Eckel, Peter D

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  • Publication
    Redefining Competition Constructively: The Challenges of Privatisation, Competition and Market-Based State Policy in the United States
    (2007-01-01) Eckel, Peter D
    In the United States, the relationship between state governments and public colleges and universities is being redefined with new notions of autonomy and accountability, and with funding policies that are highly market-driven (often referred to as "privatisation") as the centerpieces. Situations and institutional strategies unthinkable only a few years ago are becoming increasingly commonplace. For instance, a few business and law schools at public institutions are moving toward privatisation, distancing themselves from both the states and their parent universities. While American higher education has traditionally been competitive and market driven, emerging state market-based policies, which will clearly benefit some types of institutions over others, are further intensifying the competition with a variety of effects at the institutional and sector levels. Entrepreneurial or commercial activities may provide the additional resources individual institutions need to fulfil their public purpose. However, when all institutions pursue the same set of competitive strategies, no one gains an advantage. Institutions run harder to stay in place. The cumulative effect of competition may also work against important social objectives such as affordability and access. This paper explores the challenges that the current competitive environment creates for institutional leaders in the United States. It acknowledges that the competitive environment will not abate and suggests that by competing in different ways, over different objectives, with different purposes, US higher education might better meet its social objectives of increased access, lower cost and enhanced quality.
  • Publication
    The Last 100 Days of a Presidency: What Boards Need to Know and Do
    (2013-05-01) Johnson, Sandra S; Eckel, Peter D
    Takeaways It is just as important for a board to plan the transition of the outgoing president as it is to plan the transition of the incoming president. Boards should help departing presidents fashion a to-do list, as well as a not-to-do list. Boards should recognize that the departure of the president can present significant procedural and emotional issues for senior staff members awaiting the arrival of the new president.
  • Publication
    Why Governing is So Difficult: A Synthesis of the (Other) Literature
    (2019-01-03) Eckel, Peter D
    Governing boards have a history of underperformance. Yet, most attempted strategies address the recognized problems of inexperienced trustees, infrequent meetings, and trustees’ lack of understanding of higher education. They include steps such as clarifying board roles and responsibilities, better orientations, more information, and restructuring the board. Yet, these commonly advocated strategies yield few consistent results. This paper looks beyond the typical problems and solutions for underlying causes that might make governance difficult. It synthesizes literature from psychology, business, behavioral economics, group behavior, and related areas to develop propositions that help explain board behavior (or misbehavior) to suggest deeper causes of board misbehavior via a set of propositions. These propositions focus on the nature of high-powered groups, overconfidence, group information bias and group processes, all of which constrain board effectiveness. The paper concludes with a series of recommendations for practitioners and for researchers to further address what look like perennial governance problems.
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  • Publication
    Core Values and the Road to Change
    (1998-07-01) Green, Madeleine F; Eckel, Peter D; Hill, Barbara
    Higher education draws much of the vocabulary and many of the concepts about change from the corporate sector. Corporations "downsized" and "restructured" in the early 1990s in response to competitive and financial pressures; higher education currently is experiencing similar pressures. Yet change and renewal in higher education are not just about money and becoming more cost-effective. Although these are important objectives, higher education must incorporate changes that improve student learning, foster closer connections with their communities, and adapt to the demands of an increasingly technological society. Reorganizing and cutting costs alone do not suggest how colleges and universities might become more agile as institutions, nor do efficiency measures usually address the core issues of the higher education enterprise.
  • Publication
    The Dilemma of Presidential Leadership
    (2005-01-01) Birnbaum, Robert; Eckel, Peter D
    Every decade, about five thousand persons serve as college or university presidents. Over a term of office averaging less than seven years, the president is expected to serve simultaneously as the chief administrator of a large and complex bureaucracy, as the convening colleague of a professional community, as a symbolic elder in a campus culture of shared values and symbols, and (in some institutions) as a public official accountable to a public board and responsive to the demands of other governmental agencies. Balancing the conflicting expectations of these roles has always been difficult; changing demographic trends, fiscal constraints, the complexity and diversity of tasks, university dynamics, and unrealistic public expectations make it virtually impossible for most presidents to provide the leadership that is expected.
  • Publication
    Lessons Learned about Student Learning: Eight Test Cases
    (2014-01-01) Eckel, Peter D
    Takeaways The progress—and setbacks—of eight institutions that served as test cases have yielded a set of lessons about board oversight of educational quality from which others can benefit: 1 Ensure a sufficient institutional-assessment capacity. 2 Start with what you already have. 3 Make academic quality a priority of the boad and institutional leaders. 4 Attach the effort to other activities. 5 Educate the board on education. 6 Find the right focus. 7 Allow for targeted deeper dives. 8 Develop new board processes and use time differently. 9 Deepen the engagement of the board with faculty.
  • Publication
    Assessing Change and Transformation in Higher Education: An Essential Task for Leaders
    (2002-01-01) Eckel, Peter D
    An important responsibility of metropolitan university leaders is to provide compelling evidence that their institutions have the ability to change and to articulate how much change has occurred. This paper examines how institutions can develop that capacity and determine the extent to which institutions are different. It defines transformation, describes types of evidence, presents a framework for determining evidence, suggests strategies for collecting evidence, and identifies challenges to determining progress.
  • Publication
    Navigating the Currents of Change
    (2001-01-01) Hill, Barbara; Green, Madeleine; Eckel, Peter D
    Colleges and universities are constantly undergoing change of some sort. Each new academic year brings computer software upgrades, fresh scheduling issues, new courses, and an influx of faculty and staff members. But some institutional change is more ambitious, penetrating into the fabric of the institution. Many call this change "transformational"—meaning that it affects culture, structures, policies, attitudes, and behaviors.
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