School of Education

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https://hdl.handle.net/10474/1823

The School of Education is designed to provide an excellent education and exemplify the high quality of service that tomorrow’s educators and community leaders will need to help their communities.

In these collections, researchers, students, and the curious can learn from the school's research and intellectual output.

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Browsing School of Education by Author "Ayers, Richard W."

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    A multiple case study of transformational leadership at struggling colleges
    (Southern New Hampshire University, 2019) Schifilliti, Roy; Ayers, Richard W.; Charron, Nancy; Chillo, Joseph L.
    This qualitative multiple case study sought to understand the common factors that colleges at risk of closure have to navigate to move from struggling, to surviving, and on to thriving. The primary question for this research involved the changes, and communication and governance strategies between the president, trustees, and faculty that affected positive change at small colleges and universities who successfully transformed their organizations. Data was collected through one-on-one interviews with presidents who led each institution through transformation. This study identified similarities and differences between the cases allowing for the examination of the phenomenon in depth, using evidence obtained from interviews with those involved (Yin, 2014). Risk of closure was defined as schools that had a simple liquidity ratio of under 5%, who then moved to a liquidity ratio of over 10%. Findings from this study identified six themes related to leading small at-risk colleges. These factors were common among the schools studied and are areas for consideration for schools that are working to move from struggling to thriving. These themes include; transforming the dynamic between the president and board of trustees; faculty role in organizational change; a strong leadership team as part of transformation; transparency in communication with stakeholders; impact and import of decisive and entrepreneurial leadership; and leadership background. (Author abstract)
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    Organizational mindfulness in higher education information technology: a Delphi study
    (Southern New Hampshire University, 2018) McArthur, Karen R.; Littlefield, Charles P.; Ayers, Richard W.; Rogers, Audrey G.
    This study examined the opinion of higher education information technology professionals on organizational mindfulness and mindful organizing in aligning their department’s organizational goals with the broader college/university institutional mission. It used the Delphi methodology to question experts in the higher education information technology field on their opinion toward the near future of information technology in higher education and the place of information technology in the strategic and operational directions of the institution it supports. In particular, it asked about the place of organizational mindfulness and mindful organizing in aligning the mission of the information technology organization with the broader institutional mission. The study sought consensus on the research questions as determined by statistical analysis of survey answers. Once consensus was reached, both qualitative and quantitative analysis of the data was done. The findings indicate that although information technology professionals’ knowledge of organizational mindfulness and mindful organizing is limited, as information technology services become more central to both operational and strategic missions of colleges/universities, they rate this tool highly as an avenue to more closely align the organizational mission with the institutional mission. (Author abstract)