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Transparent, Accessible Accountability in Higher Education: A Sector-focused Approach

Profitt, Aaron D.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1427893304

Abstract Details

2015, PhD, University of Cincinnati, Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services: Educational Studies.
U.S. higher education institutions participate in a number of transparency initiatives intended to enable stakeholders to hold the institutions accountable. In these initiatives, and the broader higher-education accountability literature, there are two gaps: (1) accreditation agencies and processes are generally not included and (2) evidence does not exist to demonstrate stakeholders’ ability to interpret, and their satisfaction with, transparency systems. Working within a single U.S. higher-education sector (Biblical higher education) as defined by an accrediting agency (the Association for Biblical Higher Education), this three-phased research project developed a system whereby institutions of higher education may hold themselves accountable to a broad range of stakeholder groups in a transparent fashion, satisfying stakeholders’ information needs. Phase One surveyed accreditation experts to develop a multivariate index of institutional health; this phase included identifying metrics for inclusion in the index and identifying cutpoints to classify an institution as at-risk, challenged, effective or excelling. Results were subjected to validation by experts unaffiliated with the accrediting agency; validation did not conclusively support the developed index, reflecting the tension identified in the literature between improvement- and accountability-oriented paradigms. Phase Two surveyed a broad range of internal and external institutional stakeholders to determine what kinds of information they perceived themselves to need in order to evaluate a higher-education institution’s performance. Based on those results, a website template based on Phase Two’s survey results was created, and four mock profiles were created. Phase Three surveyed the same broad range of stakeholders as in Phase Two; here, stakeholders were asked to review the mock online profiles, then answer questions measuring (a) the accuracy of their understanding of profile information and (b) their satisfaction with the profiles as an accountability mechanism. Accuracy, which differed significantly across stakeholder groups, was moderate, suggesting that transparency initiatives may not empower stakeholders, particularly consumers, as much as is generally assumed. Satisfaction was mediocre, not differing significantly from a “neutral” response, further challenging an easy , prima facie belief in transparency initiatives’ value. In addition to demonstrating methodologies that may be used in sector-focused accountability initiatives, results raise serious questions about stakeholders’ understanding and interpretation of common accountability metrics, providing both further research direction and action opportunities for institutions and agencies.
Mary Brydon-Miller, Ph.D. (Committee Chair)
Vicki Plano Clark, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Christopher Swoboda, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
199 p.
Higher Education
Higher education; Biblical higher education; Accountability; Accreditation; Assessment; Stakeholder satisfaction

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Profitt, A. D. (2015). Transparent, Accessible Accountability in Higher Education: A Sector-focused Approach [Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1427893304

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Profitt, Aaron. Transparent, Accessible Accountability in Higher Education: A Sector-focused Approach. 2015. University of Cincinnati, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1427893304.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Profitt, Aaron. "Transparent, Accessible Accountability in Higher Education: A Sector-focused Approach." Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati, 2015. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1427893304

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ucin1427893304
671
© 2015, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License Transparent, Accessible Accountability in Higher Education: A Sector-focused Approach by Aaron D. Profitt is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by University of Cincinnati and OhioLINK.