The effects of faith, theology and denominational governance on decision making by senior- level administrators at Christian universities

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THE EFFECTS OF FAITH, THEOLOGY AND DENOMINATIONAL

GOVERNANCE ON DECISION MAKING BY SENIOR LEVEL

ADMINISTRATORS AT CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITIES

by

Joseph Ezra Watkins III

Copyright © Joseph Ezra Watkins III 2000

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the

CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF HIGHER EDUCATION

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

In the Graduate College

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

2000 UMI Number 9972133

Copyright 2000 by Watkins, Joseph Ezra, III

All rights reserved.

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THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA ® GRADUATE COLLEGE

As members of the Final Examination Committee, we certify that we have

read the dissertation prepared bv-^Q^^P^ Ezra Watkins III

entitled The Effects of Faith, Theology and Denominational Gnvernanre

On Decision Making By Senior Level Admini grra mrg

At Christian Universities

and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy

Gary Rhoades

Doug Wooda

Date

Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon the candidate's submission of the final copy of the dissertation to the Graduate College.

I hereby certify that I have read this dissertation prepared under my direction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement.

^ Dissert^t^n Director Gary Rhoades Date J

STATEMENT BY AUTHOR

This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library.

Brief quotations fi-om this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation firom or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the copyright holder.

SIGNED: 4

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Every person who leams something stands on the shoulders of someone who has learned before them and shared their knowledge with those who come later. The following persons have been significant in this dissertation project, and I extend to them my deepest appreciation for letting me stand on their shoulders.

The faculty members at the Center for the Study of Higher Education have been exceptional in their interest, encouragement and insight: Dr. Gary Rhoades. adviser, dissertation chair, and non-mentor. Thank You. Gary. Dr. Doug Woodard and Dr. John

Levin, committee members, friendly inquisitors and advisors.

This research was made possible by the presidents of the two universities in this study and the individuals who agreed to be interviewed not once but three times. Thank you for opening your lives in very special ways during our hours together. I applaud your willingness to live and work in small, private. Christian liberal arts institutions that demonstrate the vitality and viability of religious colleges and universities.

This dissertation would not have been possible without the willing support and encouragement of the people who are the First Church of the Nazarene in Sierra Vista.

Arizona. They were patient with me during my absences for research and always encouraged me to keep pursuing my dream. Many of them patiently typed the interview transcripts that were central to this research. Special thanks to Michelle Schaeffer-Powell and Danella Davis.

Finally, thank you Patrick Allen. 5

DEDICATION

This dissertation is dedicated foremost to my wife, Joan, who said, "If you're going to get your doctorate you'd better get busy. You're getting too old." Joan laid her own educational aspirations on hold so there would be some sanity in our home. Now it's her turn. Our children Jennifer, Sarah and Andrew always encouraged and supported their dad in this thirty-three month adventure. To all of them I say. "If you want to. you can."

My father and mother, Joseph Jr. and Joanne, who have lived lives of faithful perseverance regardless of the obstacles they faced, are my heroes. Thank you for imparting to me the "stuff" of dogged determination.

Finally to Tom and Jane Bilby, thank you for making the first year less stressful. 6

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS 6 LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES 8 ABSTRACT 9 CHAPTER ONE 10 INTRODUCTION 10 The Research Problem 12 The Research Purpose 15 The Significance of the Research 23 Conceptual Framework 25 Research Questions 26 The Researcher 29 The Organization of the Dissertation 31 CHAPTER TWO 32 SURVEY OF RELATED LITERATURE 32 Religious Institutions 32 Denominational Theology 34 Lutheran Theology and Higher Education 35 Assemblies of God Theology and Higher Education 40 Decision Making Literature 47 Governance Literature 51 The Literature On Presidents 59 The Literature on Goveming Boards 61 Critical Literature Review and Conceptual Framework 64 CHAPTER THREE 72 METHODOLOGY 72 Research Design 72 Data Sources 76 Documents 77 Interviews 80 Field Notes 82 Data Collection 83 Document Types 93 Field Notes 94 Data Analysis 95 Research Question 1 96 Research Question II 97 Research Question III 98 Research Question IV 98 Trustworthiness and Limitations of the Analysis 99 Summary 100 CHAPTER FOUR 102 7

FINDINGS - TWO KINGDOMS UNIVERSITY 102 Two Decision Making Events 103 Missed Enrollment Targets 104 Masterplanning 108 Analysis 111 Theology 1' I Identity 114 Tolerance and Diversity 122 Conflict 128 Denominational Governance 133 Status Seeking and Academic Capitalism 142 Status Seeking 142 Academic Capitalism 144 An Emergent Theme - Globalization 148 Summary 151 CHAPTER FIVE 153 FINDINGS - PNEUMA UNIVERSITY 153 Two Decision Making Events 154 Presidential Selection and Financial Crisis 155 Decision Making Structure and Context 163 Theology 165 Identity 168 Denominational Governance 176 Control and Power 177 Status Seeking 185 Academic Capitalism 188 Summary 191 CHAPTER SIX 193 CONCLUSIONS 193 Conceptual Framework 195 Theology 198 Denominational Governance 203 Status Seeking and Academic Capitalism 210 Limitations of the Research 2 i 3 Implications of the Research 213 The Lesson 215 REFERENCES 217 8

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

Table 3.1 - First Interview Question Guide: Life Experience Questions 87

Table 3.2 - Second Interview Question Guide; Contemporary Experience Questions 89

Table 3.3 - Third Interview Question Guide: The Meaning of Decision Making 91

Figure 4.1 - Governing Structure of Two Kingdoms University 135

Table 4.1 - Lutheran Experience of the Informants at Two Kingdoms University 117

Table 4.2 - Affiliations of Regents 147

Table 5.1 - Pentecostal Experience of the Informants at Pneuma University 173

Figure 5.1 - Governing Structure of Two Kingdoms University 180

Table 5.2 - Allocation of Trustee Positions 181 9

ABSTRACT

The Effects of Faith, Theology and Denominational Governance on Decision

Making by Senior Level Administrators at Christian Universities uses two case studies to

explore what effects, if any, powerful systems of belief have upon decisions made at two

denominationally affiliated Christian liberal arts universities.

This study grows out of the framework of Lukes' (1973) work on power and

decision making that describes how belief systems form an organizational bias for power

and decision making that is often unrecognized by the decision makers or the institutional

participants. A series of three phenomenological interviews was conducted with the

presidents, senior level administrators, members of governing boards and faculty to

examine if religious faith, denominational theology and governance at a Lutheran and an

Assemblies of God university during the summer and fall of 1999.

During the research phase of the project data was gathered to include the effects of status seeking behavior and academic capitalism to determine if secular belief systems create tension with religious belief systems in senior level decision making. Status seeking and academic capitalism were the secular belief systems chosen to establish the decision making tension between the systems of the sacred and the secular worlds.

Although direct references to the dominant institutional theology related to actual decisions were scarce, theology is found to effect senior level administrative decision

making in unseen ways. The findings reveal that theology does have a powerful effect

upon decision making in socializing and selecting senior level administrators in both

institutions. 10

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

The piupose of this exploratory case study research is to explore decision making among senior level administrators at two denominationally affiliated Christian liberal arts universities. My focus on forces such as faith, theology, and denominational politics that may affect decision makers is unique to the research that is typically conducted among higher education leaders.

My interest in the forces that influence senior level administrators at Christian institutions was sparked during a plenary session of a board of trustees I serve on at a denominationally affiliated liberal arts university. The Vice-President for Finance was presenting the operating budget for the following fiscal year. Three trustees raised objections to the continuing trend of tuition increases. Each of the objections included a statement that indicated they had children at the institution and their concem was focused on what the tuition increase was going to cost their family. The VP for Finance shrugged his shoulders and said, "We have to do what we have to do." Following the plenary session, I had hitched a ride back to the hotel with an African-American trustee who oversees the ministry of our denomination in a major metropolitan area. Earlier in the plenary session, he had given a glowing report on a day sponsored by the university for inner city Afncan-American and Hispanic high school students. As we drove back to the hotel, he expressed his concem over the continuing trend of tuition increases and wondered how any of those inner city students would ever be able to afford an education at our university. As I later recalled the events of the day and the statements I had heard. II

I puzzled over why the only level of objection to the tuition increase was personal and parental: no one raised an objection based on values, particularly based on the theology of my institution. The dominant theology of my institution has a significant component of social concem for marginalized and disenfi*anchised persons. In fact, the denomination has an explicitly working class character to it. I questioned what forces were at work that kept any trustee from connecting our theology and the rising tuition that was acting to make it more difficult for inner city and working class students to attend our institution. For the three trustees who objected to the tuition increase, it was a minor irritation. All three of them are professional individuals; one is an attorney, one is a college professor at another institution whose husband is the general counsel for a large city, and the third is a denominational official. For the African-American leader, the tuition increase represented a force that would probably prevent inner city kids from attending our university. I was curious why he did not object to the tuition increase in the meeting. I found it troubling that of the forty or more trustees in the plenary session, not one individual made a connection between the tuition increase and the theological value of social concem to which our denomination subscribes. 1 began to speculate about the kinds of factors that might exert influence over decision making to minimize the influence of the dominant theology, and I wanted to leam in what decision making arenas, if any, theology and denominational considerations are influential. Given my reading in higher education, I also questioned to what extent traditional status seeking behaviors or emergent "academic capitalism" (Slaughter and Leslie, 1997) was at work in unseen ways to frame the decision making context for the preparation of the institutional 12 budget? I had come to my dissertation topic. What follows is a report of my investigation.

In the ensuing pages of this chapter, I will define the research problem, describe the purpose of the research, explain the significance of the research, briefly describe my conceptual framework, and state the three research questions and their related sub questions.

The Research Problem

The research problem addresses whether and in what ways personal, theological, denominational and organizational values affect decision making when people come together to make organizational decisions. This section describes the research problem and some of the literature that informs the research problem and the development of the research questions.

Decision making research has traditionally been rooted in economic analysis, has focused on defining normative decision making processes, and has paid less attention to values that shape decision making. Recent theoretical development in decision making research takes a behavioral approach and attempts to discover how people really make decisions (Beach, 1998). In the process, it has more begun to address values more systematically than previously.

Decision making research in higher education is descriptive and generally seeks to define decision making typologies. Higher education literature focuses on the role of presidents, the exchanges between governing boards and presidents, and changing influences of faculty and students in organizational decision making. There is little 13

research in higher education on how participation in decision making is affected by the

personal beliefs and practices that form the subjective side of decision making.

In Christian institutions, this subjective dimension of decision making may be

influenced and perhaps even forged by the dominant theology and denominational

relationship at the college or university. Evidence of the dominant theology and denominational influence may be observed in the theology that is part of the curriculum, the practice of worship in the campus chapel services and how the denomination has structured the institutional polity. The influence of theology and denominational governance may be seen in the decision makers' backgrounds and involvement in the affiliated denomination and theology. The extent to which the decision maker has been socialized into the theological context of the institution might include the years of contact the individual has with the dominant theology (perhaps even being raised from childhood), marrying a spouse from within the dominant theology, and the congregation the individual worships with on a regular basis.

Christian institutions may not be immune from the effects of traditional status seeking behavior. Trow (1984) has described status seeking behavior as a means to overcome the meritocratic stratiflcation of higher education institutions in the United

States. Christian institutions may demonstrate status seeking behavior by seeking to change the institutional status from college to university, moving from one Carnegie classification to another, moving up from the National Association of Intercollegiate

Athletics to the National Collegiate Athletic Association, seeking administrators with academic credentials similar to those of the faculty, increasing the percentage of faculty 14 with completed academic doctoral programs, and attempting to hire faculty who have been identified as academic stars.

Academic capitalism (Slaughter and Leslie, 1997) may be another subjective force that affects decision making at Christian universities. Changes in status from college to university, professionalization of the faculty and the pursuit of external research funding that defines the research agenda of the faculty shifting it away from curiosity driven research more typical of small Christian liberal arts institutions may indicate the presence of academic capitalism.

My exploration of the influence of forces such as religious faith, theology and denominational governance is aided by the work of Lukes (1974) which proposes the effect of non-behavioral third dimension forces of belief systems that act to organize a bias that can be described by significant institutional practice or social forces. Lukes' concept suggests the existence of systems of normative influence that are beyond the control and possibly beyond the awareness of the individual decision maker. Faith, theology and denominational govemance may organize a bias of the system that exerts influence upon institutional decision makers at Christian institutions. Furthermore, beliefs grounded in prestige structures and capitalist ideology may exert influence upon decision makers at Christian universities.

The forces that act almost invisibly to shape the context of decision making by senior level administrators at Christian institutions may act to define how faculty are chosen, what curriculum is developed and the relationship with the denomination and the external world. If the presence and influence of these forces can be identified and if they 15 are not acknowledged, then the identity of a significant form of liberal arts education may well be at risk.

I have chosen to explore how senior level administrators conceptualize and enact decision making at Christian institutions. These types of institutions are understudied.

They are also an excellent setting for exploring various third dimensional influences on senior level administrators and decision making.

The Research Purpose

The purpose of this exploratory case study research is to analyze decision making among senior level administrators at two denominationally affiliated Christian liberal arts universities. I have chosen to use small private institutions that self-identify as Christian because religious institutions may have distinctive sets of values and practices that are articulated in an attempt to create a distinctive identity. The two institutions under study include one that is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and one that is owned by a region of the Assemblies of God. To reflect the theological distinctiveness of each institution, I have named the Lutheran school Two Kingdoms

University and the Assemblies of God school is identified as Pneuma University. The values and practices of these institutions are proclaimed in documents such as college catalogs, mission statements, corporate by-laws and other institutional publications. The practice of faith is evidenced in chapel services; the core theology is taught in the curriculum; and the denominational affiliation is observed in the polity of the institution.

The ownership by or affiliation with a denomination creates a resource dependency (Pfeffer and Salancik, 1978) between the institution and the denomination. 16

The resource dependent perspective suggests that organizations are not self-directed or

autonomous because they need resources such as money, materials, personnel and in the

case of higher education institutions, students. Consequently, the institution must

interface with external entities to acquire the resources necessary for the operation of the

university. The result of the interface between the institution and the external entity, in

this case the denominational structure, is the existence of an exchange of some level of control over the institution for the critical resource. One of the observable effects of

resource dependency is how the dependency upon external resource providers influences

the structure of the dependent organization. For example, in Christian institutions with significant denominational ties, the organizational structure may be defined by denominational needs for doctrinal integrity, the training of students for ministry and vocation within the owning church group. The music department may focus on the style of sacred music preferred by the dominant denomination. The resources of the development office may be dedicated to raising support from within the denomination and may even dictate the individual selected as president. Consequently, for denominationally affiliated institutions, critical resources may be students, money in the form of subsidies, bequests, fund raising opportunities and even faculty and administrators. The denomination as a ready supplier for these critical resources gains some measure of control over the institution and its structure. However, the resource dependency that may exist between the denomination may also bring other advantages to the institution such as independence fi*om prevailing cultural values because the institution has sources of revenue not readily available to non-church related schools. 17

The rich tradition of clearly articulated values in evidence at Christian universities makes

these institutions excellent research sites for this study.

The focus of this research is the phenomenon of decision making that occurs

when individuals are gathered to form a decision making group such as senior level administrators in Christian universities. However, the purpose of this research is not to examine process or the outcomes of decisions. Instead, the purpose is to understand the deep structures (Geertz, 1974) of religious, educational and capitalist culture, both

internal and external to the organization, that shape decision making context in religious

institutions. I am interested in how senior level administrators of this type of institution characterize the role of faith, theology, and denominational governance in their decision making. Furthermore, I am interested to know how forces beyond faith, theology, and denominational governance such as market forces, prestige seeking behaviors and academic capitalism may also affect institutional decision making.

My interest in the influence of personal and organizational values upon decision making requires that decision making be viewed from a cosmological perspective that goes beyond existing theories of decision making. This cosmological approach builds on

Lukes' (1974) third dimension of power that examines a set of beliefs and practices that shape the use of power. Lukes' contribution to the examination of decision making is that research on decision making can be extended beyond observable behavior. The examination of the theological/cosmological context in religious institutions allows the discovery of the underlying ideologies that find expression in surface behaviors called 18

"deep structures'" by Geertz (1973). These deep ideological structures knowingly or unknowingly shape the decisions of senior level administrators.

The exploration of faith is problematic because personal expressions of faith are intensely personal. Niebuhr (1989) notes the difficulty of defining faith,

"Faith, if indeed it be a whole of some sort, seems to be something like a cube; one of its sides, the top, appears to be visible fi^om every point of view; other sides present themselves variously to various viewers; while the bottom and the inner sides remain unseen by all." (p.12)

To assist with the identification of a useable definition of faith that transcends the domain of specific religions and theologies, I will use the behavioral approach of James

Fowler. Research on the influence of faith and belief is not new. In the early 1970's. rooted in the work of developmental psychologists Erik Erickson and Carol Gilligan,

James W. Fowler began to research the development of faith. Fowler's work. Stages of

Faith: The Psychology of Human Development and the Quest for Meaning. (1981, 1995) describes faith as a way persons make meaning of their world. For Fowler, faith becomes a means of cognitively managing the risks, paradoxes, and conundrums of life. Fowler's theory of faith development defines faith broadly as a "mode of knowing" (1981. p. 11).

From Fowler's vantagepoint. Christian faith becomes the way persons construct their understanding of God and God's relationship to the world they live in.

Faith as the first research focus becomes vital to understanding the personal deep structures that provide the way individuals construct a faith context for decision making at religious institutions. I place the exploration of faith in the context of the theology that defines the individual and their institutional affiliation. For example, individuals from a

Pentecostal tradition of faith will likely have a very different construction of God than 19

persons from the Lutheran tradition of faith. Pentecostalism from the perspective of the

Assemblies of God is likely to emphasize a personal, experiential relationship with God

focused on the baptism of the Holy Spirit attended by speaking in tongues and resistance

to the lure of secular society (Blumhofer, 1993). By contrast, Lutherans from the

tradition of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America will likely exercise their faith

through their vocational calling and embrace the secular world emphasizing that the gospel cannot govern the world (Benne, 1995). Fowler's (1981) definition of faith as a

"mode of knowing" illustrates the different way each theological tradition constructs their means of understanding and knowing God.

Understanding the theological structure surrounding the decision making context is the third analytical focus and is vital to the purpose of this research. Metaphorically, theology becomes the anchor point for the development of both personal faith and denominational governance because theology is a systematic explanation of a "unified formulation of truth concerning God and his relationship to humanity and the universe as this is set forth in divine revelation and...applies such truths to the entire range of human life and thought" (Demarest, 1984, p.1064). Theology is a means for constructing a systematic understanding of God and therefore has influence over how individuals and groups define their personal faith in God and make application of that faith in their world.

Every denominational theology develops within a historical context. For

Lutherans, Martin Luther's 95 Theses posted on the door of the church at Wittenberg in

1517 is the genesis of their theological development. In a historical context. Lutheran theology became a protest against the Catholic sale of indulgences that had political and 20 economic implications (Luecke, 1994). Consequently, Luther's writing gave rise to the

Protestant Reformation's emphasis on "justification by grace through faith, the Scripture as the sole norm of faith and sole authority for doctrine. All else was nonessential"

(Mann, 1998, p.277). Luther's theological formulation challenged the authorit>' of the church over salvation and scripture. Because Luther discarded everything but faith and grace in his conception of salvation, his theological formula makes it possible for contemporary Lutherans to seek unity with other denominations and promote tolerance for diverse lifestyles because many issues in culture are not central to their understanding of salvation.

In contrast to the five hundred-year heritage of Lutheran theology, the theology of the Assemblies of God is young and, as of yet. has not set out a widely accepted systematic theology. The roots of Assemblies theology are traced to 1901 when a young woman spoke in tongues during a prayer meeting. Five years later a revival meeting on

Azusa Street in Los Angeles, California, became the beginning of the Pentecostal renewal that spawned the Assemblies of God (Blumhofer, 1993). Luke', the historian for Pneuma

University, observed, "Assemblies don't have a systematic theology. If you are filled with the Holy Spirit that is enough for us." While the Assemblies of God do not have a systematic theology like the Lutherans, they do have a popular theology that is recognizable by the emphasis on being filled with the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues. In contrast to the Lutherans, the Assemblies of God require more than salvation

' Luke is the pseudonym for an historian of Pneuma University. Luke "who set out to write an account..." is the author of the New Testament books of "Luke" and "Acts" in the Christian Bible. This comment was made during a visit to Luke's home in the summer of 1999. 21 for Christians because of their emphasis on being filled with the Holy Spirit that is accompanied by speaking in tongues. (Assemblies of God, 2000). Because the focus of

Assembly of God theology is practical (Aigbe, 1993) rather than philosophical, believers are expected to demonstrate a significant change in lifestyle upon conversion (Blumhofer.

1993).

The differences between the theological formulations of the Lutherans and tlie

Assemblies of God provide a lens for me to research the deep structures of belief systems offered by these two denominations to understand if their respective theologies affect decision making by senior level administrators at their universities. The foregoing theological differences also provide a means for highlighting different ways their theologies affect decision making and common ways their theologies act on decision making because the theological definitions and structures provide a means of contrast.

The third analytical focus is on the effect of patterns of denominational governance. The development of higher education institutions by church groups has a long history in the United States (Burtchaell, 1998; Marsden, 1994; Niebuhr. Williams and Gustafson, 1957). Because of the history of religious schools in the United States. 1 have assumed that denominations will adapt organizational structures that will promote their specific doctrines. Furthermore, 1 have assumed that the institutions spawned by denominations will be influenced to some extent in their governance structures, processes and politics by the governance structures, and processes and politics of the owning denomination. However, with the documented mission drift of some institutions from their denominations and theological distinctiveness (Burtchaell, 1998; Marsden. 1994), I cannot assume that the effect of the denominational governance upon decision making by senior level administrators at religious institutions is significant.

How senior level administrators understand the role of the owning denomination in their institution can give insight to how decision makers construct their view of the sponsoring church and its value to the institution. However, due to my conceptual framework of Lukes' (1974) third dimension of decision making, I cannot assume that the administrators are aware of the influence of the denominational structure, processes, and politics. By contrast, how denominational executives view the role of the university in their church may have implications for institutional decision making. If the denomination views the higher education enterprise as significant in the formulation and expression of their theology and for the training of their ministers. I would expect the denomination to take a significant role in the institution. The issues of mission drift, promotion and formulation of theology and training of ministers and perhaps the socialization of students to the dominant theology make denominational governance central to the purpose of this research.

Finally, the fourth analytical focus is on the "worldly" influences of status seeking behavior and capitalistic values. It would be naive for me to believe that faith, theology and denominational affiliation insulate the two universities in this research from the effects of status and capitalistic values. Academic capitalism (Slaughter and Leslie.

1997) and status seeking (Jencks, 1958; Trow, 1984) were chosen to represent secular ideologies that have been demonstrated to effect higher education in the United States.

These two secular ideologies make it possible to examine the tolerance, accommodation or resistance of senior level administrators at two Christian universities to external, secular forces. Although both institutions have strong denominational ties and unique theological heritages, they must find ways to remain financially viable and educationally effective to recruit faculty, students and maintain credible relationships with their various constituencies.

The inclusion of the fourth analytical focus on status seeking behavior and academic capitalism makes it possible to examine specific decisions in the light of existing literature related to both of these behaviors. The inclusion of these behaviors as an analytical focus may allow administrators at religious institutions to understand and recognize the role secular forces play in their institutional decision making and the implications of these "worldly" forces for their unique religious settings.

The Significance of tlie Research

This research is significant because religious institutions are generally excluded from higher education research conducted at Research I institutions. Most of the current higher education research focuses on public institutions because they are the location of the vast majority of students^ and, therefore, the location of most resources for higher education. Research on private universities tends to concentrate on elite, selective, secular institutions. It might be that most higher education research is conducted by secular humanists who are not interested in issues of religion and religious institutions

(Rhoades. personal communication).

~ The 1994 Carnegie Classification of Institutions placed 79.1% of college and university enrollment at public institutions. The Carnegie Foundation online at: http://\vww.camegiefoundation.org/cihe/table4.htm 24

A second reason for the significance of this research is that I explore a dimension of decision making that goes beyond conventional analyses of power, influence, organizational politics and organizational structures because my analysis is not strictly dependent upon observable or personal behaviors. I explore the effects of systems of personal and organizational values as evidenced in personal religious faith, denominational theology and governance, in prestige seeking and capitalist ideology.

I do not assume that the influences and power of these systems are always recognized by the decision makers.

A third reason for the significance of this research is the potential to create a new way of thinking about administrative decision making in higher education. WTiile this research focuses on decisions by administrators at religious institutions, the theoretical framework might be applied to study the subjective set of systems such as market forces, status seeking behavior or academic capitalism that may be found to influence decision making among institutional decision makers. I would suggest that analysis of these systems lie beyond most theoretical fi-ameworks of power, influence, political manipulations and organizational structures that are currently used to describe administrative decision making practices. The spiritual values of faith and theology and the organizations that promote them offer an insight into a cosmological dimension of decision making that is relatively unexplored in the current decision making literature on higher education. (For an exception, see Slaughter, 1990.)

Finally, the research is significant on a personal level. Most research in higher education is conducted by those who have demonstrated little interest in the spiritual 25

dimensions of higher education. For many years, I have been convinced that higher

education is one of the most influential forces in American culture. In recent years

through my involvement in a Christian liberal arts university as a trustee. I have had the

opportunity to observe and participate in decision making processes, such as the election

of a president, the budget and resource allocation processes, the appointment of faculty

and the role of capital campaigns that can chart the course of an institution. My interest

is significant enough that I have determined to alter the path of my vocation, to transition

from pastoral ministry to ministry in the form of higher education. Since I will seek

administrative positions and be involved in institutional decision making on a daily basis.

I am interested in knowing the extent to which, if any, faith, theology, and

denominational governance impact administrative decision making activities.

Furthermore, I seek to understand the role of secular forces such as status seeking and

academic capitalism upon religious institutions and the decisions made by senior level

administrators.

Conceptual Framework

As previously mentioned in this chapter, Lukes (1974) provides the basis for my

conceptual framework for this research. Lukes has defined three dimensions of power

that can be studied in decision making. By his definition, the first view is the pluralist

view that assumes that decisions involve actual and observable conflict in the way that one person motivates another person to do something the second person would not otherwise do. The first dimension focuses on the behavior of making decisions. 26

The second dimension suggests that in addition to observable behavior, all forms of political organization have a bias that favors some forms of conflict to secure compliance. One result of the second dimension is a "non-decision" that results in the suppression of a latent challenge to the values of the decision maker. The focus of the second dimension is still heavily dependent upon observable conflict which may be overt or covert.

The third dimension, which is Lukes" unique contribution to the study of decision making, is an attempt to describe the social forces and institutional practices which form the "bias of the system." These social forces and institutional practices usually act in ways that systematically shape the individual decision maker by virtue of an organizational bias. The following section applies the conceptual framework to the research questions.

Research Questions

Research Question 1: What effects, if any, does personal religious faith have upon decision making by senior level administrators at private Christian liberal arts universities?

This cosmological third dimension is similar to Lukes' (1974) third dimension of power that examines a set of beliefs and practices that shape the use of power in decision making. The examination of how the individual decision making participant has constructed their personal religious faith may be evidenced by a variety of behaviors that allow the individual to exercise their faith in the decision making process. 27

I have not assumed that informants in this study have constructed their faith in the

tradition of the owning denomination. Instead, I have assumed the existence of pluralism among the senior level administrators in the expression of individual faith. However,

while religious pluralism may exist among the decision makers, I am interested in

whether there are differences in the way the two groups of decision makers apply their collective understanding of faith. I am also interested in whether senior administrators apply their faith in meaningful ways to decision making or whether these administrators, as with others in American higher education, are shaped by a powerful set of secular beliefs embedded in academic capitalism.

Research Question 2: What effects, if any. does theology have upon decision making by senior level administrators at private Christian liberal arts universities?

This question assumes each institution identifies with a specific dominant theology. However, the question does not assume that the informants or the senior level administrators are adherents to or proponents of the dominant institutional theology.

Using Lukes' (1974) three dimension model, theology may act as a socializing agent within the organization. As a socializing agent, theology may serve as a sorting mechanism for individuals seeking to become senior level administrators. Furthermore, theology may establish boundaines for how conflict is conducted within the institution.

Lukes observes that institutional practice and social forces may act to inhibit conflict in different ways. Limitations placed on conflict are an example of socialization in an organization. 28

Research Question 3: What effect, if any does denominational governance and politics have upon decision making by senior level administrators at private Christian liberal arts universities?

This question assumes that the sponsoring or owning denomination has a vested interest in the operation of the institution. However, the question does not assume that the denomination demonstrates any specific level of active involvement in the operation of the institution. Nor do 1 assume that evidence of activity on the part of the owning denomination may not effectively influence decision making by senior level administrators.

Governance is a central issue to this research because it focuses on the control of the institution. This question seeks to understand how the denomination related to the institution interacts with the senior level administration of the university. The question also seeks to uncover politics, acts of coercion, manipulations that are overt exercises of power (Lukes, 1974). political strategies (Riley and Baldridge, 1977) that seek to influence institutional decision making and ways the denomination may seek to act as a social force (Lukes, 1974) in the conduct of institutional business. A significant theme in this governance perspective is how organizational politics are conducted between the denomination and the institution. One form of organizational politics in this research setting may be whether or not the institution mirrors the denominational polity. For example, if the denomination places significant emphasis on the authority of one leader such as a general superintendent or a bishop, does the organizational structure of the institution give similar emphasis to how one individual in the organization uses authority. 29

A second example may be observed in how the denominational headquarters value individuals. Do denominational leaders act to manipulate or coerce individuals or are individuals allowed significant autonomy?

Research Question 4: What effect, if any. do secular forces such as status seeking behavior and academic capitalism have on decision making by senior level administrators at private Christian liberal arts universities?

This question investigates the presence of status seeking (Reisman. 1958: Trow.

1984) and market behavior forces (Slaughter and Leslie. 1987) and how they might influence the relationship between the institution and its constituencies. These forces represent secular ideologies beyond the control of senior level administrators that may blur the boundaries between the expected sacred role of the institution and the secular world. Consequently, status seeking behaviors and market forces may be defined as third dimension forces (Lukes. 1974) that affect senior level administrative decision making.

If these forces are found to have influence upon the institution, how do they affect the autonomy of the institution?

The Researcher

The previously mentioned personal interest in religious institutions and my potential employment in this type of institution arose from my current profession as a member of the clergy in a denomination that is not fundamentalist but is conservative and evangelical. The theology of my denomination fits somewhere between the denominations of the two schools under consideration in this research. On one hand, the theology of my church is part of the holiness tradition that has had significant influence 30 on the theology of the Assemblies of God (Tracey and Ingersol, 1999). On the other hand, our theology can have affection for Lutheran theology because we place significant emphasis on reason and tradition to keep experiential religion in balance. As I conducted this exploratory research, I was aware that my own personal religious faith, theology and denominational structure could create blinders that could cause me to define and analyze the research data from my own perspective. To counter the influence of my own theological bias, I chose two individuals who have significant experience within the theological traditions under research to review my findings and conclusions to help minimize my inherent bias. My personal faith, theological tradition and denominational experience also made it possible for me to ask questions rising out of that experience which a secular researcher might not be comfortable asking or be able to formulate. My religious background assisted in creating trust and understanding with informants that were beneficial to gaining access to the institutions and the gathering of data.

A second significant influence upon this research is that I serve as a trustee of a religious university. My observations as a trustee for over four years, the chair of a trustee committee and a member of the executive committee of the university have given me the opportunity to observe denominational and institutional politics, denominational and institutional decision making processes, and to interact with students, faculty and administrators as well as providing me with a set of experiences that few researchers of higher education possess. These experiences can act as a set of blinders as well as a lens to view both denominational and institutional practices. The experience of being a trustee may provide access to members of governing boards and the building of a trust 31

relationship that is important to gaining an understanding of the informant's experience.

My role as a trustee certainly informed the analysis of data, and I was aware of this bias

in the analysis of the data.

Finally, my role as a doctoral student in a program that focuses on research in

higher education created an entirely different set of relationships with the informants and their institutions and denominations. Several possible concerns arose which included

informants viewing this research as seeking to critique their performance as decision

makers or informants using the interview as a platform to forward a personal agenda.

