The influence of governance on higher education performance in Florida

Governance; Higher education; Higher education performance

Research Mentor: Tzu-An Chiang,
Department, College, Affiliation: Askew School of Public Administration and Policy, Social Sciences and Public Policy
Contact Email: tc20dk@fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor):
Research Assistant Supervisor Email:
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:

Looking for Research Assistants: Yes
Number of Research Assistants: 2
Relevant Majors: Open to all majors.
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required: No, the project is remote
Remote or In-person: Fully Remote
Approximate Weekly Hours: 10, Flexible schedule (Combination of business and outside of business. TBD between student and research mentor.)
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link: Not participating in the Roundtable

Project Description

Many studies explore the impact of governance and situate their studies in higher education examining how governance arrangements affect the performance of colleges or universities. However, several gaps in the literature, include: (1) a narrow definition of governance used in analyzing higher education systems, which focuses only on the structure of governance, and overlooks the process of governance; (2) most previous studies prioritize state-level system structures, thereby ignoring the complex nature of governance within state-systems and the nuance of governance within the institutions themselves.

To bridge the research gaps, this study will examine the relationship between governance and institutional performance in twelve public universities in Florida by using panel data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System over the 2000 to 2020 period. Specifically, this paper asks the following questions: (1) Do the governance arrangements of higher education governance affect the performance of higher education? If so, is governance structure or governance processes more closely related to higher institutional performance? (2) Regarding governance structure, how is the centralization of the state governance system related to the performance of higher education institutions? (3) Which type of governance decision-making processes (i.e., horizontal, vertical governance) are most closely related to performance of higher education institutions? (4) How do the governance structure and process interact to affect the performance of higher education institutions?

Research Tasks: collect and organize data

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Required: know how to send emails in a professional way; know how to use Excel spreadsheet to organize data.
Recommended: know how to input data into STATA.