new topic/ organizations as organisms

I have changed my topic. My new topic is the law that allows illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition in California. When I applied the organization as organisms assumptions to my new problem there are a lot of possible applications or perspectives. Specifically, the assumption of interacting components can be seen on multiple levels from the community, state government, universities, departments, students etc. The assumption dealing with boundaries, for example, involves a clear division between state government and universities. Finally if I understand the last assumption correctly (Systems receive inputs from the environment, transform them in some way and then return them to the environment) that would mean that the state government received inputs regarding the illegal immigrant student population and then the government transformed the input and introduced the in-state tuition law. I know we are going to talk more about organizations as organisms in class. I guess I am just thinking out loud, but I welcome any thoughts on this topic.

Organizational problem as an organism

After reading the organism chapter I have started to think more about the outside environmental influences that might have an impact on the current graduation ceremony policy. Many students at George Mason are communters so maybe the university felt as thought only offering one graduation ceremony per year would be fine considering many of the students live in the area and could return to the university in the furture to participate in the ceremony. However, the university now has a lot of international students and communter students. I don't think the status quo of only one ceremony is working for a large number of the students who attend.

I attended Radford University which only had about 10,000 students. Hardly any of which were communters. We had two graduation ceremonies per year. Mason has almost 30,000 students and only offer one ceremony. The communter student is a whole new player that I hadn't considered befor reading this chapter.

Nevermind

Okay - disregard my blog (duh) - I found the place to search for articles. We had a pipe break in our house so I had to drive with Mike to Front Royal to get a part - replaced the part while we watched the debate, ate too much butter pecan ice cream, went to bed at 2am and am now doing my homework. Two cups of coffee later - I can see and comprehend!!! Have a restful weekend.

The mechanics of our problem statements and archives...

Looking forward to the class discussion on how to approach our "problems" from an organism perspective.

By the way, does anyone know how to search the archives of Inside Education? Maybe it's too early in the morning, but I am not seeing it. Also, has anyone had problems subscribing to Higher Education? The site wants my $$ but if I can get it for free - that's the way I want to go!

Organism v. Structure

I'm only a few pages in to ready Birnbaum, chapter 2, but is it just me or is "organizations as organism" similar to "organizations as structure" - only maybe a little more intense. Anyway it's not what I was expecting.

Another side to the international students posts

There is an interesting article in the Chronicle (Emirates Look to the West for Prestige, Sept 22, 2008). The article is about the United Arab Emirates trying to boost their status as Universities. They are hiring a lot of people from US institutions and making large scale changes to their universities. A lot of money is being poured into the programs over there.

It would be interesting to look at all the changes they are making from some of the organizational frameworks we are looking at in class.

Also as another note. If these universities are spending so much money on faculty and administration over there it could have two outcomes- a drain on top staff here in the US and also fewer international students coming to the US for school. Why would international students come to the US if they can get the equivalent of a US education in the United Arab Emirates?

fine arts college from a human resource perspective

In looking at my problem (integrating the community into other sectors of a fine arts college) through the human resources perspective. I came to a realization. I focused on a definition from the Bolman book that said that the HR framework focuses on "how characteristics of organizations and people shape what they do for one another". I realized that the college has many of the characteristics of a HR framework. For example, one of the assumptions of the HR framework is creating an environment that the organization exploits the talents of its employees and vice versa. The college benefits from the talents of the employees by attracting donors, patrons from the community and students. The employees benefit by having an outlet to further their career and share their talents.

My point of all this is that since the college has many of the basic assumptions of the HR framework, why do they have trouble integrating the community into all aspects of the college? I am starting to think that maybe the college needs to use a blend of a few different organizational frameworks to solve the problem.

Speaking of international students...

There is an article today on The Chronicle of Higher Education website about how Saudi Arabia just brought home over 500 of their students who where on scholorship studying abroad because of poor academic preformance. Its true that international students are very important to universities. Are we doing enough at GMU to provide these students with the academic and social support they need while they are away from home?