My location in the Center for the Study of Higher Education at the University of

Arizona provided a background to assimilate the necessary theories with my own experience as a trustee and a minister to overcome the biases and obstacles that were be faced during this research.

The Organization of the Dissertation

The remaining chapters are organized to present the relevant topics in an organized manner. The literature review and a more detailed elaboration of the conceptual framework in chapter two. The research methodology and design is detailed in chapter three. The findings related to Two Kingdoms University are presented in chapter four; the findings from Pneuma University are found in chapter five. My conclusions and recommendations are described in chapter six. CHAPTER TWO

SURVEY OF RELATED LITERATURE

This research is focused on the context of decision making at institutions that self-

identify as Christian institutions. This chapter will review the bodies of literature that

describe religious higher education institutions, the theological context of the

denominations that are affiliated with the research sites, the literature on decision making,

governance, presidents, governing boards and the critical literature that provides the

conceptual framework of this research. Because I am investigating leaders in ways that

people do not usually research decision makers, a broad range of literature is necessary to

set the context and the sometimes unrecognized forces that shape and inform senior

administrators' decisions.

Religious Institutions

Religious institutions of higher education have been the subject of research by authors who are usually affiliated with a religious institution. That higher education in

the United States has its roots in the sponsorship of Christian churches has been well

documented (Sloan, 1994; Marsden, 1994). The role of the Protestant church in higher education is intimately linked to the origins of higher education in the United States.

The literature about Christian institutions has sometimes been focused on the

problem of mission drift (Burtchaell, 1998) or secularization of institutions such as

Harvard, Yale and others that have been founded by Christian denominations (Marsden,

1992, 1994). The focus of this literature has been cynical about the future of religious

institutions (Burtchaell, 1998) because of the number of institutions that have drifted from their denominational ties. As early as 1968, Jencks and Riesman (1968) articulate the issue of mission drift for religious institutions with their observation that.

The founders of Protestant colleges were often devout clergymen concerned with preserving or propagating a particular orthodoxy. The men who came later were seldom so ideological. They almost always assumed that their first responsibility was to ensure the sur\ival of the institution, at whatever cost to the founders' hopes, (p.325)

The shift from ideology to survival of the institution combined with an increasing trend to select trustees from the ranks of laity instead of clergy and the increased pressure to select presidents having the same credentials as faculty (Jencks and Riesman. 1968) demonstrates some of the pressures that weaken the relationships between institutions and denominations. The issue of mission drift is related to this research because it allows me to be sensitive to institutional behaviors that may limit or strengthen the effect of denominational theology or governance upon the institution. Mission drift is also related to the desire of institutions to seek status and prestige in ways that Jencks (1958) has described as a "snake-like procession" which prompts institutions to imitate elite universities in the development of faculty, program and curriculum in the pursuit of upward mobility (Riesman and Stadtman, 1973).

A second body of literature focused on Christian higher education has argued for the rightful place of Christian theology in higher education. Sloan (1994) suggests a perspective of faith-knowledge for postmodern culture that utilizes tvvo ways of knowing, the first being scientific and quantitative and the second way of knowing being faith oriented and qualitative in nature. Marsden (1997) argues that religious faith and 34 especially Christian scholarship should be accorded a respected voice in public higher education.

A third body of literature challenges institutions with a Christian identity to re­ think how they carry out higher education in a Christian context. Wolf and Heie (1993) wonder if Christian higher education is a matter of labels or really is distinctive in some significant way. Holmes (1975) suggests that Christian higher education is the integration of faith and learning.

Hughes and Adrian (1997) offer a fourth and more optimistic view of Christian higher education by suggesting that many institutions are integrating faith and knowledge and that the problem of secularization suggested by Marsden (1992. 1994) and Burtchaell

(1998) is not problematic. Hughes and Adrian go fiuther to suggest that a Christian world view can. in fact, make it possible to seek truth in unrestricted ways and that many institutions will survive and succeed in the twenty-first century because they are not afraid of an unrestricted search for truth.

A fifth body of literature related to Christian higher education focuses on

Catholic institutions and their role in American higher education (Bonochea, 1989;

Buckley, 1998; Evans, 1980; Gleason, 1987, 1995; Shaddy, 1998). Since the focus of this research is on Protestant universities, the role of Catholic literature is limited for this project because it tends to be written from a Catholic world view.

Denominational Theology

The following two sub-sections are included in the literature review because they describe the distinctive characteristics of the two denominations and tlieologies that are 35 unique to the two institutions that participated in this research. A brief review of

Lutheran and Assemblies of God theologies suggest a polarity between the two theologies within the broad context of Protestant theology. Furthermore, these two short reviews assist with the analysis of the data by helping to see if these theologies effect decision making at their respective institutions in contrast to each other. Finally, since the focus of this research is on the "deep structures" (Geertz, 2000) or underlying ideologies that give rise to forms of behavior, understanding the distinctive theologies of these two denominations will further assist with the analysis of the interview and document data acquired during the research.

Lutheran Theology and Higher Education

The body of literature related to Lutheran theology and higher education is important to this research because it provides a historical and theological perspective important to understanding how the ideological and political foundations of the current research setting were formed. This literature provides a contextual understanding to assist in the critical analysis of the data acquired from the Lutheran university in this study. Finally, this body of literature is central to understanding how Lutheran education leaders that have been socialized and professionalized by Lutheran history and theology may construct their understanding of how their decision making practices will fiinction within a Lutheran view of higher education.

The formation of Lutheran theology began with a spiritual journey that led Martin

Luther to nail his Ninety-five Theses on the door of the church in Wittenberg, Germany on October 31, 1517. (Greengrass, 1998; Brinton, 1968) In the tradition of the theology 36

school at the University of Wittenberg, Luther had posted his Ninety-five Theses as part

of the normal process of announcing theological debate. The day before the dean of the

theology faculty, Andreas Bodenstein von Karlstadt, had posted for disputation 151

theses on justification by faith that were, in some cases, more extreme than Luther's

(Greengrass, 1998).

Lutheran theology focuses on justification by faith through grace and the sole

authority of scripture, sola scriptura, sola fide, and sola gratia (Tracey and Ingersol.

1999). These central doctrines emerged from Luther's personal theological struggle and

his ongoing dispute with the Roman Catholic Church. Luther opposed the sale of

indulgences by the Church that were offered as the assurance of salvation (Greengrass.

1998). As the debate over the sale of indulgences heated up. it became clear to Luther

that only God could give assurance of salvation and that the Holy Scriptures were to be

the final authority in matters of doctrine (Althaus, 1966). As a result of Luther's growing

opposition to the church, his excommunication from the Roman Catholic Church was

announced in Rome on January 23. 1521. in the bull Decet Romanum Pontificem

(Greengrass, 1998).

It was not Luther's intention to splinter the Roman Catholic Church. He only

desired to create debate over the sale of indulgences and perhaps influence the position of

the church. Luther found himself carried along on the tide of western European religious,

political and economic unrest as an unwitting spark for an incendiary season of history

(Sainton, 1968). Nearly five hundred years later, Lutheran churches around the world

mark their begirmings with the sixteenth century reformation activity of Martin Luther 37

(Bachmann, 1989). In 2000, the Lutheran World Federation counts 128 member church bodies in 70 countries representing 58 million of the 61.5 million Lutherans worldwide

(Lutheran World Federation, 2000).

The formation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) is the result of merging three Lutheran church bodies in 1988 that were themselves the result of a series of mergers among Lutheran bodies. The American Lutheran Church (ALC) formed in 1960 as the result of merging four Lutheran bodies (Alderfor, 1992). The

Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches (AELC) had formed in 1976 but lost the association with the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod in 1988 when the AELC joined the merger efforts that resulted in the ELCA. The final Lutheran body of the merging triad was the Lutheran Church in America (LCA) that had been formed in 1962 by the merger of four Lutheran church bodies (Gilbert, 1988). The current reported baptized membership (as of December 31. 1998) of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America is 5,178,255 with 2,501,669 communing and contributing members. In 10,862 churches, the average worship attendance is 1.579,871. The Churchwide Current Fund Budget for the ELCA in 1999 was $83,072,500. Congregations gave an additional 12.6 million dollars for world hunger in 1998. Total income of the congregations in 1998 was 2.1 billion dollars. Eight seminaries and twenty-eight colleges and universities identify themselves with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (Evangelical Lutheran

Church of America, 2000).

As a result of the merger, governance structures for higher education institutions under the ELCA banner were generally changed from a national relationship to a regional 38 relationship and post merger flmding levels were below pre merger funding levels

(Trexler, 1991). After the merger, the number of people on the governing board at the

Lutheran institution in this study was greatly expanded to reflect the variety of stakeholders that now had a regional relationship with the institution.

Contemporary Lutheran theology in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America is the extension of the critical tradition emerging in the eighteenth century and extending into the nineteenth century as a response to the rise of modem science and the

Enlightenment. The role of critical inquiry in Lutheran history underscores the strong dependence upon reason and reflection observed in matters of Lutheran faith. Central to contemporary Lutheran theology is a resistance to "Christianizing" society. Christian liberty, Luther's concept of "two kingdoms," the priesthood of all believers, and the doctrine of Christian vocation. These theological themes combined with the ability of

ELCA members to be comfortable with theological paradox frame the conte.xt of contemporary higher education within the ELCA (Solberg, 1985, 1997).

The choice of the name for the ELCA provides another insight into the theological context for Lutheran higher education. In two meetings in 1985 and 1986 in preparation for the merger of the three church bodies, the Commission on a New

Lutheran Church (CNLC) recommended names for the new denomination. During the discussion the use of the word "evangelical" was proposed because. (1) it was used during and after the Reformation "to identify those who emphasize the doctrine of justification by grace through faith and the authority of scripture in the life of the both the whole church and individual believers"; (2) it is widely used by Lutheran churches 39 around the world; (3) it is the name of the newly merged Evangelical Lutheran Church in

Canada. It was part of the name of two ALC predecessor church bodies - the

Evangelical Lutheran Church (Norwegian) and the United Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (Danish); two LCA predecessor churches — the American Evangelical

Lutheran Church (Danish) and the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church, and. of course, the merging AELC (Trexler, 1991. p.127).

The use of "evangelical" is important because Lutherans use the word

"evangelical" in a different way than its contemporary use in religious discussion.

George Marsden (1991) notes, "Lutherans used the term "evangelical'" in the broader

German sense as roughly the equivalent of "Protestant" or even "Christian" (p-5). As a consequence, many Lutherans in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America want to be evangelical in the sense that they are concerned about the salvation and needs of others; however, they are not interested in being identified with the militant fijndamentalist nature associated with many evangelical religious groups in America today.

The following review of Assemblies of God theology and higher education makes it possible for the researcher to compare and contrast how Pentecostal theology compares and contrasts with Lutheran theology. It is necessary for the data analysis to have the ability to compare and contrast the polarity between the two historical and theological contexts in this research because I have assumed the distinctives of Lutheran and

Assemblies theology will act upon decision makers in different ways. Paul of Two

Kingdoms University defined Lutheran theology as "rational" while James at Pneuma

University- defined Assemblies theology as having a significant "experiential" 40 component. These characterizations suggest that these two theologies are opposites as they are constructed by individuals. The following description of Assemblies of God theology and structure will describe how Pentecostal theology differs from Lutheran theology and structure.

Assemblies of God Theology and Higher Education

As with Lutheran theology. Assemblies theology developed within a historical context. The revivalist and camp meeting traditions that provided the incubators for contemporary Pentecostal theologies were partly a response to the anxieties experienced by some groups of Christians in the late nineteenth centur>' (Dayton, 1987) that centered around the possible return of Christ. The following narrative describes the development of the Assemblies of God theology and denominational structure that provide the theological and organizational context for the Assemblies university in this research. The following literature related to the history of Pentecostal theology leads to an understanding of the "deep structures" (Geertz. 2000) that underlie Assemblies of God theology.

The development of Pentecostal theology and the development of AOG theology parallel each other (Blumhofer. 1993; Synan, 1987, 1997) and have significant roots in the Methodist-holiness theology of John Wesley in the late eighteenth century (Dayton,

1987; Synan, 1997) that taught perfection of heart via sanctiflcation as a second work of grace (Tracy and Ingersoll, 1999). The emphasis on a second work of grace was expanded to include the gift of speaking in tongues or glossolalia as evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century springing out 41 of the revivalist and camp meeting traditions or the era (Dayton, 1987). Dayton traces the theological roots of Pentecostalism from the pre-Wesleyan era teachings of Pietism that influenced Wesley, through the development of the Holiness revival, the rise of the

Methodist Church, and the emergence of Pentecostal imagery and rhetoric in the 1850's.

These theological roots combined with the conclusion of the Civil War and the approach of the twentieth centmy (with an anticipation of the end of time and the coming of Christ) form the historical and theological context of contemporary Pentecostalism.

Among Pentecostal scholars, Charles Fox Parham is generally considered the most prominent early figure in the early development of Pentecostalism. The converging forces of the late nineteenth centur>' and the teaching and promotion of speaking in tongues as the evidence of the second work of grace in a believer's life (Blumhofer,

1993; Synan, 1997) come together in the life of Charles Parham.

Parham believed in the restoration of the faith once delivered unto the saints

(Neinkirchen, 1994) that included the emphasis of the book of Acts over the norm of decades of church practice. Restorationism is a theological deep structure that offers hope to the Pentecostal believer by suggesting that God is in control of the future regardless of events and circumstances.

"Restorationism was a handmaiden of premillenarian expectations that God would soon directly intervene in world history and bring it to its long awaited consummation — the establishment of the literal thousand-year reign of Christ upon the earth" (Neinkirchen, p. 121).

A parallel to the hope that God is in control of time and history is observed in the events that begin in October 1900, when Parham opened the Bethel Bible School in

Topeka, Kansas with one text, the Bible and one teacher, the Holy Spirit, using Parham 42 as his mouthpiece (Bluhmoffer, 1993). On January 1. 1901, a student, Agnes Ozman. asked Parham to "lay hands on her and pray that she would receive the baptism of the

Holy Ghost and Fire. She reported that she had spoken in tongues as is recorded in Acts

19" (Ozman, 1916, cited in Blumhofer, 1993, p.51). According to Blumhofer, many had claimed to have spoken in tongues before Parham, however, none had connected the experience to the baptism of the Holy Spirit like Charles Parham. The proposition offered in the idea that the Holy Spirit took control of Agnes Ozman and caused her to speak in an unknown language is that God in the form of the Holy Spirit can also control the individual.

The expansion of the Pentecostal movement increased rapidly after one of

Parham's students, Willard Seymour, an African American, was invited to Los Angeles.

Seymour's work combined with others to ignite the Azusa Street revival in 1906. The revival received attention in the Los Angeles Times on April 18 under the headline.

"Weird Babel of Tongues: New Sect of Fanatics is Breaking Loose; Wild Scene Last

Night on Azusa Street" (Cited in Blumhofer, 1993, p.57). The publicity focused attention on the Azusa Street Mission and hundreds of people chose to investigate. People spread the Pentecostal message across the nation, and many claimed to receive "calls" to foreign countries (Blumhofer. 1993; Synan, 1997). The Azusa Street Mission is by no means the only Pentecostal work emerging in the early 1900's. but it is representative of how the

Pentecostal movement began to take hold in the United States.

The emergence of Pentecostalism that focused on speaking in tongues

(Charismatic Pentecostalism) was not without its challenges. Divisions among 43

Pentecostals emerged on several fronts. Although Charismatic Pentecostalism claimed theological roots in Methodism and Wesley's teaching of a second work of grace, several holiness groups associated by Wesley's doctrinal teachings split with the Charismatic

Pentecostals over the speaking in tongues as required evidence for the baptism of the

Holy Spirit (Wacker, 1999). For example. The Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene voted in 1916 to drop the word "Pentecostal" from the official denominational name as a way to distinguish themselves from the Charismatic Pentecostals and to demonstrate their disagreement with the doctrine of speaking in tongues (Tracy and Ingersoll. 1999).

Divisions within Charismatic Pentecostalism came from groups identiflng themselves as

"Oneness Pentecostals" that deny the traditional doctrine of the trinity, and groups that became known as "Wesleyan Pentecostals" that emphasized speaking in tongues as a

"third blessing." A third group known as "Baptistic Pentecostals" emerged with the formation of the Assemblies of God in 1914. They rejected the strict Wesleyanism of the earlier groups and were less legalistic (Synan, 1987).

The Assemblies of God (AOG) denomination is a subset of Pentecostalism founded in Hot Springs, Arkansas in 1914. "The AOG was founded to (1) achieve better understanding and unity of Pentecostals, (2) combine efforts of missionary endeavors, and (3) combine printing interests" (Tumage, 1992). According to Menzies (1971). the

AOG was created as a necessary search for order in the chaos of growing national

Pentecostalism. The creation of the Assemblies of God in 1914 organized Pentecostalism enhancing the movement's permanence (Cerillo, 1999). 44

Since its founding, the AOG has become the largest Pentecostal denomination and the twelfth largest of all Protestant denominations in the United States (Yamane, 1992).

In 1996, the AOG reported 11,884 churches in the United States with an inclusive membership of 2,467,588 (Lindner, 1997). As a subset of Pentecostalism. the AOG help comprise the largest body of Protestants in the world, exceeding those of the Reformation tradition (Synan. 1987). The sheer size and rapid growth of the AOG and the Pentecostal movement make this group of Protestants important to religious scholarship.

Furthermore, Pentecostals are found in most major Christian denominational bodies around the world (McDonnell. 1980).

In structure, the AOG is a blend of congregational and presbytery governance structures (Tumage, 1992) that converge to create a loosely-coupled relationship between congregations and district and general headquarters officials. The AOG "'endorses" eighteen higher education institutions in the United States. The institution under study is owned by the district in which it resides.

Considering the size of the Assemblies of God and the growth of Pentecostalism. it is surprising that the development of a systematic theology for the AOG has been limited. Speaking of theological development among Pentecostals Synan (1987) observes.

As of now a fully developed "Pentecostal" theology does not exist; and many hope that one never does come into existence, since they feel that "the letter kills, but the

Sprit makes alive." Nevertheless, through the efforts of the Society for Pentecostal 45

Studies, which was formed in 1970, and Hendrickson Press in Peabody. Massachusetts, attempts at producing such a theology are going forward.

It is not that Pentecostals think theology to be unimportant, but there is concem that theology serve spiritual reality, rather than spirituality serve theology, (p.42) In the

1950's, Emest Williams reflects the maturing of theological scholarship in the AOG with the publication of his Systematic Theology that was anti-Calvinist and progressive evangelically with a general tendency toward broad orthodoxy (Jacobsen, 1999).

Jacobsen notes further that even though Pentecostal scholasticism was influential in the corridors of the Assemblies of God headquarters and at Central Bible College, it was rejected by many Pentecostal believers due to a "Bible only" mentality and a determination to combat liberalism through evangelicalism. Reflective of this thinking is

Stanley Horton's What the Bible Says About the Holy Spirit. Horton states.

It is worth noting that all the major denominations in America in their early days put up barriers of creeds against liberalism and against the destructive criticism of the

Bible. Few succeeded in keeping this sort of unbelief out. Today the Pentecostals are in the front line of the battle against the enemy of truth who is also the enemy of our souls.

(Horton, 1955, p.14-15; cited in Jacobsen, 1999, p. 101).

In recent years, the Assemblies of God has produced three works that are more or less systematic theologies, but none of them provides the systematic treatment of

Pentecostal or AOG theology such as Emest Williams' early 1950's Systematic Theology

(Jacobsen, 1999). 46

Contemporary Assemblies of God theology is characterized by the orthodox

position of salvation by justification by faith through grace, speaking in tongues as the

evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit/ an emphasis on divine healing and the

doctrine of pre-millenialism (Tumage, 1992). The denomination's relationship with the

National Association of Evangelicals provided the denomination with a means in the

1950"s to legitimate its presence among evangelical Protestantism through association

with other evangelical denominations (Jacobsen, 1999).

The Assemblies of God have followed the pattern of other denominations in the

development of educational opportunities for students. Early beginnings of the

educational opportunities included the formal acknowledgement at the first General

Council^ in 1914 of the existence of two privately owned schools, one a day school and

the other a school for the training of gospel workers. Menzies (1971) in his

denominational history of the Assemblies of God details the development of education

for the Assemblies of God with the formal steps taken by the General Council in 1920 to

establish an official institution. Eventually, the AOG determined to establish Bible

schools on a regional basis. The focus in the early years was on spiritual development

rather than academic excellence. "The average post-high school education of faculty in

the 1943-44 church year was 3.9 years" (p.355). Pneuma University became the first

AOG Bible college to offer a four year degree, a B.A. in Bible in 1949.

^ A complete list of authorized Assemblies of God doctrines titled the "Statement of Fundamental Truths" can be found on line at http://wvvw.ag.Org/top/about/truths.cfm#5. The General Council is the highest legislative body in the Assemblies of God from local congregations, district, regional and general offices. 47

The higher education institutions of the AssembUes of God have been impacted by the market forces that have influenced other institutions. Menzies (1971) describes how World War II revealed the need for accreditation because AOG chaplain candidates were denied status due to the lack of accreditation. Furthermore, Menzies notes how the flood of returning servicemen swelled eru^ollment at AOG schools forcing several of the institutions to expand to four year programs. To meet accreditation requirements, the

Bible courses were augmented with courses in the humanities and the sciences. Pneuma

University evolved into the first liberal arts college and. in 1950. had a division of arts and science separate from the college of the Bible (Menzies. 1971). The decline in students preparing for the ministry led the Assemblies of God institutions to broaden their program offerings. In 1999, the Assemblies of God recognized 18 regionally owned colleges and universities with two nationally supported institutions, a university and a seminary, located in Springfield, Missouri which is the location of the AOG headquarters.^ The recent merger of two institutions has created Global University designed to provide online distance learning.

Decision Making Literature

Within higher education, decision making reflects the ability to allocate resources, determine institutional vision and direction, place or remove employees, select and create external and internal coalitions, and determine the future health and welfare of an institution. The examination of the ideologies and politics that undergird decision making is one way understand the culture, the power structures of an institution and the

^ Assemblies of God Web Site at http://www.ag.org 48

forces that influence decision makers (Lukes, 1974).

Normative decision making theory prescribes rational processes for decision

making and assumes that decision makers act rationally choosing the best course of

action from among several options. Much of this research on decision making provided

purely mathematical models that attempted to analyze decision making using game

theory and economics (von Neimiaim and Morganstem, 1947: Klein, etal., 1993).

Economics provides the basis for the concepts of rationality, analysis, orderliness and

maximization that underlie normative decision making theory (Beach, 1998). It is my

assertion that the foregoing assumptions of normative decision making limits normative

theory in its ability to accurately depict how decisions are made. In the sometimes

turbulent environment of higher education with loosely coupled units and sub-units that

often times reject the hierarchical nature of administrative units, normative decision

making is an ineffective set of theories to help describe or explore decision making by senior level administrators at Christian universities.

Behavioral decision making research offers a theoretical option to normative decision making (Klein, etal., 1993). Simon (1997) suggests that the "administrative

man" chooses a course of action that satisfies a need rather than a course of action that is optimal and rational. This "satisficing" behavior has confounded normative decision

making theorists as they attempt to measure the utility of a decision.

Naturalistic behavior decision theory, as a branch of behavioral decision research, begins with the messiness of the world we live in and works backward to observe the behavior of decision makers. The characteristics of naturalistic decision making settings 49 include ill-structured problems, uncertain dynamic environments, shifting ill-defined or competing goals, time stress, high stakes, multiple players and organizational goals and norms (Orasanu and Cormolly, 1993). Naturalistic decision making theories include the

Recognition Primed Decision Model (Klein, 1993), Argument Driven Action (Lipshitz.

1993). Explanation-Based Decision Making (Pennington and Hastie. 1993) and Image

Theory (Beach,1997). Naturalistic decision making theory may be effective in describing decision making in a unit or sub-unit of a university that possesses clear goals and norms.

Naturalistic decision making theory has many attributes that make it attractive for examining higher education. My later discussion of Lukes' (1974) three dimensions of power places naturalistic decision making theory in the second dimension because of its focus on observable behavior in the form of organizational goals and norms thus rendering it inadequate to identify the underlying systems of belief that shape institutional decision making practices by senior level administrators. To demonstrate the limitation of naturalistic decision theory I will discuss Image Theory (Beach, 1998) which is the most developed of the naturalistic decision making theories (Klein. 1993).

Image Theory (Beach, 1998) attempts to describe how decision makers use short­ cuts, consider options and adopt a preferred option on the basis of three images, the value, trajectory and strategic images. Image theory seeks to understand how decisions are really made in concert with the values and goals of the individual. According to

Simon (1997). the reality is that decisions are often made on the fly. satisficing rather than optimizing. Decision making is not as rational and linear as we are often led to believe; on the contrary, decision making processes are often ambiguous and turbulent 50 and "made from the duodenum" (Beach, class lecture, fall, 1998). The limitations of

Image theory include the assumption that the decision maker is an individual acting alone with full autonomy (Beach and Mitchell, 1998). The descriptive nature of Image theory describes decision making processes from a frinctional view making it difficult to view decision making from a critical perspective that seeks to describe ideologies such as capitalism and organizational politics that may exist beyond the value system of the decision maker. Because Image Theory's definitions of values and strategies are dependent upon observable behaviors, significant modifications to the defintions that underlie the theory and models would be necessary to examine the ideological forces and political context of senior level decision making in Christian universities.

The limitation of decision making theory is that it depends on the observable behavior of the decision maker to investigate decision making. My research seeks to understand and describe the systems of belief that shape the observable results of decision making groups that lead private Christian liberal arts universities. While naturalistic decision making and especially Image Theory (Beach, 1998) do take into account the values of the individuals who are involved in decision making, the definition of values is limited to values that are rooted in childhood and can be assigned to overt behavior. Consequently, naturalistic decision theory in its present form cannot account for the ways that social forces and institutional practices (Lukes, 1974) act to limit the choices and restrict the autonomy of the individual.

Tlie foregoing literature has described theories of decision making. The following body of literature describes models of governance in higher education that provide the 51

organizational context for decision makers. The literature on governance is necessary for

this research because it provides a means to define and analyze the governance of the two

institutions that provided the data for this exploratory study.

Governance Literature

Defining the governance structures of the related denomination and explaining

how they interface with the institution provide clues that can lead to a description of how

the governance structure acts, if it does, to form the bias of the system within the

university.

Within higher education, the issue of institutional governance has been the focus of a wide range of literature. This section describes a small part of the historical development of governance in higher education and several key models of governance.

Governance is significant to this research because it forms the organizational context in which decisions are made by senior level administrators.

In this research, the governance models include the structures of governance that have been established by the denominations that gave rise to the two universities that are the focus of the case studies. The various denominational governance structures in this research may include the denominational headquarters, regional governing bodies such as the Synods or the Region II offices in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America or the

Districts in the Assemblies of God, the structures of the goveming boards of the two universities as well as local congregations that may seek to influence the institution.

The development of academic bureaucracy began in the late 1800's. Veysey

(1965) describes two stages of academic administration from the period of one-man rule 52

in the 1800's to the rise of bureaucratic administration beginning about 1890. The shift

to bureaucratic administration was the result of changing patterns of industrial

management and the growing presence of the "quasi-invisible" and impersonal rule by

boards increasingly comprised of captains of industry and business leaders (Scott, 1983).

The growing presence of business leaders on boards brought the theme of efficiency to higher education and greater external control over institutions (Scott, 1983).

Weber (1949) produced the most celebrated study of bureaucratic forms of organization noting the hierarchical, highly formalized chain of authority, specifically defined goals and the need for effectiveness and efficiency. Weber's writing is cited by management theorists as a functional description of bureaucratic organizations.

However, Weber's description of bureaucratic organizations included a significant critique of the location of power at the top of bureaucracies reducing autonomy of individuals. Early scholars (Stroup, 1966; Corson, 1960; 1975) have argued that higher education demonstrates a bureaucratic form of governance with formalized lines of authority, well defined goals and a hierarchical structure with the governing board at the top, the president firmly in place above the deans who were over the faculty, and students at the bottom of the hierarchy.

The academic bureaucracy assumes broad agreement on goals, that the authority of the hierarchy is accepted by all persons, decisions are made at the top of the hierarchy, formal power is invested in the governing board, (Mintzberg, 1983) functional authority is invested in the office of the president and the well being of the organization is more important than the welfare of the individual. Baldridge and Riley (1977) observe that the 53 academic bureaucratic model does not adequately describe the broad range of dynamic process in a university setting especially if one is concerned with decision making processes.

Within the bureaucratic model, distribution of power is defined by access to the control group (the board of trustees) and the president pursues objectives specified by the board (Cohen and March, 1974). Consequently, power is distributed from the top down and individuals receive position as they agree to perform for the benefit of the organization. It would be inadequate to describe universities as a machine bureaucracy.

Mintzberg (1983) developed the concept of the professional bureaucracy to describe the organizational structure unique to universities.

The second model for defining higher education relationships, the university collegium, focuses on leaving academic decisions to the community of scholars without interference of the bureaucrats. (Goodman, 1962) The development of the collegial model of governance can be traced in part to the formation of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) in 1915 that was, in part, a response to the control of boards of trustees who represented outside interests (Marsden. 1992). The 1940 AAUP

Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure promoted the value of wider participation in academic governance (Schuster, etal. 1994).

The growing distinction between administrative and faculty work in the 1940's and 1950's created a dualism of organizational structure by defining different decision making patterns for administrative and academic decision (Corson. 1960). Decision making authority was to be split on the basis of technical competence of the faculty and 54

the official competence of the administration (Parsons, 1947 cited in Baldridge & Riley,

1977).

The dualistic school of thinking foimd its most prominent practitioners in the faculty at the University of California at Berkeley in the I960's (Floyd. 1985). As Floyd notes, the difficulty with the dualistic system is the overlap of educational and non- educational issues. McConnell and Mortimer (1971) analyzed a number of dualistic campus governance systems and found them wanting, hindering mutual consultation.

The collegial model assumes that decisions and issues can be divided into administrative and academic areas without overlap. The resulting dualism creates tension and conflict over territory that is of mutual interest to administrators and academics

(Austin & Gamson. 1983). The consensus decision making process assumes that there is sufficient time to for everyone to participate in the decision. The need for consensus has become one of the primary complaints about the collegial model (Riley «fc Baldridge.

1977). According to some, the failures of faculty groups to reach consensus and the time consuming manner of consensus building have worked to undermine the legitimacy of the collegial model (Floyd, 1985). A common area of disagreement is where faculty and administrators interface with student concerns (McConnell & Mortimer. 1971). An example of this issue was the administration's response to the student unrest at Berkeley.

"When university administrators dealt with those disruptions as noneducational emergencies, faculty responded quite negatively" (Floyd, 1985, p. 12). The collegial model of governance has produced significant power struggles at the intersections of overlapping issues (Mortimer & McConnell, 1978). 55

In 1966, the American Council on Education, The American Association of

University Professors and the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and

Colleges issued a joint statement calling for a recognition of the need for broad participation in governance by trustees, administrators, faculty, students and other groups

(Floyd. 1985). Termed shared authority or shared governance, the concept was a response to the student and faculty unrest of the 1960's. "Both facultj^ and students felt that they did not hold the levers of genuine power" (Keeton, 1971, p. 1). The shared governance school appears to be the dominant model of choice in the dialogue; however, shifts toward Strategic Planning in the 1980's (Keller, 1983) and Total Quality

Management in the 1990's (Schwartz, etal, 1994) renewed the emphasis on efficiency and effectiveness, shifting more control to the administrative side of the institutional table.

In the 1990's dwindling resources for higher education — occasioned in part by that sector's weakening claim for resources in competition with other social needs — have forced institutions to make critical choices among competing priorities. In this process, all stakeholders appear to be pressing more vigorously for a voice and a seat "at the table." Clearly, then, in recent decades, the claims on participation have grown more intense, first in one direction, then in another, but always toward greater involvement, which is to say, toward the dilution of the authority and power that might emanate from a single source (Schwartz, etal, 1994).

From an organizational theory perspective, J. Victor Baldridge (1971) suggested that campus relations could be viewed through a political lens. In a follow up work. 56

Riley and Baldridge (1977) extend Baldridge's political model comparison suggesting

that the models of academic bureaucracy and collegium were deficient in describing

institutional relationships because the previous models did not describe the dynamic

interactions of power, conflicts and the "rough-and-tumble" politics of higher education.

