How Colleges Work: HPSE-GE 2011
Fall 2012, GCASL Room:365
Professor Joan Malczewski
Department of Teaching and Learning, 7th Floor Pless Hall
e-mail:
Office Hours: Tuesday, 12 – 1 or by appointment
Course Description
The course is designed to introduce students to the organizational dynamics of colleges and universities. Beginning with a review of organizational theory, students will examine the various types of college structures (universities; four-year colleges; community colleges; for profit institutions). Students will study the key functional areas: finance; enrollment management; academic affairs; student services, and explore how these areas are affected by governance and managerial approaches. Course assignments will include case studies that present examples of strategic planning and management challenges.
The objectives of the course are to:
1. Develop an understanding of organizational theory as it pertains to the study of colleges and universities;
2. Consider the variety of institutional types prevalent in American higher education today, and the commonalities and differences in both governance and administration.
3. Analyze the roles and responsibilities of key stakeholders, including trustees, presidents, faculty, professional staff and students;
4. Gain a deeper knowledge of the functions of key areas of institutional life: finance; faculty affairs; enrollment management; student affairs; research development; and capital planning.
5. Examine the key elements in strategic planning, and participate in exercises that apply concepts to specific organizational contexts.
COURSE MATERIALS
Required reading for this course consists of a set of texts that can be purchased in the NYU Bookstore, and additional chapters and articles that are available on Blackboard. The following texts are required:
Arum, Richard and Josipa Roksa, Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses (University of Chicago, January 2011).
Birnbaum, R.(1988). How colleges work: The cybernetics of academic organization and leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Birnbaum, R. (1992). How academic leadership works. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Barr, Margaret and George Mclellan. (2011). Budgets and Financial Management in Higher Education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Kirp, David, Elizabeth Popp Berman, Jeffrey T. Holman, Patrick Roberts, Debra Solomon, Jonathan VanAntwerpen (2004). Shakespeare, Einstein and the Bottom Line: The Marketing of Higher Education. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
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COURSE REQUIREMENTS
1. Short Papers: Students will be expected to complete a series of short essays, four in total, that assimilate information about the readings, class discussions, and higher education practice. These paper assignments will be posted on Blackboard.
2. Final Project: Each student will prepare a case study, up to 15 pages, in which an academic office is analyzed in a real educational institution. The project requires that students define a problem to address, review relevant information about the institution and office, conduct interviews, and make recommendations. This case study is intended to provide an opportunity for students to demonstrate command of the readings and topics presented throughout the course. Papers are due by December 14, 2012.
3. Class Participatoin and Reading Assignments: Students are expected to come to class prepared to discuss the readings. In this regard, students should think not only about the theoretical information included in the readings, but also the practical application of the readings to higher education practice. Students are expected to attend class each week and read the materials that have been assigned for that week. Any student who will miss a class or be late for class should notify me by e-mail in advance.
GRADING
You should note carefully the dates that written assignments are due – late assignments will be taken into account in assigning grades.
Class participation: 20%
Short papers: 40%
Final Project: 40%
Students attending NYU who need an accommodation due to a chronic, psychological, visual, mobility and/or learning disability, or is Deaf or Hard of Hearing should register with the Moses Center for Students with Disabilities at 212 998-4980, 240 Greene Street, www.nyu.edu/csd.
COURSE SCHEDULE
1. September 4: Introduction
“Top 10 Higher Education State Policy Issues for 2012,” American Association of State Colleges and Universities Higher Education Policy Brief, January, 2012
2. September 11: Academic Organizations -- Institutional Differences:
Birnbaum: How Colleges Work – chapters 1,2 4 - 7
Clark, Burton R., “The Organizational Saga in Higher Education.”
3. September 18: Academic Organizations -- Managing the Organization
Short Essay Due: 3 - 5 pages, question posted on Blackboard
Birnbaum: How Academic Leadership Works – Chapter 1 - 5
Weick, Karl, “Educational Organizations as Loosely Coupled Systems”
Clark, Burton, “The Academic Life: Small Worlds, Different Worlds”
Ekman, Richard, “The Imminent Crisis in College Leadership,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, September 19, 2010.
Fethke, Gary and Andrew J. Policano, “The Precarious Profession of University President,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, July 23, 2012.