Economy

More bank problems, stock market lows. How does this relate to Higher Educational Institutions? I read or heard somewhere that a lot of Universities have been able to shield themselves from some economic troubles by appealing to an international market. But I feel that will only go so far and is only true for certain institutions. Thoughts?

The Symbolism of Athletics

How do you get alumni to reconnect to a college? Start a football program. At least that seems to be the message in a 15 September New York Times article. Lincoln University, an historically black college whose alumni include Thurgood Marshall and Langston Hughes, disbanded their football program in 1960. Now, in an effort to reinvigorate the campus and reconnect the school to its historic roots, the school has decided to bring the program back.

“In the increasingly competitive environment of higher education, sports can forge impressions and draw unparalleled attention,” according to the NYT. We saw this when GMU’s basketball team went to the NCAA final four. The symbolism of sports, especially football, appears to create bonds between a school and its current and former students like no other.

Historic Note: Lincoln University played its first game against a club team from George Mason on August 30th.

As the community college turns...

Did anyone read the article "A Community College Divided" (Inside Higher Ed, Sept. 8th)? Wow - that is a loaded story with so many issues - Charles Taylor, the president of Thomas Nelson Community College in Hampton, VA just announced that he is taking 9 months of leave. Apparently, he is quite controversial and has been accused of being divisive.

According to the article, he went through the school's interview process but the Faculty Senate "deemed him unacceptable." Despite this, he was hired by the chancellor of the VA community college system. Two years into his presidency, he has been accused of negatively impacting morale amongst faculty and staff, he tried to influence pre-requisites for certain courses, creating a "racially charged" environment. The Faculty Senate held a "no confidence" vote in April 2008. 58 against 18 voted NO Confidence in Taylor.

Now, Pres. Taylor is leaving for 9 months to head up a research project - it should be interesting to see what happens. By the way, Taylor declined to be intereviewed, so the article is very one-sided.

"Pretending" Not To Work

I want to share something Dr. Lester shared with me from InsideHigherEd (link below). I think this highlights my organizational problem very succinctly. A community college in Texas, struggling to find adjuncts to teach classes (but not wanting to go over their cap on adjunct hours), now allows adjuncts to teach more, but only if they sign a statement saying that they are not teaching more hours. How crazy is that?

Reading this article from a human resources perspective, this solution to the adjunct cap seems to be creating a real nightmare for the college. The problem itself is an HR problem, or at least would appear to be to those who have not taken CTCH 622.

I would enjoy hearing any feedback on this!

InsideHigherEd => http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/09/11/adjunct

First Vision Series Lecture of the 2008-09 Season

This is the speaker that is presenting today, that we talked about a little bit on Tuesday. Sorry about the late post..it was Sorority Recruitment..very busy time!

Faculty, staff and students are encouraged to attend the first lecture
of the season in the Vision Series on Monday, September 15, 2008, at
7p.m., at the Center for the Arts. PLEASE NOTE THE NEW TIME THIS YEAR!!!!

Michelle Marks, Associate Professor of Management, will present "The
Young and the Restless: How Generation Y is Changing our Workforce." A
reception with light refreshments will follow the lecture. Admission is
free and open to the public.

For more information and to reserve tickets, visit
http://www.gmu.edu/cfa/vision.

Do some college's fit better with different perspectives? For example, I have heard that the School of Management is a very structured environment with well-defined roles. Which would go more with the structural perspective. On the other hand I thought the fine arts college is more focused on creativity and talents of the people that would lean more towards the human resource perspective. Since I have not read future assignments I am not sure if my thoughts will hold true. What do you all think?

Test Your Structural Frame Skils

Take a look at the short excerpt from a Chronicle article on the funding issues currently impacting California Community College students. Use your knowledge of the structural frame to analyze this situation. Just note your ideas in the comments section

As California lawmakers fight over a long-overdue budget, thousands of community-college students are caught in the crossfire. Many of the neediest students are left waiting for state Cal Grants that could make the difference between their paying their bills or dropping out.

Remember that blogging is a part of your participation grade.