According to Baldridge and Riley, decisions and goals are negotiated and molded by the

influence of both internal and external groups rather than by rational choices. The

political pressure of interest groups acts to place significant limitations on formal and

functional authority. Conflict is viewed as a necessary ingredient in organizational

change and development and "is not necessarily a symptom of breakdown in the

academic community (p.15).

The political model assumes the presence of interest groups in the determination

of policy decisions, a shifting landscape of interest group formation and that the

organization benefits from the political process. As a structuralist view of organizations,

the political model does not clearly define who is advantaged or disadvantaged in the

political process or how influential groups are constructed. The political model of power

and organizations fits within the first dimension of Lukes' three dimensions of power and

decision making that I will describe later. The use of the political model is limited for my

research because of its dependence upon observable and overt behavior as well as its

inability to describe external forces other than external political activity that may shape

the context of decision making.

Bensimon and Neumann (1993) observe that the foregoing models have common characteristics. First, a leader is central to the organizational structure. Second, the role 57 of leadership is dependent upon the quality of the single individual, relying on the individual leader to have a vision broad enough to encompass the variety of needs within the organization. Third, the needs of the organization remain paramount to the needs of the individual.

Bensimon and Neumann (1993) offer team structured leadership to move leadership into a socially constructed equal exchange of ideas, influence and decision making. Under the team construct, leadership is not the property of one person, rather it is the domain of several persons. The authority and power of the office of president is the property of several people. From the team perspective, individual constructs of reality have the opportunity to be expressed and to make a difference in the decision making process. Effective teams share power and there is no assumption that every team member attaches the same meaning to commonly shared concepts or ideas. It is in the willingness to allow differences in constructed meanings to surface that the team has the greatest possibility of redistributing and equalizing power when other team members give credibility to how a team member perceives a situation. Bensimon and Neumann's model of team leadership may be viewed as a critical or functionalist perspective depending upon the value system of the observer. This understanding of the team concept being applied to higher education provides the researcher a foundation to analyze group decision making processes that may be found in this research on senior level administrative decision making.

In the team model, presidential teams are assigned three functions. The utilitarian function helps the presidential team keep the institution running. The expressive function 58 allows the team to reinforce its sense of "groupness" or internal connectedness. The cognitive function is the "brainlike social structure that enlarges the intelligence span of individual team members" (Bensimon & Neumann. 1993, p.40). The result is a synergy that operates to create a product that is larger than the sum of individual efforts.

It is important to note that Bensimon and Neumann (1993) highlight the idea that teams cannot simply be a structure within the institution. Teams must become the culture of the institution. In their view, cultiire allows a team to move beyond the creative processes of functionalist teams and allows recognition of the differences among team members, fracturing the existing institutional culture, so that the institution and its culture may be reimagined and reconstructed for the needs of all persons.

The team concept is vulnerable because of the dangers of groupthink, insularity and the temptation to silence differing views (Bensimon & Neumann, 1993). Teams tend to work better for complex tasks and not for simple tasks (Bolman & Deal. 1991). The time involved in building consensus can be a detriment to the decision making process and the team can fail under the weight of its own structure (Bensimon & Neumann,

1993).

Bensimon and Neumann's concept of teams differs from other schools of thinking about relationships in higher education because it offers a means to redistribute power.

While power has been described as formal, as in the formal power of the governing board, and functional or positional, in the case of an office holder such as a president, the concept of teams as a way to change the social construction of an organization seeks to provide access to the channels of power through team participation. The difficulty of this 59

concept is that it still requires the role of a significant leader to initiate and defend the

right of disadvantaged team members such as women or minorities to participate in the

process. A second difficulty of this model is to create the necessary levels of

commitment to sharing power among all team members.

The team model assumes that the activity and results of the team will be in the

best interests of the organization; that team member commitment to the process is equal

or at least compatible; and that culture fracturing is beneficial when the value is directly

related to some team member's ability to lead the team through the conflict.

The literature on models of governance establishes a context for analyzing the

governance structure of the two institutions in this research and how various constituent

groups interact within the institution. The following literature on presidents provides an

understanding of how presidents are perceived to function in higher education.

The Literature On Presidents

The literature regarding presidents in higher education ranges from "how to" or

"ego" essays which describe the approach or style of an individual during their tenure as

the president of a college or university (Sammartino. 1954; Ritchie. 1970; Fisher, 1984) to foundation or association fimded research (Cohen, 1974, Kauffman, 1980; Kerr &

Gade, 1986). In between are profiles (Carbone, 1981), dissertations. (Ferrari. 1970:

Levin, 1989; Schwartz, 1998), thematic pieces such as The Advancement President and the Academy (Murphy, 1997) and presentation papers (Dille, Harcleroad, Lindner &

Young, 1975). A cursory review of these works reveals them to be primarily functionalist in perspective. This finding is not surprising when most are sponsored or funded by the 60

American Council on Education, The Association of Governing Boards of Universities

and Colleges and The Carnegie Commission on Higher Education all of which have

vested interests in maintaining and enhancing the position and authority of the academic

president.

From an organizational theory perspective, positional power and politics are

common themes of presidential literature (Cohen and March, 1974; Fisher. 1984;

Kauffman, 1980; Kerr and Gade, 1986). Discussions about a perceived trend of declining

tenure among academic presidents (Cohen & March, 1974;Kauffman, 1980; Carbone,

1981; Kerr & Gade, 1986) and the often described different expectations from multiple

constituencies (Kaufftnan, 1980; Kerr & Gade. 1986) coupled with the "organized anarchy" of Cohen and March (1974) lead one to infer that survival is the unwritten motif of most literature on academic presidencies.

More recent literature on institutional presidents seeks to describe the leadership

function of presidents. Levin has looked at the significance of the board-president

relationship (1989), presidential influence (1998), and organizational change (1998) in community colleges and has concluded that presidents do make a difference in

institutions. Although Levin's research has focused on the community college president,

many of his findings and conclusions are generalizable to four year institutions because

the relationships between boards and presidents, presidents and faculty and presidents and external environments are issues common to all types of institutions. Bensimon

(1989) examined the way presidents use different decision fi-ames to solve problems suggesting that presidents with the ability to use multiple decision fi*ames might be more 61 effective. Bensimon and Neumann (1993) suggested that leadership teams might be more effective than presidents in directing a higher education institution. Tiemey (1989) explored the relationship between the leadership of presidents and the use of symbols as expressions of power and authority and how those symbols are interpreted to create perceptions of the president.

The range of literature on presidents, especially the newer literature that moves beyond some of the earlier writings of self promotion and description, provides a lens to view how the presidents of the two universities in this research function within their institutional environments.

The relationship of the president to the institution and its various constituencies is directly related to the strength of relationship between the president and the institutional governing board. The following literature review demonstrates the role of the governing board in the institution and provides a basis to analyze the role of the governing boards related to the two universities in this research.

The Literature on Governing Boards

The distinctive characteristic of governing boards of higher education in the

United States is that control is vested in lay persons who are not professional educators

(Rauh, 1969; Heilbron, 1973). Francis Wayland, upon his retirement as president from

Brown University in 1855 expressed his disdain for trustees with these words.

How can colleges prosper, directed by men, very good men to be sure, but who know about every other thing except about education. The man who first devised the 62 present mode of governing colleges in this country has done us more injury than Benedict

Arnold (Rudolph, 1965 cited in Ingram, 1980 p.l).

As the legally empowered governing entity (Chait, Holland & Taylor. 1996). governing boards are held in high esteem for their volunteer service or seen as meddlers, authorities to be challenged or obstacles to be endured (Heilbron. 1973). Whether one views the governing board from the office of the president, the mind of the faculty member or the imagination of the student, the lay led governing board is a permanent and prominent fixture in American higher education.

The lay composition of governing boards defines the literature related to trustees.

Most authors speak of trustee responsibilities, internal and external institutional relationships, financial stewardship, presidential relationships (Herron. 1969; Rauh. 1969;

Heilbron, 1973; Ingram, 1980). More recent books speak of improving the performance and effectiveness of governing boards (Chait, Holland & Taylor, 1993.1996). As with the literature on presidents, the group or association sponsoring the research or writing can distinguish the perspective of these books. The American Council on Education, described as "a sort of a president's association." (Carbone. 1981) wants improved board performance through evaluation and training (Chait, Holland & Taylor, 1996), placing the responsibility for improvement upon the trustees. The Association of Governing

Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB) has a stated mission of "strengthening the organization and performance of its governing, coordinating, and advisory boards"

(Ingram, 1980 p.l 1). Recent articles in the AGB periodical. Trusteeship, speak of a more activist role for trustees (Chait, 1996). Regardless of the perspective of the sponsoring 63 organization, most of the material written for trustees is written from a functionalist

perspective with an eye to improving trustee performance for the sake of enhancing their respective institution.

One of the few pieces that describes what trustees actually do is Trusteeship in the

Private College (Wood, 1985). Wood notes, "Articles and books written for board members' consumption tend to exhort trustees to comport themselves as key actors in the institutional drama, but in studies intended for scholars and administrators, trustees are largely ignored" (p.ixx).

Levin (1989) extended the research on the president and board relationship to describe how the relationship is important to the operation of the academic institution.

Levin concluded that the effectiveness of the institution is directly related to the quality of the relationship between the board and the president. Levin's link of an idea such as relationship between formal positions of authority to describe the effectiveness of an institution may be an example of the type of research I am conducting as I seek to look at forces that influence and shape the decision making choices of senior level administrators.

Useem, Hoops and Moore (1976) explored the relationship of elite corporate individuals and private four year institutions. Lfseem has examined the composition of boards of directors in colleges and universities and their similarities to corporate boards to explore the presence of corporatism (1984), the influence of corporate related trustees and corporations over the development of the university curriculum (1989) and the use of 64 positions like trusteeships in universities to create positive press for the corporation

(1993).

Issues of trustee participation in the decision making processes of the institution, the location of trustees with corporate relationships on the governing board and the ratio of lay and clergy may provide insights into the kinds of expectations the governing board may have for the presidents and institutions of the two religious schools in this research.

Critical Literature Review and Conceptual Framework

The conceptual framework of this research is a critical framework that informs the analysis of the research data. According to Tiemey and Rhoads (1993) the key aspects of critical theory include marginalization and emancipation, the role of culture and the role of power. They argue for the role of critical theory in research because society contains class, racial and gender hierarchies that are oppressive to individuals in a society. The goal of critical theory is emancipation that occurs when persons become aware of the role of oppressors to marginalize individuals. Only awareness of oppression can open the way for steps toward self-determination. The following scholars often use a critical framework in higher education research to explore marginalization. the role of power and culture.

Examples of scholars who use a critical frame for research include Slaughter

(1990) and her exploration of the relationships between industry executives and leaders of higher education. Slaughter's work highlights the role of for-profit corporate executives as they interface with leaders of higher education to create a coalition that 65 develops a research agenda for research universities for the benefit of the capitalist corporations.

In his examination of the influence of corporate officers on governing boards of liberal arts institutions, Useem (1984, 1989, 1993) suggests that corporations often offer donations in exchange for seats on governing board. The result is the exercise of corporate position and power over the development of program and curricula in private liberal arts universities.

Rhoades (1998) and his analysis of the management of faculty through union contracts that give administrators flexibility over the use and allocation of faculty positions. Rhoades is critical of flexible faculty management because it weakens the traditional role of the faculty, as more power is located in the administration through management agreements in faculty union contracts.

Tiemey (1991) has observed the struggle that exists in educational organizations between dominant and subordinate cultures as different groups seek to have a voice and struggle to legitimate their own interests. Tiemey and Rhoads (1993) argue for overcoming structures of oppression through empowering individuals by direct involvement in the decisions and actions that affect them. In their view overcoming hierarchies of power means reconfiguring the organizational structures to meet the needs of students rather than forcing students to change to meet the demands of the structure.

A critical perspective has been selected for this exploration because critical theor>' seeks to deconstruct the ideologies (Tiemey and Rhoads, 1993) that marginalize individuals, create cultures that serve interests other than those of individuals and uses 66 power to maintain the status quo of society. Furthermore, a critical theory framework is helpful of this research is to understand the "deep structures" (Geertz, 2000) of ideologies that assist in the formation of organizational behaviors. The research questions in this exploratory study seek to look beyond the fimction or outcomes of decisions to the ideological underpinnings of decision making as expression of power in two Christian liberal arts universities.

Because the research focuses on decision making as an exercise of power. Lukes

(1974) provides the backdrop for the examination of decision making from a critical perspective. He disaggregates the use and application of power into three dimensions by describing their theoretical foundations. The pluralist perspective frames the first dimension and is essentially an outcome based perspective that assumes that decisions are the observable behavior of power. Therefore, the pluralist perspective assumes that conflict is observable because behavior of the decision maker is the focus. The limitation of the first dimension is the emphasis on observable behavior.

Lukes' (1974) second dimension reveals two faces of power. The first face is the observable of successfiil control by A to get B to do what A wants. The second face of power is the threat of sanctions to secure compliance. This dimension suggests that organizations have a bias in the way they are mobilized. The mobilization of bias favors the exploitation of some kinds of conflict and the suppression of others. The mobilization of bias creates the potential of a ''non-decision" that occurs when the bias of the organization eliminates a choice from consideration. For example, resource dependency (Pfeffer and Salancik, 1978) can contribute to the mobilization of bias 67

because the relationship with the external resource provider can eliminate optional

choices for organizational members. The limitation of the second dimension of power is

that a non-decision bias exists only when a grievance is expressed that is denied entry

into the political process. Consequently, the second dimension is limited by observable

behavior as is the first dimension view of power.

The third dimension view of power, or the radical view, seeks to describe the social forces and institutional practices which form an organizational bias of the system.

Lukes (1974) uses a sociological perspective to explore the various ways of suppressing latent conflicts within an organization or society. The bias of the system is embedded in powerful systems of belief (theology) or ideologies (such as capitalism or corporatism) that frame decision making in powerful ways. As a result, the third dimension of power seeks to describe how an individual's wants may be the product of a system which works against their best interests, and, in such cases, relates the latter to what the persons would want and prefer if they were able to make the choice. The focus of the radical view is on how social forces and institutional practice limit individual or even sub-group autonomy in the consideration of options and decision making. Furthermore, Lukes suggests that these forces and practices forge the bias of the system.

Academic Capitalism (Slaughter and Leslie. 1997) has been described as an expression of market behavior created by capitalistic ideology that drives the creation of revenue producing relationships between public universities and private corporations.

Slaughter and Leslie raise the issue because research in public higher education has been traditionally defined as being for the public good. The shift in research by public 68

universities for the good of private corporations is seen by Slaughter and Leslie as an excessive influence of capitalism upon universities as public universities are forced to enter the for-profit marketplace to replace declining state and federal revenues. As a consequence, research faculty are acting more like entrepreneurs than traditional academic professionals.

While the focus of Slaughter and Leslie's (1997) research in on Research 1 universities, I would argue that the forces that give rise to hard science coalitions between universities and for profit corporations also effect private Christian liberal arts institutions. However, private Christian liberal arts universities respond in different ways to the forces that underlie academic capitalism.

In Chapters Four and Five that report the findings from the data analysis from the two institutions in this study, 1 will demonstrate that shifts in federal ftinding and demands of the labor market, have changed the nature of faculty work and blurred the traditional boundaries between religious liberal arts universities and the secular world.

As a result, just as in Research I universities, faculty human capital stocks at religious private liberal arts universities are expended by these two institutions in the pursuit of revenue. Another example of a secular force that may act upon religious institutions is status seeking behavior.

Status seeking behavior was described by Reisman in 1958 as a "snakelike procession" among institutions of lesser status who seek to emulate the elite institutions that are represented by the head of the snake. Trow (1984) offers a fiinctionalist view of status seeking behavior when he describes the stratification of institutions through 69 meritocratic definitions of elite through quality, resources and prestige. The lack of prestige, quality and resources may drive smaller less elite institutions to copy elite institutions in an attempt to change their defined status in the existing meritocratic system. Critical writers such as Reisman believe this kind of institutional behavior is an indication of the power of elite structures over non-elite institutions.

I have chosen to use academic capitalism and status seeking behavior to formulate a fourth research question because their authors examine overt behaviors to discover the underlying belief systems that promote the behaviors in question. Academic capitalism and status seeking also make it possible examine the tension that may exist in Christian liberal arts universities between the traditional sacred theological mission of the institution and the power exerted upon them by secular forces that may be unavoidable.

Lukes' (1974) Power: A Radical View offers a means to examine how ideological systems exert power upon senior level administrative decision making. Examples of literature in higher education research that consider the kinds of forces and practices described by Lukes' (1974) radical view includes Slaughter's. The Higher Learning and

High Technology, (1990) which describes how the interaction of presidents and corporat-e chief executive officers create research policy decisions at prominent research universities. Rhoades (1998) in Managed Professionals describes how the work of faculty is influenced by the erosion of professional autonomy through the management o-f the profession by administrators via collective bargaining and the use of part-time faculty. The management of faculty by collective bargaining and the use of part-time faculty is based on the assumption that higher education administrators must have 70 flexibility to be responsive to the needs of the institution and the marketplace. Slaughter and Leslie (1997)^ suggest that research universities use market like behaviors to secure external monies to become state subsidized enterprises to benefit external resource providers such as government and business research organizations. Because of the dependency created through the desire for external monies, the autonomy of the institution and the research agendas of faculty are dictated by external forces rather than internal demand. As previously noted, Michael Useem has explored the influence of corporatism on higher education through his research on the corporate hiring practices of college graduates (1989) and how those needs were communicated to universities especially business colleges (1993). He has also taken a critical perspective of the location of corporate elites on governing boards of colleges and universities and other non profit institutions (1984).

I have chosen to use a critical framework for this research because of the attempt of critical theorists to describe how ideologies that may be external to an organization exert power over and shape the internal use of power in the institution. This critical frame does not assume that the decision makers and informants in the two research sites are aware of the power and influence of faith, theology and denominational governance, or status seeking and capitalist ideology and behavior. It is my hypothesis that these three elements of an institution may play a greater role in decision making than the informants may be aware of Using Lukes (1974) as the primary theoretical framework for this

^ Slaugther and Leslie also make the point that a work can reflect both a critical and a functionalist perspective depending on the value system of the reader. 71 research allows me to focus on ideological underpinnings of decision making as an expression of power in these two universities.

This literature review provides a description of the literature on religious institutions, denominational theologies, decision making theory, higher education governance, higher education presidents and governing boards and the critical literature that forms the basis of the conceptual frame of this research. These bodies of literature serve to inform the development of the research questions, the gathering and analysis of data and the resulting findings. The next chapter will describe the research design used to carry out my research. 72

CHAPTER THREE

METHODOLOGY

In this chapter, I describe my research design, sampling, data sources, data collection, data analysis, and the means by which I ensured the reliability and validity of the data. In addition, I operationalize my questions.

Research Design

The research design is comparative case studies, at two religious liberal arts universities. My focus is not on the institutions as a whole but on a cadre of senior level administrators. The selected research design is driven by phenomenological concerns that led to three successive interviews with each informant.

To address the research questions, I chose to use a qualitative phenomenological approach. Phenomenology allows the researcher to develop an understanding of "social phenomena from the actor's own perspective... examining how the world is experienced.

The important reality is what people perceive it to be." (Taylor and Bogdan. 1998, p.3).

Using phenomenology as a research setting, I defined the relevant sources of data, chose the appropriate phenomenological methods for data collection, designated the sites for research, selected the informants, collected institutional documents and conducted data analysis to provide descriptive empirical observations of senior level administrative decision making as perceived by the informants. This approach is consistent with contemporary scholarly writing on qualitative phenomenological research (Taylor and

Bogdan, 1998; Kvale, 1996; Seidman, 1998). 73

This exploratory study examines the phenomena of decision making by senior

level administrators in two religious liberal arts colleges by investigating how religious

faith, denominational theology and politics are perceived by the investigator and the

institutional actors to affect institutional decision making. This research design also allowed me to look for the existence of other forces affecting decision making such as prestige seeking behavior, market forces and academic capitalism.

Sampling

Since the focus is on senior level administrators in religious institutions, access was gained to two universities that self-identify as part of the Christian tradition. The two universities, one from the Lutheran tradition, designated Two Kingdoms University, and one from the Pentecostal tradition, identified as Pneuma University, are located in the

United States and are in the same geographic region less than 100 miles apart. Both pseudonyms reflect a significant theological focus of the affiliated denomination.

Given my focus on faith, theology, and denominational governance, the institutions were chosen to reflect a diversity of tlieological thinking and governance.

Pentecostal theology and Lutheran theology reflect opposite ends of the Christian theological spectrum. Lutheran theology is more liberal and tolerant of individual lifestyle because of the critical tradition of scholarship (Solberg. 1985, 1997) in its approach to the interpretation of the Bible. Central to contemporary Lutheran theology is a resistance to "Christianizing" society (Solberg, 1985, 1997). Several informants at Two

Kingdoms University also identified Lutheranism as a rational theology. By contrast.

Pentecostal theology is considered conservative theologically and has an evangelical 74 focus that promotes a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, the Bible as the foundation of truth, and seeks to change the world through conversion to Christianity. Several informants at Pneuma University described Pentecostalism as being an experiential theology especially in light of the emphasis on being filled with the Spirit.

Both institutions were similar in two other respects. Both had recently undergone the development of new master plans and had recently faced or were facing significant financial challenges. These similarities provided a common ground of issues that could be discussed with informants in regards to decision making.

Phenomenological interviews were conducted across a five month period in 1999.

Participants included the two presidents, their vice-presidents, the director of the budget or controller, faculty and members of the governing board. The president, acting as the chief executive officer of the institution, was selected as an informant because formal decision making authority is typically designated to him or her by the governing board

(Mintzberg, 1983). Senior level administrators were defined as individuals that were included in the formal senior level administration. They were selected as informants because they participate in the decision making process with the president or make decisions related to their segment in the institution. In both institutions, directors of the budget were interviewed because the presidents identified them as being participants in the formal senior level administrative decision making process.

Interviews with faculty members and members of the governing board provided insights into the role of formal and informal decision making processes and internal and external sources of influence (Mintzberg, 1983). Some of the faculty members included 75 deans and full-time faculty who were identified in the organizational chart as participating in an advisory group to the president that met on a regular basis. They were chosen as informants since they would have an opportunity to observe how decisions are really made in the institution because of their location on the organizational chart in relationship to the president and the vice-presidents.

To reflect the perspective of the governing board, it was my intention to interview the chair of the board and one other board member. At Pneuma University, the chair of the board had an office only a few miles away from the campus, and the second board member had an office adjacent to the campus. At Two Kingdoms University, the chair of the board lived several hundred miles from the campus, so I interviewed tlie immediate past chair of the board who is still a board member and a board member whose office was within twenty-five miles of the campus.

As soon possible after the presidents of the two universities gave me permission to conduct this research, a series of three interviews was scheduled with each participant.

All of the interviews were conducted in the informant's office according to the time they had available. Each interviewee signed a disclosure form indicating the use of the data and stating they would be identified by a pseudonym. All of the interviews were tape recorded and transcribed using Microsoft Word 97.

Each president was asked to identify two major institutional decisions, preferably a financial decision and a significant persormel decision that was recent or current that could serve as a soiu-ce of data for interviews. During the interviews, the informants identified additional significant institutional decisions. The two decisions tracked in 76

interviews two and three were selected from the president's lists and recurring decisions

that were identified in the interviews. The decisions that ultimately received the most

attention in the interviews focused on a financial decision and a decision that had

significant impact on. the institution. Pneuma University had recently refinanced

significant debt and was initiating a presidential selection process during my research.

Two Kingdoms University had survived a difficult financial season within recent years

and had recently developed and initiated a new facilities master plan. The decisions

related to these issues allowed me to pursue the research questions as they related to specific decisions. The location of the four groups of informants inside and outside the structure of the organization provided a variety of perspectives on the decisions of the senior level administrators and the two decisions that were tracked.

Data Sources

Data sources for this research were identified which could best address and answer the research questions. These sources include six types of documents, the series of interviews that included the two presidents and vice-presidents, interviews of institutional participants who observe the decision making process, and inter\'iews of members of the governing board. These sources provide the descriptive data that describe and verify the way senior level administrators make decisions in the selected institutions and what effect, if any, personal religious faith, denominational theology and governance have on the phenomena of decision making. 77

Documents

Six types of documents were collected from each institution. Documents have both advantages and limitations as sources of organizational data. Documents "are

"social facts', in that they are produced, shared and used in socially organized ways.

They are not, however, transparent representations of organizational routines, decision­ making processes or professional diagnoses." (Atkinson and Coffey. 1997 p.47).

Documents can be concerned with self-presentation, methods of competition with others in the same market, and/or sources of justification to boards of governors or employees

(Atkinson and Coffey. 1997). Atkinson and Coffey view documents to be more than sources of secondary data, when stating that "'documentary materials should be regarded as data in their own right. They often enshrine a distinctively documentary version of social reality." (p.47).

The first document collected is the institutional corporate by-laws that provide the legal authority for the goveming board to operate the institution. Corporate by-laws, as documentary evidence, provide a "linguistic register" (Atkinson and Coffey. 1997) of the exercise and use of authority in the organization. Corporate by-laws describe the legal owners of the institution and are the legal basis for delegation of formal authority to the president and other employees for operation of the institution. This source is used to verify and define the formal role of the owning denomination in the governance of the institution. The by-laws provide data describing the structure of the goveming board, the relationship of the denomination to the goveming board, the delegation of authority from the denomination to the goveming board and from goveming board to the employees of 78 the university. The research design focus on organizational deep structure provides opportunity to ask questions about the informal role of the owning body and the governing board as they act as external sources of power and influence (Mintzberg. 1983) in their relationship to the institutional administration.

The second type of document is the university catalog. The university catalog was collected and analyzed because it serves as one of the primar>' official "self- representations" (Atkinson and Coffey. 1997) of the institution, its curriculum, faculty and policies that is readily available to any individual. Catalogs are often provided to other institutions for purposes of comparing courses for students who transfer to other institutions. Copies of undergraduate and graduate catalogs were collected from each institution. Institutional catalogs provide data on the theology of the institution, policies that frame institutional decision making practices and descriptions of the formal decision making bodies that exist within the institution.

The third type of document is the university mission statement, which may be contained within the university catalogs, newsletters, or other material produced by the institution. The mission statement is the most concise form of "self-presentation"

(Coffey and Atkinson, 1997) by an institution. This document provides data regarding denominational theology and governance. The institutional mission statement is the public declaration of the institution's strategies for achieving the institution's goals. It is developed and written with the interests of the various stakeholders in mind to communicate the desired future of the organization (Daft, 1998; Strickland and

Thompson, 1998). 79

The institutional history is the fourth type of document collected. In both

institutions the histories published or in process were "coffee table" histories' designed to

promote the institution. As a preferred history, these documents provide a social

construction of institutional history for external audiences like alumni, board members.

denominational members and anyone the institution seeks to influence. These histories

become statements of Clark's (1970) institutional saga.

The institutional saga is a historically based, somewhat embellished understanding of a unique organizational development. It offers in the present a particular definition of the organization as a whole and suggests common characteristics of members. Its definitions are deeply internalized by many members, thereby becoming a part, even an unconscious part, of individual motive (p.235)

These histories provide data for the research question related to the effect of personal

religious faith and its role in the construction of the institution reality both past and

present. Frequently, institutional histories describe influential decisions made by leaders

that become powerful symbols of the past with influence in the contemporary setting.

A fifth type of document collected was the institutional strategic plan, which is

the map used by the institution to define its future goals and intentions. As the

institutional map, the strategic plan describes methods of competition with others in the

same market as well as sources of justification for board members and employees

(Atkinson and Coffey, 1997). The strategic plan informs all three areas of interest in the

research question as well as reveals other forces that are shaping the decisions made by

institutional leaders.

' "Coffee table" is a descriptor used by the author of the history of Pnemua University to characterize the request of the president for a descriptive history that would present the best face of the institution and 80

Finally, vitas were requested from each interviewee. Vitas reveal the educational

and professional history of the interviewee providing data on the ideological development of the individual giving further insight into the deep structures (Geertz, 1973) and the values (Beach. 1998) that may give insight into how the interviewee understands decision

making. Vitas are used and shared in socially organized (Atkinson and Coffey. 1997)

ways. They describe one professional to another higher education professional. As a form of self-presentation of the individual's source of educational degrees as well as tlie publications and presentations and positions held, the content of the vita becomes social capital in the institution that establishes prestige, rank and eventually serves to form the basis for tenure.

Each of the six types of documents collected are sources of "social fact"

(Atkinson and Coffey. 1997) that present a picture of the social reality at both universities in this study.

Interviews

To access reliable qualitative data, the selection of informants is critical (Weiss.

1994) to understand the decision making process in the selected organizations.

"Interviews should be held with people in different jobs on different levels, in different relationships to the institution, and from different informal groups'" (Weiss, 1994, p.19).

Interviews were conducted with four groups of informants from different jobs and organizational levels with different relationships to the institution.

therefore would be safe for people to place on their coffee tables. 81

The first group of informants was comprised of senior level administrators. This group included the president, vice-presidents and other institutional officers such as the budget director (or chief financial officer depending on the university) who were included in both formal and informal decision making processes. According to the president or the organizational chart, the budget director or chief financial officer at both institutions was included in circle of senior level administrators. The foregoing persons are the institutional actors who are charged with the formal decision making authority to operate the institution and control the means of power through the allocation of resources.

The second group of interviewees included persons identified by the presidents who sat on a president's advisory group that met on a regular basis. This group included members of the faculty and a student representative. The faculty members were typically deans or department chairs. While these persons may not be participants in the formal decision making processes, they are persons of influence both upon the administration and the rest of the institution based on the information they provide across, up and down the organizational chart. These informants would be equal to the line managers in

Mintzberg's (1987) Internal Coalition hierarchy and serve the interests of both administration and faculty. As selected informants, these persons are observers of the decision making processes of senior level administrators. While a student representative was included in the president's advisory group in both schools, students were not interviewed because they were Student Body Presidents who had graduated and were not available for interviews due to geographic location. 82

Since the board, as an external coalition, provides the formal authority for the operation of the institution, the fourth group of informants were members of the governing board. According to Mintzberg (1983), the board exercises its greatest power when it selects the chief executive officer. The board informants provide insight into the formal decision making of the institution, the role of denominational governance and the parameters of decision making delegated to the president and other employees. Data provided by the board members give insight to the power of the external coalitions

(Mintzberg, 1983) over the institution and its employees. The selected informants from the governing board were the board chair and one additional member. The board chair was selected as an informant because of the chairperson's authority to set the agenda for the board meetings and because the board chair is usually the board member that interfaces most frequently with the president. In one institution, the chair was unavailable due to geographic location and schedule. In place of the unavailable chair, I interviewed the immediate past chair of the board who still serves as a board member.

The second member of the board that served as an informant was determined by availability. The board members, due to their schedules and their physical location outside of the institution, were the most difficult informants to schedule.

Field Notes

Field notes were taken during interviews to document insights during the interviews, key comments from the informant that I wanted to follow up during the interview and to provide a means of remembering the interview context and content from 83 the time of the interview until the transcript could be analyzed. The field notes were also used as a data source in one case when the tape recorder was not operating properly.

Data Collection

Data collection took three divergent forms: in-depth semi-structured phenomenological interviews, and document collection. This section will describe how access was acquired to the two institutions, the use of phenomenological interviews, the development of the interview questions, the semi-structured interview guides, the consent to interview form, and the types of documents collected.

Letters requesting permission to conduct research at both institutions were sent to the president of each institution. Contact visits were made with both presidents before beginning research. The presidents were given general information regarding the nature of the research. To prevent cueing the informant's responses, the presidents were asked not to communicate the specific nature of the research questions to other informants.

Both presidents graciously provided unlimited access to their institutions, personnel, and documents and had their administrative assistants assist with the scheduling of initial interviews. In one institution, the president made it possible to begin interviews the day of my contact visit.

