Responding to Change in Higher Education: The Case of the Nonprofit Leadership Studies Program at Murray State University and Program Identity

Authors

  • Peter C. Weber Auburn University
  • Robert F. Long Murray State University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18666/JNEL-2020-10081

Keywords:

nonprofit education, service learning, student philanthropy, higher education administration

Abstract

Nonprofit studies programs have grown over the past three decades in both number and size. Although scholars have devoted increasing attention to both the field of study and its infrastructure, not much attention has been devoted to the administration of these programs. This study reviews the over three-decade-long history and development of the nonprofit leadership studies program at Murray State University and reflects on the various challenges the program has faced, including enrollment concerns, program reorganization, and declining resources. This analysis highlights the importance of developing a clear program identity, which in this case was shaped around the concepts of service learning and student philanthropy. The conclusions extrapolate broad recommendations that can serve as a road map to similar programs that face common budgetary and enrollment challenges in a changing higher education landscape.

Subscribe to JNEL

Author Biographies

Peter C. Weber, Auburn University

Dr. Peter C. Weber is an assistant professor of philanthropy and nonprofit studies at Auburn University. Prior to joining Auburn University, he was assistant professor and director of the nonprofit leadership studies program at Murray State University. His research interests include the institutionalization of nonprofit education, civil society in contemporary and historical perspective, and philanthropic innovations. He has published extensively in edited volumes and peer-reviewed journals, including in the field’s premier scholarly and teaching journals Voluntas, Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Journal of Public Affairs Education, and Journal of Nonprofit Education and Leadership. 

Robert F. Long, Murray State University

Dr. Robert F. Long has dedicated his career to helping people help themselves improve the quality of their lives and the communities in which they live. The central commitment has been to the development of the next generation of leaders, preparing them for the challenges they will encounter and helping strengthen their capacity to positively impact the lives of others. Bob retired in 2016 after serving as the Visiting Distinguished Professor of Nonprofit Leadership at Murray State University, in Murray, Kentucky. Prior to joining Murray State in 2008, Bob spent sixteen years with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation where he served as vice president for programs. His portfolio included the areas of philanthropy, community leadership, civic engagement, and traditions of giving. Before joining the Foundation, Bob was engaged as the endowed McElroy Professor of Youth Leadership Studies at the University of Northern Iowa. He started his career as a youth development specialist with the Cooperative Extension Service in Illinois and Nevada.

Downloads

Published

2021-01-05

Issue

Vol. 11 No. 1 (2021)

Section

Program and Center Administration

License

Sagamore Publishing LLC (hereinafter the “Copyright Owner”)

Journal Publishing Copyright Agreement for Authors

PLEASE REVIEW OUR POLICIES AND THE PUBLISHING AGREEMENT, AND INDICATE YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF THE TERMS BY CHECKING THE ‘AGREE TO THE TERMS OF THIS COPYRIGHT NOTICE’ CHECKBOX BELOW.

I understand that by submitting an article to Journal of Nonprofit Education and Leadership, I am granting the copyright to the article submitted for consideration for publication in Journal of Nonprofit Education and Leadership to the Copyright Owner. If after consideration of the Editor of the Journal of Nonprofit Education and Leadership, the article is not accepted for publication, all copyright covered under this agreement will be automatically returned to the Author(s).

THE PUBLISHING AGREEMENT

Assignment of Copyright

I hereby assign to the Copyright Owner the copyright in the manuscript I am submitting in this online procedure and any tables, illustrations or other material submitted for publication as part of the manuscript in all forms and media (whether now known or later developed), throughout the world, in all languages, for the full term of copyright, effective when the article is accepted for publication.

Reversion of Rights

Articles may sometimes be accepted for publication but later be rejected in the publication process, even in some cases after public posting in “Articles in Press” form, in which case all rights will revert to the Author.

Retention of Rights for Scholarly Purposes

I understand that I retain or am hereby granted the Retained Rights. The Retained Rights include the right to use the Preprint, Accepted Manuscript, and the Published Journal Article for Personal Use and Internal Institutional Use.

All journal material is under a 12 month embargo. Authors who would like to have their articles available as open access should contact Sagamore-Venture for further information.

In the case of the Accepted Manuscript and the Published Journal Article, the Retained Rights exclude Commercial Use, other than use by the author in a subsequent compilation of the author’s works or to extend the Article to book length form or re-use by the author of portions or excerpts in other works.

Published Journal Article: the author may share a link to the formal publication through the relevant DOI.

Author Representations

  • The Article I have submitted to the journal for review is original, has been written by the stated author(s) and has not been published elsewhere.
  • The Article was not submitted for review to another journal while under review by this journal and will not be submitted to any other journal.
  • The Article contains no libelous or other unlawful statements and does not contain any materials that violate any personal or proprietary rights of any other person or entity.
  • I have obtained written permission from copyright owners for any excerpts from copyrighted works that are included and have credited the sources in the Article.
  • If the Article was prepared jointly with other authors, I have informed the co-author(s) of the terms of this Journal Publishing Agreement and that I am signing on their behalf as their agent, and I am authorized to do so.