Do Trustees and Administrators Matter? Diversifying the Faculty Across Gender Lines

Our paper focuses on the role that the gender composition of the leaders of American colleges and universities – trustees, presidents/chancellors, and provosts/academic vice presidents – plays in influencing the rate at which academic institutions diversify their faculty across gender lines. Our analyses make use of institutional level panel data that we have collected for a large sample of American academic institutions. We find, other factors held constant including our estimate of the “expected” share of new hires that should be female, that institutions with female presidents/chancellors and female provosts/academic vice presidents, as well as those with a greater share of female trustees, increase their shares of female faculty at a more rapid rate. The magnitudes of the effects of these leaders are larger at smaller institutions, where central administrators may play a larger role in faculty hiring decisions. A critical share of female trustees must be reached before the gender composition of the board matters

Planning Practices of Provosts of Colleges of Education in South East Nigeria

This study was designed to determine the Planning Practices of Provosts of Colleges of Education in South East Nigeria. A survey design was adopted in carrying out the study which was guided by three research questions. The population of the study was 7 provosts of colleges of education in the 7 colleges of education in South East Nigeria and they were all used for the study due to the manageable size of the population. The instrument for data collection was a 20-item researcher-developed questionnaire which underwent validity and reliability tests. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions. The results showed, among others, that the planning practices of provosts of colleges of education in South east Nigeria include: Planning for school calendar of events, curriculum development planning, planning for procurement and disbursement of school funds, planning for personnel management and supervision of instruction. Keywords: Planning Practice, Provosts, school funds, personnel management

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Provosts in Building a Student Learning Assessment-Supportive Organizational Culture: A Multiple-Site Evaluation within the California State University System

Although research on cultivating support for student learning assessment at the institutional level points to the necessary involvement of all campus stakeholders, researchers have commented on the particularly important role of institutional administrators. Most research on the role of administrators in building support for assessment to date has not, however, focused on provosts, even though they are critical because of their power to determine the internal allocation of institutional resources. To address this issue, this study used a 27-question, Likert-scale survey to estimate the extent to which provosts in the California State University system have been successful in building an assessment-supportive organizational culture on their respective campuses. All presidents, provosts, associate provosts, deans, and associate deans in the 23-campus system were surveyed using eight Total Quality Management constructs. Based on the opinions of the 195 administrators that responded, provosts within the system were found to be more effective than not with an overall score of slightly more than seven on a ten-point scale (with ten as “very effective”). Provosts were rated as most effective in terms of “shared vision” and “involvement” and least effective in terms of “quality at the same cost” and “collaboration”, although the average scores on all eight of the constructs were fairly tightly bunched. In addition, multivariate analysis revealed that two measures of institutional size, total enrollment and the number of academic affairs administrators, as well as provostial tenure and percent of graduate students were helpful in explaining variation in overall effectiveness; in particular, higher enrollments were associated with greater effectiveness. Beyond its significance at the institutional and university system levels, this study was important in that it explored the extent to which the collegiate student assessment movement has been institutionalized. However, the study\u27s grounding in Total Quality Management was questioned by many respondents; further research might consider a different theoretical approach. Examining perceptions among different strata of academic affairs administrators could assist in this endeavor. Finally, future researchers might examine other large public university systems to begin painting a national picture of the effectiveness of provosts in building a student learning assessment-supportive culture

Relationships Among Selected Internal/External Variables Affecting Decision Making in the Roles/Functions of Research University Provosts

Problem In the business and corporate world, there exists a unique collection of proven decision-making tools, techniques, and management ideas. There is, however, no clear definition and empirical analysis relative to the nature of the relationships among internal/external variables as they influence decision-making in the research university provosts\u27 roles and functions. It was the purpose of this study to investigate the effects of selected variables on provost decision-making within their many functions. Method The survey research method was used to study the relationships among selected variables affecting decision-making in the functions of research university provosts. An instrument was designed and pilot tested for the purpose of this study. The goal of the instrument was to measure how provosts perceived nine variables as being important to decision-making in each of 11 functions. A demographic information questionnaire was also used for data collection. Statistical procedures included Pearson\u27s Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient, Repeated Measures Analysis of Variance, and Multivariate Analysis of Variance. Results Results obtained are as follows: (1) There were significant relationships among of the nine variables with respect to the functions. The three variables with the highest number of significant correlations were experiences gained on the job, philosophy of administration, and needs of the university community. (2) Job experience, philosophy of administration, and needs of the university community were significantly different from and more important than all other variables. (3) Responses of the provosts with respect to the importance of the variables did not differ regardless of their field of study and age. Conclusion This study revealed that some variables were significantly more important than others. Unlike formal preparation which had little to do with effective provost decision-making job experience was an important variable upon which provosts relied in making tough decisions. Provosts are expected to plunge in, apply their philosophy and learn by experience

The standardisation of diplomatic in Scottish Royal Acts down to 1249. Part 1: Brieves

I argue that there are three principal categories of royal act in Scotland during the period 1100 to 1250: the Brieve, the Letter of Notification, and the Charter. (There are also diplomas, proclamations, treaties, letters of correspondence, and so on, but these were not produced (or at least not preserved) in large enough quantities to be significant in this context.) This article describes how the Brieve became standardised in form

Chavis, Simmons Receive Provost\u27s Office Promotions

New associate, assistant provosts eager to help faculty serve student

What Provosts Think Librarians Should Know

Three senior leaders will reveal what Provosts worry about when they think about libraries. Charged to be frank and direct, they will talk about what they value in libraries, but also about what the challenges are that they face that affect how they think about libraries. Budget, facilities, and their perception of what faculty and students want and need will all play into this. This session is an opportunity for a frank exchange of views with real provosts—without worrying about how they react

Start-Up Costs in American Research Universities

Our report briefly summarizes findings from the 2002 Cornell Higher Education Research Institute survey of start-up costs at the over 220 universities classified as Research and Doctoral universities by the Carnegie Foundation in 1994. It reports the mean start-up cost packages across institutions for new assistant professors and senior faculty, broken down by institutional type (public/private), Carnegie classification and field (biology, chemistry, engineering, physics and astronomy) and also discuses the sources of funding for start-up costs

Executive Succession Practices in Land Grant Universities

Looking at the current practices found in academe with respect to identifying and training current leaders, will broaden our understanding of institutional involvement, succession planning and leadership development. Within the scope of land grant universities, this study will quantify how higher education institutions identify academic leaders as department chairs, associate deans, deans, and provosts, how they provide training, and how they support these leaders in their careers. A survey of current institutional practices for department chairs, associate deans, deans and provosts will offer a better look at the scope of academic leadership identification and preparation