EDHE 6710

02.18.2009

• bureaucratic, collegial, and political are the basic types
• Birmbaum expands these for more distinct types: collegial, hierarchical, anarchical, cybernetic, political

Organizational Theory (ppt)

• organizational theory: supposed to give you an idea of what goes on in organizations, how they function
• (critique statements)
• "rational process" of meeting organizational goals may be difficult when professionals (faculty) are heavily involved in governance as well as research/teaching
• loose vs. tight coupling, what types of institutions?
• discussion of how mission and function may affect choice of organizational structure

professional bureaucracy

• do higher ed. institutions meet this definition?
• recruiting prestigious research faculty to raise the reputation of your faculty
• organized anarchy: every area does what they want for most of the year, and check in once a year--very autonomous departments
• truly decentralized = instead of Student Affairs Office, for instance, would have a VP for Student Affairs who was over individual staff dealing with student affairs that operated out of individual academic departments
• loosely coupled departments operate more independently; their decisions have smaller effects on each other
• parallel administrative hierarchies are prevalent
• faculty (expertise power) are dominant
• discussion of whether the president is a "professional administrator" or not
  • presidents are hired to be administrators; sometimes it's expected that they are professional administrators, but they might not be
  • professional requirement--academic degree, moved up through academic ranks
  • yet still be an administrator
  • it may be harder for a non-academic president to gain the confidence of the faculty (for instance, coming from VP of Student Affairs)
  • but if they understand the academic culture of the institution and have the administrative expertise, it may work well
  • depends on the institution and where it's headed (mission/goals)

Case Study

• provide a problem that's common to the particular model of school
• provide a description that includes characteristics of that model (for instance, "all-male, socially and racially homogenous, tight-knit group of faculty" etc.)
• don't count your discussion questions or cover page as one of the three pages

Statement on Government of Colleges and Universities: AAUP, ACE, AGB (in ASHE reader)

• expected standards for programs in different areas
• might be what an accreditation group would look for
• written by the umbrella organizations for institutions of higher education
  • AGB -- involved with trustees, auxiliary areas of org.
  • ACE -- focuses on presidents
  • AAUP -- functions like a union for faculty
• joint effort: idea that the governance is a joint effort btwn. admin. & faculty
• general educational policy
• internal operations; planning, physical resources, budget, role of the president
• external relations (how to deal with the press, etc.)
• outlines the basic components: governing board, president, faculty, students
• decision-making models (three basic models)

  • bureaucratic: hierarchy, leader as hero

  • collegial: community of peers, leader as first among equals (may not be able to see this model just from org. chart)

  • political: complex, professional federation; leader as mediator 

Birnbaum

• higher ed. institutions as "symbolic inventions"
  • ideals that we invent, that we believe are what institutions are, or mean, or exist for
• faults the AAUP statement for not recommending structure and not appreciating diversity among institutions
• differences from businesses: dual controls, mission & mgmt., power & control
• centralization gives way to decentralization (among departments, etc.)
• issue of prestige vs. rank (like US News & World Report)
• what is leadership?
  • symbols of institutions
  • environments and context; must understand the campus culture and function well within it
• higher education lacks a clear mission that is quantifiable
• how are decisions made?
  • cultural factors
  • sense making; connecting patterns & relationships (very important quality in a leader--its lack can cause demise of institution)
  • organizational structures establish boundaries for behaviors & processes