Just want to give a shout out to my alma mater Radford University. They started enrolling students this fall in their very first Doctoral program! I believe Radford's overall mission has started to shift recently. The new president, who started when I was a senior there in 2005-2006, is pushing for Radford to be more competative with their graduate studies programs. They recently ranked 14th amoung public master's university in the south by U.S. News and World Report 2009. Go Highlanders!

Vicious Cycle

It is kind of a catch 22 - In addition to the research piece, I've heard criticism toward universities for providing a spectrum of amenities and services that do not seem directly related to academics so they can stay competitive and attract people/money.  Some might justify it by saying that it will bring in more money that can be put toward the mission??

Distorting the University Mission

Today's (Sunday, Sept. 7) New York Times has an excellent article on how the mission of many unversities has been distorted by their focus on "tech transfer", i.e. their quest for patents and licenses resulting from federally financed research. NYT writes that "In the past, discovery for its own sake provided academic motivation, but today’s universities function more like corporate research laboratories."

The article continues to say that "In trying to power the innovation economy, we have turned America’s universities into cutthroat business competitors, zealously guarding the very innovations we so desperately want behind a hopelessly tangled web of patents and royalty licenses."

I have often wondered if GMUs quest to become a top research university has led it to channeled resources away from other academic departments. While institutions of higher education may not be structured like a business, it appears that their goals are the same: making money.

Here is a link to the Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/07/technology/07unbox.html

We spent time in class looking at the differences between businesses organizations and higher education organizations. I kept thinking of a statistic that I read in one of the textbooks (How Colleges Work) that said 40% of all board members are businesspeople. I thought this was ironic. Business principles can't be applied to a higher education setting, but we have business people in positions of power.

Higher Education as an Organization

Last night, we ran out of time before we had a chance to talk about the different external and internal pressures and characteristics that impact other types of higher education institutions. I briefly mentioned, for example, that community colleges have within their mission a commitment to workforce development. Here are a few other community college mission statements:

Tidewater Community College provides collegiate education and training to adults of all ages and backgrounds, helping them achieve their individual goals and contribute as citizens and workers to the vitality of an increasingly global community.

COMMITMENTS THAT INFORM THE MISSION:

Open access to high-quality, affordable education to prepare students for transfer to a four-year baccalaureate institution, as well as for entry or advancement in the workforce. Cultural diversity as a critically important strength for students to meet the changing needs of a pluralistic, democratic society. Lifelong learning to heighten the awareness of students to multiple paths for achievement while helping them pursue the choices most conducive to their individual needs. Partnerships and proactive responsiveness to develop cutting-edge programs that meet the changing needs of students and industry, while contributing to the economic, civic, and cultural vitality of the region, the Commonwealth, the nation, and the international community. A comprehensive range of programs and services recognized for excellence by leaders of business, industry, and government, and by educators in K-12 education and four-year colleges and universities.

NVCC Mission Statement
The mission of Northern Virginia Community College is to respond to the educational needs of its dynamic and diverse constituencies through an array of comprehensive programs and services that facilitate learning and workforce development in an environment of open access and through lifelong educational opportunities.


What are some other characteristics that make community colleges unique? What is evident from reading these mission statements? What about for-profits (or proprietary institutions)? Let's continue the conversation on the blog!

Thinking too much?

Did anyone else find themselves going a little batty trying to narrowly define their "problem?" The more I thought on mine, the more problems/issues I came up with.

Organization Problem

Hello!

I have gone back and forth on deciding my organizational problem and finally selected one!!

The problem that I have selected is regarding George Mason Universities position of upgrading our club football program to a NCAA Division 1 program. The topic has been brought up probably since the university was founded and the Board of Visitors recently voted against the decision.

Does this sound like an organizational problem? If so, does it need to be more specific to a recent event or recent decision?

Any thoughts? Thanks!!

Meghan

Happy Labor Day

Refreshing myself on the readings and finalizing ideas for organizational problem:

I'm thinking about addressing issues with how the spaces and services within the Student Center's buildings (JC, SUBI and SUBII) are identified, organized, marketed, etc. I've heard a lot of confusion around why one office or organization is located in one building vs. another. Seems worth getting some feedback.