Research Forum 2002

Christopher Morphew
University of Kansas

Steering Colleges and Universities Toward Distinctive Missions

One of the primary goals of higher education governing/coordinating agencies has been and continues to be the creation and maintenance of systems characterized by institutional diversity. Institutional diversity is thought to be an important goal of these agencies because of the assumption that greater institutional diversity contributes to both the efficiency and productivity of higher education systems designed to serve diverse student populations and state interests. Empirical research on the organizational behavior of colleges and universities and their tendency to engage in academic drift, however, underscores the difficulty inherent in designing and implementing policies that are effective in steering colleges and universities toward distinctive missions. This paper will draw on a case study of the Missouri Coordinating Board for Higher Education’s (MCBHE) Mission Review and Enhancement Initiative. The study presents a description of the initiative and an analysis of how the MCBHE has pursued its objective of working together with public colleges and universities to create and fund distinctive missions. The study’s findings suggest that successful programs will include significant incentives and steer institutions toward missions that are simultaneously distinctive and meaningful to internal and external constituents.