To uncover and explore the phenomena of decision making by senior level administrators in religious institutions, I chose to do phenomenological interviews

(Seidman, 1998) that give insight into the meaning and life world (Kvale. 1996) of the interviewee. Phenomenological interviewing is much more in depth than the typical studies of leaders that are usually based on one-time one-hour interviews. Seidman's 84

approach to phenomenological interviewing provides for three semi-structured, in-depth

interviews with each participant (1998). The three-interview format provided between

three to four and one-half hours with each informant depending on the informant's

schedule and the length of their answers.

Seidman's (1998) three-interview methodology focuses on three different life

dimensions; life history, contemporary experience and the meaning of the experience.

For the construction of the interview guides, the three life dimensions were defined as:

the history of how the individual learned to make decisions, the details of how they make decisions in their institutional position and the meaning of their institutional decisions.

Phenomenological interviewing uses primarily open-ended questions. The "major

task is to build upon and explore the participant's responses. The goal is to have the

participant reconstruct his or her experience within the topic under study" (Seidman.

1998, p.9). To assist with the development of interview questions, pilot interviews were conducted with the president, vice-presidents, faculty members, and chair of the governing board of a similar religious institution within the same geographic region.

Because of the pilot interviews, some interview questions were rewritten and modified for clarity and some questions were dropped from use.

Prior to the initial interview, each participant was asked to sign a disclosure form describing his or her informed consent to participate in this research project. Some participants requested the opportunity to edit and revise their comments if they were quoted. Anonymity and the use of pseudonyms for the institutions and individuals were provided as a condition of participation. The rich, narrative tradition of biblical literature 85

has provided a complimentary pseudonym for each participant. The theological tradition

of each institution provided the pseudonyms of Pneuma University and Two Kingdoms

University as institutional identifiers. Pneuma is a transliteration for the Greek word used

in the New Testament for the Holy Spirit that is central to Pentecostal theology. Martin

Luther identified two kingdoms, the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the world, that

are central to Lutheran theology.

The phenomenological, semi-structured question format allows the interviewer

flexibility to pursue themes related to the decision making process as themes emerge

during the interview (Seidman, 1998). Semi-structured interview guides allow the

informant to have a significant degree of agency in determining the thematic direction of

the interview.

In the first two interviews of the series, I did not ask questions regarding faith and

theology to avoid cueing the interviewee's responses. If the interviewee raised the issue

of faith or theology in their answers. I asked follow-up questions to pursue the theme

raised by the interviewee. Toward the close of the third interview, 1 asked for the

interviewee's idea on how faith and theology affected decision making in their

institution.

All three interviews began with a global question to allow the interviewee the opportunity to set the context of the interview. Each of the interviews closed with a global question, 'is there anything else you would like to say about decision making?'*

This final question allowed the informant to respond as they chose to any idea or theme that arose during the interview or to provide data they believed to be important. 86

The first interview focused on the participant's life history of decision making.

The assumption is that decision making is learned by interviewees in different ways.

How decision making skills and strategies are acquired is directly related to the values

(Beach, 1998) and deep structures (Geertz, 1973) that underlie the way the person makes decisions as an administrator. After describing the focus of the interview, a global question was used to begin the interview. "Can you describe how you learned to make decisions?" gave the participant the opportunity to describe their unique experience of how they learned to make decisions. The global question also allows the participant to describe how they constructed their view of their world. Questions 2-4 allow the informant to go as far back in their life as they choose to locate the beginning of their decision making experience. Questions 5-7 and 9 are designed to let the participant differentiate major and minor decisions. Question 8, 10 and 11 request the individual to think of irregularities and conflict in learning decision making. Question 12 opens a window to the principles the individual has constructed for making decisions. Question

13 is a global question to provide the interviewee with a way to bring closure to the interview by adding new data, extending the discussion on a theme that arose during the inter\'iew or pursue a subject of their choosing. Table 3.1 lists the semi-structured questions used in the life history interview. 87

TABLE 3.1

FIRST INTERVIEW - LIFE EXPERIENCE QUESTIONS

Re: Learning Decision Making

Name: Date:

1. How did you leam to make decisions?

2. What were the earliest decisions you can recall making?

3. Can you describe the first major decision you made on your own?

4. Can you describe in detail the kinds of things that influenced your early decisions?

5. How do you define the difference between a major decision and a minor decision?

6. What factors do you consider when making a major decision?

7. How is your decision making different today from decisions you made earlier in life?

8. Do you remember an occasion when you broke the pattern of your decision making? Why?

9. How are decisions you make today different than decisions you made earlier in life? Why are they different?

10. When you made decisions earlier in your life did any of those decisions result in conflict? What was the source of the conflict? What was the result of the conflict?

11. Can you describe what you learned about decision making from that conflict?

12. What principles do you follow when making life decisions?

13. The interview is over, is there anything else you would like to say about decision making?

According to several interviewees, the first interview provided the means for the informant to reflect on how they learned about decision making. Frequently, at the beginning of the second interview, they would comment on how they had made "new 88

connections" between the way they learned decision making to how they made decisions

in their institutional positions.

The second interview focused on the participant's decision making experience in

their institutional role. Table 3.2 lists the semi-structured interview questions. Questions

I -7 seek data related to personal views on decision making. Questions 8-9 seek the

informant's perspective on conflict related to decision making. Question 10 asks the

informant to define differences in decision making by internal and external decision

makers. Questions 11 to 13 track decision making around two major institutional

decisions. Question 14 provides a window to the politics and informal decision making

process around a decision. Question 15 asks the informant to cormect research question

two with a specific decision. Question 16 asks the informant to provide an analysis of the

institutional decision. Question 17 is a role-playing question that allows the interviewee

to speak as if they were giving advice to the president. The answer to this question allows the interviewee to describe how institutional decisions could be made differently.

Question 18 is a summary question that gives the informant to an opportunity to extend the interview, add new data or clarify themes raised in the interview. These questions are designed to elicit responses that reveal how the interviewee constructs their view of their decision making role in the institution. 89

TABLE 3.2

SECOND INTERVIEW - CONTEMPORARY EXPERIENCE QUESTIONS

Re; Position, Decision Making & Institutional Decisions

Name Date Vitae?

Inter\'iew Preparation: What are some of the issues from the first interview I want to revisit during this interview?

1. Can you describe in detail the path of life that brought you to your present position in this institution? 2. What were the decisions you made along the path that were significant for bringing you to this position?

3. What were the factors you considered in making the decision to accept this position?

4. What kinds of decisions do you make most frequently in this position?

5. What principles do you employ when making decisions?

6. Which types of decisions are easiest for you to make? Which are the most difficult decisions for you to make? What makes the two types of decisions different?

7. Describe how you feel when you make decisions.

8. What type of decisions do you make that have the greatest potential for conflict?

9. Can you remember a decision you either made or helped make that broke your pattern of decision making? That infringed upon your decision making principles?

9. How are decisions made by faculty and decisions made by administrators different? By administrators and students? Parents? Trustees? Denominational officials?

11. Can you describe for me how the decision to was made in this organization?

12. What was the process for making decisions to by this institution?

13. Who were the major persons that participated in this decision? The major constituents? 90

14. Did any persons or groups form coalitions during this decision making process?

15. Was the decision making process consistent with the theological foundations of this institution?

16. Can you describe any unintended consequences as a result of this decision?

17. Role Play: A new president of this institution has come to you for advice. He/She asks you: "How can I improve decision making in this institution?" What advice do you give?

18. This interview is over, is there anything else you would like to say about decision making?

The focus of the third interview was the meaning of decision making for the individual. Themes from previous interviews provided the focus of item number one on the interview guide. Questions 2 and 3 seeks data about motives and meanings behind the two major institutional decisions identifled in the second interview. Questions 4-7 are designed to let the informant talk about things of significant personal value in decision making. Question 8 is a global question allowing the interviewee to describe their view of the primary research questions. Question 9 is a global question that invites any summary the informant might offer. Table 3.3 lists the questions used to guide this interview. 91

TABLE 3.3

THIRD INTERVIEW QUESTION GUIDE:

THE MEANING OF DECISION MAKING

In this interview I will follow up some ideas from the first two interviews and to probe the ideas that will allow me to construct meaning of the individual's and institution's decision making process.

Name Date

1. Revisit a couple of ideas from previous interviews to get an idea of the character of this institution.

2. Lutherans: Why develop a new master plan? Was the old master plan complete? Assemblies: Refinance of university property?

3. Lutherans: Describe how the institution survived the difficult financial season a few years ago. Assemblies: Describe the decision making process used in the presidential selection process.

4. Where do you see yourself in ten years?

5. WTiat would you want people to remember about you? About your work? About your role in this institution?

6. What do you see as your primary responsibility?

7. What are the two most important things you do?

8. To what extent is the decision making process informed by the faith and theology of the Lutheran Church/Assemblies of God?

9. Is there anything else you would like to say about decision-making?

Thank you for these hours you have spent with me. You have enriched my understanding of your institution and your role.

When doing qualitative interviewing, the question is "when have you done enough interviews?"(Seidman, 1998). I found that after about one-half to two-thirds of 92 the interviews, the themes and data emerging during the interviews became repetitive. At

Pneuma University, ten persons were interviewed for thirty interviews. Two Kingdoms

University provided thirty-nine interviews representing fourteen different individuals.

The difference in the number of persons interviewed is due to the difference in the number of senior level administrators between the two institutions.

Due to time constraints, the length of the interviewees responses, the time available for the interview, the nature of the semi-structured interviews and the focus on decision making themes, not all questions were asked of all participants. Following the counsel of Seidman (1998) that it was more desirable to conduct an interview than to have no interview at all, a few interviews were conducted under less than ideal circumstances or time limitations. In one instance, an interviewee accepted a position in another city and was not available for the third interview.

Each interview was recorded on audiotape. One interview with a faculty member was not recorded because the tape recorder was not turned on. Each interview was transcribed using Microsoft Word 97. Transcribers were instructed to make note of reactions such as laughter that highlight the context of the comment. Other events such as phones ringing, interruptions by secretaries, phone calls taken by the informant during the interview were also noted to assist with the contextual setting of the interview. Each interview was formatted, printed, placed in a notebook by institution and filed by the informant's name. 93

Document Types

The six types of documents collected for analysis, the corporate by-laws, the institutional history, the university mission statement, the university catalog, the institutional strategic plan and, vitas from individuals were chosen as the primary documents for this research because they are sources of social fact (Atkinson and Coffey.

1997) that present a picture of social reality at both universities. As pictures of social reality, these six documents are the result of decisions made by a group of individuals related in some way to the institution.

The corporate by-laws represent social reality of the university as defined by external decision makers such denominational officials and members of the governing board. In both universities the corporate by-laws had been revised within the last four years making it possible to understand how external decision makers constructed the organizational structure of the institution.

The institutional history was selected for analysis because the university history is often written as a way to construct the reader's understanding of the past events of the institution. The history from Pneuma University was being written during my research and the president provided me with a first draft copy. Pneuma's historical document was described by Luke, the university historian, and former Academic Dean, as a "coffee table" history. A history that someone would be proud to have on their coffee table to highlight Pneuma University. The existing history of Two Kingdoms University was written in 1984 for the twenty-fifth anniversary of the institution. An attractive volume also seeks to celebrate the achievements of the institution. These documents give insight 94 into how the administration would like constituents to perceive the past events related to the institution.

The university mission statement, the university catalog, the institutional strategic plan are documents that represent the current intentions, programs and goals of the institution. The mission statement and the strategic plan in these two case studies are products of interaction between the senior level administrators and their respective governing boards. As documents representing interaction between the internal and external decision making groups, they represent a negotiated construction of social fact related to the purpose and direction of the institution. The catalog serves as a source of data for program, curriculum, tuition, fees, and policies of the institution. As linguistic registers (Atkinson and Coffey, 1997) each of these documents provide data to increase or decrease the validity of the data derived from the interview transcripts.

The final document, the vita, is a road map of decision making by the individual describing their educational and career history. Vitas were easily obtained from senior level administrators who have served as faculty members. Senior level administrators who had not served as faculty found it difficult to produce a vita or resume'. In very few cases, an informant did not provide me with a vita.

Field Notes

1 used a blank interview guide with the name of the informant and the date of the interview for my field notes. Field notes were taken during each interview to assist me with maintaining the visual and emotional context of the interview (Kvale, 1996). Note taking during the interview allowed me to maintain an active listening (Seidman. 1998) 95 approach during the interview. The notes include insights that occurred during the interview, themes for follow-up questions at an appropriate time and observations of the setting in which the interview occurred. The field notes were filed by institution and individual with the transcription notes to provide an accessible means of correlating the two data sources.

Data Analysis

I did not view analysis of the data sources as an isolated stage of the research process (Kvale. 1996). Throughout the data collection stage, I made notes when I read documents. Often during long drives to interview sites or to other meetings I listened to interview tapes and recorded insights on my microcassette recorder. Many hours of quiet reflection while driving produced additional insights that were recorded on paper or microcassette.

The challenge of analyzing qualitative data sources such as interviews, documents and field notes for the construction of meaning is to allow the individuals behind the data to tell their story (Seidman, 1998). Thematic analysis (Boyatzis. 1998; Seidman. 1998) was used to organize and analyze the data presented by the data sources. The objective of thematic analysis is to organize excerpts from the data sources into categories

(Seidman, 1998). One benefit of thematic analysis is that unexpected themes beyond the themes of the research questions may arise from the data. A second benefit of thematic einalysis is that it provides a way to deal systematically with all of the data sources in a consistent manner. 96

The first step in analyzing the data sources was to mark the transcripts, documents and field notes for common themes. Since I am examining the effect of theology and denominational governance in decision making, initial themes and categories were derived from the research questions and the theoretical framework. The second step in the analysis process was to review and mark the data sources for unexpected themes that emerged during the data collection and analysis stages. I did not assume that the institutional actors recognized the influence of faith, theology and denominational govemance or any other force upon their decision making practices.

As the analysis progressed, decisions within decisions were uncovered. For example, the decision of the chair of the presidential selection committee at Pneuma

University to have the committee read. The Dving of the Light. (Burtchaell, 1998) before the selection process began has implications of theological and denominational influence as well as dimensions of power.

Research Question I

The question, "What is the effect, if any, of religious faith upon the decision making of senior level administrators at Christian liberal arts universities?" was difficult to operationalize because of the wide range of definitions of faith and the lack of a systematic way of thinking about faith. The subject of this research question was identified as an issue to be concerned about in the dissertation proposal meeting. I found it difficult to make discriminations between people's actual faith and their projected faith.

As the research and analysis progressed, I was not able to disaggregate to what extent an informant was being truthful about their faith even though my research design provided 97

three interviews to discover the informants expression of religious faith. Furthermore. I

could not discover if the individual was articulating something that was truly heart felt.

Consequently, in some cases I wasn't sure whether the informants were articulating a

faith that was influencing what they were doing. The definition and application of

religious faith was found to be so subjective and personal I could find no meaningfiil way

to construct a model of attributing faith to decision making. Therefore, due to the

problems and difficulties I encountered. Research Question I was dropped from further

analysis and interpretation in this research.

Research Question II

The question, "What effect, if any, does theology have on decision making by senior level administrators at Christian liberal arts universities?" desires to understand

how, if at all, theology as a system studying and understanding the Christian God is taken

into account by senior level administrators when they are making decisions for their

institutions.

The examination of the deep structures of decision making via the role of theology in decision making is aided by the conceptions of power and decision making of

Lukes (1974). Lutherans and Pentecostals have theologies that emphasize different views of God, the activity of God in the world, the activity of God in the life of the individual and the activity of God on behalf of the institution. The existence of a significant body of literature on both denominations, their beliefs and practices, and the historical presence of a significant defining moment of history identified as the genesis of their theological development makes theology and its effects easier to observe and analyze systematically. 98

The distinctive theologies became a lens that was used to view the research data. What were the informants saying about their theology as they described how they made decisions? How does the official theology of the institution as proscribed by the owning denominations effect decision making by senior level administrators? Lukes three dimensional conception of power and decision making made it possible to assign emerging themes to one of the three dimensions.

Research Question III

Both denominations have an organizational structure that has been determined to be most usefial for the achievement of their stated purposes and goals. How individuals relate and function within the denominational structure provide insight into how the informants valued the denomination, how the denomination acted politically in relationship to the university and if conflict in any definable form exists between the denomination and the institution. The question, what effect, if any. does denominational governance have on the decision making of senior level administrators at Christian liberal arts universities, is analyzed in the context of the denominations affiliated with the two universities in this research. Lukes (1974) three-dimensional concept of power and decision making was used to examine the deep structure influence of denominational governance.

Research Question IV

The analysis of the data has provided a fourth research question. What effect, if any, does status seeking and academic capitalism have on the decision making of senior level administrators at Christian liberal arts universities? The question makes it possible 99 to understand forces beyond faith, theology and denominational governance and politics that influence decision making at Christian liberal arts universities. The data that has given rise to this fourth research question will be described in chapters four and five.

Trustworthiness and Limitations of the Analysis

A qualitative researcher has to answer the questions, "How do we know that what the participant is telling us is true? And if it is true for this participant, is it true for anyone else?" (Seidman, 1998).

The three-interview structure incorporates features that enhance the accomplishment of validity. It places participant's comments in context. It encourages interviewing participants over the course of 1 to 3 weeks to account for idiosyncratic days and to check for the internal consistency of what they say. Furthermore, by interviewing a number of participants, we can connect their experiences and check the comments of one participant against those of others. Finally, the goal of the process is to understand how our participants understand and make meaning of their experience (Seidman, 1998, p.17).

The validity of the data is enhanced by the responses of the informants as we proceeded through the multiple interview process. Frequently either at the beginning of the second or third interview, an informant would say they had made connections and discovered meaning they had not understood before about the way they make decisions or the role their personal context played in making decisions. Sometimes during an interview an informant would reveal they had discovered an insight into a decision making event because of question or series of questions. Each of the informants made a statement about how they had to make a choice to trust me with my use of the data.

Consequently, at some time during the interview process, every informant indicated they 100 had decided to less be guarded in their responses so that I could have a clear understanding of their perspective of decision making in their institution.

To enhance the validity of the data and my analysis. I have involved individuals from outside the institutions who are from the tradition of theology represented by the institutions to check my analysis to make sure it is consistent with the dominant theology and practice of the institution and denomination.

Further validity of the data, the findings and conclusions is established by the use of field notes. The documents as primary sources of qualitative data (Atkinson and

Coffey, 1997) validate or invalidate the effects of theology and denominational politics upon senior level decision making at Christian universities. The thematic analysis of the documents provided the means to verify the thematic analysis of the interview data.

The limitations of this qualitative research include the inability to establish the degree of effect of any variable upon decision making. A second limitation is created by the use of two institutions as research sites thereby limiting the generalizability of the findings and conclusions. Even though this research is limited in its generalizability. the research design does allow for the development of important insights into the way faith and denominational politics effect institutional decision making by senior level administrators.

Summary

This chapter has provided an understanding of how data relevant to the three research questions was collected and analyzed. The remaining two questions focus on the effect of theology and denominational governance. The use of thematic analysis 101 revealed additional forces that had effect upon the decision making practices of the senior level administrators. These themes and relationships are understood through an analysis of interviews both taped and transcribed, the collected documents and my field notes and are presented though a narrative presentation of the data, analysis and conclusions. The following three chapters present the findings and conclusions of the research. 102

CHAPTER FOUR

FINDINGS - TWO KINGDOMS UNIVERSITY

This research project has been designed to examine the effects, if any, of faith, theology, governance, academic capitalism, and status seeking behavior upon senior level administrative decision making at two private Christian liberal arts universities. The previous chapters have introduced the research project, the bodies of literature that inform this project and the methodology employed to gather and analyze the data. This chapter and the following one report cite the data from each research site in this study.

This chapter presents the findings of the research that resulted from the thematic analysis of the interview transcripts and documents. First, I provide two detailed narratives related to the two decision events that I tracked at Two Kingdoms University.

The composite narratives are the informant's descriptions of (a) the budget cuts that occurred because of missed enrollment targets and (b) the development of a new masterplan. These two separate processes make it possible to see what effect, if any. theology, denominational politics, status seeking and academic capitalism influence decisions by senior level administrators at Two Kingdoms University.

Following the narratives of the two decision making events I discuss the results of my analysis. Thematic analysis revealed significant personal and institutional metaphors expressed by the informants and documents that were related to the focus of each research question. The metaphors are used for insight into the effects, if any. of theology, denominational politics, status seeking behavior and academic capitalism. Each research 103 question begins with a discussion of the related metaphors and then a discussion of the two events that were tracked to explore senior level decision making.

Finally, I discuss the theme of globalization that emerged from the data analysis and is beyond the scope of the three remaining research questions. Research on the effects of globalization upon higher education is relatively new. Levin. (2000) has produced the most recent research on globalization and higher education with a focus on how globalization impacts community colleges.

Pseudonyms have been assigned to each informant reflecting their relative position in the organization, not their personal characteristics. The pseudonyms do not necessarily reflect the gender of the individual. The names have been drawn from the

Bible and are presented as a complete list in Table 4.1 on page 118.

Two Decision Making Events

This section describes the two decision making events that were tracked during my research at Two Kingdoms University. The narratives employed describe the way senior level administrators constructed their perspectives regarding these two events.

Following the narratives of these two events in this section is a section of analysis where

I discuss how theology does not appear to have an effect on these two decision making events. 1 do observe that Lutheran theology creates an identity that is dominant among senior level administrators at Two Kingdoms University. I also describe how denominational governance effects the two scenarios of missed enrollment targets and the development of the master plan. In light of these two decision making scenarios. 104 evidence pointing to the presence of academic capitalism and status seeking behaviors are discussed.

Missed Enrollment Targets

The pain of budget cuts is still fresh in the minds of most of the informants. In the summer of 1999, Melchizedek. the Vice-President for University Advancement reports.

"The admissions guy missed the numbers and created the financial difficulty." Nearly five years ago the individual responsible for enrollment services provided a projected enrollment figure to senior level administrators for the preparation of an institutional operating budget for the following fiscal year. As the fall semester approached, it beceune increasingly clear that the enrollment projection was off by nearly one hundred students. The administration determined action was required and had to cut approximately $1,000,000 out of the operating budget.

Joshua, the president, describes the course of action taken.

We had to make some fairly significant reductions in budget. We reduced our operating budget by six or seven percent one year and we were prett>' lean to begin with. I think we cut something like fifteen staff positions. We've also reduced our faculty numbers over time. There was some deadwood in the faculty. Solomon (the Vice-President of Academics) was very effective in eliminating (faculty) - they were non-tenured for the most part. We were lopping off by not tenuring underperforming people. We weren't replacing (faculty) for a time and so the faculty shrank in size during that period of downsizing. We did put together a retirement program, a retirement incentive that five of our senior faculty elected to take, and it worked well for lots of reasons. It was thoughtfully constructed and appreciated by the people who took it. It was generous for them, freed up some slots, and relieved the budget, but we did restructure some departments and leaned support staff in my own office and campus ministry and other offices around campus. Fortunately we only had to go through that during one year. There were lots of meetings principally by the vice presidents and in the administration and finance area - John and Peter did most of 105

the spade work in bringing forward costs and recommendations and the vice presidents painfully and a little bit competitively agreed to cuts.

James, the chair of the Board of Regents during the budget cutting process reports.

There was definitely a feeling that our enrollment should not be going down...that population was there and we just had to market it the right way. So it was a marketing issue for most of the board. So the board was very involved in that process. The Administration and Finance cut budget. Not fun. We didn't give faculty salary increases that year...

One of the primary players in the budget cutting process was Peter who at the time was the Chief Financial Officer and not a vice president. The location of Peter in the organizational structure put him directly in the middle of the budget cutting process.

When asked how he handled the budget cutting process Peter said,

1 was hired, as the Chief Financial Officer. And that meant, first and foremost. that I kept us financially solvent...The president's there, all the other vice presidents and I'm there. And we say, 'Well, we've got to cut a million dollars out of the budget.' The president said, 'You know, you guys need to discuss this among yourselves. I'm just going to leave. You guys work it out.'

Well, I'm sitting around watching this, they came up with about a hundred thousand dollars in cuts, and all of them were out of the president's area that he supervised. Not a single thing out of anybody in that room. And I'm thinking. 'This is ridiculous. This is never going...' Because at that point I'm kind of working as a scribe writing down the dollars. And we get to a hundred thousand and it was just, maybe a hundred and twenty-five. And it wasn't very much. And I decided right there and then that this process will never get us there. We could never keep these people in the room long enough. And so we started looking at ever>' division and what could be cut and we brought in some consultants which was met with mixed blessings. John (The Vice-President of Finance) didn't hire them. The president and I hired them.. .The budget committee was given charge by the president to do this. He (the president) finally had to implement.. .he did take some heat for doing it. But he basically said, 'Well, the budget committee told me. I gave them the job to do it and this is what they came up with and I am going to agree with them.' 106

Peter's comments reveal how the budget cutting process began and the difficulties that were encountered by the senior level administrators early in the decision making process. The following questions and answers drawn from the interview transcripts expand on the way the budget cutting process was enacted at Two Kingdoms University.

Joe: Was there wide collaboration across the campus on this issue?

Peter: Well the budget committee had the responsibilitj' and in each area it worked a little differently. At that particular time, advancement was not represented on the budget committee, so they really felt they were disenfranchised. John and 1 were on from this division, the faculty had a representative, and there were a couple of academic administrators, deans that worked for Solomon. And they worked very collaboratively with her in getting the nominations. So they did an exemplary job under a ver>' trying situation, hanging together so to speak. So they didn't like it, what they had to do. But at least they did it together.

It was very nasty; it was just a nasty thing. I never want to go through it again. If I thought I was going to have to go through the same thing again, I'd begin looking for a job before I had to do it. Once you're in the middle of it you can't leave. I mean, then I would've felt like I was running out on the place. I really don't know what.. .The board would've had to step in and do something I believe, if I'd have left at that point.

Joe: What kind of involvement did you have from the board in all of this?

Peter: Very little. Joshua was able to make it appear we were doing what we had to do, because, we did make the cuts. We did deliver a balanced budget to the board and they saw we were doing what we needed to do.

Joe: Any involvement from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America? Peter: Nah.

Joe: Any of the bishops get involved?

Peter: No.

Joe: Any external constituencies?

Peter: Yeah, we had a few. If like the alumni office was going to be cut, the Alumni Association would get involved and they got involved on the 107

Advancement side more than anything else to protect the advancement side. That did happen a bit.

Joe: So they created a coalition to protect that?

Peter: Yeah, they didn't have a direct representative on the budget committee, but they had more important positions. They had this kind of constituency that they brought to bear on Joshua.

Joe: Now what kind of cuts were made in academic areas?

Peter: We cut, gosh, four, five, I'd say, full time positions that were becoming vacant. I mean, we didn't actually take any full-time professors and cut them. But as vacancies came available, they were frozen and not allowed to be filled. Aiid we actually did let five half-time faculty go that were, they weren't adjunct faculty, they were faculty with all faculty rank and everything else, but they were half time. Some schools have that sort of...and we had some of them. And they were all that. We had five of them and as a whole group they were let go. We have a lawsuit going on right now for unlawfiil termination.

Joe: So there's litigation involved?

Peter: With that particular one. As a result of that. It gets messy because of. of other extraneous things. They couldn't win the argument because there were so many other cuts. They made a claim of harassment, saying it was retaliation.^ We let the whole group of them go. So whether a jury will believe it or not.. .we just let the whole class go, of employees. That was the bloodiest part. We cut a bunch of capital stuff back.

Joe: Were athletics affected?

Peter: Oh, yeah. We cut about sixty or a hundred thousand out of athletics at the time.

Joe: Student Affairs?

Peter: Oh, Student Affairs has never recovered. We had a counseling center. The counseling center was basically decimated. So, it was really, I'd say that, this happened under this vice president that was later fired. He not only in my view created the problem, he ended up really killing the student life side. He was the Vice President of Enrollment and Student Life. Well, enrollment was where the problem was. So, he sure didn't take anything out of Enrollment. So, when he g This reference is to a classification of faculty that had been given rank but were not full time. 108

had to come up with a certain amount of cuts, he took them all out of Student Life. We still are not back. It will take us years to get back in the Student Life program.

Joe: When they let this person go from Enrollment Services, who filled that?

Peter: Actually, Solomon was assigned the Senior Enrollment Officer, when the Director of Admissions was brand new, stepped in. And actually that was our best year we've ever had...we went up over one hundred and twenty.

Solomon, the Vice President for Academic Affairs, commented on the effect of being asked to take on the expanded role of Provost.

1 would then have responsibility for developing and executing the enrollment plan in the university. I simply agreed to do that because we were clearly in crisis. 1 could not come up with an alternative, if I had I would have argued for that, but there was really no one on the horizon who could come in and the stakes were so high I just felt that I needed to give it everything 1 could.

As a result of the missed enrollment projections, the position of Vice President for

Enrollment Services and Student Life was split into two positions. The Director of

Admissions and the Vice President for Student Development were placed under the authority of Solomon, the Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost. James reports that Solomon, "went to school, hired two enrollment management consultants and had the eru-ollment back on target within one year."

Masterplanning

Hanging on the wall of Joshua's office is a striking, full color poster, beautifully framed that illustrates the campus master plan. During our interview Joshua points with pride to the master plan that has recently been approved by the public governing body that oversees the geographic region in which the college resides.

When asked who initiated the master planning process, John replied. 109

The university had gone through a master planning exercise under the former president and when the new president got here there were just all kinds of questions and there were some pieces that just really didn't function quite right. And so the president's questions, coupled with the board, and some new leadership on the board, I would have to say that it came from both.

Solomon reports that the master planning process was led by a board member,

(Name) who was then with (corporate name) chaired those meetings. He was the one who developed the time line and pushed it through. Joshua was a very active partner in that process.

When asked if faculty participated in the master plaiming process, Paul, a member of the faculty replies.

Yes and no. It's been largely an administrative vision, but there's been lots of opportunity for input and ideas. For instance, our Dean of the School of Education, and the people involved had heavy input into what is going into the new school of education and technology. It will be an extension of this building. I certainly had input into this building. I wrote a strong memo to the president...that we had discussed 160 square feet for offices. These offices have to be big enough to sit around tables. You have to make the offices big enough to make the faculty want to come to work. We are quite pleased that we got this much space. I feel good that he heard that.

Peter, the Chief Financial Officer describes another master plan decision maker and leader, "John (The Vice-President for Administrative Services) did that and he did it very well. I think it's a credit on how well he did that." When asked if the process was handled mostly through the vice-presidents, Peter observes, "No, it was pretty wide involvement. In fact, we were involved on many occasions...the major decision was. how many students are we going to design this for." When I asked where the decision regarding the number of students came from Peter does not know, but he believes Joshua was instrumental in determining that two thousand two hundred undergraduate students is the "right size for a small school." no

In describing decisions surrounding the master planning process. John reveals the ability of the institution to make political connections that allow the master plan proceed to more smoothly with the public governing body.

When the Matthew left because he got a corporate promotion, Ruth was the next board member to pick it up and that was a particularly positive move because Ruth was a former planning commissioner with the governing body and former Mayor. I've worked with her on the city council when I was Police Chief here so we had a good rapport. The master plan itself was almost four years in development.

The current discussion on the master plan is which buildings will be built first.

Luke, believes that the "The athletic facilities should be a priority." Faculty members want improved classroom facilities to replace very old structures. Joshua points to part of the master plan that sits across the highway from the administration building and says,

"this part of the campus will have housing for retired persons and adjacent to that will be the new athletic complex." During a later conversation, Joshua points out the location of the Education and Technology building that will be built adjacent to the recently completed Humanities building. "One of the changes that will occur is that the library and the chapel (that currently exist) will be the center of the campus. We will create a new entrance for the library that will open out toward the chapel to symbolize the integration of faith and learning." To move forward on the master plan, the university has initiated a $50,000,000 capital campaign to fund the continued expansion of the facilities.

The foregoing descriptions of the two decision making events that I tracked at

Two Kingdoms University during the research are discussed in the following sections related to the research focuses of theology, governance, academic capitalism and status Ill

seeking. The discussion under each heading is the result of my analysis of the interview

transcripts and document analysis.

Analysis

This section of presents my analysis of the findings related to the research questions that focus on the effects of theology, denominational politics, academic capitalism and status seeking behaviors. Theology is described to have little effect on the decisions, but is revealed to create a distinctive theological identity, a climate of tolerance and diversity and a Lutheran understanding of conflict. Denominational politics are observed in the way the governing board interfaces with the senior level administrators and delegates recruitment of regents to the office of the president. Finally in this section

I argue that academic capitalism and status seeking behavior are in evidence in these decision making processes.

