Stevenson University Online

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    A conceptual model of systems thinking leadership in community colleges
    (Systemic Practice and Action Research, 2015-08) Davis, Anne Powel; Dent, Eric B.; Wharff, Deborah M.
    The pluralistic and often competing goals of myriad constituents, the changing demographics of students, the uncertainty of funding, and the growing demands for accountability from stakeholders have increased the complexity of systems which community college leaders must manage. Emerging from the recent literature on community colleges is a call for new models of leadership in the context of leading in an increasingly uncertain and complex environment. Systems thinking offers a means to help leaders respond to these growing organizational complexities and move leadership from a traditional bureaucratic model to a more adaptive model. A systematic review of literature on systems thinking’s application to organizational performance in higher education was bolstered with evidence from healthcare. Findings revealed three reoccurring ways in which leaders apply systems thinking processes for improving organizational performance. A conceptual model for systems thinking leadership is proposed in which the three processes, characterized as discovery, framing, and action, can be enacted either individually or sequentially for enhancing organizational performance. The model draws upon boundary critique, critical systems thinking, systemic intervention, total systems intervention, systems dynamics, soft systems methodology, complexity theory and complex adaptive systems, yet uses language more readily identifiable to community college practitioners.
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    Connected: Polarization in Online Environments
    (2021) Borden, Brittani A.; Ward, Stanley J.; Stevenson University Online; Communication Studies
    This case study will analyze research surrounding the rhetoric of polarization in online environments and how it can influence behavior and emotion. Through the analysis and review of three socialites who were vocal on Twitter regarding polarized ideas three groups, hate groups, fandom groups, and political parties, are cross analyzed to see how individuals who identify with these groups show trends in rhetoric. This text will highlight connections and differences in the rhetorical styles used by each group and how they potentially inspired behavior from March through October of 2020 in United States based online environments during a number of Black Lives Matter and Make America Great Again protests. Polarization is defined and applied to each public figures’ tweets within the time frame are examined for potential ability to influence behavior. The purpose of this research is to examine how each group showed differences or similarities in outgroup versus ingroup rhetoric and better understand how such rhetoric can be increasingly impactful when introduced or reinforced in online settings as social media use rises worldwide.