Stripling, Jack, “Too Many Trustees Can Burden a Board, More Colleges Realize,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, August 13, 2012
Stripling, Jack, “UVa’s Painfully Public Lesson in Leadership,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, July 2, 2012.
4. September 25: No Class
5. October 2: Academic Organizations -- Organizational Decision Making
Birnbaum: How Academic Leadership Works – Chapters 6 - 9
Birnbaum, Robert. “The Latent Organizational Functions of the Academic Senate”
Schmidtlein, Frank A., and Robert O. Berdahl, “Autonomy and Accountability: Who Controls Academe?” in American Higher Education in the Twenty-First Century: Social, Political, and Economic Challenges, 2nd ed. Philip G. Altbach, Robert O. Berdahl, and Patricia J. Gumport, eds., (Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005)
Redden, Elizabeth, "Yale Faculty Raise Governance Questions about Decision to Open Branch in Singapore, Inside Higher Ed, March 28, 2012.
Lazeron,Marvin, “The Making of Corporate U.,” The Chronicle Review, October 17, 2010.
Hebel, Sara, “Presidents and Faculty Try to Keep Pace with Shifting Values, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Almanac of Higher Education, 2012.
Keep, William W., “The Worrisome Ascendance of Business in Higher Education,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, June 21, 2012.
6. October 9: Faculty Issues -- Faculty Rights and Responsibilities
Kirp, David, Shakespeare, Einstein and the Bottom Line: The Marketing of Higher Education, chapter 4 and 9.
Zemsky, Robert, Gregory R. Wegner, and William F. Massey, “Who Owns Teaching?” in Remaking the American University (Rutgers University Press, 2005)
Robert M. O’Neil, “Academic Freedom: Past, Present and Future beyond September 11, in American Higher Education in the Twenty-First Century: Social, Political, and Economic Challenges, 2nd ed. Philip G. Altbach, Robert O. Berdahl, and Patricia J. Gumport, eds., (Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005)
Wilson, Robin “Big Changes Frustrate Faculty at Kean U.,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, November 7, 2010.
Schmidt, Peter, “University of Scranton Faculty Fights Effort to Yank Department Chairs from its Ranks,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, August 23, 2012
7. October 16: University Holiday –no class
8. October 23: Faculty Issues -- Institutional policies and procedures
Short Essay Due: 3 – 5 pages, Question posted on Blackboard
VanUmmersen, Clair. “No Talent Left Behind: Attracting and Retaining a Diverse Faculty.”
“The Growth of Full-Time Non-Tenure Track Faculty,” Report Issued by AFT Higher Education
Schmidt, Peter, “Faculty Leaders at American U. Seek Old-School Rights for a New Work Force,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, June 12, 2011.
June, Audrey Williams, “What Search Committees See Across the Table,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, September 19, 2010.
Mangan, Katherine, “Texas A&M System Will Rate Professors Based on Their Bottom-Line Value,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, September 2, 2010.
Nelson, Cary, “Parents: Your Children Need Professors with Tenure,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, October 3, 2010
Trower, Cathy A., “Rethinking Tenure for the Next Generation,” The Chronicle Review, September 7, 2009.
Schmidt, Peter, “Wayne State U. and Faculty Union Work to Defuse Conflict Over Tenure Rights,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, August 6, 2012.
9. October 30: Financial Management
Guest Speaker: Robert Knight, Associate Dean for Finance and Administration, Steinhardt
Barr, Margaret and George McClellan, Budgets and Financial Management in Higher Education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Chapters 1 – 3.
Johnstone, D. Bruce, “Financing Higher Education: Who Should Pay?” American Higher Education in the Twenty-First Century: Social, Political, and Economic Challenges, 2nd ed. Philip G. Altbach, Robert O. Berdahl, and Patricia J. Gumport, eds., (Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005)
Geiger, Roger L. “Politics, Markets, and University Costs: Financing Universities in the Current Era.”
Behr, Edith F., "Financing Public Colleges and Universities in an Era of State Fiscal Constraints," Moody's Investor Services, Report for the Higher Education Government Relations Conference, November 30, 2011, reported by the American Association of Colleges and Universities.