Theology

What effects, if any, does theology have upon decision making by senior level administrators at private Christian liberal arts universities?

In this section I will detail why the analysis demonstrates that theology had very little effect on the decisions regarding the missed enrollment targets and the development of the master plan. I will provide a narrative that describes how identity acts as a powerful institutional and personal metaphor that establishes a context for decision making and acts as a socializing force for senior level administrators. Furthermore, I will demonstrate how Lutheran theology creates a climate of tolerance that allows and 112

protects diversity on campus. Finally, evidence of academic capitalism and status

seeking behaviors are presented.

The foregoing description of cutting $1,000,000 from the institutional operating

budget does not reveal any significant theological influence. The only potential religious

reference in the composite narrative is Peter's description of being a "scribe" in the early

budget cutting process. There are no data from the informants or the document analysis

that give any indication that theology was ever considered in any of the decisions related

to retrenchment that appeared to be the favored course of action during the budget crisis.

John indicates that, "staff positions suffered more than faculty positions. In fact, some

staff positions have not been restored yet, while all of the faculty positions have been

filled back in."

The only theological reference in the master planning process is Joshua's concept

of creating a new entrance to the library that opens toward the chapel to symbolize the

integration of faith and learning. Most of the considerations appear to be the ability to

accommodate a larger undergraduate student body, replace aging facilities, expand across

the highway for the development of senior generation housing and new and expanded

athletic facilities which sound more like secular status seeking and market behaviors.

The foregoing descriptions of the two events that describe how senior level

administrators made decisions within these events look and sound much like decision

making at secular institutions suggesting that theology may have little effect upon the actual decisions of senior level administrators. However, the data do suggest more subtle

ways that theology may effect senior level decision making. 113

Theology has an effect upon senior level decision making in an indirect way because it forms an institutional identity as described by Joshua and others. It appears that Lutheran theology exerts influence over senior level decision makers as a sorting mechanism that serves to socialize and professionalize individuals to the dominant

Lutheran value system.

Lutheran theology also establishes an institutional context and value for tolerance and diversity that is representative of Lutheran openness to ideas and practices that would be considered liberal' when compared to the practice and theology of Pneuma LFniversity.

When combined with a Lutheran concept of conflict, these ideas suggest that a third dimension system of Lutheran thinking and knowing may establish a decision making context that frames the choices for administrative decision makers.

Lutheran theology also appears to provide a context for dialogue and conflict that is both acknowledged and accepted within the institutional framework. Peter's reference to the departure of the president leaving the budget cutting meeting may be defined as the willingness to share authority by removing his formal power from the initial budget cutting process. In some ways, Joshua's willingness to share authority may even be viewed as pastoral. On the other hand, the references in the narrative regarding nastiness. the lawsuit and the allegation of retaliation make it unclear how influential theology may be in the foregoing decision making process.

9 The term "liberal" here is not used in a pejorative sense but as a contrast to conservative theology that proscribes a behavior that resists cultural adaptation. 114

Identity

It was a beautiful day on the campus of Two Kingdoms University. The golden summer sun shone brilliantly on the rolling hills. I was on campus for a contact visit with

Joshua, the president of Two Kingdoms University. My goal was to secure permission to conduct dissertation research at his university. During the course of our meeting while 1 described my research, methodology, and my other research site, Joshua said, "We are not evangelical. Even though we are affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in

America, you will not find the word 'evangelical' anywhere in our literature." I had just experienced my first encounter with a powerful system of belief at Two Kingdoms

University. After receiving assurance of his blessing upon my research at Two

Kingdoms University, I scheduled initial interviews with Solomon, the vice president of academics, and Melchizedek, the vice president for university advancement. During my first and second interviews with Melchizedek, he noted, "I find great comfort in the

Lutheran tradition of the faith...! am very uncomfortable in the evangelical situation.

Telling me how 1 need to think and telling me why I should do this and that...I'm not bom again.The comments of Melchizedek and Joshua reveal how these two senior level administrators differentiate their Lutheran theological tradition from contemporary evangelicalism. Their comments speak to a theme of a Lutheran identity that gives clues to the organization of bias at Two Kingdoms University.

Identity is a powerful metaphor that gives a person or an organization a location in a cultural and social context and delineates a set of boundaries. The identity of Two 115

Kingdoms University as described by Joshua and Meichizedek has a theological bias.

Joshua established a theological boundary for his institution by saying, "We are not evangelical." Meichizedek established a personal theological identity when he says. "1 find great comfort in the Lutheran tradition." Geertz (2000) calls language, "strings of speech embodying propositions" (p.354). Joshua and Meichizedek are offering a proposition to the interviewer about what it means to be Lutheran as an institution and as a person. The perspectives of these two senior level administrators provide clues to the way Lutheran theology may participate in mobilizing the bias of the organization.

From the decision making narrative on enrollment, theology may create an organizational bias in favor of remaining a small, private liberal arts institution, that is not focused on growth or evangelizing students. This bias may be viewed as one way for the institution to establish a unique identity that retains a Lutheran identity that would stand in contrast to the Pentecostal idea of evangelism that might be found at Pneuma

University.

A thematic analysis of the interview transcripts and the informants' vitas reveals a significant level of Lutheran identity among decision making participants and observers.

Table 4.1 on page 118 demonstrates the presence of Lutheran experience among the informants. The right four columns portray the individual's Lutheran experience as growing up in a Lutheran environment, the completion of a degree fi-om a Lutheran college and if the individual currently identifies themselves as worshipping in a Lutheran

Bom again is a phrase used by Jesus when speaking to Nicodemus in John 3:3. It is also a phrase that is used frequently in evangelical Christian taxonomy to describe salvation by faith in Jesus Christ. 116 church. The last column indicates the number of individuals who considered or

performed pastoral work as a vocation sometime in their life.

The significance of Table 4.1 is that all of these persons except the two members of the Board of Regents serve on the President's Cabinet. The President's Cabinet is identified in the Undergraduate Catalog as "the primary decision making body of the administration."" The President's Cabinet is a "sounding board" for the president and a channel to disseminate iiiformation to the campus community. According to Solomon, the cabinet "tends to be more of an information sharing forum. It's sometimes where issues get debated - arise and get debated and discussed, but then action takes place outside of that. I would say the decisions largely get made at the vice presidential level."

Of the ten informants who comprise the bulk of the president's cabinet, six of the ten described growing up in a Lutheran context, received at least one degree from a

Lutheran college and eight of ten informants currently worship with a Lutheran congregation. Two of the six in the President's Council who describe themselves presently as worshipping in a Lutheran congregation did not worship in a Lutheran congregation when they arrived at Two Kingdoms University. Barnabas self-identifies as a Methodist but worships in a Lutheran congregation. When all twelve informants are considered, eight of twelve describe growing up in a Lutheran context, receiving at least one degree from a Lutheran college and ten of twelve worship with a Lutheran congregation. The concentration of individuals with significant ties to Lutheranism among the informants is not surprising considering the affiliation of the institution with

" 1998-2000 Undergraduate Catalog, Two Kingdoms University. P. 130. 117

the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. However, the concentration of individuals

who self-identify with a Lutheran childhood, Lutheran higher education and as adults worshiping in a Lutheran setting supports the existence of an organization of bias that has at its core a Lutheran theological context.

TABLE 4.1

Lutheran Experience of the Informants at Two Kingdoms University

Name Position Decision Described 1 or more Self- Considered Making Lutheran degrees from Identifies as Pastoral Group Childhood a Lutheran Worshiping Work as Identity'" College Lutheran Vocation Joshua President 1,2,3 Yes Yes Yes Yes Solomon VP Acad. L2 No No Yes Yes Melchizedek VP Univ. 1,2 Yes Yes Yes Yes Advance. Peter VP 1,2 No No No No Admin. Services Barnabas VP 1,2 No No Yes Yes Student Affairs John Retiring 1,2 Yes Yes Yes No VP of Finance Stephen Campus 1 Yes Yes Yes Yes Pastor Paul Faculty 1,3 Yes Yes Yes Yes Chair Mark Faculty No No No Yes Lydia Dean Yes Yes Yes No

'• This column identifies the location of participants in three key decision making groups. Key for Decision Making Group Identity: I = President's Cabinet; 2 = President's Council; 3 = Board of Regents. Vice-presidents attend Board of Regents meetings but do not have voting privileges. 118

James Former 3 Yes Yes Yes No Chair Board of Regents Luke Secretary J Yes Yes Yes No Board of Regents

Furthermore, five of the six individuals in the President's Cabinet who had considered or performed pastoral vocations were Lutheran. Solomon, the sixth individual served several years in a Catholic convent and had taken vows as a Catholic Nun. The presence of the consideration of pastoral work as vocational option is significant because of the way pastoral work is valued in some Lutheran traditions according to the informants.

Although the President's Cabinet is identified in the Undergraduate Catalog as

"the primary decision making body of the administration."'^ none of the informants viewed the President's Cabinet as a formal decision making body. When asked why the

President's Cabinet was identified by the catalog as having such primary responsibility.

Solomon said, "It's probably been in the catalog that way for years." If information sharing and debate rather than decision making is the ftmction of the President's Cabinet, the value of the cabinet for mobilizing the theological organization of bias cannot not be overlooked. The ability of cabinet members to express opinion and debate issues that are informed by a significant theological heritage and experience provides the president with the means to observe how issues and decisions will play across the institution among a variety of internal and external constituencies. The role of the President's Cabinet may

Two Kingdoms University Undergraduate Catalog, 1998-2000. P. 130. 119 also describe an inherent political function of the President's Cabinet in the organizational structure.

Contrary to the statement in the 1998-2000 Undergraduate Catalog, formal decision making is located in the President's Council comprised of the president, the vice presidents and Peter, the Chief Financial Officer.The President's Council is scheduled to be convened by Joshua t^\ice a month. During the months that I conducted inter\'iews at Two Kingdoms University, the group of vice presidents was in flux. John, the VP for

Administrative Services, announced his retirement and Peter, the Chief Financial Officer, was promoted to replace John. Barnabas, the VP for Student Development, reported to

Solomon, the Provost and VP for Academic Affairs, but was still included in the

President's Council. The unexpected consequence of one VP reporting to another VP was to limit the voice of the subordinate VP. However during my time at Two Kingdoms

University consideration was being given to promoting Barnabas to begin reporting directly to the president.

The organization of bias is demonstrated by the dominance of Lutheran theology and experience among the President's Council. Three of the six members grew up in a

Lutheran context, and received at least one degree from a Lutheran college. Five of the six council participants worship with a Lutheran congregation and four of the six had considered pastoral work as a vocation'^.

'•* As of the date of this writing Peter has been promoted to Vice president for flnancial services reducing the number of participants in the President's council by one because of the retirement of John the Vice president for finance. ^ Several informants of Lutheran background indicated the desire of parents for their child to be a pastor. This position seems to have significant status especially in the more ethnically oriented Lutheran groups. Some of these individuals had served in a formal pastoral role. 120

Importantly, the formal decision making body of the President's Council demonstrates an interesting theological heterogeneity having three individuals who grew up'^ Lutheran, one who grew up Catholic, one who grew up evangelical and one who grew up without a significant church influence. However, five of the six currently identify themselves as worshipping in a Lutheran congregation. The smaller the group of decision makers, the more concentrated the number of persons who self-identify as

Lutheran. It is evident in Table 4.1 that a Lutheran theological heritage or experience is one factor that is held in common by a dominant number of people in both the Cabinet and the Council. At the Council level, as at the Cabinet level, Lutheran theology may be a significant mobilizing force in the organization of bias at Two Kingdoms University.

When 1 observe decision making at Two Kingdoms as an informal process, the percentage of decision makers having a background of Lutheran theology and experience is more significant. When asked to identify the vice presidents with the greatest influence in the institution, most informants perceived Solomon and Melchizedek to be the most influential. One informant observed that Solomon and Melchizedek formed the inner circle with the president; next came John and Peter with a little less influence with

Barnabas being the least influential among the President's Council. A second informant attributed the significance of Solomon and Melchizedek's influence to their oversight of the two largest university revenue sources, tuition and gifts. Two Kingdoms may be like many secular privates; prestige is linked to the size of the purse controlled by the vice- president.

The use of "grew up" is defined to mean living as a child in a family that adhered to a specific theology.. Table 4.1 reveals that all three members of the informal inner circle of decision

makers worship in a Lutheran congregation and two of the three were raised families that

adhered to Lutheran theology and practice. The potential for the influence of Lutheran

theology in the core informal decision making group is heightened by the concentration

of individuals sympathetic to Lutheran theology who have oversight of both revenues and

decision making. The potential depth of Lutheran identity for Joshua and Melchizedek is

also heightened by their socialization and professionali2:ation into Lutheran theology and

meritocracy, as they were both raised as Lutherans, educated as Lutherans and employed

in Lutheran causes and organizations.'^ Even Solomon, who was raised Catholic,

schooled Catholic and spent significant time in a convent, has been part of the

organizational fabric of Two Kingdoms for over twenty-seven years self-identifies as a

Lutheran.

Although this research cannot demonstrate the degree to which Lutheran theology

directly dictates decision making, the location of Lutheran theology and practice among

the three most powerful decision makers is significant in maintaining a Lutheran

influence over the organization of bias at Two Kingdoms University. It appears that

Lutheran theology exerts influence over senior level decision makers as a sorting

mechanism that serves to socialize and professionalize individuals to the dominant

Lutheran value system. The following section reveals how Lutheran theology acts to create a climate of tolerance and diversity in the university.

Joshua serves on several significant ELCA boards outside of Two Kingdoms University. 122

Tolerance and Diversity

Joshua's identification of Two Kingdoms University as being something other than evangelical reflects the ability of Lutherans to perceive themselves as being diverse and tolerant. Joshua notes how Lutherans attach a different meaning to "evangelical".

Religious historians and historians of the church in America, when they use the term evangelical are referring to bodies and expressions that differ from Lutheranism. Certainly the Lutheran church sees itself as evangelizing within the world in the name of the church. It's in much of our church talk as well, but I think there is a difference between a soft evangelism and hard evangelism.. .but it isn't a scruff of the neck kind of conversion process either as a church or a university.

The proposition in Joshua's formulation of "evangelical" is that Lutherans are not coercive in their evangelicalism.'® Several times informants referred to Luther's doctrine of the Two Kingdoms which describes the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the world, pictured from time to time as the kingdom of Heaven and the kingdom of the secular. Luther taught that a Christian should live in the world as a person of God but not seek to change the structure of the world. The presence of God observed in a person's life was to be the presentation of the Gospel to other persons. As Godly persons served the world through their vocation, the structure of the kingdom of the world would be changed. Since both kingdoms were under the authority of God, even the secular authorities were subject to God's rule; therefore it was not necessary to work to change the governmental structures (Althaus, 1966; Hertz, 1976; Solberg, 1997). It is out of this type of systematic Lutheran theology that Joshua can speak of a "soft evangelism." The

See George Marsden. (1991). Understanding fundamentalism and evangelicalism. W. B. Eerdmans. Grand Rapids, Ml. for a complete discussion on how the term "evangelical" has a different meaning for Lutherans than contemporary American Evangelicals. Joshua's characterization aligns with Marsden's description and definition. 123

Lutheran theology of Two Kingdoms and their avoidance of "hard evangelism" make it possible for Lutlierans to accept difference among others rather than seek to change others.

Joshua's previous comment about opening a new library entrance to face the campus chapel to uplift the idea of integrating faith and learning is further enhanced by the Lutheran value of tolerance and diversity. The current undergraduate enrollment reveals that Lutheran students comprise twenty-three percent of the student body. Roman

Catholics twenty-one percent, other Protestant traditions twenty-five percent and twenty- seven percent of the student body have no religious affiliation.Lutheran tolerance and diversity combined with a "soft evangelism" makes it possible for Two Kingdoms to be host to a theologically diverse student body for the integration of faith and learning.

A second result of Lutheran tolerance and diversity is an ability to be tolerant of other theological perspectives and life experiences. The Lutheran practice of tolerance is demonstrated by the ability of the Stephen, the campus pastor, to invite a local gay and lesbian task force on campus, the ability of Two Kingdoms University to include

Muslims and agnostics on the faculty, and allow theological diversity among the two official decision making bodies on campus.

The presence of Peter and Barnabas, the two vice presidents who have limited or no background in Lutheranism, on the President's Council is another example of Lutheran tolerance for diversity. Although they are not on the inner circle, the presence of two non- Lutherans may allow Lutherans to cite them as an example of theological diversity

" Two Kingdoms University website March, 2000. 124 among the senior level administrators. Peter is a conservative evangelical, and Barnabas self-identifies as a Methodist but has been worshipping in a Lutheran congregation since arriving at the university. Peter's recent promotion to Vice-President for Administrative

Services combines the post of Chief Financial Officer with the position formerly filled by

John, the retiring Vice-President for Finance, and demonstrates Joshua's willingness to seek expertise outside of Lutheran experience.

The Lutheran tolerance of diverse views and the theological heterogeneity of the vice-presidential council can be a source of latent conflict. The informants interviewed who were not Lutheran each expressed a desire for a theological expression in the campus community other than the status quo. Even though the dominant theological mobilization of bias within Two Kingdoms University may allow for the voice of theological diversity, the historical theology of Luther's Two Kingdoms and the non­ coercive evangelical perspective embodied by the president and others may provide sufficient resistance to the voices for desired change.

The mission statement for Two Kingdoms University underscores a Lutheran identity by stating, "Two Kingdoms University is a diverse scholarly community dedicated to excellence in the liberal arts and professional studies. Rooted in the

Lutheran tradition of Christian faith, the University encourages critical inquiry into both matters of faith and reason. The mission of the University is to educate leaders for a global society who are strong in character and judgment, confident in their identity and vocation, and committed to service and justice."^®

Mission Statement cited in the Two Kingdoms University 1998 President's Report. P.I. 125

Within the mission statement there is the idea of integrating faith and learning that is also evident in the master planning concept of symbolizing faith and learning by creating a spatial link between the campus chapel and the library. Theology seems to have some influence by creating a link between the master plan and mission statement, the chapel and the library, and faculty and student.

It is important to note in the mission statement that the Lutheran tradition of the

Christian faith is connected to the encouragement of critical inquiry. The proposition of the mission statement is that being Lutheran is to have permission to ask critical questions. Lydia, dean of one of the colleges, said, "It's part of the Lutheran theological tradition to debate and dialogue...as we say, feel free to question matters of faith as you struggle with those issues...Luther himself was ver>' conflicted... if you read any of his works, they were written by a man who struggled his whole life, with his faith, with commitments." Lydia's comment is typical of the connection other informants made between the contemporary freedom to question matters of faith to the historical Luther's questioning of the sale of indulgences by the Catholic Church. Luther's resistance, debate, and separation from the Catholic Church is a metaphor used to legitimate the contemporary practice of critical inquiry at the institution.

An example of the way Lutheran theology may enhance diversity and tolerance is in the openness to different theological perspectives on the faculty. Mark is a conservative evangelical who sponsored bringing a prominent evangelical speaker to campus. Theological heterogeneity among the faculty is evidenced by the presence of

Muslims and agnostics. The hiring of a theologically diverse faculty is the choice of the 126 administration that resists pressure from pastors, congregations and some groups of students to limit theological diversity among faculty. According to Paul, the Faculty

Chair and Chair of the religion department, different theological perspectives are welcome. One informant^' indicated that 10-15% of the faculty would describe themselves as agnostic, meaning, "people who do not have an active or ongoing live relationship with a church or with Christian faith." The informant further observed,

"there is room for searching agnostics...who show reverence and wonder about life, the teaching task and the mysteries of God."

Tolerance and diversity is a significant value for Stephen, the Campus Pastor. As

Campus Pastor, Stephen is listed on the University website and in official documents as part of the President's Office, and he participates in the advisory group, the President's

Cabinet. The location of the Campus Pastor's office under the President's Office in the organii^ational chart may act to legitimate the program of the campus pastor and to provide organizational protection for the programs of the campus pastor. When asked if the president consults him on decisions Stephen said, "Not very often." Stephen's self described values of inclusion and freedom of inquiry prompted his decision to schedule a gay and lesbian task force to come to campus and dialogue with the campus community on issues related to homosexuality. Stephen's role as the campus pastor who conducts campus chapel services makes it possible for his theology to be influential within the campus community.

•' This informant requested anonymity regarding these quotes. 127

The Lutheran understanding of tolerance and diversity finds expression in

Stephen's understanding of salvation. When asked what salvation means Stephen said, "I think God will find a way to save all." Stephen wants to see everyone included in the

Kingdom of God. One result of Stephen's theology of salvation is an ability to accept and encourage a wide range of perspectives and dialogue in the spiritual program of the

University.

The foregoing examples support the historical Lutheran tradition of questioning matters of faith and make it possible for the university to have a historical theological basis to legitimate pushing the boundaries of faith and practice. Stephen's sponsorship of the gay and lesbian task force can be identified as pushing the boundaries because of the resistance Stephen encountered from some student groups and the calls he received from

Lutheran pastors calling to express their objections to the presence of the task force and questioning the propriety of having such dialogue. The Lutheran pastors' objections came even though the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has a statement expecting

Lutheran ministers who see themselves as homosexuals to remain celibate. The existence of policy statements in official organizational proclamations do not always represent the ideological boundaries of organizational sub-groups. The existence of conflict or resistance may identify where the informal boundaries are on the organizational landscape.

According to Lukes' (1974) definition of the third dimension of decision making, theology may be a social force because, in this case study, its genesis lies beyond the history and structure of Two Kingdoms University. Theology may become an 128

institutional practice when Lutheran theology is used to legitimate an institutional

decision such as the sponsorship of a gay and lesbian task force, is flexible enough to

tolerate divergent theological views among faculty, allow for the presentation of evangelical speakers on campus and the role of Peter, a conservative evangelical, to play a role in the budget deliberations.

The previous two sections on identity and tolerance and diversity have demonstrated two ways theology has an indirect impact upon the decisions of senior level administrators at Two Kingdoms University. The following section on conflict describes how Lutheran theology acts to establish acceptable forms of conflict at Two Kingdoms.

Conflict

Examples of conflict can be found across the organizational landscape of Two

Kingdoms University. In this section 1 will provide a background for conflict among

Lutherans in general and review descriptions of conflict that emerged from the data analysis that relate to the two themes of identity and tolerance and diversity.

Conflict is given a central place in histories of Lutheran theological development.^" The historical accounts of Lutheran conflicts create personal meaning for several of the informants in this case study. Two Kingdoms University seems to have a definitive style of conflict. The theme of conflict that I use in my analysis of the accumulated data is important because Lukes (1974) suggests that how conflict is

~~ See Greengrass, M. (1998). The Longman companion to the European Reformation. Addision, Wesley and Longman, Ltd. Harlow, Essex, UK. for a time line that describes the varieties of conflict Martin Luther engaged in during his conflict with the Roman Catholic Church. 129 conducted in the organization can provide clues to the mobilization of the organization of bias.

Lydia, Stephen and Paul all commented on the historical tradition of conflict in

Lutheranism. The most fi-equently cited example was Martin Luther's posting of his

Ninety Nine Theses on the door of Wittenburg Chapel and the growth of the conflict between Luther and Roman Catholic authorities. With nearly five hundred years of

Lutheran theology and church history to draw upon. Lutherans are used to conflict.

Lydia suggests, it is expected. However, it would be a misrepresentation to suggest that

Lutherans seek conflict.

One of the most remarkable demonstrations of conflict and coexistence is the development of over 128 Lutheran church bodies in the world (Lutheran World

Federation, Online). In the late 1980's the merging of three prominent American

Lutheran bodies forged the Evangelical Church in America. However, the Lutheran

Church Missouri Synod withdrew from one of the merging bodies and did not participate in the merger. An example of the effects of the broader conflict among the church bodies is found in the experience of Lydia and her husband who left the Lutheran Church

Missouri Synod for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America during a period she characterized as a "purging of the radicals... we did not want to be part of the right wing agenda."

Because conflict is part of the historical heritage of Lutherans, its presence in

Lutheran organizations does not produce surprise among Lutherans. While Lutherans may not seek conflict there is no theological basis in Lutheranism to avoid it. Examples 130 of conflict include the conflict of competing needs between units in the budget cutting

process, and the threats of lawsuits. Conflict can be observed in the master plaiming process with different opinions over which facilities should be built first.

Because of the Lutheran theological identity that has been described as a non­ coercive evangelical perspective, the president's defmition of evangelical creates an institutional practice that gives rise to latent forms of resistance. Because of the Lutheran resistance to what they believe to be coercive evangelism, some students are disappointed with what they perceive to be a limited variety of spiritual expression on campus. Joshua describes the existence of a spiritual perspective that is different from the institutional practice,

I was with a group of students last night at the chapel who are inviting people to tell their faith stories. There were a number of students who really came expecting Two Kingdoms to be more of what we think of as a Bible college and for us to inculcate and profess and christianize the unbelievers on this campus. That's not the kind of institution this is. I tend to regard TKU as an expression of the Lutheran church in higher education and a gift to the community. We have to manifest and express - to live out the theology and heritage of our church in this place in a way that reflects and preserves the integrity of that tradition and is also inviting for others who may wish to join it. but we don't proselytize.

Joshua's statement describes how the social force of Lutheran theology and institutional practice act in concert to mobilize the organization of bias in the way that the university will conduct official spiritual practice. There is. however, evidence of latent forms of conflict and resistance to this mobilization of organizational bias. Many students choose not to participate in the chapel services sponsored by Stephen, the campus pastor.

Students who seek a contemporary- evangelical spiritual setting will leave campus and participate in a local very large Calvary Chapel congregation. Another demonstration of 131 latent conflict is to sponsor campus speakers who come from a contemporary evangelical tradition. In this setting of the organizational bias, the institution chooses to be Lutheran which some may interpret as limiting choices of institutionally sponsored spiritual activity to students. However, Joshua understands the limitation as being consistent with

Lutheran tradition and practice.

An additional example of conflict arises out of the Lutheran tradition of tolerance and diversity and the tradition of questioning issues of faith. Stephen's decision to create dialogue on homosexual issues among campus constituents by inviting a gay and lesbian task force to campus created conflict for at least two sets of constituents. Some students with a conservative evangelical theology were upset and protested the presence of the task force. Some Lutheran pastors called Stephen and complained that the church university should not be involved in promoting the homosexual lifestyle or agenda.

Stephen, however, viewed the presence of the task force as an expression of Lutheran tolerance and diversity and a way to foster dialogue and questioning of matters of faith that is so valued by Lutherans.

A similar issue in 1990 occurred when a campus resource center sponsored a wide range of workshops including ones on lesbianism and abortion. The event received unfavorable publicity and pressure from nearby congregations. The president in office at the time of the incident issued a statement stating that the administration did not become involved in issues of academic freedom and welcomed the expression of all points of view, thereby legitimating the tolerance and diversity given expression on campus

(Swanson and Wold, 1997). 132

The two preceding examples demonstrate how Lutheran theology is expressed through tolerance and diversity. They also indicate that tolerance and diversity give senior level decision makers flexibility in responding to controversial issues on campus.

A third example of conflict can be seen in the decision making style of the president. At Two Kingdoms University, decision making conflict is expressed in latent ways. Describing his leadership style. Joshua says, "I like to be a peacemaker." Creating dialogue among various participants is a favored approach to resolving a problem rather than confrontation. Joshua acknowledges that his approach to decision making can prolong the process. He used a difficult personnel decision as an example:

I like to be a peacemaker...it's difficult for me to confront people...and it was more complicated because I had hired him to begin with...there are probably other personnel actions also that took too long and there might be some 1 haven't taken yet that really would be for the benefit of the university. To some extent I rationalize it by thinking of the benefits of continuity and steady sailing forward without turbulence, but sometimes you do have to rebalance the ship.

Several informants characterized Joshua as a "peacemaker" or as avoiding conflict. One informant believed Joshua departure from the budget cutting meeting was a way for Joshua to avoid conflict. However, Joshua's desire to be a peacemaker results in his willingness to hear several voices on an issue. It may cause him to ask a vice president to reconsider a decision, might prolong the process of a decision and may even cause frustration among his vice presidents.

When viewed through the lens of theology, one could suggest that Joshua desire to seek peace fiilfills a pastoral role of caring for competing needs among a wide range of personalities. According to some informants, the decision making envirormient prompts 1-^

the development of strategies among senior level administrators to act. These strategies

become latent forms of conflict because they seek to circumvent the decision making

environment. These strategies may include creating ways to keep some decisions from

moving to the president's office or prompt the vice presidents to create a base of support

among themselves. I found no desire or data to suggest collusion by the informants to

undermine the president in his office. When asked what principles the informants used to

make decisions in their institutional positions the most frequently heard theme was

"doing what's best for the institution." For the informants doing what is best for the

institution sometimes means creating decision making strategies that do not engage the

president's peacemaking style of decision making.

The themes of Lutheran identity, tolerance and diversity and conflict among senior level administrators provide a contextual framework for examining senior level decision making at Two Kingdoms University. While Lutheran theology may provide a means for the socialization and professionalization of senior level administrators and tolerance and diversity may play a role in the acceptance of diverse lifestyle choices and conflict makes it possible for administrators to use different interpersonal skills, there is little direct evidence that Lutheran theology came to play during the budget cutting process or the master planning process.

Denominational Governance

This section describes how denominational influence and politics effect decision making over senior level administrators in response to research question three: what 134 effects, if any, does denominational governance have on decision making by senior level administrators at Christian universities?

For the thematic analysis of this question, I defined denominational governance as any organized body or structure related to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America that was external to the organizational structure of Two Kingdoms University. By using

Mintzberg's (1983) definition of external, I determined that such organizations could include the Board of Regents, congregations, synod offices, the ELC A national office, the officers of Region 2 of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Denominational governance is examined through the formal structure of university governance as outlined in the corporate bylaws, the location of decision making power in the corporate structure, the prominence of ofHcial ELCA representatives, the presence of clergy on the board, the way persons are placed on the nominating ballot for the Board of Regents and the ineffectiveness of congregational disagreement with the decision to invite a gay and lesbian task force to the campus.

Finally, the effect of denominational governance upon the decision making of senior level administrators is viewed through the decision making surrounding the missed enrollment targets and master plarming discussed earlier in this chapter.

The Bylaws of Two Kingdoms University^ reveal a governing structure that is pictured in Figure 4.1. The University Convocation is comprised of 100 members who

•J « meet annually" and is formed with 16 members from each of the five synods of Region

Bylaws of Two Kingdoms University. Revised 2/27/96. These were provided by the Office of the President. Members of the convocation with the exception of students serve three-year terms. Students serve one year terms. There is no limit on consecutive terms. 135

II of the ELCA, 10 members including the University President with others selected at large, 3 student representatives selected by the student government and 7 full-time faculty members selected by the full-time faculty. The authority of the University Convocation includes serving as the members of the corporation, approving the sale of the corporate assets, approving a merger or consolidation of the Corporation and electing by a majority vote the Board of Regents.

Governing Structure of Two Kingdoms University

The University Convocation

Board of Regents

President of the University

Vice-Presidents

FIGURE 4.1

The Board of Regents has thirty-four members, meets three times per year, and is elected by the University Convocation."^ The Bylaws mandate that no less than 60% of the Board will be individual members from the five Synods of Region II, including the

Bishop designated by the Bishops of Region II and the President of the Women's

Organization. The remaining 40% is composed of the president and individuals selected at large as persons notably contributing to the purposes and advancement of the university. Included in this 40% are five members from within the university including 136 the Chairperson of the Faculty, the President of the Associated Students of Two

Kingdoms University, the Chairperson of the Convocation, one Alumni representative and the President of the University.

One of the ways the Board of Regents exercises power over senior level administrators is through the By-laws that gives Regents the legal and formal power to elect the president who serves as the chief executive officer of the corporation.

Furthermore, under the Bylaws, the vice-presidents, faculty and staff may be hired by the president subject to the approval of the Board.

