How Colleges Work: HPSE-GE 2011
Fall 2014 – Bobst, Room LL151
Professor Joan Malczewski
Department of Teaching and Learning, 6th Floor East Building
e-mail: jm186@nyu.edu
Office Hours: Tuesday, 12 – 1, by appointment
Course Description
The course is designed to introduce students to the organizational dynamics of colleges and
universities. Beginning with a review of organizational theory, students will examine the various
types of college structures (universities; four-year colleges; community colleges; for profit
institutions). Students will study the key functional areas: finance; enrollment management;
academic affairs; student services, and explore how these areas are affected by governance and
managerial approaches. Course assignments will include case studies that present examples of
strategic planning and management challenges.
The objectives of the course are to:
1. Develop an understanding of organizational theory as it pertains to the study of colleges and
universities;
2. Consider the variety of institutional types prevalent in American higher education today, and
the commonalities and differences in both governance and administration.
3. Analyze the roles and responsibilities of key stakeholders, including trustees, presidents,
faculty, professional staff and students;
4. Gain a deeper knowledge of the functions of key areas of institutional life: finance; faculty
affairs; enrollment management; student affairs; research development; and capital planning.
5. Examine the key elements in strategic planning, and participate in exercises that apply
concepts to specific organizational contexts.
COURSE MATERIALS
Required reading for this course consists of a set of texts that can be purchased in the NYU
Bookstore, and additional chapters and articles that are available on NYUClasses.
Required texts:
Birnbaum, R. How colleges work: The cybernetics of academic organization and leadership. San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1988.
Birnbaum, R. How academic leadership works. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1992.
Barr, Margaret and George Mclellan. Budgets and Financial Management in Higher Education. San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2011.
Kirp, David, Elizabeth Popp Berman, Jeffrey T. Holman, Patrick Roberts, Debra Solomon, Jonathan
VanAntwerpen. Shakespeare, Einstein and the Bottom Line: The Marketing of Higher
Education. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2004.
Suggested:
Arum, Richard and Josipa Roksa, Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses.
Chicago: University of Chicago, 2011.
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COURSE REQUIREMENTS
 Short Papers: Students will be expected to complete a series of short essays, four in total,
that assimilate information about the readings, class discussions, and higher education
practice. These paper assignments will be posted on NYU Classes and will be due
September 16, October 21, November 11, and December 2.
 Final Project: Each student will prepare a case study, up to 15 pages, in which an academic
office is analyzed in a real educational institution. The project requires that students define a
problem to address, review relevant information about the institution and office, conduct
interviews, and make recommendations. This case study is intended to provide an
opportunity for students to demonstrate command of the readings and topics presented
throughout the course. Papers are due by December 16, 2014.
 Class Participation and Reading Assignments: Students are expected to attend class each
week and be prepared to discuss the assigned readings. In this regard, students should think
not only about the theoretical information included in the readings, but also the practical
application of the readings to higher education practice. Any student who will miss a class
or be late for class should notify me by e-mail in advance.
GRADING
You should note carefully the dates that written assignments are due – late assignments will be
taken into account in assigning grades.
Class participation: 20%
Short papers: 40%
Final Project: 40%
GRADING POLICY:
You should note carefully the dates that written assignments are due. Late assignments will be
taken into account in assigning the grade for course participation, and will also result in a grade
reduction of three points for each day that the paper is late. Assignments will not be accepted via
email.
STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES:
Students with physical or learning disabilities are required to register with the Moses Center for
Students with Disabilities, 726 Broadway, 2nd Floor, (212-998-4980) and are required to present a
letter from the Center to the instructor at the start of the semester in order to be considered for
appropriate accommodation.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY:
Academic integrity is the guiding principle for all that you do; from taking exams, making oral
presentations to writing term papers. It requires that you recognize and acknowledge information
derived from others, and take credit only for ideas and work that are yours. You violate the principle
of academic integrity when you:
 Cheat on an exam;
 Submit the same work for two different courses without prior permission from your
professors;
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

Receive help on a take-home examination that calls for independent work;
Plagiarize.
