Communication and Leadership: Faculty Perceptions of the Department Chair

With department chairs providing a critical link between faculty and administration, their leadership impacts universities on a broad level. However, chairs often report dissatisfaction with the position and experience rapid turnover. In an effort to help understand the role that communication plays in effective leadership for department chairs, this study provides an empirical test of Gibb\u27s theory of defensive vs. supportive communication. As such, this project investigated the communication and leadership behaviors of university department chairs as evaluated by their faculty members. Specifically, 202 randomly selected faculty members from colleges and universities affiliated with the Council of Independent Colleges, Washington, D.C., comprise the sample. Respondents completed a multi-page survey assessing supportive and defensive communication, Bureaucratic, Machiavellian, and Transformational leadership behaviors of their department chair, and in addition, faculty members evaluated perceived chair effectiveness, their own relational and job satisfaction, as well as organizational commitment. T-tests revealed that more effective chairs utilized all six supportive communication behaviors more and five of six defensive behaviors less than their more negatively evaluated peers. Furthermore, multiple regression procedures explained 53% of the variance in perceived chair effectiveness showing that the supportive behaviors of problem orientation and description and the defensive behaviors of strategy and control were the most powerful predictors. Secondly, a series of regression procedures were used to explore the three types of leadership included in this study; communication behaviors explained 17% of the variance in bureaucracy scores, 69% of the variance in Machiavellianism, and 62% of the variance in Transformational leadership. Lastly, the study explored faculty job satisfaction and commitment using regression models; communication behaviors explained 56% of the variance in faculty job satisfaction and 41% of the variance in organizational commitment. Based on the findings of this study four implications are discussed. The first implication is that communication does indeed matter. The second implication gleaned from this study is that leadership is a communication phenomenon. The third implication discusses the need for policy implementation of training for department chairs. Finally, it is recommended that Gibb\u27s original instrument be utilized in more empirical research to continue to test his concepts validity

Leadership, Communication and Religiosity in Higher Education Administration: Distinctions That Make a Difference

This project investigated the communicative and religious components of transformational leadership and job satisfaction in the context of higher education. Specifically, 224 CAO members of the Council of Independent Colleges completed a survey assessing their own leadership style, communication behavior, and religiosity. A stepwise multiple regression procedure revealed seven significant predictors of transformational leadership. The most important variables included attentiveness, openness, role negotiation, and intrinsic religious orientation. Additionally, a t-test compared a subset of CAOs from institutions affiliated with the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities with CAOs in non-affiliated institutions. Results revealed statistically significant differences in attentiveness, information support, exercise of transformational leadership, and religious identity, practice, and orientation. Lastly, a second stepwise regression procedure revealed five significant predictors of CAO job satisfaction including availability of emotional support, level of commitment to the job, and amount of religious activity. The paper concludes with a discussion of implications for conducting higher education administration in ways that best reflect religious ideals

Communication, Leadership, and Job Satisfaction: Perspectives on Supervisor-Subordinate Relationships

In an era when leadership is much studied and little understood (Tourish & Barge, 2010), and when job satisfaction has reached an all-time low (Gibbons, 2010), investigating factors that contribute to job and relationship satisfaction, as well as more effective leadership, becomes a critical task. This project asked 154 people employed fulltime to evaluate their work supervisor in terms of specific communication behaviors, perceived leader effectiveness, and their own levels of relational and job satisfaction. Gibb’s (1961) theory of supportive and defensive communication provided the conceptual lens used to explicate the impact of communication behaviors on specific personal and organizational outcomes. Statistical analysis highlighted the discursive nature of workplace interaction by uncovering strong, predictive relationships between the positive behaviors of spontaneity and empathy and worker perceptions of supervisor effectiveness, relational satisfaction, and employee job satisfaction. Likewise, perceptions of supervisor leadership style are instantiated in these same communication behaviors suggesting that leadership is indeed a communication phenomenon. Last, t-tests revealed that supervisors rated higher in effectiveness and higher in relational satisfaction utilized all six of Gibb’s supportive communication behaviors more, and all six defensive behaviors less, than their more negatively evaluated peers

The IDENTIFY study: the investigation and detection of urological neoplasia in patients referred with suspected urinary tract cancer - a multicentre observational study

