Kevin R. McClure

Building the Innovative and Entrepreneurial University: An Institutional Case Study of Administrative Academic Capitalism.

Abstract:Although researchers have explored dimensions of academic capitalism among students and faculty members, knowledge of the roles of administrators at all levels is underdeveloped in the literature. This institutional case study of a public research-extensive university examines the roles of executive and managerial administrators in bringing a strategic priority of innovation and entrepreneurship to fruition. Using an analytical framework based upon administrative academic capitalism and extended managerial capacity, the study draws upon 31 interviews with administrators, faculty, and students at the institutional case to identify five roles fulfilled by executive and managerial administrators in the facilitation of academic capitalism: building infrastructure, creating new programs, cultivating donors and raising funds, setting a vision around entrepreneurship, and changing policies. The findings show that an institutional orientation to knowledge privatization and profit taking was largely an administrator-driven project. Efforts to promote innovation and entrepreneurship engendered some conflict with faculty members, demonstrating the possible consequences of extended managerial control over processes of production in the academy.

Leading schools of education in the context of academic capitalism: Deans’ responses to state policy changes

State education policy changes have contributed to a reduced interest in teaching and a decreased enrollment in education degree programs in North Carolina, USA. Pressure to cut budgets and generate revenue has added to a climate of academic capitalism influencing the ways in which deans lead schools of education. The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to understand school of education deans’ perceptions of and strategic responses to political and economic challenges. Findings demonstrate that the burdens of being a school of education dean in North Carolina are substantial and require a specific skill set to manage external pressures. Deans reported devoting more time and energy to recruitment, fundraising, program creation, and active participation in policy discussions as strategic responses to these pressures. Findings throw into stark relief the need for professional development and the importance of supportive relationships across campus to help deans hone skills and manage new pressures.

Arbiters of effectiveness and efficiency: the frames and strategies of management consulting firms in US higher education reform

ABSTRACT A growing number of public colleges and universities in the United States have hired management consulting firms to help develop strategies aimed at increasing institutional effectiveness and efficiency. The purpose of this paper is to explore the frames and strategies of consultants in US public higher education reform efforts. Drawing upon a range of documentary evidence, the paper examines four consulting firms (Accenture, Bain & Company, Deloitte and McKinsey & Company) and their perspectives on higher education reform. The paper analyses the consultative process with two public universities and two state higher education systems to determine possible avenues by which consultants exert influence. Through reference to theory on academic capitalism and new institutionalism, the paper reveals the ways in which consultants circulate crisis narratives and diffuse private sector management ideas among public colleges and universities that are seeking both financial solvency and legitimacy.

Spending Up the Ranks? The Relationship Between Striving for Prestige and Administrative Expenditures at U.S. Public Research Universities

ABSTRACT Despite occupying a central position in contemporary U.S. higher education discourse, empirical research on administrative costs is limited. The purpose of this study was to extend existing research on administrative spending in higher education by empirically examining whether recently shifting to research university status in the Carnegie Classification influences administrative costs. Informing the analysis was a theoretical framework consisting of neo-institutional theory and the revenue theory of costs. The study examined 164 public research universities between 2004 and 2012 using a a pooled regression model with Driscoll-Kraay standard errors and a first-order autoregressive (AR1) lag. Results showed that shifting to research university status had a significant, positive influence on administrative spending at public research universities. Nevertheless, the influence of reclassification on administrative spending dissipated over time and to the point where the difference was no longer statistically significant. Importantly, results also showed that state appropriations and tuition revenue were positively associated with administrative spending, while enrollment was negatively associated with administrative spending. These results have important implications related to understanding and managing administrative spending among U.S. public research universities

The Costs of Belonging: How Spending Money Influences Social Relationships in College

This study sought to better understand the relationship between access to spending money and students’ social relationships with peers through a survey and four follow-up focus groups at a public regional comprehensive university. Using sense of belonging as a conceptual lens, findings demonstrated that spending money was a significant influence on students’ social relationships in college. Additionally, access to spending money factored into students’ sense of belonging or, conversely, their sense of social exclusion.

Economies of scale and scope at public master's institutions: Evidence accounting for spatial interdependency

ABSTRACT This study examines costs of public masters colleges and universities in the United States by employing panel data on 248 institutions spanning fiscal years 2004–2012. Our analyses estimates a flexible fixed cost quadratic function that also accounts for spatial interdependency to empirically investigate the economies of scale and scope with regards to undergraduate enrollment, graduate enrollment, and research at public masters institutions. Economies of scale exist for undergraduate and graduate education at mean, below and above it, but not for research. Ray economies of scale are present around and below mean. Economies of scope both at the individual and global level are found at current mean, below, and above output levels.

Reframing The National Narrative

Since the inception of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, the Turkish state has utilized history textbooks to promulgate nationalist narratives and cultivate a carefully conceived notion of national identity.