Plagiarism, one of the gravest forms of academic dishonesty in university life, whether intended or
not, is academic fraud. In a community of scholars, whose members are teaching, learning and
discovering knowledge, plagiarism cannot be tolerated. It is the failure to assign properly
authorship to a paper, a document, an oral presentation, a musical score and/or other materials,
which are not your original work. You plagiarize when, without proper attribution, you do any of
the following:
 Copy verbatim from a book, an article or other media;
 Download documents from the Internet;
 Purchase documents;
 Report from other's oral work;
 Paraphrase or restate someone else's facts, analysis and/or conclusions;
 Copy directly from a classmate or allow a classmate to copy from you.
Consult your professors for help with problems related to fulfilling course assignments, including
questions related to attribution of sources.
Please note that when a professor suspects cheating, plagiarism, and/or other forms of academic
dishonesty, appropriate disciplinary action may be taken following the department procedure or
through referral to the Committee on Student Discipline.
COURSE SCHEDULE
 September 2: Introduction
“Top 10 Higher Education State Policy Issues for 2014,” American Association of
State Colleges and Universities Higher Education Policy Brief, January, 2014.
 September 9: Academic Organizations -- Institutional Differences:
Birnbaum: How colleges work: The cybernetics of academic organization and
leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1988 – chapters 1, 2, 4 – 7
Clark, Burton R. “The Organizational Saga in Higher Education.” Administrative
Science Quarterly 17, no. 2 (June 1972): 178-184.
Evans, David. “The Power of Institutional Culture and ‘Saga’.” Chronicle of Higher
Education, September 13, 2012.
 September 16: Academic Organizations -- Managing the Organization
Short Essay Due: 3 - 5 pages, question posted on NYU Classes
Birnbaum: How academic leadership works. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1992,
Chapter 1 – 5
Weick, Karl. “Educational Organizations as Loosely Coupled Systems.”
Administrative Science Quarterly 21, no. 1 (March 1972): 1-19.
Clark, Burton. “Small Worlds, Different Worlds: The Uniqueness and Troubles of
American Academic Professionals.” Daedalus 126, no. 4, The American
Academic Profession (Fall 1997): 21-42.
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Ekman, Richard. “The Imminent Crisis in College Leadership.” The Chronicle of
Higher Education, September 19, 2010.
Fethke, Gary and Andrew J. Policano. “The Precarious Profession of University
President.” The Chronicle of Higher Education, July 23, 2012.
Stripling, Jack. “UVA’s Painfully Public Lesson in Leadership.” The Chronicle of
Higher Education, July 2, 2012.
 September 23: Academic Organizations -- Organizational Decision Making
Birnbaum: How academic leadership works. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1992 –
Chapters 6 - 9
Birnbaum, Robert. “The Latent Organizational Functions of the Academic Senate:
Why Senates Do Not Work But Will Not Go Away.” The Journal of
HigherEducation 60, no. 4 (July-Augusy, 1989): 423-443.
Schmidtlein, Frank A., and Robert O. Berdahl, “Autonomy and Accountability: Who
Controls Academe?” in American Higher Education in the Twenty-First
Century: Social, Political, and Economic Challenges, 2nd ed., edited by Philip
G. Altbach, Robert O. Berdahl, and Patricia J. Gumport. Baltimore, Johns
Hopkins University Press, 2005.
Basken, Paul, Up-or-Down Votes on Deans? An Unusual System Feeds Tension at U.
of Miami, The Chronicle of Higher Education, August 28, 2014
Lazeron, Marvin, “The Making of Corporate U.” The Chronicle Review, October 17,
2010.
Bok, Derek. “The Ambiguous Role of Money in Higher Education.” The Chronicle of
Higher Education, August 12, 2013.
Keep, William W. “The Worrisome Ascendance of Business in Higher Education.”
The Chronicle of Higher Education, June 21, 2012.
 September 30: Faculty Issues -- Faculty Rights and Responsibilities
Kirp, David et al. Shakespeare, Einstein and the Bottom Line: The Marketing of Higher
Education. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2004. Chapters 4 and 9.
Zemsky, Robert. Gregory R. Wegner, and William F. Massey, “Who Owns Teaching?”
in Remaking the American University. New Brunswick: Rutgers University
Press, 2005.
