Nathaniel J. Bray

Status of Journals in the Field of Higher Education

The quality of a journal can have a profound influence on reading and submission patterns as well as impact promotion and tenure decisions. This article presents the perceived quality of 50 different publications in higher education and how often they are read and cited.

Herding Cats and Big Dogs: Tensions in the Faculty-Administrator Relationship

This chapter builds on previous work of the authors by examining a much underexplored limitation to effective shared governance in higher education—the fragile relationship between faculty and administrators. An assessment of the literature was undertaken to uncover evidence of the sources of tension in the relationship in three academic contexts where faculty and administrators interact: (i) curriculum and teaching; (ii) academic entrepreneurship and research; and, (iii) hiring, promotion and tenure, and reward systems. The chapter concludes by suggesting theoretical approaches which might advance our knowledge about this relationship as one step toward improvement in faculty-administrator collaboration and ultimately in shared governance processes.

A quantitative study on organisational commitment and communication satisfaction of professional staff at a master’s institution in the United States

ABSTRACT This study examined communication satisfaction and organisational commitment for professional staff at an American Master’s institution using two quantitative surveys: Downs and Hazen’s Communication Satisfaction Questionnaire and Meyer and Allen’s TCM Employee Commitment Survey. One hundred and sixty-eight full-time and part-time staff participated in this single-institution survey. Descriptive statistics, correlations and linear regression analysis were used. This study resulted in three overarching conclusions. First, a relationship exists between organisational commitment and communication satisfaction in an American higher education context. Second, communication climate can predict normative organisational commitment. Third, participants in this study had a high level of affective commitment.

The Invisible Colleges Revisited: An Empirical Review

ABSTRACT This study undertook an empirical examination of those institutions identified as “invisible” in The Invisible Colleges: A Profile of Small, Private Colleges With Limited Resources. As of 2012 to 2013, 354 of the original invisible colleges continued to operate as accredited private, 4-year institutions. However, 80 of the invisible colleges had closed and 57 had merged with other institutions, lost accreditation, or converted to public, for-profit, or 2-year status. Although understudied, these institutions provide a critical access component in American higher education. Changes in religious affiliation, geographic location, gender of students enrolled, enrollment of full-time and part-time students, and invisible historically Black colleges and universities are examined.

Unionization and Monetary Compensation at America's Access Institutions: Assessing the Impact of Frames That Do or Do Not Consider Geography.

This article categorizes institutions under both the 2015 Carnegie Basic Classification system and the mission-driven classification system, and further analyzes both by the presence of a collective bargaining agreement. The goal of this article was to use the presentation of data on revenue, employment numbers, salary outlays, and the presence or lack of collective bargaining agreements to identify any differences between the new “Mission-Driven” classification system in direct comparison with the 2015 Carnegie Basic Classification system in recognizing the results of unionization on monetary compensation for higher education employees.

The Usability of the Websites of Alabama’s Community Colleges

ABSTRACT This study explores the usability of community college websites. The value of a college’s website has been well established, as have accepted standards for basic website design. However, current usability standards are less clear and in various stages of acceptance. To consider this question, standards of usability were applied to all community college websites in Alabama. Websites were assessed for usability by use of a modified instrument that includes sample usability task scenarios provided by Cornell University’s Web Accessibility Toolkit and includes items from a similar exploration conducted on a national sample of colleges and universities (Meyer, 2008). The existence of specific website content tailored to prospective part-time students and the use of social media by the Alabama community colleges was also examined. Results show that most colleges meet minimum standards for usability.

Two Sides of the Same Coin? Analysis of Faculty and Administrators’ Perspectives on Governance

ABSTRACT This study explored institutional governance in an Alabama public two-year community college and investigated the perceptions of faculty and administrators within this sector. To answer the research questions for this study, a quantitative cross-sectional survey utilizing inferential analysis of the collected data was employed. To analyze the perceptions of Alabama community college faculty members and administrators regarding their interactions in institutional governance, three quantitative research questions were used. The research questions were analyzed based upon participant responses from the survey instrument. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was the statistical method used to determine if any significant differences in perception existed between faculty and administrators. The results of the study revealed that a significant difference existed between faculty and administrator perceptions with respect to institutional structure and shared governance, but no significant difference existed between faculty and administrators perceptions with respect to supervisory relationships. Considering the findings and conclusions of the present study, the researchers made recommendations related to institutional governance.

Course Revision in Introductory STEM Courses: An Exploratory Study at an HBCU Community College

ABSTRACT This paper presents the results of an exploratory study of a professional development-based effort at one of the nation’s 14 federally designated Historically Black Colleges and Universities community colleges. Course revisions included introductory courses in its Natural Sciences department. The goal was to improve students’ critical-thinking and reading skills in science through faculty professional development opportunities, to improve success across all science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) curricula. This study examines faculty-selected professional development efforts combined with time release for course revision, and how it impacted students’ attitudes toward science and students’ critical-thinking skills. Six of the department’s 11 full-time faculty instructing introductory science courses received training in WestEd’s Reading Apprenticeship program and on critical-thinking skills. These faculty then revised their courses as they chose based on techniques learned during their training. A comprehensive assessment that included extensive course videos, pre- and post-tests of students’ attitudes toward science the Critical Thinking Assessment Test, and focused interviews with faculty were conducted. Despite major cuts in state support, turnover of key administrators, and other challenges, improvements in student attitudes toward STEM topics and critical-thinking skills were documented as faculty expanded their teaching tool-kits.