The group known as the "Convocators" is the formal membership of the corporation. It is interesting to note that eighty percent of the membership of the

Convocation is vested in the five Synods that comprise Region II of the Evangelical

Church In America. This may seem to represent a significant church presence, however, as we will see later, the effect of the church representatives may be mitigated by the way names are placed on the nominating ballot for the Board of Regents. The election by the

Synods of convocators may dilute the influence of the Synods over the university because the Synods do not elect members directly to the Board of Regents. Therefore, the Synods may effectively be distanced from the formal decision making authority vested in the

Board of Regents and even further from the decision making practices of the senior level administrators. Functionally, the business of the Convocators is to meet annually to receive reports from the Board of Regents and to elect by majority vote the Board of

Regents. The greatest power exercised by the Convocators is in the election of the Board

10% of the membership of the convocators and the regents are to be persons of color and/or persons 137

of Regents. The Convocators are not authorized in the Bylaws to conduct any other

business of the corporation nor is the Convocation empowered to remove any member of

the Board of Regents. Consequently, the formal decision making power for the

university lies with the Board of Regents, which in turn delegates the authority to operate

the university to the President of the university. The delegation of formal authority to the

president is a means for the Board of Regents to influence senior level administrative

decision making at Two Kingdoms University.

Analysis of the Bylaws reveals that a smaller percentage (60%) of Lutherans are

required to be members of the Board of Regents than is required for the University

Convocation, which requires eighty percent Lutheran membership. The smaller number

of Lutherans required to be members of the Board of Regents allows the Board to have a

larger number of non-Lutheran members closer to the place of decision making and in the election of the president. Consequently, the presence of a significant number of non-

Lutherans may act to reduce the effect of the Lutheran church upon senior level

administrative decision making at the university. According to Mintzberg (1983), the election of the president or chief executive officer is the greatest exercise of power board of directors has.

The Bylaws require that the president of the university be elected by a two-thirds

majority of the board plus the Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America."^

The Bylaws give the Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America a vote which

whose primary language is other than English. The Bishop of the Evangelical Church in America is the highest elected office in the denomination and oversees the entire range of ministries for the ELCA. According to the informants he has an open 138 may be interpreted as a channel to participate in the dialogue about appropriate candidates for president. The Bylaws state, "The President of the University shall be a person with demonstrated experience in higher education and the work of the church and shall usually be a member of the Lutheran Church."^' The wording allows for the possibility that a president may not be a member of the Lutheran Church. The wording may allow for the possibility that the president may be a member of a Lutheran church body other than the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Official representatives for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America include one Bishop out of the five Bishops that preside over the five Synods of Region II and one

President of the out of the five presidents of Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America from each Synod. The list of Regents" does not list any individual servmg as the pastor of a congregation. Regarding the current Board of Regents. Joshua said, "We now have one pastor on the board because we made a concerted effort to recruit a pastor."

The lack of clergy and the lack of a consistent representative from the five Synods of

Region II limit the influence of the larger Lutheran church body in the determination of a presidential election and reduces the influence of the Lutheran church body over the approval of vice-presidents and their decision making processes.

Another way the influence of the board is minimized is that nominees for the

Board of Regents are recruited, screened, and placed in nomination to the University

invitation to the board meetings but is rarely able to attend. The Bylaws do not provide a formal position for the Bishop except in the election of the university president. Bylaws of Two Kingdoms University. Revised 2/26/96. Article V Section 2.a. 1998-2000 Undergraduate Catalog Two Kingdoms University, p. 130-131. The list represents the membership of the Regents at the time of printing and does not necessarily indicate an accurate list of current members. 139

Convocation. Melchizedek indicated that he and the president were responsible for identifying and recruiting about seventy percent of the current board members. Joshua has established an Advisory Council of professionals that represents several religious groups that he hopes will be a source of nominees to the Board of Regents. According to the informants, the nominating committee of the University Convocation generally accepts the names of potential members for the Board of Regents from the president and places them in nomination before the Convocators for election. The current practice indicates that the University Convocation trusts Joshua and Melchizedek with the responsibility to select potential Regents and has effectively delegated a significant source of decision making power to the employees of the university.

Stephen's decision to sponsor a gay and lesbian task force on campus and the resource center's sponsorship of workshops that included lesbian and abortion gives insight into the influence of denominational influence over the decision making of senior level administrators. When the word spread across the campus and the five Synods that the university was sponsoring the event, Stephen reports he received calls from pastors criticizing him for sponsoring such an event. The criticism of the event is mitigated by the fact that the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has an ongoing dialogue on the issue of homosexuality and promotes the idea that local congregations should also be open and accepting of homosexuals among their fellowship. When the president of the university issued a statement supporting the presence of the resource center's worship the effect was to dilute the criticism of the pastors rendering the opposition of some congregations ineffective (Swanson and Wold, 1997). The document analysis of the 140

governance structure at Two Kingdoms University reinforces the degree of latitude the

president has been granted by the governing board in dealing with issues on campus and

minimizing the role of the board in campus issues. This is further evidenced in the

following discussion on the effect of denominational governance on the two decision

making events that were described at the beginning of this chapter.

The previously discussed issue of the missed enrollment targets and the resulting budget cuts indicate the degree to which the president has the latitude to oversee the operation of the institution. The following comment during my interview with Peter describes his view of the minimal role of the Board or Regents in the budget cuts that became necessary.

Joe: What kind of involvement did you have from the board in all of this?

Peter: Very little. Joshua was able to make it appear we were doing what we had to do, because, we did make the cuts. We did deliver a balanced budget to the board and they saw we were doing what we needed to do.

The only mention of board involvement by Peter was when some board members came to the defense of the Advancement office. However, James, the former board chair, reported, "Administration and Finance (board committee) cut the budget." The interview data indicates that the Administration and Finance committee of the board was involved to some degree in the budget cutting process, but that the political activity of the board in the process occurred when committees intervened to protect the financial turf related to their area of interest. The creation of a coalition between the external Board of Regents committee and the internally located advancement office indicates a willingness for senior level administrators to acquire political power when necessary. However, Peter's 141 passing comment about the involvement of the board committee leads me to believe that the role of the board committee was viewed by the administration as expected and was not perceived to be intrusive. In effect, the board allowed the senior level administrators to manage the budget crisis in the way that was determined prudent by the senior level administrators. While the political activity of the board may have been muted during the budget cutting process, the following description of the board's role in the development of the master plan indicates a different level of board influence over senior level decision making.

The master planning process demonstrates a greater degree of political activity in the university's ability to acquire individuals with corporate experience to lead the master planning process and individuals with political connections with the public governing body that would ultimately approve the master plan. John's pre-e.xisting relationship with the former mayor and planning commission member allows the institution access to the network of public politicians that would ultimately approve the institution's plan. This political activity indicates the use of the externally located governing board to acquire power with the public governing body.

In summary, the fact that Synods elect convocators and not Regents, the minimal presence of official representatives of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the lack of a significant presence of pastors, the willingness of the University Convocation to delegate informal nominating ability to the president and the vice-president for advancement, the inability of the congregations to form an effective coalition to influence the gay and lesbian task force event and the apparent lack of involvement by the Regents 142 in a time of fiscal crisis indicate that denominational governance may have a minimal effect upon the decision making of senior level administrators at Two Kingdoms

University. In contrast to the minimal influence of denominational governance, the systems of status seeking and academic capitalism that follow are shown to have a significant effect upon senior level administrative decision making.

Status Seeking and Academic Capitalism

The following section will describe the evidence and effects of status seeking and academic capitalism upon decision making upon senior level administrators at Two

Kingdoms University. Each of these systems of ideology are discussed under their own sub-section.

Status Seeking

Trow (1984) has identified status seeking behavior as any behavior by institutions to improve prestige and status to move from one level of the higher education hierarchy to another. Reisman (1958) observed that institutions of higher education follow elite institutions in a snakelike procession that mimics whatever the head (elites) are doing in an attempt to overcome the hierarchical nature of higher education. This is consistent with behavior at Two Kingdoms University.

Over the last ten years Two Kingdoms University has moved to university status and moved from the National Intercollegiate Athletic Association to the National College

Athletic Association. Solomon spearheaded the effort to spend $3.5 million dollars improving the technological capability of the campus through the installation of TKU.net 143 and fiber optic cable to network the campus said, "We're able to attract more...we'll be a showcase for leadership around technology and education - it's hot!"

Other indicators of status seeking behavior are the publicity documents produced by the institution to give a preferred picture of the university. The President's Report for

1998 states, "The vision of Two Kingdoms University is to become a truly outstanding university in our geographic region - known for the excellence and value of its academic programs."'^ The brochure lays out the institutional strategic plan and how progress is being made on each point including, the hiring of "distinguished faculty" to fill two endowed chairs, the creation and implementation of a multi-media program, "positioning

TKU as one of the first institutions in the country to offer a comprehensive multimedia major." The third point of the strategic plan is to "Sharpen the image and expand the recognition of TFCU."^" The first bullet under this section of the strategic plan highlights the university's ranking by a national publication in the "First tier" of regional universities for the fourth consecutive year.

The foregoing evidence supports the presence of status seeking behavior in the decision making of senior level administrators as they determine to do "what's best for the institution" by making decisions such as master planning to keep the institution viable in the competitive marketplace. The institutional efforts and awareness of competitive behavior gives rise to academic capitalism.

•>9 Two Kingdoms University 1998 President's Report. P. 1 Two Kingdoms University 1998 President's Report. P.3 144

Academic Capitalism

Slaughter and Leslie (1997) observe that "academic capitalism deals with market and market like behaviors on the part of universities and faculty. Market like behaviors refer to institutional and faculty competition for money" (p.l 1). Market behavior is defmed as any institutional behavior that indicates that the institution is responding to the marketplace of higher education to remain competitive with other institutions. These behaviors indicate the institution is competing for revenue in the form of tuition, gift revenue, grant funding for research and development as well as the creation of strategic alliances with businesses that may be seen by administrators as having some future benefit to the institution. Sometimes market behavior forces the academic institution to become entrepreneurial to strengthen its financial, academic or institutional position.

James, the former chair of the board, indicated that the board perceived the problem with missed enrollment targets to be a marketing problem. In the board's view the presence of a population necessary to meet enrollment targets because the institution didn't market effectively indicates an orientation toward market behavior in seeking a solution.

Another indication of market behavior is the development of a new masterplan under Joshua's leadership. The process of developing the masterplan was led by a

Regent who had significant corporate experience in the master planning process.

According to Peter, the central question in the master planning process was how many students should the facilities of a completed master plan accommodate. Ultimately it was determined that the facility should have a capacity of 2200 undergraduate students. The first building of the new masterplan is complete and a capital campaign in excess of 145

$50,000,000 was initiated to raise the funds necessary to build the additional new

facilities. Some of the new facilities will replace aging infrastructure and some of will

expand the campus across the highway and eventually include an area for retired

individuals. The master planning process was also a significant political event because it

took a lengthy period of time to receive approval from the city in which the university is

located. University personnel built significant relationships within the community

political structure to assist with the city's adoption of the masterplan.

During my research it was clear fi*om interview transcripts and the corporate

bylaws that the institution is interested in recruiting members to the Board of Regents who can help the university in notable ways^'. Melchizedek observed that, "The president and I identify potential board members." Joshua concurred.

The board, or however, the senior administration, myself, Melchizedek. the vice- presidents and other board members are taking more responsibility in identifying prospective regents, cultivating them and then presenting a recommended slate to the nominating committee of the Convocation.

Melchizedek's role in the identifying and nominating process may be due to the prestige attached to the perceived control of an external revenue source through fund raising and development activity which is similar to the establishment of prestige at secular private intitutions.

Notable contributions may include significant financial contributions or opening the door to relationships that contribute to the purposes and advancement of the university. Joshua's development of a President's Advisory Council of high level business persons is one way that relationships are created that can be of benefit to the 146 university. "The President's Advisory Council is really quite inter-religious. We have as many strong Catholics and Jesuits as Lutherans on that group, and I see that more and more as a feeder also for our board of regents."

A further indication of academic capitalism is seen in Table 4.3 that groups

Regents by the types of positions listed under their names in the Undergraduate

Catalog^^. Corporate positions include individuals who own businesses or were listed with significant rank in a public corporation. Professional positions are defined as positions of influence such as doctors, attorneys, and educational administrators.

"Professional volunteers" was the description used to describe two individuals in the listing of regents. The third person's descriptor was "volunteer fundraiser." ELCA representatives were individuals who are members of the Board of Regents because of their official responsibilities within the denomination. These individuals are considered ex-officio members of the board. University representatives include the chair of the faculty and the student body president who both serve limited terms. This category does not include the president of the university because he is an ex officio member of the board and his term of office is not limited.

Two Kingdoms University Corporate By-laws. Article IV Section 4 (c). Revised 2/27/96 Two Kingdoms University Undergraduate Catalog, 1998-2000. P.13I-32. 147

TABLE 4.2

Affiliations of Regents

Corporate Positions 18

Professional Positions 7

Professional Volunteers 3

ELCA Representatives 2

University Representatives 2

The selection of board members who have made notable contributions or who can make notable contributions is not unexpected. However, the location of more than half of the board with corporate or business relationships is another indicator of market behavior at Two Kingdoms University. The role of the Joshua and Melchizedek and the hiring of a staff person for board development are entrepreneurial activities on the part of the institution. The current composition of the board with a significant number of corporate and professional persons appears to be similar to governing boards at secular institutions.

Another significant entrepreneurial activity on behalf of the institution is the development of professional development programming that stated in the strategic plan to

"Strengthen academic programs through strategic alliances with key industries and organizations in our area by establishing internships, visiting faculty appointments and other cooperative ventures."^^ Moreover, the strategic plan aims to, "build strategic

Two Kingdoms University Strategic Plan. October 1996. P.3 148 alliances for the University through the development of TKU's boards and advisory groups."^"*

The theme of academic capitalism is significant to decision making by senior level administrators because it involves issues of resource allocation, and entrepreneurial activity in promoting and establishing programs that are often off campus in locations close to the potential student's work or home. Two Kingdoms University's geographic location is advantageous to the development of these programs because of its location near a major metropolitan population center and dense population areas that serve as bedroom communities to the larger city.

Academic capitalism is also significant because if the university demonstrates an interest in recruiting individuals with corporate or business backgrounds to the board, such individuals tend to evaluate institutional performance on effective and efficiency and may define the role of higher education in ways that limit academic freedom and curiosity driven research and education. Consequently, the effectiveness of the president and other decision makers may be determined by balance sheets, enrollment growth and fund raising ability rather than by academic competence or excellence.

An Emergent Theme - Globalization

A theme emerging from the data analysis is the effect of globalization upon Two

Kingdoms University. A concise working definition of globalization is yet to be developed (Featherstone, 1996). Perhaps the best that can be done is to think of

" Two Kingdoms University Strategic Plan. October 1996. P.5 149 globalization as global forces, especially economic ones, that foster organizational change (Levin, 1999).

The first evidence of the influence of globalization is found in the mission statement of Two Kingdoms University that proposes, "The mission of the University is to educate leaders for a global society." This statement contends that educating leaders for a global society is central to the institutional mission. If the statement is an accurate depiction of institutional intention, then decisions by senior level administrators are going to be guided in their allocation of resources and program development by global forces that may define what kind of education a leader needs to participate in a global society.

Globalization is observed in the Board of Regents in the position of the Chair who is an honorary consul general for a Scandinavian country and who would like to see Two

Kingdoms University increase its presence in her home country. Furthermore, the increasing interest in semester abroad programs at Two Kingdoms University extends the influence of globalization as international experience becomes an important characteristic of a students resume' upon graduation. The focus of a globally oriented education has been demonstrated to be the development of work skills (Levin. 1999) that contributes to the employability of the student and the maintenance of the workforce. Although Levin's work has focused on community colleges, the concept of employability may be generalized to four year institutions without great difficulty. From a critical perspective, globalization feeds the capitalistic economies and utilizes human capital development for the financial benefit of an economically elite class. Consequently, an institution that

Mission Statement, 1998 Two Kingdoms University President's Report. P. 1 150

declares its intention to educate leaders for a global society may declares its intention to

forge its program around economic forces.

The mission statement of Two Kingdoms University does qualify its

determination to educate leaders for a global society by seeking to build leaders, "who are

strong in character and judgment, confident in their identity and vocation, and committed

to ser\'ice and justice." The values of character, judgment, identity, vocation, service and justice are traditional Lutheran values and arise out of Martin Luther's theology of the

priesthood of believers and the theology of vocation that seek to endow Lutherans with a sense of responsibility for the world and communities they live in (Solberg. 1997). The question remains whether the values of a global society and Lutheran theological values can be integrated without diluting the potential of Lutheran theology. There is the possibility that this globalized statement might be viewed as a form of evangelism.

However, the institutional identity articulated by Joshua earlier in this chapter does not support an evangelistic motive for the institution. The effect of globalization may be viewed by some simply to be market behavior; however, the complexity of global forces and their influence deserves consideration as a potential influence on senior level administrators at Two Kingdoms University. 1 would propose that globalization encompasses market behavior that is beyond the control of any one nation or institution and probably meets the criterion of Lukes (1974) third dimension that removes autonomy from decision makers and gives rise to various forms of conflict. 151

Summary

This chapter has discussed the findings related to the two remaining research questions from the data gathered at Two Kingdoms University. The data analysis gave rise to three themes of identity, tolerance and diversity in response to the question of the effect of theology upon decision making by senior level administrators. The analysis of the effect of denominational governance up decision making by senior level administrators may demonstrate a loosely coupled relationship between the institution and the external structures of denominational governance.

The willingness of the Board of Regents to subordinate the identification and recruitment of board members to the president and other senior level administrators creates a bias of power that moves the locus of power from the board to the office of the president. The emphasis of selection upon individuals with corporate relationships may mean a shift in the way the board evaluates the performance of the president and the institution. The shift may move evaluation away from traditional academic evaluation on scholarship to a quantitative performance evaluation that is common to the corporate setting. Such a shift in the composition of the Board of Regents may bode well for the endowment of the university but may cause tension for Joshua who is by training a scholar if he is evaluated by a corporate standard of performance instead of an academic standard of performance.

Evidence was gathered that indicated the influence of status seeking behavior and academic capitalism upon decisions by senior level administrators. These forces seem to have more direct effect on administrative decision making than theology or 152 denominational governance structures. I argue for the influence of these forces because they change the nature of the traditional work of religious institutions from educating undergraduate students in liberal arts to workforce development. Academic capitalism especially blurs the traditional boundaries between the sacred mission of the institution and the institutional need for secular sources of revenue. Consequently, the influence of both of these forces changes the nature of faculty work in private. Christian liberal arts universities so that faculty use their human capital stocks for the generation of revenue from sources beyond the traditional sources of revenue for church related schools, student tuition and church contributions.

The emerging theme of globalization, which is beyond the control of the senior level administrators, but seems to be inescapable in its effect upon the institution, may reflect a market orientation. Slaughter and Leslie (1997) indicate that globalization is a component of academic capitalism.

The conclusions and recommendations that are suggested by the thematic analysis of the data related to Two Kingdoms University will be discussed in Chapter Six. 153

CHAPTER FIVE

FINDINGS - PNEUMA UNIVERSITY

The previous chapters of this document introduced the research project, the bodies of literature that inform this research, the methodology employed to gather and analyze data and report the findings that were related to Two Kingdoms University. This chapter states in detail the effects, if any of theology, denominational governance, status seeking behaviors and academic capitalism upon senior level administrators at Pneuma

University.

The findings described in this chapter are the result of the thematic analysis of the research data developed fi"om the interview transcripts and documents related to Pneuma

University. In response to the three research questions, I present a narrative of composite interview transcripts to describe how the process of presidential selection, the response to a financial crisis and the development of a capital campaign to describe how these themes interact to affect the decision making of senior level administrators at Pneuma University.

I also describe the decision making structure at Pneuma University, the themes of identity and control that emerged from research questions two and three. Finally, evidence regarding status seeking behavior and academic capitalism is presented in response to research question four.

The pseudonyms selected to identify the informants are from the Bible and are used to describe the informant's position in the institution and not necessarily their personal characteristics. A complete list of the assigned pseudonyms is found in Table

5.1 on page 173. 154

Pneuma University is located in a traditionally conservative suburb of a major

metropolitan area in the United States. The administration and faculty have described

Pneuma as the flagship institution for the Assemblies of God. Such self-identification would not be well received among other Assemblies of God schools, especially the university in the denominational headquarters city that is sponsored by the denomination.

Pneuma is owned by a regional denominational body.

Two Decision Making Events

This section describes how two separate events that are the result of two different sets of decisions converge to precipitate a significant challenge to leaders on the Board of

Trustees and senior level administrators at Pneuma University. Because of the very sensitive nature of some informant's comments during the interview process, I have chosen to create a composite narrative from interview transcripts that allows informants to remain anonymous. In some cases an informant is identified by a pseudonym because the information attributed to the informant would not cause embarrassment or harm to the person or persons involved. I first set the scene for the narrative of events surrounding process for the selection of a new president and the financial crisis by describing the current president and his style of leadership and decision making. Next. I begin the composite narrative created from the interview transcripts and document analysis.

The research of the decision making context at Pneuma University is made more interesting because Moses, the president of Pneuma University, has annoimced his retirement after twenty-five years of leadership. By all accounts, Moses is highly regarded in the denomination (he serves as the denominational commissioner for higher 155 education), by the governing board and campus constituents. As a decision maker,

Moses is described by John as, "a very strong, decisive kind of leader." Peter described the president as, "an intuitive decision maker." All informants credited the president with a participatory decision making style.

Presidential Selection and Financial Crisis

This sub-section discusses the setting in which the presidential selection process and the financial crisis interface due to a report by the university's accounting firm. The accounting firm's audit report is based on requirements by the Federal Accounting

Standards Board that require Pneuma University (and all non-profit institutions) to begin declaring depreciation on the university balance sheet. Political decisions by members of the Board of Trustees cause Pentecostal theology to be used as a sorting mechanism to identify the ideal presidential candidate. Status seeking behavior is also in evidence in the development of a candidate profile. The selection process for a new president is frustrated by an event beyond the control of the governing board, the selection committee or senior level administrators.

When I began my research at Pneuma University, I was tracking decisions related to master planning and fund raising. The announcement of Moses' retirement and the initiation of a presidential search process were fortuitous events that provided a unique opportunity to research the effect of theology and denominational politics upon the exercise of the most significant power a board of directors has (Mintzberg, 1983), the election of a chief executive officer. I could not pass up the opportunity to follow the 156 presidential selection process and the administrations' handling of the financial crisis that emerged during my remaining interviews with the informants.

The events that are described in this section have their roots in discussions Moses had been having with the governing board prior to my research, to lay the foundation for a smooth transition. The board had approved a capital campaign for new buildings and expansion and asked Moses to consider accepting a position as chancellor so the university capital campaign could benefit from the relationships Moses had developed during his twenty-five year tenure as president.

During my visits to the institution, the board of trustees initiated a search for a president to replace Moses who intended to retire at the close of the 1999-2000 school year. Under the corporate by-laws, James, the chair of the board has the authority to appoint the members of "standing and ad hoc committees" in consultation with the board.The bylaws do not make provision for a vote of the board when committees are appointed. The position of chair for the selection committee is filled by the vice-chair of the board who is also the assistant district superintendent under James in the regional office. Two faculty members are included on the selection committee as well as several other trustees including Timothy who pastors a large Assemblies of God congregation adjacent to the campus.

The chair of the selection committee provided the selection committee with a copy of The Dying of the Light (Burtchaell, 1998) which describes how denominational schools have forsaken their theological roots and frequently severed their relationships

Pneuma University Corporate By-laws. Article VIH, Section 7 (a)3. P.9 Revised and approved 4/21/99 157 with the founding denomination. The reading of Burtchaell's (1998) book served to reinforce the provision of the by-laws that insists on the theological integrity and purity of the institution.^' The use of the book established a significant decision making firame

(Beach, 1998) for the committee and limited the potential choices of the committee. The focus of the selection process was sharpened to discount candidates who might be questionable theologically. All of the final candidates were credentialed elders in the

Assemblies of God as required by the by-laws."^

A second significant influence upon the selection process was the desire to find a candidate with fiind raising experience. The university had previously announced a thirty million dollar capital campaign that according to some informants had not met expectations and was "sputtering along." The committee found a candidate who met the requirement of a credentialed minister to help maintain theological purity and who was a

Vice-president of Advancement at a theological seminary. As a bonus, the candidate also had an earned Ph.D. in higher education. The individual was identified as the number one finalist.

The foregoing sequence of events might well be the description of a successfiil selection process except for two events that intervened to change the outcome. Due to the sensitive nature of the following events, I have created a composite transcript from informant responses to protect the informants. Therefore, 1 will not identify the informants by their pseudonyms during the narrative.

"The Regional Council of the Assemblies of God has charged the Board of Trustees to be the guardian of this University, to see that it promotes forever the ideals and purposes for which it was founded, and to take whatever steps necessary to insure purit>' of doctrine and excellence of worship. Pneuma University Corporate By-laws. Article III, Section 2. P.3. Revised 4/21/99 158

During the selection process, one of the candidates selected as a finalist was also

an employee at the denominational headquarters. According to some informants, this

individual was fearful that if their superiors at the denominational headquarters found out

about the individual's application for the presidency, their current position would be in

jeopardy. The potential loss of employment prompted the candidate to ask the committee

for anonymity. Although the request for anonymity is not unusual, the decision of the

committee to grant anonymity created conflict with the university faculty. It was the

perspective of the faculty that representatives of the board of trustees had promised to design and implement an open selection process and seek regular and significant input from the faculty. When the process moved along and there was little information

forthcoming from the committee to the faculty, conflict was not far off. As the tension

mounted between the faculty and the now silenced selection committee, another

unorchestrated event took place that disturbed everyone on campus.

During the year prior to the beginning of the selection process, the board and administration had been made aware of a technical accounting problem that could hinder the institution's abilit>' to participate in federal student funding programs. Because buildings are depreciating assets and many of Pneuma University's buildings were so old they had been depreciated off the books, the only major asset on the university balance sheet was the land the university was built on. However, Federal Accounting Standards

Board (FASB) guidelines required that the land was to be carried on the books at its original value and not the current market value. When combined with a FASB ruling in

Pneuma University Corporate By-laws. Article VI, Section 2. P.4 Revised and Approved 4/21/99 159

1996 that all non-profit organizations must begin accounting for depreciation on their balance sheet, Pneuma's balanced sheet was in trouble. Consequently, the university's accounting firm had advised the institution that their balance sheet would portray the institution as having much more liability than assets. The forthcoming balance sheet would portray the institution as insolvent, jeopardizing the institution's status with the

Department of Education. In an attempt to improve the university balance sheet, the board and senior administrators entered into a mortgage on the property with a friend of university. The university sought the opinion of the accounting firm on the validity of the transaction. The accounting firm took several months to render its opinion on the transaction between the university and the benefactor. Because the opinion of the accounting firm was delayed several months, the university proceeded with the mortgage transaction believing that the balance sheet would now reveal a substantial increase in asset value overcoming the potential report of insolvency. While the university waited for the opinion of the accounting firm, the board of trustees had initiated the search process for Moses' replacement.

Meanwhile, the search committee narrowed down the list of applicants to four finalists and identified their number one candidate. The candidate made several trips to the campus to meet with the committee and the board of trustees. Ultimately, the individual was offered the position. After considering the opportunity prayerfully^^ for several days, the candidate sent the board of trustees a lengthy letter describing why the candidate and their spouse believed it was the will of God for them to pursue and accept

In Pentecostal theology and practice prayer is used as a means to seek the mind and wisdom of God in an 160

the position of president of Pneuma University. Elated, the chair of the trustees

scheduled the candidate and spouse to return to meet with the board. The selection

committee had achieved their goal of finding a president who would prevent theological

mission drift and knew how to raise money.

When the committee had identified the number one candidate, the individual

asked for and was given a significant amount of information related to the affairs of the

institution. The candidate spent one hour with the faculty answering questions: the

faculty would later complain that their exposure to the candidate was limited and

controlled. When the candidate arrived on campus to meet with the board of trustees, the

chair of the board had scheduled a vote the next morning for the board to affirm the

election of their new president. On the day prior to the election vote, the candidate sat in on the finance committee meeting. During the finance committee meeting, the

university's accounting firm delivered the long awaited opinion on the mortgage

transaction between the university and their benefactor. It was the opinion of the accounting firm that because the benefactor had a very close relationship with the

university, the mortgage arrangement would be considered a sweetheart arrangement by

the Internal Revenue Service and, therefore, did not qualify to change the institution's

balance sheet. Because the institution's balance sheet would not be improved the accounting firm, by law, had to report to the Department of Education that the institution's balance sheet indicated the university was insolvent."*" The soon to be

attempt to insure making a correct decision often described as "God's will. The report to the Oepartment of Education might result in the loss of federal student loan funds allocated to the university. 161 elected president was stunned. The finance conunittee and the administration were caught off guard by the report. During dinner that evening with the board of trustees, the number one candidate requested that the chair of the trustees remove the candidate's name from consideration.

When news spread that the presidential selection process had been frustrated, some faculty began to vent their fmstration over the closed, secretive nature of the process. Members of the selection committee met with the faculty to hear their complaints. One member of the selection committee indicated to me that the faculty had assumed more participation than they had been promised. Since it had been twenty-five years since the last presidential selection and election, there was very little institutional memory of how the previous process had been conducted. Other informants insisted the faculty had been promised significant participation.

When it became apparent to the faculty that the presidential selection process had ground to a halt, in their fhjstration they demanded to know why the number two candidate was not elevated to the position of a primary nominee. After all. the number two finalist had served the institution for twenty-five years, had risen through the ranks to the position of Vice-President of Academics and had recently been named Provost.

About one-third of the faculty signed a letter demanding that the board of trustees immediately elect the Vice-President as the new president. The board of trustees received the letter with very little comment. When I asked what additional action the faculty might take to express their fhistration and anger over the process, an informant replied, "probably nothing." The attempt by some faculty to build a coalition had failed. 162

some said, because of the wording of the letter that demanded the election of a specific

person. Other informants indicated they did not sign the letter because it contained

criticism of Moses.

Five months after the withdrawal of the number one candidate, the board of

trustees took action to elect a new president. The accounting firm's report to the finance

committee of the board of trustees created a financial crisis prompting discussions of

significant budget cuts that may involve retrenchment. As one informant described the

atmosphere during my last visit to Pneuma University, "It's pretty tense around here."

The presidential selection process had been framed by the choice of reading

material as an opportimity to prevent theological drift by choosing a candidate that was

unquestionably Assemblies of God in orientation and definitively Pentecostal. The zeal

for theological purity acted as a means to organize the bias of the organization so

forcefully that the faculty was rendered impotent when they sought to influence the selection process. The candidate preferred by the faculty of the letter signing coalition

was one of the finalists, was credentialed and in good standing with the Assemblies of

God; however, as Table 5.1 demonstrates, the Vice-President for Academics did not

worship in an Assemblies of God congregation. Some informants indicated that the

Vice-President for Academic's lack of participation in an Assemblies of God church

might make it difficult for the selection committee to consider the vice-president for the

position as president. The failure to worship in an Assemblies of God congregation

might be interpreted as a symbol of personal theological drift that might jeoprodize the institution's theological integrity. The afore-mentioned emphasis on theological mission 163 drift by the selection committee may make it difficult for the coalition's preferred candidate to be elevated to the position of number one finalist to succeed Moses as president.

The foregoing presentation of interview data in the form of a composite narrative has given insight into the influence of the dominant theology over the most important decision a governing board makes, the selection of a chief executive officer (Mintzberg.

1983).

Decision Making Structure and Context

As with the president of Two Kingdoms University, the president of Pneuma has a group of individuals comprised of faculty, administrators, the student body president. the director of the budget and the vice-presidents that serves as an administrative decision making body. According to the informants who sit on the Administrative Council, it functions as a means of receiving information from several constituencies and disseminating information across the campus. Moses established the group when he was elected president twenty-five years ago to provide counsel to the president and to assist with making administrative decisions. Moses said.

When I was elected president I wanted an advisory group. When I asked the governing board for approval, the board approved the Administrative Council with the requirement ^at the president have veto power over any of their decisions because the board was holding the president responsible.

The formal description of the group is a decision making body; however, in practice the group serves in an advisory capacity. Two informants described the group as, 'a little bit of a show because we already know what the decision is.' John, the Vice President of 164

Finance, observes "the Administrative Council is seen on this campus as being the ultimate decision making authority on the campus. I think everybody, in the back of their minds, knows that the President has veto power." Informants indicated occasions where the vice-presidents and president had pre-determined a direction or decision and used the

Administrative Council to gauge response from the various campus groups.