O’Neil, Robert M. “Academic Freedom: Past, Present and Future beyond September
11”, in American Higher Education in the Twenty-First Century: Social,
Political, and Economic Challenges, 2nd ed., edited by Philip G. Altbach,
Robert O. Berdahl, and Patricia J. Gumport. Baltimore, Johns Hopkins
University Press, 2005.
Wilson, Robin. “Big Changes Frustrate Faculty at Kean U.” The Chronicle of Higher
Education, November 7, 2010.
Jerde, Sara, “Off the Tenure Track and at the Helm: Adjuncts Now Lead Some Faculty
Senates,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, June 2, 2014.
 October 7: Faculty Issues -- Institutional policies and procedures
VanUmmersen, Clair. “No Talent Left Behind: Attracting and Retaining a Diverse
Faculty.” Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning 37, no. 6 (NovemberDecember, 2005).
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“The Growth of Full-Time Non-Tenure Track Faculty: Challenges for the Union.”
Publication of the American Federation of Teachers, Higher Education, August
2003.
June, Audrey Williams. “What Search Committees See Across the Table.” The
Chronicle of Higher Education, September 19, 2010.
Mangan, Katherine. “Texas A&M System Will Rate Professors Based on Their
Bottom-Line Value.” The Chronicle of Higher Education, September 2, 2010.
Nelson, Cary. “Parents: Your Children Need Professors with Tenure.” The Chronicle
of Higher Education, October 3, 2010.
Trower, Cathy A. “Rethinking Tenure for the Next Generation.” The Chronicle
Review, September 7, 2009.
 October 14: University Holiday –no class
 October 21: Financial Management
Short Essay Due: 3 – 5 pages, Question posted on NYU Classes
Barr, Margaret and George McClellan. Budgets and Financial Management in Higher
Education (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 2011), Chapters 1 – 3.
Johnstone, D. Bruce, “Financing Higher Education: Who Should Pay?” American
Higher Education in the Twenty-First Century: Social, Political, and Economic
Challenges, 2nd ed. Philip G. Altbach, Robert O. Berdahl, and Patricia J.
Gumport, eds., (Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005)
Geiger, Roger L. “Politics, Markets, and University Costs: Financing Universities in
the Current Era,” Research and Occasional Paper Series, CSHE.4.00
(December 2000).
Behr, Edith F., "Financing Public Colleges and Universities in an Era of State Fiscal
Constraints," Moody's Investor Services, Report for the Higher Education
Government Relations Conference, November 30, 2011, reported by the
American Association of Colleges and Universities.
Miller, Charles. “Take a Hard Look at Academic Programs, and Weed out the Weak.”
The Chronicle of Higher Education, September 7, 2009.
Carlson, Scott, “Administrative Hiring Drove 28% Boom in Higher Education
Worksforce, Report Says, The Chronicle of Higher Education, February 5,
2014.
 October 28: Financial Management, continued
Guest Speaker: Anthony Rini, Vice President for Budget and Planning, Northeastern
University - Boston
Barr, Margaret and George McClellan, Budgets and Financial Management in Higher
Education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2011. Chapters 4 - 6.
Kirp, David et al. Shakespeare, Einstein and the Bottom Line: The Marketing of Higher
Education. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2004. Chapter 6 - 7.
Packet of articles on Northeastern University:
Eaton, Collin, “Northeastern U. Opens the First in a Planned Series of Graduate
Campuses Across the U.S.,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, October 31,
2011
Kiley, Kevin, “Northeastern University opens branch campus in Charlotte, plans
further expansion,” Inside Higher Education, November 1, 2011.
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Krell, Alexis, “University in Boston is planning area campus,” Seattle Times,
November 2, 2011.
Lewin, Tamar, “Joining Trend, College Grows Beyond Name,” The New York
Times, December 27, 2011.
Johnson, Kirk, “In Seattle, Virtual University Will Have a Physical Campus, Too,”
The New York Times, October 29, 2012.
“Northeastern’s Branch Campus a Welcome Addition,” Seattle Times Editorial
Pratt, Timothy, “East Coast Colleges Follow the Money South and West,” Time,
April 17, 2014.