Objective To evaluate the contemporary prevalence of urinary tract cancer (bladder cancer, upper tract urothelial cancer [UTUC] and renal cancer) in patients referred to secondary care with haematuria, adjusted for established patient risk markers and geographical variation. Patients and Methods This was an international multicentre prospective observational study. We included patients aged ≥16 years, referred to secondary care with suspected urinary tract cancer. Patients with a known or previous urological malignancy were excluded. We estimated the prevalence of bladder cancer, UTUC, renal cancer and prostate cancer; stratified by age, type of haematuria, sex, and smoking. We used a multivariable mixed-effects logistic regression to adjust cancer prevalence for age, type of haematuria, sex, smoking, hospitals, and countries. Results Of the 11 059 patients assessed for eligibility, 10 896 were included from 110 hospitals across 26 countries. The overall adjusted cancer prevalence (n = 2257) was 28.2% (95% confidence interval [CI] 22.3–34.1), bladder cancer (n = 1951) 24.7% (95% CI 19.1–30.2), UTUC (n = 128) 1.14% (95% CI 0.77–1.52), renal cancer (n = 107) 1.05% (95% CI 0.80–1.29), and prostate cancer (n = 124) 1.75% (95% CI 1.32–2.18). The odds ratios for patient risk markers in the model for all cancers were: age 1.04 (95% CI 1.03–1.05; P < 0.001), visible haematuria 3.47 (95% CI 2.90–4.15; P < 0.001), male sex 1.30 (95% CI 1.14–1.50; P < 0.001), and smoking 2.70 (95% CI 2.30–3.18; P < 0.001). Conclusions A better understanding of cancer prevalence across an international population is required to inform clinical guidelines. We are the first to report urinary tract cancer prevalence across an international population in patients referred to secondary care, adjusted for patient risk markers and geographical variation. Bladder cancer was the most prevalent disease. Visible haematuria was the strongest predictor for urinary tract cancer

Dicer is required for the formation of white but not brown adipose tissue

Dicer, an enzyme involved in microRNA maturation, is required for proper embryo gastrulation and tissue morphogenesis during mammalian development. Using primary cultures of fibroblasts and pre-adipocytes, we have previously shown that Dicer is essential for early stages of adipogenic cell differentiation. In this present study, we have utilized Dicer-conditional mice to explore a role for Dicer and microRNA biogenesis in the terminal differentiation of adipocytes in vivo and in the formation of white and brown adipose tissue. Deletion of Dicer in differentiated adipocytes in Dicer-conditional, aP2-Cre transgenic mice reduced the level of various adipogenic-associated transcripts and inhibited lipogenesis in white adipocytes, resulting in a severe depletion of white adipose tissue in mice. In contrast, Dicer was not required in vivo for lipogenesis in brown adipose or for brown fat formation. However, Dicer deletion in brown adipose did decrease the expression of genes involved in thermoregulation. The results of our study provide genetic evidence of a role for microRNA molecules in regulating adipogenesis and reveal distinct requirements for Dicer in the formation of white and brown adipose tissue. (c) 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc

Longitudinal Analysis of Multiple Neurotransmitter Metabolites in Cerebrospinal Fluid in Early Parkinson's Disease

Background: Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of monoamine metabolites may represent biomarkers of Parkinson's disease (PD).Objective: The aim of this study was quantification of multiple metabolites in CSF from PD versus healthy control subjects (HCs), including longitudinal analysis.Methods: Absolute levels of multiple monoamine metabolites in CSF were quantified by liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry from 161 individuals with early PD and 115 HCs from the Parkinson's Progression Marker Initiative and de novo PD (DeNoPA) studies.Results: Baseline levels of homovanillic acid (HVA) and 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) were lower in individuals with PD compared with HCs. HVA levels correlated with Movement Disorder Society Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale total scores (P < 0.01). Both HVA/dopamine and DOPAC/dopamine levels correlated with caudate nucleus and raw DOPAC with putamen dopamine transporter single-photon emission computed tomography uptake ratios (P < 0.01). No metabolite changed over 2 years in drug-naive individuals, but some changed on starting levodopa treatment.Conclusions: HVA and DOPAC CSF levels mirrored nigrostriatal pathway damage, confirming the central role of dopaminergic degeneration in early PD. © 2021 The Authors. Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.Keywords: CSF; Parkinson's disease; biomarker; catecholamine; homovanillic acid; monoamine metabolites; neurotransmitter

Longitudinal Analysis of Multiple Neurotransmitter Metabolites in Cerebrospinal Fluid in Early Parkinson's Disease.

BackgroundCerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of monoamine metabolites may represent biomarkers of Parkinson's disease (PD).ObjectiveThe aim of this study was quantification of multiple metabolites in CSF from PD versus healthy control subjects (HCs), including longitudinal analysis.MethodsAbsolute levels of multiple monoamine metabolites in CSF were quantified by liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry from 161 individuals with early PD and 115 HCs from the Parkinson's Progression Marker Initiative and de novo PD (DeNoPA) studies.ResultsBaseline levels of homovanillic acid (HVA) and 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) were lower in individuals with PD compared with HCs. HVA levels correlated with Movement Disorder Society Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale total scores (P &lt; 0.01). Both HVA/dopamine and DOPAC/dopamine levels correlated with caudate nucleus and raw DOPAC with putamen dopamine transporter single-photon emission computed tomography uptake ratios (P &lt; 0.01). No metabolite changed over 2 years in drug-naive individuals, but some changed on starting levodopa treatment.ConclusionsHVA and DOPAC CSF levels mirrored nigrostriatal pathway damage, confirming the central role of dopaminergic degeneration in early PD. © 2021 The Authors. Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society