The second significant decision making group on campus is the President's

Cabinet. The Cabinet consists of the President, the Vice-President of Academics, the

Vice-President of Finance, and the Vice-President of Student Affairs. A fourth member, the Director of the Budget, is often included in meetings. Moses characterizes these meetings as a "Monday luncheon...it's not a legislative thing. It varies from being a time of mutual support... sometimes it's a little bit of a 'woodshed' thing." John, the Vice-

President of Finance, describes the style of Moses in the Council and Cabinet meetings.

"Moses is very good about encouraging us to speak our minds. And, he may make a ver>' strong case or state an opinion very, very strongly about a particular issue. But that's not the end of the discussion necessarily."

A third component of the decision making structure is that Pneuma University is tightly coupled to the Assembly of God region that owns the institution. The corporate by-laws indicate that the top three officers of the governing board, the chair, the vice- chair and the treasurer are the district superintendent, the assistant district superintendent and treasurer for the region.^' They are not elected to their positions on the board since they fill their board positions by virtue of other office. It can be assumed that the

Pneuma University By-laws. Section 6. P.9. Revised 4/21/99. 165 individuals who drafted the corporate by-laws intended for the regional denominational officials to retain significant oversight of the institution. James, the chair of the Board of

Trustees, acknowledged that he and Moses communicate frequently about campus issues.

A further example of tight coupling is the authority of the governing board to elect and appoint the members of the religion department who must be members of the Assemblies of God. (An exception was made recently when a female faculty member from the

Foursquare Church"*" was appointed to the religion faculty.) Thus, the governance structure reinforces the influence of theology over the decision making context.

The tight coupling that exists between the Board of Trustees and Pneuma

University is an unavoidable component of the institutional decision making structure.

As I explain later, the organizational structure of the governing board reflects the denominational structure in authority and power. The demonstrated structure is a result of both theological and governance (political) forces coming to bear in the formation of the institution.

Theology

The findings related to research question two at Pneuma University revolve around the theme of identity that shapes how administrators, especially the president, want the university to be perceived. This theme characterizes how the dominant theology defines the identity and establishes a decision making frame for senior level administrators as they respond to a financial problem. This section \\'ill discuss the minimal role of theology in the budget cutting process, demonstrate how theology acts to

The Foursquare Church is considered a sister Pentecostal denomination to the Assemblies of God. 166 create a distinctive institutional identity that serves to establish a decision making context and acts as a sorting mechanism in the selection of senior level administrators.

During my research at Pneuma University, senior level administrators were attempting to balance their operating budget as they became aware of the effect of the

1996 ruling by the Federal Accounting Standards Board (FASB) mandating that non­ profit organizations including colleges and universities would have to begin including depreciation on their balance sheet. The result was that the land the university owned could be declared as an asset only at its original purchase price. John reminds us of the dilemma facing the university, "We paid $19,000 an acre for the campus...by rough estimate, the value (today) would be about $30,000,000." When the university began to follow the FASB accounting standards and began to list depreciation on the balance sheet, the dollars assigned to depreciation were significantly larger than the book value of the land. Consequently, when the balance sheet was constructed according to the new

FASB guidelines, the university balance sheet was upside down because the liabilities due to depreciation were greater than the assets. As I will describe later in the section on presidential selection, the upside down balance sheet caused significant problems.

As senior level administrators began to comprehend the seriousness of the problem, the president communicated the situation to the Board of Trustees. John gives his understanding of what happens in the board meeting,

I heard that when Moses gave his report to the board about the seriousness of the situation, he went into the middle of the room and knelt and people gathered around. 'Is this going to cause a faction? Pray for me.' There was a lot of emotional, spiritual and prayer support. 167

The attempts of senior level administrators to remedy the problem of the balance sheet began with their communication to the board that not only prayed for the president but also mandated cuts in the operating budget. John describes the response of the governing board.

The business of the finance committee this year got really close to management decisions this last quarter...the mandate wasn't to balance the budget, it was more than balancing the budget...they were mandated to cut about $160,000 from this year's budget. That's different than saying, 'Go balance the budget.' They're telling them how to do it.

The initial response of senior level administrators included cutting positions and foregoing salary increases. Frustration already exists among faculty. Paul states. "I think tlie faculty has struggled over the years with a perception that the board doesn't really respect us or care what happens to us. I think probably no single factor has contributed to that more than salary issues year in and year out." John reveals.

We've had cost of living increases but we haven't had step increases in several years. Even though we used to be in the 90'*' percentile straight across the board, we've just fallen in the fiill professor's rank to about eleven or twelve in the Christian College Coalition.

Beyond budget cutting that involves the consideration of foregoing salary increases and cutting positions, a second response to the balance sheet problem is for the universit>' to seek a mortgage on the property and facilities in the belief that doing so would allow the university to buy back the property at the appreciated value established by appraisal and put the balance sheet in the black. As I described earlier, this decision served to exacerbate the problem.

The response of senior level administrators at Pneuma University to the budget crisis is an attempt to overcome a short term deficit and a long term issue with assets and 168 liabilities. The decisions that were being made by senior level administrators as described by the informants do not reveal any significant theological influence because they sound like retrenchment measures taken by secular institutions. The effect of theology upon decisions related to this financial crisis is not apparent except in the time of prayer during the Board of Trustee meeting. While the role of theology may not be explicit in the foregoing decision, theology does create a decision making context for senior level administrators in the creation of a distinctive identity that acts to establish theology homogeneity among senior level administrators.

Identity

It is a balmy, sunny afternoon on the campus of Pneuma University. As Moses, the president, and I sit in his office for an interview, he says, "I tell students, I'd like to have one rule: be a biblical person." In one short sentence, Moses has defined the distinctive identity of Pneuma University. The identity of the university is founded on

"being biblical." What does "being biblical," mean at Pneuma University? The corporate bylaws state.

The primary purpose of Pneuma University shall be to provide an opportunity for Christians to study in an accredited comprehensive university of liberal arts and professional studies maintaining a Pentecostal insight into biblical truths and through this purpose to inspire individuals to serve God and others in their chosen careers.

One of the primary tenets of Pentecostal theology and the Assemblies of God is that the

Bible is the source of truth (Menzies, 1971). The above cited statement from the Pneuma

University bylaws connects liberal arts and professional studies with Pentecostal theology

Corporate By-laws, Pneuma University. P.l Revised 4/1/99 169

and biblical truth. At Pneuma University, being "biblicar' means to interpret the Bible

from the Pentecostal tradition. The 1998-99 university catalog underscores the focus on

the Bible as the source of truth.

We believe... • the Bible to be the inspired and only infallible and authoritative Word of God. • that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: God the Father, God the Son. and God the Holy Spirit. • in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in his virgin birth, in his sinless life, in his miracles in his vicarious and atoning death, in his bodily resurrection, in his ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in his personal, future return to this earth in power and glory and to rule over nations."*^

The university motto, "Truth, Virtue, Service," defines the pursuit of truth by

Understanding the Word of God and by knowing Christ, who is Truth. Develop critical and creative thinking skills for careful, reasoned, and independent analysis of competing ideas. Engage in scholarship with integrity and excellence. Explore, participate in, and contribute to our cultural, intellectual and spiritual heritage. '

The data from the document analysis indicate how deeply the identity of the

university is constructed by the Pentecostal understanding (also shared by Evangelicals in

general) of the Bible as the source of truth. This finding may describe how the search for

truth at Pneuma University is bounded by understanding and interpreting the Bible. An example of how the Pentecostal interpretation of the Bible establishes boundaries is

found in the University Catalog in the section on Student Life.

Our goal is to understand and interpret every aspect of life in the Pneuma University community from a biblical point of view. To love God with our whole being and to love our neighbor as ourselves are foundational principles of the Lordship of Christ practiced by every responsible Pneuma University member."*^

1998-99 Pneuma University Catalog. P. 11 Pneuma University Strategic Plan. February, 1995. P.3 Pneuma University 1998-99 Catalog. P.23 170

A detailed reading of the "Rules, Restraints and Responsibilities" in the Student Life section of the university catalog reveals how the conservative nature of Pentecostal theology also defines behavior among students.

To disassociate from practices known to be morally wrong by biblical standards, such as drunkenness, gluttony, stealing, slanderous or profane language, all forms of dishonesty, occult practices and sexual sins (lust, premarital sex, adultery, homosexuality, etc.). ^

These excerpts from the university catalog provide insight into the meaning of the president's desire to have one rule of being biblical person.

From Moses' perspective to be a biblical person goes beyond the regulation of behaviors. During our interviews, he described his strong interest in the pursuit of justice. Moses exhibits the interest injustice when he intervenes in those circumstances where individuals are treated unjustly within the institution. During one of my visits to the institution, he intervened in a salary dispute that arose because an administrator wanted to classify a staff member in a lower wage category than another administrator believed was appropriate. The president's intervention cost the university financially, but

Moses believed the decision was driven more by a desire to save money than by what the person deserved. Moses' role as an instrument of justice is evident in his disgust for the way an employee of the denominational headquarters was treated two years before my interview. Moses explains the incident.

A computer programmer in our (denominational) headquarters decided he couldn't continue to work there because he needed more money for his family, and so on. The needs were great. The kids were going into high school. The requirement is to give two weeks notice. The individual says, 'Well, I'm into

Pneuma University 1998-99 Catalog. P.23 171

some rather sensitive stuff, and I'm doing some programs that won't get finished in time, in two weeks. So, I'll give them a month's notice.

The employee went in, told his supervisor, 'I've decided to separate, I'm not angry or anything, I just can't make ends meet here. I'll give you four weeks notice.' Two hours later a security guard and his supervisor walked into his office. 'Hi . I want you to get up and leave. We will usher you out of the building. Get your ID card. Don't shut your computer off We will pack your desk, personal effects and put them in a box. You can pick them up at security tomorrow.' 'Well, what happened?' asked . 'Well, you're leaving. You're in a sensitive area. Come on.'

Moses' describes his response.

This person has served twelve years as a Sunday School teacher in one of our churches and is on the deacon board. Is that any way to treat a person? I went nuts.

Their explanation? It's the way the Fortune 500 companies do "it". I said. 'I couldn't care less how the Fortune 500 companies do it! This is supposed to be a church. We are supposed to trust one another and to believe in each other, and to edify one another. You've made this man a common criminal! And you've said something very damaging about our own theology. That he can sit in one of our churches, listen to all of this teaching and preaching, teach it as a Sunday School teacher, but we don't believe in a change of life. He's still a crook.'

That man suffered the ignominy of being ushered out of that building in front of his peers that he worked with, wondering, 'What did he do?' I wonder what in the world he did. Security ran him off the grounds at ten o'clock in the morning.

Moses reveals the lesson he learned from the experience.

That's the kind of stuff that taught me. I can't tell you the anger. I'm sitting here right now, and I am so angry over that. Now somebody made an idiotic decision somewhere that people are not important. And the institution is. And they got it reversed. That organization could survive even if he did blow it. But the damage to him, his reputation, his family, his psyche, his self-esteem, his appreciation for his brothers and sisters in the Body of Christ is just unbelievable.

And I just said, 'I'm not going there.'

Moses' description of how a person was treated at the denominational headquarters indicates his awareness of an incongruence between the dominant theology and the 172 business practice at the denominational headquarters that informs Moses' theology and practice at Pneuma University. For Moses, interest injustice is corroborated in an

Institutional educational goal for students to "gain a global outlook in caring for the environment and in promoting social justice and economic empowerment."^®

The Pentecostal understanding of''biblical" reinforces the context for the identity of Pneuma University. Biblical is defined as believing "the Bible to be the inspired and only infallible and authoritative Word of God."^' The Pentecostal position on the Bible is in contrast to the Lutheran tradition that gave rise to higher criticism that dem>thologizes much of scripture and seeks to interpret scripture in the light of cultural change and need.

The result of Pneuma University's understanding of the Bible may be to establish boundaries to academic inquiry and to define appropriate and inappropriate behavior for individuals in the campus community. In some cases, as in Moses' account of injustice at the headquarters" office and his intervention in an employee salary dispute, it may define

Pneuma University as different from the denomination in how individuals are valued in the institution.

The significance of how Pentecostal theology influences the decision making environment at Pneuma University is converged in the 1995 Strategic Plan.

History indicates that denominationally sponsored and owned colleges usually pull away from their church. There are many reasons for this. Pneuma University must make a commitment to remain true to its sponsoring church and live by that commitment even when it seems to be costly and unproductive. It is a matter of

Pneuma University 1998-99 Catalog. P.l 1 Pneuma University 1998-99 Catalog. P.l 1 173

accountability and institutional integrity. No single issue is more critical in this regard than the selection of personnel.^"

This paragraph ties the selection of personnel to the prevention of theological mission drift. The Pentecostal theological background of the senior level administrators. displayed in. Table 5.1 below reinforces the influence of theology upon the selection of decision makers in accordance with the paragraph from the Strategic Plan on preventing mission drift.

TABLE 5.1

Pentecostal Experience of the informants at Pneuma University

Niime Position Decision Described One or .^tore Seir-ldenlifies as Considered ur Making Penlccostai Degrees Trom Worshipping Perrormed Group Childhood Pentecoslal Pentecoslal Pastoral Work'" Identit)-" IIED Moses President Yes Yes Yes Yes

Solomon Vice- Yes Yes No Yes President of Academics John Vice- 1,2 Yes Yes Yes Yes President of Finance Barnabas Vice- ta No Yes Yes No President Of Student Affairs Peter Director of 1,2 Yes Yes Yes No Budget

Pneuma University Strategic Plan, February, 1995. P. 14 " This column identifies the location of participants in three key decision making groups. 1= President's group of vice-presidents; 2 = President's Council; 3 = Board of Trustees. Vice presidents attend trustees meetings but do not have voting privileges. This column includes consideration of pastoral vocation and individuals who engaged in pastoral work 174

Lydia Program Yes Yes Yes Yes Director

John Faculty Yes Yes Yes Yes

Paul Faculty No Yes No Yes

James Chair 1 Yes Yes Yes Yes Board of Trustees i Timothy T rustee 1 Yes Yes Yes Yes

The evidence presented in Table 5.1 reveals that five of the six senior level administrators grew up'^ in the Pentecostal tradition of the Christian faith and all six of the administrators received their higher education at Pentecostal institutions. While it is not described in Table 5.1, five of the six senior level administrators received at least one degree from Pneuma University. The inference of the data in Table 5.1 is that there is a ver>' high level of theological homogeneity among the senior level administrators at

Pneuma University that may be in response to the concern indicated in the 1995 Strategic

Plan.

The foregoing data indicate that theology may create a decision making context that establishes boundaries for senior level administrative decisions due to the theological homogeneity of the administrators. Theology appears to serve as a socializing and sorting mechanism in the selection of administrators. The following data reviews the

The phrase "grew up" refers to being raised in a home that adhered to and practiced Pentecostal theology. 175 previously mentioned financial crisis that may not reveal the influence of theology in the decisions related to the budget cutting process.

Although theology may not be seen to affect this particular decision making process, that the dominant theology of Pneuma University does affect the selection of senior level administrators. Theological influence on the selection of senior level administrators underscores the way in which theology acts to influence control over the institution and the selection of a president, which was presented earlier in this chapter. It may be that the greatest effect of theology upon senior level decision making is how the focus on being biblical defines the selection of the president and other senior level administrators. The focal point of being biblical is further strengthened by the significant amount of control granted to the governing board of Pneuma University.

When the data related to the influence of theology over the selection of a senior level administrators is linked to the data that previously indicated tlie role of theology in the selection of faculty, staff and senior level administrators, there is an increasing likelihood that the dominance of Pentecostal theology is an inescapable force that, at the least, creates a decision making context for senior level administrators establishing significant boundaries for their decisions. The boundaries demonstrated thus far are defined by the Pentecostal understanding of the Bible as the source of truth which, in turn, is further constrained by interpreting the Bible in the Pentecostal tradition as being infallible and inerrant. An exception to the decision making boundaries theology establishes may be the required budget cuts. There is considerable tension between 176

"rendering unto Caesar"^"' and Moses' concern over justice. The budget cutting discussions were continuing as I completed my research and the cuts had not been

finalized or announced.

Examples of how the decisions by senior level administrators are bounded by

Pentecostal theology would be the selection of faculty, the definitions of what is acceptable moral behavior by students and university employees, and the conduct of mandatory chapel services. In contrast to Two Kingdoms University, the dominant

Pentecostal theology of Pneuma University would never allow the presence of a gay and lesbian task force to dialogue about issues of homosexuality. Although Two Kingdoms

University has sponsored discussions favoring abortion, Pneuma University would not promote, nor allow a speaker to promote, abortion or a pro-choice agenda on campus.

The foregoing discussion of the influence of theology upon the decisions of senior level administrators at Pneuma University is extended by the following discussion on the influence of denominational politics upon the institution. The thematic analysis revealed a significant integration of theology into the development and fiinction of the governance structure of Pneuma University.

Denominational Governance

Research question three makes it possible to investigate the ways denominational governance and politics are constructed and enacted to insure the doctrinal integrity of

Pneuma University. What effect, if any, does denominational governance have on decision making by senior level administrators at Christian universities? For the thematic

TTie phrase is taken from Jesus counsel on paying taxes. Mark 12:17 in the New Testament of the Bible. 177 analysis of research question three. I defined denominational governance or politics as any organized body or structure related to the Assemblies of God that was external to the organizational structure of Pneuma University. According to Mintzberg's (1983) definition of external, such organizations could include the Board of Trustees, congregations, district offices, and the offices of the denominational headquarters.

The effect of denominational governance upon the decision making of senior level administrators is viewed through the complimentary themes of control and power.

Denominational governance is examined through the formal structure of university governance as outlined in the corporate by-laws, the location of decision making power in the corporate structure, the presence of ex-officio Assemblies of God officials on the goveming board, the number of clergy on the board, and the number of lay members elected to the board of trustees.

Control and Power

This section describes how the relationship between the goveming board and the university is structured to allow the goveming board a strong position of control over the institution. One result of the existing organizational structure is the location of significant power in the office of the chair of the goveming board that is demonstrated in the data.

Article III, section 2 of the corporate bylaws of Pneuma University states.

The District Council of the Assemblies of God has charged the Board of Trustees to be the guardian of this university, to see that it promotes forever the ideals and purposes for which it was founded, and to take whatever steps necessary to insure purity of doctrine and excellence of scholarship.'^

Pneuma University Corporate By-laws. Article III, Section 2. P.3 Revised and approved 4/21/99 178

The emphasis on "take whatever steps necessary to insure purity of doctrine" is

reinforced in Article IV, section 2;

All members of the faculty and staff shall be bom again Christians in harmony with the theological position of the District Council of the Assemblies of God. It is further required that all members of the Division of Religion shall be Spirit-filled. Their teaching shall reflect the theological position of the District Council of the Assemblies of God.'^

Furthermore, the bylaws of Pneuma University provide specifically for the approval of

faculty in the Division of Religion after they have been nominated by the Vice-President

for Academic Affairs and after the nominees have been "interviewed and approved by the

Chair of the Board of Trustees."'^ By contrast, the by-laws at Two Kingdoms University

delegate the hiring and appointment of faculty to the president^^ with no provision for the

governing board to be involved in the appointment or election of faculty.

The District Council that elects the board of trustees is comprised of "all ordained

and licensed ministers, recognized as members in good standing with the

District Council of the Assemblies of God."'' Each affiliated church in the district has

the right to one lay representative at the council meeting.^" All members of the Board of

Trustees are members of the District Council meeting.^' The composition of the District

Council meeting that forms the membership of the corporation charged to elect the

trustees is heavily weighted in favor of the clergy who may be assumed to exercise their

votes to maintain theological and doctrinal purity at Pneuma University.

Pneuma University Corporate By-laws. Article IV, Section 2. P.3 Revised and approved 4/21/99 " Pneuma University Corporate By-laws. Article VI, Section 3 (b) 2. P.5 Revised and approved 4/21/99 Two Kingdoms University Corporate By-laws. Article V, Section 6 (c) (2). Revised 2/27/96 " Pneuma University Corporate By-laws. Article VII, Section 1. P.5 Revised and Approved 4/21/99 Pneuma University Corporate By-laws. Article VII, Section 2. P.5 Revised and Approved 4/21/99 179

The final way theology may be seen to exercise control over the institution is in

the selection of a president. According to the by-laws, "the president of the institution

shall be a credentialed minister in good standing with the General Council of the

Assemblies of God."^~ Consequently, under the current by-laws, there is no possibility

that a president could be elected who is not Pentecostal and who is not a minister.

This document analysis suggests a significant focus on the use of theology to

exercise control over the institution through the hiring of faculty and staff, the election of

the faculty in the Division of Religion and the selection of a president. Pentecostal

theology exerts control over decision making by senior level administrators by

establishing well defined boundaries for the selection of key institutional actors. The

following description of the process to select a president that began and was not

completed during my research reinforces the assumed effects of theology upon senior

level decision makers.

The by-laws of Pneuma University^^ reveal a governing structure that is pictured

in Figure 5.1.

Pneuma University Corporate By-laws. Article VII, Section 2. P.5 Revised and Approved 4/21/99 " Pneuma University Corporate By-laws. Article VI, Section 2. P.4 Revised and Approved 4/21/99 Pneuma University Corporate By-laws. Revised 4/21/99. Provided by the Office of the President. 180

Organizational Structure of Pneuma University

The District Council of the Assemblies of God

Members of the Corporation

The Board of Trustees

President of the University

Vice-Presidents FIGURE 5.1

As previously mentioned, the District Council of the Assemblies of God identified by a specific geographical region owns and controls Pneuma University.^ The members of the corporation are comprised of every ordained and licensed minister of good standing with the District Council, one lay delegate from every district affiliated Assemblies of

God congregation and the members of the board of trustees. Four additional members who are Pentecostal and in full agreement with the doctrines of the Assemblies of God may be elected to be members of the corporation.^' The annual meeting of the members of the corporation is held in conjunction with the atmual meeting of the District Council of the Assemblies of God.^^ A special session of the members of the corporation may be initiated by any ordained minister member of the corporation if the ordained minister

Pneuma University Corporate By-laws. Article HI, Section 1. P.3 Revised and Approved 4/21/99 ^'Pneuma University Corporate By-laws. Article VII, Sections 1-3. P.5 Revised and Approved 4/21/99 Pneuma University Corporate By-laws. Article X, Section 1. P. 14 Revised and Approved 4/21/99 181

member sets forth the reasons for the meeting and the document is signed by at least

thirty-three percent of the ordained minister members of the corporation.^' Although the

by-laws are not explicit, it appears that the only power of the members of the corporation

is to elect the board of trustees. The power to sell, purchase or encumber real property is

given to the board of trustees.

The membership of the board of trustees is weighted in favor of district

denominational officials and members of the clergy. Table 5.2 demonstrates the

allocation of trustee positions.

TABLE 5.2

Allocation of Trustee Positions

Position Number of Trustees District Officials 9 serving ex-officio Ordained Clergy 12 Serving as trustees Lay Members 12

Table 5.2 illustrates how the balance of trustee positions is weighted in favor of district officials or ordained clergy who may be assumed to serve the interest of the denomination on the governing board. The by-laws extend the power of the district officials and ordained clergy over the lay trustees because, while the district officials and

the ordained clergy are elected by the members of the corporation, the lay trustees are elected by the board of trustees. The potential effect of the balance of the board favoring

Pneuma University Corporate By-laws. Article HI, Section 1(e). P.3 Revised and Approved 4/21/99 182 the district officials and ordained clergy is to constrain the voice of the lay trustee that might seek to disagree with the dominant voice that is probably embodied in the clergy and district officials.

The corporate by-laws also provide for the election of "non-resident members of the board of trustees." Non-resident members have voice and vote at the Board of

Trustees meetings; however, they do not count toward the total composition of the board.^^ The non-resident member positions make it possible for the Board to fulfill the objective of the 1995 Strategic Plan that called for the inclusion of representatives on the board from "denominations compatible with our mission."^^ The effect of the non­ resident trustee membership may be to increase resource dependency (Pfeffer and

Salancik, 1978) by exchanging influence for additional students as sources of revenue.

This type of organizational behavior is similar to the corporatist infiuence on boards of liberal arts universities that was described by Useem (1989) when corporations would seek positions of influence on college boards in exchange for contributions. In effect, the breadth of Pentecostal influence over the governance of the university is extended to other theologically conservative denominations by electing outside members to the board of trustees.

The previously mentioned tactic of framing the presidential selection process by having the presidential selection committee read The Dving of the Light (Burtchaell.

1997) may be viewed as an act of coercion by the committee chair. The threat of job loss communicated to one of the presidential finalists by someone at the headquarters of the

Pneuma University Corporate By-laws. Article VIII, Section 2. P.6 Revised and Approved 4/21/99 183

Assemblies of God parallels the treatment of individuals described by Moses and may also be an act of political coercion. It may be that the coercive acts of headquarters are mirrored in the actions of the presidential committee chair by his use of reading material for the committee. Furthermore, when the committee chose to respect the interests of the candidate to remain anonymous over the interests of the faculty for an open process, two informants (independent of each other) commented, "that's the way business is done at

(denominational) headquarters."

The organizational structure of the District offices mimics the structure of the denominational headquarters. Each of the nine district officials serving on the university governing board has a denominational counterpart at headquarters in Springfield.

Additionally, the highest office in the Assemblies of God is one person elected to be the

General Superintendent who oversees all of the denomination's ministries. This position is replicated at the district level by the election of the District Superintendent who is given considerable authority over the ministries of the district and who. according to the corporate by-laws of Pneuma University, may wield considerable authority over the institution.

The organizational control of the institution is expressed in the way power is used by individuals in the institution and the governing board. The difference in the way power is expressed at the denominational level and at the district level lies in the influence of Moses upon the governing board. Moses observed, "a president with a long tenure has a considerable amount of power that a new president may not have." Two

Pneuma University Strategic Plan. February, 1995. P. 14 184 informants made the point of describing how Moses had told the governing board when they were out of order and had crossed the boundary between setting policy and interfering in the management of the institution. The integration of theology as a means of organizing the bias of the governance system that provides the governing board and especially the chair of the governing board with significant power is demonstrated in the following description of the presidential selection process that was initiated during my research at Pneuma University.

James, the chair of the board, describes how members of the presidential selection who were not trustees were chosen.

1 appointed the presidential search committee myself The board asked me to do that, but I ran the - well, they asked me - certain parameters of the kind of people that were desired to serve on the committee so - because the chairman of the alumni committee and two faculty. I went to the faculty meeting and I, I don't exactly know who the representative person from the faculty might be on this presidential search so I went to the faculty, talked a little bit about the process, took some blank pieces of paper, passed them out and asked them to put two names on the piece of paper. I took those two - those blank pieces of paper and counted whose names most often appeared on those and made a decision about -1 can't tell you who I chose and why, but out of those names that appeared - not necessarily the most - those with the most check marks - the ones 1 felt were the most representative...

In my interview with James, I asked, "Were there any students on that committee?" James responded:

Thought about it. A student's not ready to be on a search committee to recommend a president in my opinion. We always have the ASB (Associated Student Body) president audit our board meetings though. I didn't feel the student had the experience or the maturity to grasp what we were performing.

James description of the creation and appointment of the presidential selection committee demonstrates the power and authority vested in the position of the board chair. James 185 also indicated that he selected the chair of the committee who was also serving as the assistant district superintendent in James office. James further explained that the board had insisted against his wishes that James at least serve on the selection committee.

Lukes' (1974) third dimension framework in this example would suggest that denominational governance forms a significant organizational bias that may wield significant power over the decisions of senior level administrators. The way in which the by-laws structure the organization gives the board chair significant control over the institution. Furthermore, the data do reveal that significant power is located in the position of the board chair. Consequently the organizational structure provides the means and the potential for denominational governance to be a socializing force and an institutional practice that influence senior level administrative decision.

Status Seeking

For clarity of presentation of data research question four is broken into two sections. This section will present the findings related to status seeking behavior at

Pneuma University in response to the question: what effects, if any, does status seeking and academic capitalism have on the decision making of senior level administrators at

Christian liberal arts universities?

According to Reisman (1958) status seeking behavior is to be expected as institutions follow the efforts of elite institutions in a snakelike procession.

.. .the head of which is often turning back upon itself, as at present, while the middle part seeks to catch up with where the head once was. When the middle part becomes aware, as doesn't always happen, that the position of the head has shifted, it may try to turn in two directions at once... (p.35). 186

The snake like procession is driven by the meritocratic structure of American higher

education that identifies institutions by status, prestige, wealth, power, and influence of

various kinds (Trow, 1984). The data gleaned from Pneuma University reveal the effect

of status seeking behavior.

In July 1999, Pneuma University moved to university status and at the same time.

changed its name from a geographic oriented name to a name with broader appeal.

Moses identified some of the reasons for the move to university status.

This is something that is being forced on us more because of the change of nomenclature than it is because of a philosophical change. And even Carnegie Commission, in its definition of college or university has shifted from being an institution of research.

Moses describes a financial justification for the move to university status.

We were losing students left and right because they say. 'Well, it's more prestigious to graduate from a university, even though it will cost more money. I'm glad to do it.'

Another indicator of status seeking behavior is the observation by Barnabas on quality indicators and tuition rates,

...there's a gravitation to where we think we should be in the hierarchy of tuition rates. The conversation this fall has been we're below two schools that we really think based on all of the quality indicators that we typically look at - faculty to student ratio, percent of Ph.D's, physical campuses, we feel like we're - we should be ahead of them.

The two that we're behind, we're not behind very much and we may even - if we increase our tuition by just one or two percentage points beyond what we typically would do, we'd probably surpass them as soon as next year. So we're very close to them already. Now, after we pass them, if we do, then the other schools are quite a bit ahead of us you know, a thousand dollars or more ahead of that next level. So, there's that one institution that's way out there - - they're like nineteen grand or something like that.. .we want to get to the top of that thirteen, fourteen (thousand dollar) area, but not try to get into the next tier until we are able to build a campus that can compete. 187

The move to university status because of loss of students, use of a quality

indicator like percent of Ph.DS and the awareness of the institutional desire to move to the next tier by building a campus to compete with other schools replicates the status seeking behavior of secular institutions. The need to remain competitive by the seeking of status underlies the desire for a president that can raise money.

Like Reisman's (1958) snakelike procession. Pneuma may be pulled in two different directions by the desire to raise funds for improving status in the local market and the need to retain the status of theological purity within the denomination.

The determination of the governing board to elect a president with both demonstrated fund raising ability and strong Assemblies of God and Pentecostal convictions and credentials may be evidence of Reisman's middle part of the snakelike procession trying to go two directions at once when it understands the head of the procession has shifted.

The $42,000,000 capital campaign driven by a need to remain competitive with other institutions had originally been announced at a much lower level. Solomon reported.

It started at thirty, went to thirty-three and now it's at forty-two.. .we heard reported by our auditor that when it came to fund raising activities at Pneuma, the main manager said, 'I audit twenty-five of these independent institutions like yours... they all raise between twenty percent and forty percent of their annual budget from fund raising - Pneuma's at ten' (percent).

The fund raising campaign has been defined to seek $10,000,000 for endowment and

$32,000,000 for capital improvements.'"

The change to university status in July, 2000, the decision to seek a president with fund raising experience, the initiation of a $42,000,000 capital campaign to help with

™ Pneuma University Online. This information was obtained from the university's web site. 188 capital improvements to remain competitive in the market place are evidence of the influence of status seeking behavior upon administrative decision making at Pneuma

University. The capital campaign also reflects elements of academic capitalism that is discussed next.

Academic Capitalism

Research question four seeks data on the effect of academic capitalism (Slaughter and Leslie, 1997) on senior level administrative decision making at Pneuma University.

In this section 1 will argue that academic capitalism does exist in Pneuma University even though the behaviors exhibited at Pneuma University are different from behaviors displayed at Research I universities as described by Slaughter and Leslie. My argument is based on the document analysis and comments from interviews.

While small, private Christian liberal arts institutions may not display the same behaviors as Research I universities in the demonstration of academic capitalism

(Slaughter and Leslie. 1997), the same ideological forces that drive profit-seeking behavior in Research I institutions have an effect on small private Christian institutions.

