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Open Access Publications from the University of California

Scholarly Works (4 results)

  • Thesis
  • Peer Reviewed
UC Riverside Electronic Theses and Dissertations (2018)

The literature suggests that neoliberalism, a term to describe the orientation of public sector towards the market, has pervaded higher education institutions. However, the assertions made in the majority of the literature on neoliberalism’s presence in higher education lack data to support these proclamations. Research has explored the neoliberal behaviors of faculty (Levin & Aliyeva, 2015) and suggests that faculty engage in neoliberal activities in the form of academic capitalism (Slaughter & Leslie, 1997; Slaughter & Rhoades, 2004). However, the role of academic administrators, specifically academic deans who occupy a unique position that overlaps both the academic and administrative realms, and their participation in neoliberal behaviors are less understood. This qualitative field investigation relies on 38 semi-structured interviews with 20 academic deans across multiple disciplines included in the sciences, social sciences, and liberal arts at four public research universities in California—all University of California campuses. Institutional theory and identity theory provide frameworks for understanding of adoption of, and resistance to, neoliberal logics by academic deans and the ways in which they reconcile neoliberal logics with academic logics. Findings indicate that academic deans in the research university blend neoliberal logics with academic logics and perceive these logics as not only compatible but also necessary in a highly competitive environment with limited resources. Furthermore, findings indicate that academic deans maintain an academic identity, the identity with the most salience (Burke & Stets, 2009) and professional capital in the academy, through the development of an academic aesthetic. The activation of the academic identity acts as a mechanism for the deans’ reinforcement of academic logics in spite of neoliberal pressures. Academic deans are both actors of neoliberal ideologies and defenders of the academic ethos. Implications for the practice of academic deans and the role of faculty in higher education governance and management are discussed.

    Cover page: Double Agents: The Dual Logics and Dual Identities of Academic Deans in the Neoliberal University
    • Article
    • Peer Reviewed
    UC Riverside Previously Published Works (2018)
      Cover page: Preservation of Community College Logic: Organizational Responses to State Policies and Funding Practices in Three States
      • Article
      • Peer Reviewed
      UC Riverside Previously Published Works (2018)
      This qualitative investigation addresses three new universities in the provinces of British Columbia and Alberta and their presidents’ ascriptions of organizational identity to their universities. Through extended, semi-structured interviews and narrative analysis, this investigation uses organizational identity theory and institutional theory to explain the positionality and understandings of presidents in relationship to their universities’ paths to legitimacy. We found that the preservation of aspects of the institutions’ original identity (as community colleges) aids new universities’ organizational change. Furthermore, while presidents advocated for a replacement of community college logics with university logics, data showed that these three new universities had yet to embrace the university logic fully. We propose that a blending of logics may be the preferred mechanism for the attainment of legitimacy during sectoral change for new universities.This qualitative investigation addresses three new universities in the provinces of British Columbia and Alberta and their presidents’ ascriptions of organizational identity to their universities. Through extended, semi-structured interviews and narrative analysis, this investigation uses organizational identity theory and institutional theory to explain the positionality and understandings of presidents in relationship to their universities’ paths to legitimacy. We found that the preservation of aspects of the institutions’ original identity (as community colleges) aids new universities’ organizational change. Furthermore, while presidents advocated for a replacement of community college logics with university logics, data showed that these three new universities had yet to embrace the university logic fully. We propose that a blending of logics may be the preferred mechanism for the attainment of legitimacy during sectoral change for new universities.
        Cover page: New Universities’ Organizational Identities Through Presidential Lenses
        • Article
        • Peer Reviewed
        UC Davis Previously Published Works (2023)
        Carnivores play critical roles in ecosystems, yet many species are declining worldwide. The Sierra Nevada Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes necator; SNRF) is a rare and endangered subspecies of red fox limited to upper montane forests, subalpine, and alpine environments of California and Oregon, United States. Having experienced significant distribution contractions and population declines in the last century, the subspecies is listed as at-risk by relevant federal and state agencies. Updated information on its contemporary distribution and density is needed to guide and evaluate conservation and management actions. We combined 12 years (2009-2020) of detection and nondetection data collected throughout California and Oregon to model the potential distribution and density of SNRFs throughout their historical and contemporary ranges. We used an integrated species distribution and density modeling approach, which predicted SNRF density in sampled locations based on observed relationships between environmental covariates and detection frequencies, and then projected those predictions to unsampled locations based on the estimated correlations with environmental covariates. This approach provided predictions that serve as density estimates in sampled regions and projections in unsampled areas. Our model predicted a density of 1.06 (95% credible interval = 0.8-1.36) foxes per 100 km2 distributed throughout 22,926 km2 in three distinct regions of California and Oregon-Sierra Nevada, Lassen Peak, and Oregon Cascades. SNRFs were most likely to be found in areas with low minimum temperatures and high snow water equivalent. Our results provide a contemporary baseline to inform the development and evaluation of conservation and management actions, and guide future survey efforts.
          Cover page: A hierarchical modeling approach to predict the distribution and density of Sierra Nevada Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes necator).
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