Vai trò đa dạng của tuyên bố sứ mệnh trường cao đẳng cộng lập - Nghiên cứu của Mark David Mrozinski

National Louis University Digital Commons@NLU Dissertations 2-2010 Multiple Roles: The Conflicted Realities of Community College Mission Statements Mark David Mrozinski National-Louis University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.edu/diss Part of the Community College Leadership Commons Recommended Citation Mrozinski, Mark David, "Multiple Roles: The Conflicted Realities of Community College Mission Statements" (2010).edu/diss/25 This Dissertation - Public Access is brought to you for free and open access by Digital Commons@NLU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons@NLU. For more information, please contact digitalcommons@nl. NATIONAL-LOUIS UNIVERSITY MULTIPLE ROLES: THE CONFLICTED REALITIES OF COMMUNITY COLLEGE MISSION STATEMENTS A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE DOCTOR OF EDUCATION In COMMUNITY COLLEGE LEADERSHIP BY MARK D.

MROZINSKI Chicago, Illinois February 2010 ii iii Dedication This dissertation is dedicated to my wife, Vonnie, without whose support and encouragement, I could not have accomplished this. No one will fully understand the love, commitment, and selflessness you have demonstrated to me. I love you and thank you with all my heart. iv Acknowledgements First, I would like to acknowledge Oxford University Press for the permission to use figures 6, 7, and 8, which so elegantly represent various facets of Henry Mintzberg‘s strategy formation theory.

Additionally, Prentice Hall graciously granted permission to adapt Hunger and Wheelen strategy formation framework, which was used as a foundation for figures 5, 10, and 14. To my doctoral cohort (DOC2) at National-Louis University, Angie, Bill, Dan, Harry, Jeff, Karen, Katie, Michael, Michelle, and Shelly, thank you for your support, encouragement, for the laughter and the tears along this journey. Thank you for being there and supporting me, even when you were little aware of the support you were offering. Every gesture has meant the world to me and moved me toward our shared goal.

You have been patient with my impatience, calm with my bluster, and tolerant of my ignorance and sometimes arrogance; in short, you have accepted me as I am. You have become like a second family. To Dan Hagberg, thank you for your computer and design expertise on many of the figures and the table of contents. You offered your talents before I could even ask.

You have a servant‘s heart, the sign of a great leader. Phyllis Grummon, Director of Education and Planning at the Society for College and University Planning, thank you for your sage advice and assistance with the nomination process for the case colleges. Your contribution to this research is significant. To my children, Ben and Emma, thank you for sharing your dad with this academic process over the past three years.

You have taught me how precious and fleeting the moments of life can be, and that the only two gifts that really matter are love and time. The rest is icing on the cake. v To my parents, Gerald and Dorothy Mrozinski, thank you for supporting me in every endeavor of my life and for instilling in me from my earliest memory the value of education. I hope you can now see those values lived out in your children.

Margaret Skold, Vice President of Academic Affairs at William Rainey Harper College, you gave me the professional space and resources that I needed to make this dream possible. Your gentle prodding and encouragement, especially through the dissertation phase, moved me along the path. You believed in me even when I didn‘t even believe in myself. This is a gift I will always cherish.

To the second and third on my committee, Drs. Parks and Aldrich, thank you for your expertise, advice, and the contribution of your time and talents to my research. Your refining input pushed me on toward my ―best and last.‖ Finally, to Dr. Lake, thank you for your commitment to me and our work together.

From the first page of the first draft, you always encouraged me, while challenging me to bring forth my best. You have given freely of your time and talents; you have offered wise advice. You are shaping the next generation of community college leaders, and your impact on the future of the community college movement will be magnified through their careers. vi Abstract Questions of efficacy have always plagued the use of mission statement as a strategic planning tool.

In most planning models, the mission statement serves to clarify goals and guide the formation of strategies. However, little empirical evidence exists validating that mission statements actually improve the performance of organizations, even though regional accrediting commissions in higher education include mission statement and affiliated processes as criterion for accreditation. For community colleges, the question is how can mission statements best be used to move the institution forward in a climate of change and challenges? The purpose of this study is to explore the role and efficacy of community college mission statements in the strategic planning process. Role refers to the function of the mission statement within the institution‘s planning framework, both actual and desired, whereas efficacy refers to how well the statement fulfills the desired function.

This national qualitative research employed an instrumental case study design and included nine community colleges geographically distributed throughout the United States. Mintzberg‘s strategy formation theory and the research of Lang and Lopers-Sweetman into mission statement roles provided a framework for the study. The findings clearly corroborate the multiple roles required of mission statements, and that certain of these roles can facilitate mission statement efficacy. Nevertheless, the findings also unmistakably found some roles are inherently in conflict with one another.

The implications of the findings are that institutional planners must be unambiguous at the outset of the mission statement development process as to which roles will be required of the mission statement. This clarity of utility assists in the development of a comprehensible mission statement and will improve its efficacy. A model mission statement development process is presented that combines findings from the research vii with other model mission statement development processes. The resulting process can be used by governing boards, presidents, institutional planners, and planning committees at community colleges to improve the efficacy of their mission statement and the strategic planning process.

viii Table of Contents Page Dedication. vi List of Tables. xii List of Figures. xiv Chapter 1: Introduction.

1 Background of Study. 1 Statement of Purpose. 3 Context for the Study. 3 The Community College in the United States.

4 Hierarchy of Mission. 4 Conceptual and Theoretical Frameworks. 10 Mission Statement Research. 12 Definition of Terms.

16 Brief Description of Study Design. 18 Techniques for Data Collection and Analysis. 18 Significance to the Community College Field. 22 Chapter 2: Review of the Literature.

