Special issue: Ethical challenges in higher education in the contemporary policy and political climate
Call for proposals
Guest editor:
●
Darrell Lovell, Assistant professor & MPA director, West Texas A&M University
Call for papers:
Current politics, policy debates, and the continued fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic have put an increased amount of pressure on the higher education system (Blakenberger & Williams, 2020). State policies that have been adopted or discussed in places such as Florida have created a different institutional system for colleges and universities to operate in. This new policy and political landscape are causing issues of faculty migration, enrollment shifts, and funding changes that create difficult administrative decisions evidenced by reducing faculty positions and the battles between unions and institutions over fair pay and working conditions. From a faculty perspective, there are concerns regarding their shifting roles and how they can continue to be effective as the system goes through a significant shift (Lovell, 2023). Trust in public figures is a common topic in administration (De Boer, 2020; Wade & Fiorentino, 2023), especially where education and politics are concerned (Bell et al, 2021).
As policy feedback has hit a new high with the salience of state policies that inhibit academic freedom rising, higher education administrators and decision-makers are faced with a new set of challenging decisions (Jeon & Exmeyer, 2022; Mettler, Jacobs, & Zhu, 2022). With shifts in challenges comes shifts in how administrators approach managing their institutions and how these structures are evolving (Borry, 2017; Khelifi, 2017). This new set of challenges include topics from changes in curriculum to managing faculty positions and power. Morality and ethical shifts have caused changes in higher education (Prisacariu & Shah, 2016) and set standards that administrators and faculty have to respond to in order to evolve. Analyzing these morality and ethical shifts, what these challenges are, and the results of them is the subject of this special issue with the overarching objective being to provide a new platform to expand this discussion within higher education.
The main objective of Public Integrity is to expand the discussion of ethics, morality, and administration. This special issue aims to bring together contributions from multiple disciplines and encourages interdisciplinary work that address this focus within higher education. In addition, researchers using a variety of methodologies and approaches (quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods) are encouraged to submit their work.
Potential topics and areas of research include but are not limited to:
- How political decision-making is altering ethics in higher education administration and for higher education administrators
- How higher education administrators deal with changes in K-12 content and their restrictions
- How policy feedback is impacting the decisions higher education administrators are having to make
- Are test-optional policies increasing equity post-pandemic
- How are faculty viewed by the public and what impact does this have on their position and expectations within higher education
- Are rural institutions falling prey to the morality debate in the rural-urban divide
- Are faculty and staff being forced to compromise ethics to maintain employment in higher education
All submissions will be reviewed on their merit.
Those wishing to have their work included in the special issue will submit an abstract of no more than 500 words to
[email protected]. Submissions should include the scope of the project, the foundations of the work, how the work fits the issue and journal’s aims, and an explanation of the question, methodological approach, and anticipated findings and impacts on the field of research. All accepted papers will go through the double-blind peer review process at Public Integrity and acceptance of an abstract does not guarantee publication.
Timeline:
June 1 - Abstracts due
July 1 - Decisions made
November 15 - First draft for comments by the editor
February 15, 2024 - Final submissions for peer review by Public Integrity
July1, 2024 - Projected issue publication date
If you have any questions, send an email to Darrell Lovell, guest editor, at
[email protected].
References
Bell, E., Ter‐Mkrtchyan, A., Wehde, W., & Smith, K. (2021). Just or unjust? How ideological
beliefs shape street‐level bureaucrats’ perceptions of administrative burden. Public Administration Review, 81(4), 610-624.
Blankenberger, B. & Williams, A. (2020). COVID and the impact on higher education:
The essential role of integrity and accountability. Administrative Theory & Praxis, 42(3), 404-423.
Borry, E. (2017). Ethical climate and rule bending: How organizational norms contribute
to unintended rule consequences. Public Administration, 95(1), 78-96.
De Boer, N. (2020). How do citizens assess street‐level bureaucrats’ warmth and competence? A
typology and test. Public Administration Review, 80(4), 532-542.
Jeon, S. H., & Exmeyer, P. C. (2022). Public Service in Times of Politicized Crisis: How
Combatting COVID-19 Reveals Threats to Merit Principles. Public Integrity, 1-16.
Khelifi, S. (2019). Interplay between politics and institutions in higher education reform.
European Journal of Educational Research, 8(3), 671-681.
Lovell, D. (2023). Rethinking Faculty as Street-Level Bureaucrats: Exploring the Role of Ethics
and Administrative Discretion in Contemporary Higher Education. Public Integrity, 1-17.
Mettler, S., Jacobs, L., & Zhu, L. (2022). Policy threat, partisanship, and the case of the
affordable care act. American Political Science Review, 117(1), 296-310.
Prisacariu, A., & Shah, M. (2016). Defining the quality of higher education around ethics and
moral values. Quality in Higher education, 22(2), 152-166.
Wade, M. L., & Fiorentino, S. (2023). Heightened Expectations for Ethical Behavior in
Municipalities: Human Resource and Civility Training for Elected Officials. Public Integrity, 1-8.