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A Qualitative Interpretive Study of Collaboration among Staff and Faculty at a Catholic, Marianist Institution

Markland, Geoffrey Scott
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1235528229

Abstract Details

2009, Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, Higher Education (Education).
Collaboration among faculty and staff employees has been suggested as a means to attain a number of important outcomes to higher education such as student learning and institutional excellence. Studies conducted at large public institutions have pointed to a number of macro and institutional level features that promote collaboration among staff and faculty members. This study examined macro-level features that served as challenges to collaboration as well as features that facilitated collaboration among employees at a mid-sized, Catholic, and Marianist institution. Qualitative methodology was utilized to explore the experiences of staff and faculty members who had participated in a leadership development program and had experience working collaboratively. The results indicated that barriers to collaboration included: time/ workload issues, senior leader influence, fewer numbers of vowed religious leaders as role models, and competing expectations of faculty work. Features that served to promote collaboration included: the mission and philosophy of the institution, relationships with vowed leaders, Leadership UD program, departmental subculture, and formative experiences. Among staff and faculty members, the Marianist mission and philosophy, as well as the leadership development program were central features that supported collaborative work. Common barriers included and time constraints and senior leader influence. While all of the factors played a role in shaping the environment, the institutional mission and philosophy, as well as the leadership development program, were most important in helping participants to navigate barriers and successfully develop collaborative partnerships across campus. This study served to reinforce other studies that discovered the importance of a mission and institutional philosophy that support collaboration as well as mechanisms (such as leadership development programs or other networking programs) to help staff and faculty members to learn about collaboration. Further, the outcomes of this investigation would indicate that at smaller, private, religiously based institutions, mission and employee praxis surrounding institutional values are critically important features in promoting collaboration among staff and faculty members. Institutions seeking to create environments that support collaboration are encouraged to carefully examine these issues through the experiences of their staff and faculty members in order to develop a better understanding of collaboration within the context of their unique settings.
Peter C. Mather, PhD (Committee Chair)
David Descutner, PhD (Committee Member)
Robert Young, PhD (Committee Member)
Molly Schaller, PhD (Committee Member)
171 p.
Higher Education
collaboration; collaboration among faculty and staff; Catholic; Marianist

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Markland, G. S. (2009). A Qualitative Interpretive Study of Collaboration among Staff and Faculty at a Catholic, Marianist Institution [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1235528229

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Markland, Geoffrey. A Qualitative Interpretive Study of Collaboration among Staff and Faculty at a Catholic, Marianist Institution. 2009. Ohio University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1235528229.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Markland, Geoffrey. "A Qualitative Interpretive Study of Collaboration among Staff and Faculty at a Catholic, Marianist Institution." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio University, 2009. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1235528229

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ohiou1235528229
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© 2009, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Ohio University and OhioLINK.