own experiences to analyze the case. You are to offer a brief overview of the situation as you perceive it, define the problem, offer a solution with a set of policy recommendations, state some ideas about how the recommendations are to be implemented and evaluated. The case study will be distributed in class the second weekend and will be due March 13 by 4:00 pm (10-12 pages).

Grading

All assignments will receive a letter grade and will be weighed equally.

Course Schedule and Topics (Subject to Revision)

Weekend 1 - College and Universities As Complex Organizations

1A. The University As An Organization.

Duryea, E.D., "Evolution of University Organization" in ASHE Reader, pp. 3-6.

Peterson, Marvin W., "Emerging Development in Postsecondary Organizational Theory and Research: Fragmentation or Integration" in ASHE Reader, pp. 17-29.

Mintzberg, Henry, "The Professional Bureaucracy" in ASHE Reader, pp. 53-75.

Bensimon, , Estela M., Neumann, Anna, and Birnbaum, Robert, "Higher Education and Leadership Theory" in ASHE Reader, pp. 389-398.

Cohen, Michael and March, James G., "Leadership in An Organized Anarchy" in ASHE Reader, pp. 399-420.

Bensimon, Estela M., "The Meaning of ŌGood Presidential LeadershipÕ: A Frame Analysis" in ASHE Reader, pp. 421-431.

Baldridge, J. Victor, Curtis, David V., Ecker, George P., and Riley, Gary L., "Alternative Models of Governance in Higher Education" in Baldridge and Riley, Chapter 1, pp. 2-25 and in ASHE Reader, pp. 30-46.

1B. Governace and Management Processes

AAUP/ACE/AGB, "Statement on Government of Colleges and Universities" in ASHE Reader, pp. 157-163.

Dill, David D., "The Management of Academic Culture: Notes on the Management of Meaning and Social Integration" in ASHE Reader, pp. 182-194.

1C. Faculty in Governance

Birnbaum, Robert, "The Latent Organizational Functions of the Academic Senate: Why Senates Do Not Work But Will Not Go Away" in ASHE Reader, pp. 195-207.

Clark, Burton, "Faculty Organization and Authority", Chapter 4 in Baldridge and Riley, pp. 64-78 and in ASHE Reader, pp. 449-458.

1D. Governance and Leadership Styles of Women and Men

Bern, Sandra, "In a Male-Centered World, Female Differences are Transformed into Female Disadvantages", Handout.

Cleveland, Ceil, "Campus CEO: At the University of Wisconsin Donna Shalala is Taking on Racial Antagonism, Sexual Discrimination and the Whole Football Team", Handout.

Di Croce, Deborah M., "Women in the Community College Presidency" in Townsend, Barbara K. (Ed.), Gender and Power in the Community College, Handout.

Gillett-Karam, Rosemary, "Women in Leadership Roles" in Roueche, John, Baker, George, III, and Rose, Robert R. (Eds.), Shared Visions, Handout.

Weekend 2 - Sources of Power and Conflict

2A. Values of the University

Austin, Ann, "Faculty Cultures, Faculty Values, Chapter 5 in Tierney, pp. 61-74.

Gross, Edward and Grambsch, Paul V., "Power Structures in Universities and Colleges", Chapter 2 in Baldridge and Riley, pp. 2-25..

Kuh, George D., "Assessing Student Culture", Chapter 4 in Tierney, pp. 47-60.

Peterson, Marvin and Spencer, Melinda G,. "Understanding Academic Culture and Climate", Chapter 1 in Tierney, pp. 3-19.

2B. Constituencies and Academic Organization

In Baldridge and Riley, All of Part IV. The "Estates and Their Role", Chapters 13-16, pp. 193-250.

2C. Dealing with Conflict and Change

Baldridge, J. Victor, "Organizational Change: Institutional Sagas, External Challenges, and Internal Politics", Chapter 8 in Baldridge and Riley, pp. 123-144.

Weekend 3 - Leadership in Higher Education and External Politics.

3A. The External Politics of Governance

Berdahl, Robert, "Shared Governance and External Constraints" in ASHE Reader, pp. 217-224.

Chaffee, Ellen E, "Three Models of Strategy" in ASHE Reader, pp. 253-267.

3B. Accountability and Leadership

Cameron, Kim, "Organizational Adaptation and Higher Education" in ASHE Reader, pp. 284-299.

Etzioni, Amitai, "Administrative and Professional Authority" in ASHE Reader, pp. 441-448.

Whetten, David A. and Cameron, Kim S., "Administrative Effectiveness in Higher Education" in ASHE Reader, pp. 459-469.

3C. Challenges and Trends of Governing/Leading in the 1990s and Beyond


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