Committee Chair

Rausch, David W.

Committee Member

Miller, Ted L.; Rutledge, Valerie C.; Rhoda, Richard

Department

Dept. of Education

College

College of Health, Education, and Professional Studies

Publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Place of Publication

Chattanooga (Tenn.)

Abstract

American higher education institutions, specifically public universities and colleges, have reached a key point in their histories and it is within this moment that these institutions must transform operations, deliver education in new ways, and demonstrate unquestionable social and economic impact. Universities and colleges must increase productivity and find new ways to lower costs, increase efficiencies, and improve quality while delivering education to a greater mass of people over a shortened period of time. “A Multicase Study Analysis of the Intersection of Institutional and State Policy and Educational Innovation” investigates the means by which public research institutions are attempting to address these pressures with technology-enhanced innovations, combined with supportive policies and effective business models. This research provides stakeholders with a greater understanding of the processes involved in innovation adoption, as well as the social, economic, and policy contexts of operation. The researcher conducted a qualitative analysis of three institutional case studies, the Ohio State University, the University of Michigan, and the University of Texas at Austin, guided by research questions focused on how public research institutions and states develop policies to address higher education productivity challenges, the types of policies or policy amendments public research institutions and states adopt to address higher education productivity challenges, and how successful and failed educational innovations intersect with institutional and state policies. To generate the case studies, the researcher interviewed institutional leaders, staff, and faculty on each campus. The research finds that the on-campus technological innovations are changing the higher education landscape regularly and quickly. The three institutions studied are navigating such changes through negotiated modernist and postmodernist approaches to institutional advancement and transformation. These institutions are stretching beyond their traditional policies and paradigms in order to be a part of the discovery process, sometimes voluntarily and sometimes as a concession for internal and external stakeholder pressure. The qualitative design of this study provides readers and researchers with an understanding of the institutional ecosystems and thereby establishes a foundation for future research focused on various dimensions of higher education policy and practice.

Degree

Ed. D.; A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Education.

Date

5-2013

Subject

Education, Higher -- Aims and objectives; Education, Higher -- Economic aspects; Universities and colleges -- Business management; Educational accountability

Discipline

Educational Leadership

Document Type

Doctoral dissertations

DCMI Type

Text

Extent

xiv, 152 leaves

Language

English

Rights

https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en

License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/

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