10. November 6: Financial Management, continued
Short Essay Due – 3 – 5 pages, question posted on Blackboard
Barr, Margaret and George McClellan, Budgets and Financial Management in Higher Education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Chapters 4 - 6.
Kirp, David, Shakespeare, Einstein and the Bottom Line: The Marketing of Higher Education. Chapter 6 - 7.
Miller, Charles, “Take a Hard Look at Academic Programs, and Weed out the Weak,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, September 7, 2009.
Chapman, Paige, etal, “Program Cuts Loom at 4 Public Universities,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, October 24, 2010.
Brainard, Jeffrey, Paul Fain and Kathryn Masterson, “Sticker Shock: Support-Staff Jobs Double in 20 Years, Outpacing Enrollments,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, “April 24, 2009.
11. November 13: Student Issues -- Purposes, Expenditures, and Resource Allocations
“A Test of Leadership: Charting the Future of U.S. Higher Education” A Report of the Commission Appointed by Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings
Kuk, Linda, James H. Banning and Marilyn J. Amey, Positioning Student Affairs for Sustainable Change, Chapters 5 and 6.
Killough, Ashley, “Colleges Try to Preserve Student Services as Money Gets Tighter,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, August 10, 2009.
Selingo, Jeffrey. “Do Frills Have a Future?” The Chronicle of Higher Education, February 27, 2009.
Lederman, Doug. “A (Money) Losing Proposition” Inside Higher Education, May 16, 2008.
Thelin, John R. “The Old College Try. Balancing Academics and Athletics in Higher Education.” ERIC Digest, ED317102, 1989.
12. November 20: Student Issues – Curriculum and Retention
Kirp, David, Shakespeare, Einstein and the Bottom Line: The Marketing of Higher Education, chapter 10.
Zemsky, Robert, Gregory R. Wegner, and William F. Massey, “The Admissions Arms Race” in Remaking the American University (Rutgers University Press, 2005)
Campbell, Don – Keeping Them in College, National CrossTalk, Fall 2006
McLeod, Willis and Jon M. Young. “A Chancellors’s Vision: Establishing an Institutional Culture of Student Success”
Pennington, Bill. “Small Colleges, Short of Men, Embrace Football.” In The New York Times, July 10, 2006
13. November 27: Enrollment Management:
Guest Speaker: Randall Deike, Vice President: Enrollment, NYU
Rowley, Daniel James, Herman Lujan, and Michael G. Dolence. Strategic Change in Colleges and Universities. Chapter 11
Coomes, Michael D. “The Historical Roots of Enrollment Management” in The Role Student Aid Plays in Enrollment Management: New Directions for Student Services, No. 89, edited by Michael Coomes.
Stevens, Mitchell. Creating a Class (Harvard University Press, 2007) Chapters 6
Ort, Shirley. “Federal and State Aid in the 1990’s: A Policy Context for Enrollment Management” in The Role Student Aid Plays in Enrollment Management: New Directions for Student Services, No. 89, edited by Michael Coomes.
Jaschick, Scott, “The Impact of Dropping the SAT,” Inside Higher Ed, March 26, 2009.
Hoover, Eric, “Application Inflation,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, November 5, 2010.
Watch the debate at: http://millercenter.org/public/debates/ed_econ
14. December 4: Strategic Planning:
Short Essay Due – 3 – 5 pages, question posted on Blackboard
Rowley, Daniel James, Herman Lujan, and Michael G. Dolence. Strategic Change in Colleges and Universities. Preface, Chapter 1- 2, 6-7
Kirp, David, Shakespeare, Einstein and the Bottom Line: The Marketing of Higher Education. Chapter 1 – 3
15. December 11: Strategic Planning and Long Term Mission
Arum, Richard and Josipa Roksa, Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses (University of Chicago, January 2011).
Zusman, Ami, “Challenges Facing Higher Education in the Twenty-First Century,” in American Higher Education in the Twenty-First Century: Social, Political, and Economic Challenges, 2nd ed. Philip G. Altbach, Robert O. Berdahl, and Patricia J. Gumport, eds., (Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005)
Morphew, Christopher and Barrett J. Taylor, “College Rankings and Dueling Mission Statements,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, August 19, 2009.
16. December 14: Final Projects Due
4 9/4/2012