Over the last few decades, there has been a significant increase in the number of student service personnel, yet demand has outstripped this growth leading to turnover and low employee satisfaction. Scholars and practitioners alike have called for increased levels of empowerment of these workers, but the outcomes of this approach need further…

Faculty job satisfaction is critical to the success of students and institutions of higher education. Satisfaction of faculty has often been tied to the autonomy of faculty to complete their work with many faculty viewing themselves as independent contractors whose roles and identities are separate from the institution's, but the implications of…

Some institutions have sought to centralize the supports they give students by developing a center or office dedicated to international students, led by a director or manager overseeing international student support. However, these directors are also not given the resources needed to fully support international students. Our study focuses on the…

This study explores how mid-level administrators working in international student service centers make meaning of their roles and perceive the support their institutions provide. Utilizing critical discourse analysis and the theoretical framework of empowerment, this study reveals the social problems, power struggles, and avenues mid-level…

In this article, we discuss the importance of theory driven program development and present the empowerment framework using two case studies at a center for teaching and learning (CTL). We describe the empowerment framework, offer programmatic examples aligned with this framework, and make specific recommendations for those wishing to pursue this…

The rising cost of higher education has driven researchers and practitioners alike to identify areas of waste and search for practices associated with increasing efficiency. One area commonly targeted is human resources, where the dominant narrative focuses on the role of downsizing as a way to decrease cost. In contrast to workforce reduction,…