Bridging the Divide between Faculty and Administration A Guide to Understanding Conflict in the Academy

Conflicts between faculty and administration have become particularly virulent and disruptive in recent years, as institutions have struggled to adapt to intensifying pressures for efficiency and accountability. Analyzing common sources of conflict and challenges on campus that impede attempts to address these conflicts, Bridging the Divide between Faculty and Administration provides a theory-driven and research-based approach for authentic discourse between faculty and administration. This important resource presents a wealth of strategies for improving communication in colleges and universities, ultimately enhancing organizational effectiveness and institutional performance.

Special Features:

• End-of-chapter "Implications for Practice" provide practical tips and advice for faculty and administrators to use in their own contexts.
• Analysis of actual conflicts based on extensive interviews with administrators and faculty across a variety of college and university settings.
• Exploration of creative ways for faculty and administrators to work across differences in their belief systems and to address the underlying sources of conflict.

Foreword

Acknowledgments

Preface

Chapter One: Perennial Conflicts between Faculty and Administration

Chapter Two: Paradigm Differences as the Underlying Sources of Conflict between Faculty and Administrators

Chapter Three: Communication and Conflict in the Academy

Chapter Four: Faculty-Administration Conflict and Institutional Effectiveness

Chapter Five: When Time is of the Essence: The Temporal Dimensions of Conflict in the Academy

Chapter Six: Enhancing Communication and Collaboration between Faculty and Administration

Chapter Seven: Summary and Conclusions: Toward Improved Understanding, Cooperation, and Effectiveness

References

James L. Bess is Professor Emeritus at New York University, USA.

Jay R. Dee is Associate Professor of Higher Education and Director of the Higher Education Doctoral Program at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, USA.