 October 29 – Wednesday - Mandatory Program Event: Andrew Delbanco, Mendelson
Family Professor of American Studies and Julian Clarence Levi Professor in the Humanities,
and author of College: What it Was, Is, and Should Be, Location TBA
 November 3 – Monday – Program Event: Richard Arum, Professor of Sociology and
Education, New York University, and Senior Fellow, U.S. Programs at the Bill and Melinda
Gates Foundation, and co- author of Aspiring Adults Adrift: Tentative Transitions of College
Graduates, Location TBA
 November 4: Student Affairs -- Purposes, Expenditures, and Resource Allocations
U.S. Department of Education. “A Test of Leadership: Charting the Future of U.S.
Higher Education.” A Report of the Commission Appointed by Secretary of
Education Margaret Spellings. Washington D.C., 2006.
Kuk, Linda, James H. Banning and Marilyn J. Amey. Positioning Student Affairs for
Sustainable Change: Achieving Organizational Effectiveness Through Multiple
Perspectives. Sterling: Stylus Pub, 2010. Chapters 5 and 6.
Arum, Richard and Josipa Roksa. Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College
Campuses. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2011, Selected Chapters.
Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa, Aspiring Adults Adrift: Tentative Transitions of
College Graduates, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2014, Introduction –
Chapter 2.
 November 11: Student Issues – Curriculum and Retention
Short Essay Due – 3 – 5 pages, question posted on NYU Classes
Kirp, David et al. Shakespeare, Einstein and the Bottom Line: The Marketing of Higher
Education, chapter 10.
Deresiewicz, William, “Don’t Send your Kid to the Ivy League: The nation’s top
colleges are turning our kids into zombies,” The New Republic, July 21, 2014.
Campbell, Don. Keeping Them in College, National CrossTalk, Fall 2006.
McLeod, Willis and Jon M. Young. “A Chancellors’s Vision: Establishing an
Institutional Culture of Student Success” New Directions for Institutional
Research, no. 125 (Spring 2005).
Lipka, Sara, “Arguments for the Value of College, Even as Completion Lags,” The
Chronicle of Higher Education, August 18, 2014.
Watch the debate at: http://millercenter.org/public/debates/ed_econ
 November 18: Enrollment Management:
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Rowley, Daniel James, Herman Lujan, and Michael G. Dolence. Strategic Change in
Colleges and Universities: Planning to Survive and Prosper. San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass, 1997. Chapter 11.
Coomes, Michael D. “The Historical Roots of Enrollment Management” in The Role
Student Aid Plays in Enrollment Management: New Directions for Student
Services, No. 89, edited by Michael Coomes. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2000.
Ort, Shirley. “Federal and State Aid in the 1990’s: A Policy Context for Enrollment
Management” in The Role Student Aid Plays in Enrollment Management: New
Directions for Student Services, No. 89, edited by Michael Coomes. San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2000.
Supiano, Becky. “How Falling State Support Affects Enrollment Management.” The
Chronicle of Higher Education, October 5, 2012.
 November 25: No Class
 December 2: Enrollment Management
Short Essay Due – 3 – 5 pages, question posted on NYU Classes
Kirp, David et. al, Shakespeare, Einstein and the Bottom Line: The Marketing of
Higher Education. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2004. Chapter 1 – 3
Zemsky, Robert, Gregory R. Wegner, and William F. Massey. “The Admissions Arms
Race” in Remaking the American University. New Brunswick: Rutgers
University Press, 2005.
Hoover, Eric. “Application Inflation,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, November
5, 2010.
 December 9: Strategic Planning and Long Term Mission
Zusman, Ami. “Challenges Facing Higher Education in the Twenty-First Century,” in
American Higher Education in the Twenty-First Century: Social, Political, and
Economic Challenges, 2nd ed., edited by Philip G. Altbach, Robert O. Berdahl,
and Patricia J. Gumport. Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005.
Rowley, Daniel James, Herman Lujan, and Michael G. Dolence. Strategic Change in
Colleges and Universities: Planning to Survive and Prosper. San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass, 2001. Preface, Chapter 1- 2, 6-7
Morphew, Christopher and Barrett J. Taylor. “College Rankings and Dueling Mission
Statements.” The Chronicle of Higher Education, August 19, 2009.
 December 16: Final Projects Due
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