Abstracts Category : Other

Shared Governance and Organizational Commitment Reported by Enrollment Managers in the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities

by Don Wayne Jones

Many faith-based liberal arts institutions are tuition-dependent and are forced to compete with both public institutions as well as private for-profit colleges and universities to maintain student enrollment levels. Some faith-based institutions have adopted strategic enrollment management policies and procedures that emulate the best practices used by aggressive for-profit colleges. In many institutions, the point person for this marketing and recruiting strategy is the enrollment manager/admission director. The roles and titles vary across institutions, but using the descriptions of Presswood (2011) and Higher Education Publications (2016), the job functions are interchangeable. This study will therefor refer to the enrollment manager/admission director throughout. The Council of Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) is a coalition of 118 faith-based institutions founded in 1976 to advance the cause of Christ-centered higher education (Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, 2013). Between 1990 and 2004, CCCU institutions enjoyed growth rates that were considerably higher than those experienced by public institutions and other independent colleges. This study asked four research questions. First, is there a relationship between the reported level of shared governance in decision making by CCCU enrollment managers/admission directors and the organizational commitment they claim to their institutions? Second, are the respondent characteristics of age, gender, and tenure related to the organizational commitment of CCCU enrollment managers/admission directors? Third, is the faith-based mission of the institution related to the degree of organizational commitment claimed by CCCU enrollment managers/admission directors? Forth, is institution size (student enrollment) related to the degree of organizational commitment claimed by CCCU enrollment managers/admission directors? Enrollment managers/admission directors from all 118 CCCU institutions were invited to participate in this study. Surveys were collected via SurveyMonkey and data analysis was compiled using SPSS 23.0 software. Results indicated that CCCU enrollment managers/admission directors report high levels of organizational commitment and positive levels of shared governance in decision making. Respondents also reported that their commitment to their respective organizations was related to the historic faith-based mission of their institutions. Statistical analysis found no correlation between reported levels of organizational commitment and shared governance, demographic characteristics, institution size, or the historic faith-based mission of the university.