Learning Resources

Abstract: These are times of unprecedented change in higher education. Routine or even strategic change will not be enough to sustain institutions in the near future. Challenging times require leaders with strong skills for problem solving, crisis management and resiliency in rapidly changing environments—in other words, transformative leadership. Transformative leadership skills are distinctive among leadership skills. Based on an ABC framework, the article describes connections between the As (analytics, accreditation, accountability), Bs (decisions whether to build, buy, or buddy with partners), and Cs (culture, collaboration, and courage) that it takes to be transformative.

Abstract: Public higher education in the United States has become more privatized over the last half-century. One way it has adapted to this privatized environment is through the use of a new funding model, the public-private venture (PPV). PPVs are increasing rapidly in Georgia’s higher education system, and yet little is known about the implications of their use. This issue is significant because billions of dollars are invested in Georgia alone. Leaders must be able to utilize privatized financial tools and understand the best conditions for their use.
With the goal of contributing to the literature about how PPVs are used, there were four research questions that guided this study: (1) how has the PPV model been used in an urban public university? (2) what are the internal and external forces that cause a public university to use the PPV model? (3) what is gained and lost by using this model? and (4) what strengths and challenges have resulted from the implementation of PPVs? A qualitative case study was conducted on the Georgia Institute of Technology and specifically three of its housing facilities, two that are PPVs and one that is not.
Six themes regarding the breadth and extent of PPV use at this institution were identified: (1) determination of control, responsibility, oversight, and autonomy; (2) the need to balance risk and debt; (3) how closely to follow the market model; (4) the effects of decreased state support; (5) the connection between strategic planning and the use of PPVs; and (6) the creation of new, even more privatized, financial models.
The seventh and most significant finding was the identification of three distinct pressures present in the PPV model—control, responsibility, and oversight—or a “triangle of pressure.” This newly introduced concept emphasizes the three pressures that must be carefully balanced when engaging in partnerships that involve both public and private entities in public higher education.
The trend of privatization in the academy is here for the foreseeable future, and leaders should carefully consider the implications for their institutions, their state systems, and their students and plan accordingly.

Abstract: Postsecondary institutions are increasingly becoming more diverse. To ensure that the campus culture is appreciative of such diversity, many institutions are including language in their policies and implementing programs that demonstrate their commitment to diversity. One such means for communicating institutional commitment to diversity is through the strategic plan. As the basis for establishing institutional priorities and determining which initiatives get funded, the strategic plan can reflect the institution’s true commitment to diversity by purposefully incorporating plans for diversity throughout the document. This research sought to understand what was already being done in regard to diversity and strategic planning at both the system and individual institution level so that information can be relayed about what works and has the greatest impact and therefore should be considered when developing a strategic plan that pays attention to and appreciates diversity. Findings suggest that although institutions are including diversity initiatives in their strategic plans, there needs to be greater attention paid to diversity within the strategic plan.

Abstract: Higher education is undergoing many sector-level changes while under growing pressure as a whole to demonstrate or improve institutional performance. Increasingly, private-sector industry organizations are applying portfolio management to their organizational resources as a strategy to improve performance. Although not formally recognized in practice or in the literature as portfolio management, the activity of prioritizing academic and administrative programs in higher education applies the principles of economic portfolio theory and private-industry portfolio management to the higher education sector. A small number of higher education institutions have undertaken academic program prioritization. Little empirical research exists to understand the use of portfolio management in higher education or its effectiveness in improving institutional performance. This study examines the characteristics of 62 institutions that have identified a need to intentionally manage and prioritize their portfolio of academic and administrative programs to improve institutional performance. The purpose of this study is to identify any relationship between the identified need to manage the organizational portfolio and certain institutional characteristics that have been found through empirical research to be predictors of institutional performance challenges. A wealth of research opportunities exists in the organizational portfolio management domain; recognizing the characteristics of institutions that identify a need to manage their portfolio of academic and administrative programs is a step toward filling the gap in the research and informing resource decision making.

Abstract: The University of Southern Indiana (USI) embarked on a unique, customized environmental scanning process different from those found in the literature and in practice. We thoroughly detail our process with an emphasis on a trend analysis of five overarching themes (demographics, business, science and technology, governance, and higher education). The results of the trend analysis were integrated with the organization’s prioritized strengths through a series of qualitative interviews with internal and external stakeholders. Finally, we summarize the outcomes associated with disseminating this work throughout our campus and describe how it will inform the next iteration of our strategic plan.