The difference between the two types of institutions is in the behaviors that the institutions display in response to the forces that drive academic capitalism.

Slaughter and Leslie (1997) detail how patterns of shifting financial resources for higher education, innovative product development, changing patterns of academic work, the need for management flexibility in the utilization of the academic profession and the place of higher education in the global economy have been identified by Slaughter and

Leslie (1997) as academic capitalism in relationship to research universities. The 189 primary result of these forces has been the redefinition of traditional boundaries that previously existed between the profession of faculty, the nature of faculty work and the for-profit business sector through the creation of education and business alliances. The forces that drive academic capitalism have also resulted in blurred boundaries and the creation of alliances at Pneuma University. Furthermore, I would argue that while small, private Christian liberal arts universities do not engage in significant amounts of hard scientific research or technology transfer defined by governments or corporations in exchange for critical revenue resources, the institutions in this research do give evidence of acting in entrepreneurial ways to maintain or increase funding revenue through the development of educational services for markets that lie outside of their traditional denominational interests. As a result of the entrepreneurial activities at Pneuma

University, the traditional boundaries between religious and secular education is blurred and therefore the nature of traditional faculty work at a religious institution is changed so that faculty human capital stocks are more directly invested in producing revenue in graduate, professional, certificate and degree completion programs that have little theological emphasis that is related to the core mission of the institution as defined in the by-laws. The data that supports my argument for the consideration of academic capitalism as affecting senior level administrative decision making follows.

James, the chair of the Board of Trustees at Pneuma University, identified the primary role of Pneuma "as a ministerial training facility." It is well documented that many liberal arts institutions were started with the mandate of training clergy and other religious leaders (Menzies, 1971; Marsden, 1992, 1994; Burtchaell, 1998). Menzies 190

observed that Pneuma University, like many other religious institutions in the Pentecostal

movement, had added departments like science and humanities to the curriculum to meet

the needs of students returning from World War II. While this behavior appears to be

mimesis it does demonstrate a disposition to adapt to changing economic conditions and

opportimities.

The previously mentioned shifts demonstrated by Slaughter and Leslie (1997)

have also affected fimding sources for private liberal arts institutions. To increase

revenue by meeting workforce needs, Pneuma University's catalog describes their degree

completion program,

"designed to meet the needs of working adults has responded to shifting fimding sources by creating technology that meets the needs of working adults... these academic programs are offered at the main campus as well as at four off-campus sites.""

Although the 1998-99 catalog does not contain information on the university's School for

Professional Studies, the university's website^" in March, 2000, describes the School for

Professional Studies as offering degree completion programs in Organizational

Management, Human Development, Ministry and Leadership, and Management

Information Systems. Additional emphases in the School of Professional Studies include adult education programs, certificate programs for Microsoft Office User Specialist and

Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer certificates. These programs are designed to meet the labor force needs of the government and corporate workforce through the development of programs in growth sectors like management and technology. Pneuma

Pneuma University Catalog 1998-1999. P.14-15. Pneuma University online 191

University also offers graduate programs for teacher certification, which is a labor issue for the state government, as well as degrees in religion and marriage and family counseling. Furthermore, one informant acknowledged that there are different entrance requirements for undergraduate students and students in the professional, certificate and degree completion programs. Students in these programs are not expected to meet the same theological expectations as undergraduate students. Furthermore, starting programs that meet off campus in sites convenient to the student means lower overhead resulting in larger operating margins for the institution because non-traditional students do not require the co-curricular activities required of undergraduate students.

Pneuma University administrators would not deny their interest in developing sources of revenue to support the financial viabilit>' of their institution. The description of the School for Professional Studies provided on the university's website does not provide any indication of a religious context to the business courses offered. However, administrators would cite their determination to provide these programs without violating their theological perspectives.

Summary

The findings presented in this chapter suggest that the explicit interest in maintaining a high level of theological integrity at Pneuma University creates both an organizational bias that allows theology to influence how senior level administrators are selected. The result is the creation of an institutional practice that limits the range of choices that may be considered in selecting and hiring senior level administrators. The 192 outcome of the bias observed in the institutional practice is displayed in the Pentecostal experience of senior level administrators in Table 5.1.

The three decisions discussed in this chapter related to the selection of a president, the initiation of a capital campaign and the financial crisis created by the change in

Federal Accounting Standards Board policy regarding depreciation demonstrate that

Pneuma University is subject to the same external forces of prestige seeking and academic capitalism that secular institutions are. The significant value placed on a president who can raise money is directly related to the institution's need for capital improvements to remain competitive. The data on the decisions related to the capital campaign and the financial crisis did not exhibit significant influences of theology.

However, since theology does frame the selection of the senior level administration and. more explicitly, the election of the president, theology would organize a bias in the decision making process suggesting that some decision choices would not be considered by the administration due to ethical boundaries established by Pentecostal theology.

The following chapter will describe my conclusions, limitations of this research and recommendations for further research into decision making by administrators at private. Christian liberal arts universities. 193

CHAPTER SIX

CONCLUSIONS

This chapter presents the conclusions of this research based on the findings of the case studies presented in chapters four and five. I discuss the conceptual framework, the three remaining questions by comparing and contrasting the data from the two institutions and the decisions tracked in each institution. 1 also discuss the limitations of this research and recommendations for further research and implications for practice.

The phenomenological interviews in this research produced wonderful data in part because the informants provided me with extraordinary access. It is difficult enough to gain access for one interview with an individual. To be granted three interviews for a total of three to four and one-half hours with each person is highly unusual. I experienced the creation of trust described by Seidman (1998) as informants provided intimate details, revealed deep seated attitudes and emotions, told life stories that struck my own emotional chords and often said. 'TTl have to trust you." There is much data that remains locked away in the interview transcripts because 1 have tried to avoid causing harm to any person or institution.

The thematic analysis of the data has produced information that indicates theology does have a powerful effect, even more than I have acknowledged, upon the decision making of senior level administrators at both Two Kingdoms University and

Pneuma University. However, as the conclusions will reveal, theology functions in different ways in each institution. 194

One of the basic analytic questions is. what's missing? A review of the interview

transcripts reveals that not one informant in either Christian university ever raises the

issue of sin. Sin is central to the theology of orthodox Christianity. The message of

justification by faith through grace for the forgiveness of sin is the reason the Christian

church exists. It is fascinating to me that when describing the political activity, the

tension and angst that is part of organizational decision making, no one spoke of sin.

Even when speaking of injustice not one informant used the concept of sin as a

descriptor. It may be that the concept of sin is a deep structure that its existence and

description is assumed by the informants from these Christian universities. It seems that

in sixty-six interviews at two Christian universities, someone would say something about sin.

Denominational politics is also present as an influence upon senior level decision

makers. Lukes (1974) theorizes that decision making is where power is most easily observed in organizations through the limitation of autonomy and the organization of bias. Both institutions in this research demonstrated different degrees of autonomy in relationship to their related denominational governance structures.

The original three research questions focused on the potential effects of faith, theology and denominational governance on senior level administrative decision making at two small private Christian liberal arts universities. As discussed in the chapter on methodology chapter, the research question on faith was dropped due to the difficulty of verifying the validity of an individual's faith experience and connecting faith to their decision making practice. The remaining two questions on theology and denominational 195 governance were supplemented with a fourth question focusing on the effect of status seeking behavior and academic capitalism to examine the potential effect of secular forces upon senior administrative decision making at the two research sites.

The addition of a fourth research question related to the influence of external forces such as status seeking behavior and academic capitalism grew out of a growing pattern of decision making observed in both universities. Though religious institutions identify themselves by various means, such as inclusion of denominational identity in their names or emphasis on theological distinctiveness, the evidence suggests that both secular forces affect choices of degree offerings at both schools. However, both universities may offer courses written and developed by faculty members who are socialized to the dominant theology of the institution.

Conceptual Framework

Lukes (1984) radical view of power raises the possibility of identifying forces external to decision making process to understand how concepts such as theology, denominational politics, status seeking and academic capitalism e.xercise power over decision makers. Lukes' third dimension view of power suggests that the outcomes of these external forces may be viewed in the way social forces and institutional practices influence decision makers. This conceptual framework seeks to understand decision making outcomes that may be latent and not readily observable. In this research theology, denominational governance (politics), status seeking and academic capitalism are important third dimensions conceptions of power because they are not always recognized or the extent of their influence understood by senior level decision makers. In 196 fact, the influence of one or more of these forces may even be denied by a decision maker because the power third dimension forces exercise may be ingrained so deeply in the decision making frame it is assumed to be normative. A second feature of Lukes' third dimension is that the influence of a force such as theology, denominational governance, status seeking behavior or academic capitalism may be the result of several converging activities increasing the potential for unexpected consequences. .4n example of converging activities creating an irresistible force is Slaughter's (1990) description of the

Business-Higher Education Forum's activities that brought together corporate leaders and the presidents of research universities to formulate and propagate science and technology research policy. Rhoades' (1997) research on unionized faculty and the way education administrators negotiated faculty union contracts to give administrators more flexibility in the allocation of faculty by the use of part-time faculty converges suggests a convergence that leads to the creation of a threat to the traditional autonomy and security of the professoriate. A final example of events converging to create unpredictable results is Slaughter and Leslie's (1997) concept of academic capitalism which is the result of shifting state and federal funding, the demand for hard science research and technology resulting in the use of public higher education research for corporate profit and the development of university owned corporations. The result of entrepreneurial activity among research universities is an externally dictated research agenda, increased resource dependency upon external resource providers, and blurred boundaries between traditional faculty work and for-profit corporations. The two universities in this project exhibit behaviors that can be attributed to the same forces that create revenue producing ventures 197

in Research I universities studied by Slaughter and Leslie (1997) because both types of

institutions act in captialistic ways. The difference between Research I and small, religious schools is that in Research I universities. Slaughter and Leslie demonstrate that faculty act in capitalistic, entrepreneurial ways.

While few small, private Christian liberal arts universities engage in significant levels of scientific research or have unionized faculties or have university owned development corporations. Lukes' (1974) third dimension makes it possible for me to describe any effect the forces described by the research questions might have upon decision making in these institutions. These forces act to define faculty choices, curriculum and program development, determine how capital campaign funds are used and how the institution interfaces with the affiliated denomination. Furthermore, the main concerns of Slaughter and Leslie (1997) over the changing nature of faculty work by the investment of faculty human capital stocks to produce revenue for the university, the reduction of faculty autonomy as a result of the definition of coursework and research by for-profit corporations is in evidence. Both Christian universities in this study have developed graduate, professional, degree completion and certificate programs that are designed to enhance the employability of the non-traditional adult student. If the corporate market did not have a demand for such training, there would be no marketplace for the programs developed by the institutions. All of these areas lie within the decision making boundaries of senior level administrators at this type of institution. 198

Theology

This section states the conclusions of this research related to the research

question: what effect, if any, does theology have on decision making by senior level

administrators at Christian liberal arts universities? At both universities, evidence of the

presence of theology in the decisions that were tracked was not forthcoming. However,

theology acted in powerful ways to create deep structures that effect decisions by senior

level administrators at both schools. At Pneuma University, the crisis brought on by the

1997 Federal Accounting Standards Board requirement that universities begin accounting

for depreciation on their balance sheet caused alarm in the administration, the faculty and

the board. The proposed course of action was budget cutting including the loss of some

part-time faculty positions. At Two Kingdoms University, when missed enrollment

targets required budget cuts in excess of SI,000.000. senior level administrators pursued an aggressive budget cutting process resulting in the loss of fifteen positions including full-time and adjunct faculty. The interview data and document analysis did not suggest that theology significantly affected this type of decision made by senior level administrators. The decisions by both groups of senior level administrators would be considered normative in secular institutions. However, the decision making process would not be considered normative in secular institutions because of the presence of activities rising out of theology such as a time of prayer by the governing board of

Pneuma University. Another example occurred when the president of Two Kingdoms removed his presence and authority from a budget cutting meeting demonstrating his willingness to share authority when he instructed his senior level administrators to cut the 199

budget without him. By leaving the meeting, the president delegated budget cutting authority to the remaining senior level administrators.

The decision making process related to the selection of a presidential candidate at

Pneuma University is not a senior level administrative decision making process.

However, it does reveal a potential way in which theology may act to influence decision making by senior level administrators at Christian universities. At Pneuma University, the activities of the presidential selection committee indicate significant attention to keeping Pentecostal theology at the center of the selection process. The required reading of The Dving of the Light (Burtchaell. 1998) established the necessity of keeping

Pentecostal and especially Assemblies of God theology and identity as a primary criteria for the selection of a president. The focus on mission drift suggests the power of fear at work among the committee, especially the fear of losing theological distinctiveness. (1 will discuss the political dimensions of this process under denominational governance below.) The explicit requirement of Pneuma's corporate by-laws that a president be a credentialed minister in the Assemblies of God and the focus of the committee on

Pentecostal theology indicate the presence of an institutional practice that relies on theology to act as a sorting mechanism in the selection of nominees for president. The implication that theology is a sorting mechanism, is part of a pattern of non-decision in the selection of nominees because the focus on Pentecostal theology automatically excludes nominees external to Pentecostal theology and more explicitly excludes individuals who are not Assemblies of God. By contrast, the corporate by-laws of Two 200

Kingdoms University does not require the president to be Lutheran, although it does communicate an expectation that the president will be Lutheran.

By using theology as a sorting mechanism, the selection committee at Pneuma

University constructs a set of implicit assumptions about the next president of Pneuma

University. The first assumption is that because he or she strongly identifies with

Pentecostal theology, the potential for theological mission drift is reduced. This assumption would be consistent with the Pentecostal resistance to the ways of the secular world. A second implicit assumption would be that a president with a strong Pentecostal theology would more likely make decisions that are congruent with the interests of the dominant theology. Consequently, the selection of a president with a strong Pentecostal theology implies that the president's decision making fi-ame is bounded by whatever behaviors and options are held in esteem within the theological and political framework of the Assemblies of God. I would suggest, that at a minimum, theology acts as a socializing institutional force to establish a decision making context or decision making boundaries for the president. Consequently, the same forces that set decision making boundaries for the president set boundaries for other senior level administrators.

Since the presidents in both institutions have authority under the corporate by­ laws to select the senior level administrators (with the approval of the board), I would hypothesize that the theology of the president may define how explicitly theology is applied to the decision making process of senior level administrators. While this research did not focus on this specific component of senior level decision making, it is worth further study. 201

The contrast between the theology of these two universities lies not just in the differences of their theological formulations but in how explicit each university is about their dominant theology. Two Kingdoms is content to refer to Lutheran tradition in their documents while Pneuma University is explicit in their reference to Pentecostal theology in their documents, even going to the extent to define a wide range of student behaviors that are bounded by Pentecostal theology and Pentecostal interpretation of the Bible.

Even though the institutions vary in the public description and institutional application of their theology, theology influences senior level administrative decision making in a similar manner in both institutions.

The foregoing argument is strengthened by the theological homogeneity of the senior level administrators of both institutions displayed in Table 4.1 and Table 5.1.

Across both groups of senior level administrators, only one administrator demonstrates a significant departure from the dominant theology of the institution^" although there is more variety at Two Kingdoms University. Therefore, the data analysis suggests that theology influences the selection of not only the president of each institution but also the selection of the cadre of senior level administrators. It may be that some senior level administrators adopt the rite and practice of the dominant theology out of political necessity.

Finally, while theology may not be given overt expression in senior level administrative decision making at these two institutions, it seems likely that theology acts in powerful ways to forge an institutional social practice of selecting senior level 202

administrators who function v\ithin the expectations of the dominant institutional

theology. Since theology is anchored in an historical setting and propagated via organizational structures, it is a third dimension form of power that constitutes a social

force that, in turn, forms an institutional social practice of sorting and selection.

Theology in both of these institutions and belief systems has a common denominator that asserts that God is in control. The Lutheran doctrine of Two Kingdoms asserts that God is in control of both the Kingdom of Heaven zmd the Kingdom of the Word. The

Assemblies of God doctrine of the Holy Spirit's work in the life of the believer is also an e.xpression of God's control over individuals and the events of life. As a result.

Lutherans speak with conviction of the Lutheran tradition of the Christian faith demonstrating their faith in God's providence and Trustees for the Assemblies school gather around their president and pray for him and the budget crisis. In both research settings, theology acts to organize an institutional bias that emphasizes the control of God over the affairs of individuals. The senior level decision makers in these two institutions can never completely escape the power of theology in their decisions. Finally, theology influences the exercise of decision making power in a latent manner by creating an organizational bias in limiting the field of acceptable candidates for senior level administrative positions. On the surface of individual decisions, the effect of theology appears to be minimal. However, when theology is examined as a deep structure (Geertz.

2000) theology is extremely powerful because it selects the decision makers and informs their decisions.

" Peter at Two Kingdoms University is the only senior level administrator in the study who was not raised 203

Denominational Governance

This section describes the conclusions of this research in response to the research question: what effect, if any. does denominational governance have on the decision

making of senior level administrators at Christian liberal arts universities? The data analysis revealed different levels of external political activity at the two universities in this project.

The financial crisis precipitated by missed enrollment targets at Two Kingdoms

University was handled in-house by the senior level administrators. The Board of

Regents did not mandate a solution to the budgetary problem. Senior level administrators attempted to demonstrate decisiveness so the president could communicate to the board that everything was under control. Analysis of interview data revealed that some regents became involved in the budget cutting process when cuts were proposed for the Office of

Institutional Advancement. This research did not produce any data that suggested the involvement of any other external body in the politics surrounding the budget cutting process.

At Two Kingdoms, the most frequently repeated decision making frame for the budget cutting practice was "what's best for the institution." The phrase may represent the construction of an organizational bias that values performance over individuals. The construction of this decision frame implies that the cuts are not personal but strictly financial. The only discussion of individual concern from the interview data was the offering of early retirement packages to fiill-time faculty. Others were referred to as

in or worships within the dominant theology. 204 undeq^erforming, justifying the loss of their positions based on what is best for the institution. Full-time tenured faculty seem to have received the best treatment in the budget cutting process. Their treatment may be due to the jjerceived power of the faculty in the university.

The focus on "what's best for the institution" is modified by the political activity of some regents who intervened to protect units of the university that were of interest to them. The principle of "what's best" may also be a social construction that satisfies the significant presence of individuals with corporate ties on the governing board as displayed in Table 4.3. It may be that evaluation of senior level administrators is bounded by the performance orientation that could be assumed to be expected from a governing board that is dominated by corporate and professional members. The organization of bias at Two Kingdoms University toward bottom line performance is enhanced by the construction of a preferred profile for members of the board of regents.

The lack of clergy participation is significant on the board of this religious institution.

The organizational bias toward the selection of corporate and professional board members is formed internally by the President, the Vice-President for Advancement and the hiring of a staff member for board development. The creation of this third dimension bias favoring corporate board members affects decision making by senior level administrators by prompting them to focus on "what's best for the institution." The lack of clergy on the board and the favoring of Regents with corporate ties may reflect

Reisman's (1958) conception of the snakelike procession trying to move in opposing ways creating a tension between the sacred nature of a religious institution and a 205 governing board with a secular corporate bias. The desire for persons of prominence and position to the board to enhance fundraising is observed in the participation of the Vice-

President for Advancement who helps recruit potential members. The unintended political consequence for senior level administrators due to the growing corporate presence may result in a quantitative performance criterion for senior level administrators rather than traditional academic performance criteria. A potential consequence of the influence of the corporate board member may lie in a focus on the development of programs and curricula that enhance the bottom line of the institutional balance sheet rather than meeting the needs of students.

The almost non-existent presence of clergy on the Two Kingdoms University governing board makes it possible for the board to be weighted in favor of secular corporate influence. Consequently, the board of Two Kingdoms University resembles the board structure of secular universities. The bias of the board created through the focus on fund raising pjotential and the selection process emanating from the office of the president may ultimately be detrimental to the evaluation of the president's performance if quantitative expectations of the board are not met.

1 conclude that the corporate composition of the governing board gives rise to a performance oriented criteria constructed as "what's best for the institution" that guided senior level decision making through the budget cutting process. As previously mentioned the data analysis demonstrated that the full-time faculty were the only group offered significant financial reward for early retirement. Other groups, such as part-time faculty with faculty status were simply eliminated because it was "best for the 206 institution." The performance criteria that was valued in this decision making process by the board and the administration was how effectively the operating budget was trimmed.

In this instance, money not theology was the major influence over the decision of senior level administrative decision making.

By contrast, the political function the Board of Trustees at Pneuma University is more explicitly observed when the board mandated that the senior level administrators cut the operating budget by $160,000 when the unfavorable report was received from the

University's accounting firm. The Pneuma board did not request information on an appropriate course of action; it simply told the university how much to cut from the operating budget.

During the final phase of my investigation, the budget cutting process at Pneuma was not yet complete. The informants revealed that as the budget cutting process proceeded, discussions about various options resulted in compromises designed to find ways to keep from cutting personnel. At last report, faculty volunteered to teach extra class sections or to return part of their pay to the institution so that others would not have to suffer. All ideas were considered in an effort to avoid slashing positions. Participatory decision making conducted by senior level administrators at Pneuma University may be organized by the participatory decision making model of the president more than the political intervention of the board. While the board defined the amount of the budget cut. it did not instruct the administration what cuts to make.

The budget cutting processes of the two institutions are different in that the senior administrators at Two Kingdoms informed the board of their decisions, while at Pneuma 207 the board informed the administrators of the direction they were to take. However, the processes are similar in the way budget cutting options were considered. The offer of faculty at Pneuma to accept larger teaching loads to prevent cuts in positions may reflect a theological orientation to "carry each other's burdens"^^ and this act may be different that at secular institutions. The lack of data on faculty response at Two Kingdoms

University to the needs of others should not suggest that faculty did not offer to. it should suggest only that I did not uncover similar data. As theology acts in different ways at the two universities, denominational politics also act in different ways at both schools.

Denominational politics are more evident at Pneuma University in the presidential selection process. The board's intentions are underscored by Mintzberg's (1983) observation that the most important act of a board of directors is to elect the chief executive officer. The chairman's determination not to include a student on the selection committee and his appointment of faculty who were not elected by the faculty constitute an exercise of political power in the construction of a selection committee. The sensitization of the committee to theological mission drift serves as a sorting mechanism in the consideration of candidates. The convergence of the chairman's selection of committee members, the focus on theological integrity, the competing need for a president who can raise money, and the fact that the chair of the selection committee is the chairman's assistant in the district office create an organizational bias that favors the political interest of the chairman in the selection of a president. The influence of theology in this process is mitigated by the power of the chairman because the bias of the

Galatians 6:2 in the New Testament of the Bible. 208 system is defined by the bias of the chairman. The autonomy of the selection committee and the governing board is limited by the preference of the board chair. At Pneuma

University, denominational politics has a significant effect upon senior level decision making because any newly elected president will probably be socialized to the position via the board chair. Pentecostal theology has always placed value upon the authority of the overseers and assumes that the overseers act benevolently on behalf of organizational participants. In this case, theology likely acts to create an organizational bias through the creation of a decision making assumption that may or may not be dependable giving rise to vesting significant political power in the office of the board chair.

The data and analysis related to Research Question #3 have revealed that the location of political power is dependent upon the organizational structure and practice of the external governing body. At Two Kingdoms University, the president, informed by the Vice-President for Advancement, places names before a Convocation nominating committee. Since the research on nominees in vested in the president and vice-president, their preferences act as a sorting mechanism for potential board members. The

Convocation nominating committee has not been known to nominate someone the president has not suggested. The desire to have board members who can make significant contributions to the institution through money or contacts is not unique to universities. However, in this case, the number of corporate board members has been determined by the president's preference. The unintended consequence of the power exercised by the president and vice-president may result in a corporate oriented evalution 209 of the institution due to the number of corporate and professional board members rather than a traditional academic evaluation.

The location of political power is in different places in these two institutions. At

Two K-ingdoms University, the locus of political power is found in the president's office because the board has subordinated the selection of new members to the president. At

Pneuma University', the locus of political power lies with the board chair's freedom to craft the make up of the presidential selection committee. Two Kingdom's principle of

"what's best for the institution" and Pneuma's theological background of benevolent leadership appear to operate from a similar assumption that the personal preference of the individuals with power will be "what's best." While the foregoing statement appears axiomatic, the assumption of trust serves as a third dimension force that organizes an institutional bias that automatically assigns a high degree of trust to a position rather than to a person.

The data has demonstrated that denominational politics as evidenced by the function of the external governing body of the board has significant influence upon the decision making of senior level administrators by the power that is delegated to senior level decision makers and in the choice of senior level administrators. Politics appears to have more direct influence on senior level decisions than does theology. However, some would argue that politics in these two Christian universities is bounded by theology so that the politics is Christianized. Consequently I would suggest that while politics is not necessarily theological, the conduct of politics at these two institutions may be limited by 210 the dominant theology. The dominant theology may define what is acceptable in the conduct of organizational politics at Pneuma and Two Kingdoms Universities.

Status Seeidng and Academic Capitalism

The conclusions related to the final research question; what effect, if any. do status seeking and academic capitalism have on the decision making of senior level administrators at Christian liberal arts universities indicate the presence of both behaviors at both institutions. The presence of both behaviors suggests a tension between the sacred orientation of the church related institutions and the effects of the secular world in which they exist.

Both universities in this research demonstrate evidence of status seeking and academic capitalism. The evidence for this is gleaned from the documents and inter\'ievv transcripts. Switching from the NAIA to the NCAA for athletic competition, moving from college to university status, the initiation of a $50,000,000 fund raising campaign to push the campus master plan forward and the stated intention to increase enrollment indicate status seeking and academic capitalism at Two Kingdoms University. The initiation of a $42,000,000 campaign for capital improvements, the name change, the move to university status and, the desire to elect a president with fund raising skills are clues to status seeking and academic capitalism at Pneuma University.

As a third dimension influence upon senior level decision making, status seeking may not be recognized as affecting a particular decision process. However, in latent ways, it may find expression in Christian institutions by seeking to keep the institution financially viable, to contribute to legitimizing Christian higher education, or to establish 211

an institution within the denominational hierarchy of higher education institutions.

Informants at both universities identified their school as the "flagship" institution of their

denomination.

The focus of status seeking in these two institutions was more related to inputs

rather than outputs. Both institutions were seeking to improve status so they could attract

more students. Two Kingdoms University continues to seek higher eru-ollment numbers

and plans build out the campus for at least one thousand more undergraduate students.

Pneuma University seeks more students to achieve economies of scale.

Both of the presidents and one board chair expressed frustration with the lack of

financial support fi-om congregations within their respective denominations. The lack of denominational support is a significant effect upon these universities that underscores the

presence of academic capitalism in the institutional decision making processes.

Although academic capitalism (Slaughter and Leslie, 1997) has focused primarily on

Research I universities, both of these institutions are affected by the same dynamics that suggest the presence of academic capitalism in universities oriented to hard science research. Central to the argument of Slaughter and Leslie is that institutions are acting in capitalistic ways. While faculty at Research I universities join in the capitalistic endeavors of the Research Universities for individual gain. Faculty at private, liberal arts

Christian universities joins with the institution in capitalistic endeavor because the faculty believes in the value and purpose of the type of institution they work in. At small.

Christian institutions, there is little gain for the faculty beyond the typical salary scale of teaching extra classes. However, there is significant revenue gain for the institution. The 212

use of faculty to invest their human capital stocks in the development and preparation of courses and curricula in the graduate, professional, degree completion and certificate programs that are not central to the traditional theological orientation of the two schools changes the nature of traditional faculty work. Furthermore, the difference in theological expectations and behavior between undergraduates and the graduate, professional, degree completion and certificate programs blur the boimdaries between the sacred mission of the universities and the needs of the workforce in the secular world. Both institutions are explicit in their mission statements and imdergraduate catalogs about their theological traditions and their desire to provide liberal arts education. However, the graduate, professional, degree completion and certificate programs appear to be constructed to meet the needs of local labor markets and to produce high margin revenues for both universities.

For these two institutions senior level administrative decision making exists in the realm of status seeking behavior and gives rise to academic capitalism that shapes the program development of non-traditional education to serve the labor market. Without apology, both institutions seek to meet the demands of their local marketplace for revenue sources that produce higher operating margins.

The presence of both status seeking and academic capitalism may serve to create a significant tension between the traditional theological liberal arts mission and the necessity to raise revenues from secular sources of program development. As a result some individuals may wonder if status seeking and academic capitalism have more effect over senior level administrative decision making than theology or denominational 213 governance. The question of how to resolve the tension between the traditional theological mission and the demand for revenue remains unanswered by this research project.

Limitations of the Research

This research on decision making by senior level administrators at Christian universities is limited by its focus on external forces that influence internal decision making. Other limitations include (1) the use of interviews that are dependent upon the environment of the informant's office and schedule (2) the exclusion of participant observation that would allow the development of an anthropological understanding of the theological and secular symbols that might be embedded in the decision making rituals of each institution

(3) the focus on decision making rather than a broader scope of institutional culture that might broaden my understanding of the presence of faith, theology, denominational governance, status seeking and academic capitalism in these two institutions and (4) the time and finances available for the conduct of the research.

Implications of the Research

It might be said that the presence of the foregoing forces might be assumed to have existed and therefore we could reasonably hypothesize about the effects of these forces upon decision making by senior level administrators at small, private Christian liberal arts universities. However, this research moves our knowledge of decision making beyond assumption and lays the groundwork for further exposure to the impact of both religious and secular forces upon the decision making of senior level administrators at Christian universities. The definition, description and interpretation of the effect of 214

external forces makes it possible for senior administrators to think more deeply about the

potential unintended consequences of their decisions when they can be more aware of the

influence of external forces upon their decisions.

A second implication of this research is that if Christian universities continue to adopt secular practices in the development of their institutions, they may look more and more like secular institutions in structure and decision making. The data and analysis establishes the possibility of a dialogue among administrators over the tension created between the traditional theological mission of their institutions and the need to seek revenues in the secular world. Resource dependency theory (Pfeffer and Salancik. 1978) suggests the possibility that these institutions may have given up some degree of control of their institutional mission because of the criticality of external monies to the institution. If senior level administrators develop a concern over the power exerted over their institutions by external sources it may provide a way for them to open dialogue with congregations that might be more empathetic with the theological mission of the institution to become a greater source of revenue.

A third implication is that the Bible, which is a central source for Christians in the construction of truth and wisdom, teaches the presence of external forces, such as evil, that affect humanity. However, decision makers often make decisions believing that, by the exercise of human agency, they can overcome the influence of external forces whether it is evil, the use of theology for coercion, politics, status seeking or academic capitalism. This research suggests that both institutions might be better served if senior 215 level administrators become more aware of forces beyond their control that influence their decisions.

The Lesson

The theological traditions of both institutions seek to serve the interests of the

Christian God in significant ways. The power of secular forces upon senior level administrative decision making may make their traditional theological missions contested ground.

The conceptual framework used in this research leads me to conclude that among the senior level administrators at these two institutions theology is not significantly evident in their decisions except that it appears to have significant influence on setting the decision making frame and upon the selection of the decision makers, most of whom demonstrate some level of congruence with die dominant institutional theology.

Denominational governance and politics is at work in different ways in both institutions.

The assumption that individuals with concentrations of power will use their power benevolently in the best interest of the institution should be challenged to keep politics in balance. Status seeking behavior and academic capitalism appear to have significant influences on senior level administration based on the decision making outcomes as observed in the constructed identities, structural development and program choices at each institution.

This research did not attempt to determine which of the foregoing forces was the one that acted the most powerfully on senior level administrators at Christian institutions.

This research sought only to explore and describe what was learned from the informants 216

and the documents. The presence of these forces in varying ways and degrees is evident.

Whether or not the forces under study will have detrimental or healthy impact on the

institutions is left for future research.

Both institutions in this study exhibit tension that arises from seeking to occupy a

place in Luther's Two Kingdoms of the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of the

Secular. This tension is demonstrated by the intention to have a distinctive theological

identity and meet the needs of the affiliated denominations, yet attract the economic

resources necessary to remain effective in higher education in the twenty-first century.

As Jesus observed. "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love

the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both

God and Money." The words of Jesus indicate the dilemma that faces persons of the

Christian faith. It is not unlike the tension experienced at secular institutions that exists

between the academic mission and the economic struggle.

' Matthew 6:24. The Holv Bible. New International Version. New York International Bible Society. 1978. New York. 217

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