Date of Award

2001

Degree Name

EdD Doctor of Education

Dissertation Committee

Edward F. DeRoche, PhD, Director; Kathleen M. Collins, PhD; William Piland, EdD

Keywords

administration, case study, communication, governance processes, higher education, Imperial Valley College, Leadership studies, shared governance

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to analyze and synthesize the perceptions and experiences of individuals and groups responsible for implementing shared governance at Imperial Valley College. Consequently, this investigation sought to establish (a) who was directly involved with the governance process, (b) how the process was operationalized, and (c) the benefits, drawbacks, and unresolved issues for implementing the governance process. The design of this investigation was a qualitative case study. Noting that the use of multiple sources of data collection adds to the reliability and validity of a study, interviews, observations, documents, and the professional literature on governance were used to both gather and triangulate the data. Once all of the data were accumulated, Guba & Lincoln's constant comparative method and Spradley's domain analysis worksheet were applied to discern the emergent categories and themes of the study. Finally, the findings were presented via a virtual roundtable discussion to provide readers with a better sense of what was important to the stakeholders. An overall recommendation of this study was the need to evaluate the governance processes at the state, and local levels, on an annual and biannual basis. The six major themes of responsibilities, structures, processes, opportunities, participation, and communication, emerged from the analysis of the data and brought forth the following recommendations: Key governance players need to (a) disclose, discern and inform governance stakeholders about their roles and responsibilities defined in statute, regulation, and policy, (b) sort out the inconsistencies created from the merging of pre and post AB1725 governance structures, (c) generate clear, or revise vague, governance processes and insure their implementation too, (d) build upon the opportunities created by AB1725 to better guide its development and practice, (e) identify and attend to existing barriers and issues that shape the participation of stakeholders, and (f) endorse, espouse, and ensure the use of communication as means to enhance the flow of information, understanding of issues, and making of decisions.

Document Type

Dissertation: Open Access

Department

Education

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