23 Historical Context: Evolution of the Community College Greater Mission. 24 Theoretical Frameworks for Mission Exploration. 28 Strategic Planning in Higher Education. 29 Mission Statement and the Common Planning Framework.

32 Strategy Formation Theory. 38 Mission Statement Research. 49 Regional Accreditation Requirements. 65 ix Chapter 3: Research Design.

66 The Qualitative Paradigm. 66 Case Study Methodology. 70 Strategic Planning Professional Participant Selection. 75 Participant College Contact Protocol.

75 Instrumentation and Data Collection. 77 Pre-interview Questionnaire. 77 Informed Consent and Confidentiality Procedures. 82 Data Collection Pilot.

85 Data Managing Stage. 85 Reading and Memoing Stage. 86 Describing, Classifying, and Interpreting Stage. 86 Representing and Visualizing Stage.

88 Trustworthiness: Reliability, Validity, and Rigor. 93 Researcher as Research Instrument. 96 Chapter 4: Data Collection and Presentation. 98 Management and Description of Case Study Colleges and Participants.

98 Case Management Documents. 100 Pre-interview Questionnaire Data. 102 Data Collection and Process Pilot. 106 Pre-interview Questionnaire.

106 Telephone Interview Schedule. 107 Summary of Data Collected. 109 The Data Analysis Process. 121 Qualitative Data Analysis Utilizing NVivo Software.

125 Chapter 5: Data Analysis. 126 Driving Question 1: The Definition and Meaning of Mission Statement. 128 Definition of Mission Statement. 128 The Multiple Roles of Mission Statement.

132 Driving Question 3: The Role of Mission Statement within the Strategic Planning Process. 153 Sequential Placement of Mission Statement. 154 Linking Goals to Mission Statement. 156 Driving Question 4: The Role of Mission Statement in Plan Implementation.

157 Teaching the Plan. 159 Creative Communication Methods. 160 Driving Question 5: Efficacy of Mission Statement as a Planning Tool. 161 Satisfaction with Current Mission Statement.

162 Overall Efficacy of Mission Statement as a Planning Tool. 166 Findings and Implications. 168 Purpose of the Study. 168 Driving Question 1: The Definition and Meaning of Mission Statement.

168 Driving Question 2: Similarities, Commonalities, and Differences. 176 Driving Question 3: The Role of Mission Statement in the Strategic Planning Process. 177 Driving Question 4: The Role of Mission Statement in Plan Implementation. 179 Driving Question 5: The Efficacy of Mission Statement as a Planning Tool.

180 The Mission Statement Development and Strategic Planning. 181 The Mrozinski Mission Statement Development Process. 186 Recommendations for Further Research. 200 Appendix A: Introductory Email to College President.

200 Appendix B: Topical Orientation Guide. 201 Appendix C: Confirmation Email to Strategic Planners. 202 Appendix D: Pre-interview Questionnaire. 203 Appendix E: Participant Informed Consent.

209 Appendix F: Data Transcriptionist Confidentiality Agreement. 211 Appendix G: Driving Questions Mapped to Interview Schedule. 212 xii List of Tables Table Page 1. Percentage of Community College Students Reporting Various Reasons for Enrolling in a Community College: 2003-04 (Horn & Nevill, 2006).

Norris and Poulton‘s (2008) Eras in Planning and Decision Making in Higher Education. Mission Statement Development as It Relates to Strategy Formation. Roles of Institutional Mission Statements Identified by Lang and Lopers-Sweetman. Mission as a Standard for Accreditation.

Characteristics Utilized in the Purposeful Sampling Process. Participant College Nomination Process. The Five Data Sources Employed for the Study. Lang and Lopers-Sweetman‘s (1991) Roles of Institutional Mission Statements.

Comparison of Trustworthiness Frameworks within the Qualitative Paradigm. Stake‘s Validation Aids for Naturalistic Generalizations. Case Management Documents. Participant Community College Attributes.

Demographic Data Describing Participant Strategic Planners. Participant Planner Position Data. Functional Responsibilities of Participant Planners beyond Strategic Planning. Data Collection Pilot Results: Pre-interview Questionnaire.

Data Collection Pilot Results: Interview Schedule. Mission Statement Defined. The Role of Mission Statement by College. The Function of Mission Statement within the Strategic Planning Process.

Mission Statement Placement within the Strategic Planning Process. Number of Colleges Identifying the Role Themes by Mission Placement within Planning Framework. Number of Colleges Identifying Role Themes by Size Classification. How Mission Statement Assists with Strategic Plan Implementation.

Fulfillment of Mission Statement Role. Attitudes Regarding Strategic Planning and Mission Statement as Expressed by Participants. Participant‘s Attitude and Sentiment Themes by Number of Years in Current Position (count of coding instances). Number of College Planning Documents Reviewed.

The Function of NVivo in Managing and Analyzing Data according to Creswell‘s 4 Stages. The Definition of Mission Statement. Comparing the Definition of Mission Statement vs. Mission Statement‘s Role as Goal Clarification.

Mission Statement as Marketing Tool. The Placement of Mission Statement in the Strategic Planning Process. Linking College Goals to Mission Statement in the Strategic Planning Process. 157 xiv List of Figures Figure Page 1.

The relationship of greater mission to organizational mission. The relationship of greater and organizational mission to mission statement. Mapping of research concepts relating to the roll and efficacy of community college mission statements. The development of the community college mission in the United States.

Relative placement of mission statement within the strategic planning framework. Mintzberg's (2007) forms of strategy. Mintzberg's (2007) four processes of strategy formation .