The Ontology of Scholar-Administrators: Empirical Inferences from Five Senior Administrators Who Published

Authors

Aaron Coe, University of PhoenixFollow
Ravi Chinta, Auburn University at MontgomeryFollow

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to fill a gap in existing literature on scholar-administrators and understand the lived experience of scholar-administrators who published. Using an interpretative phenomenological approach to extract themes from detailed case studies of five senior academic administrators who have published, the researchers’ empirical inferences from the five detailed case histories reveal the challenges and rewards of producing scholarship as a scholar-administrator. Their findings show that the administrators were more connected to the people within and outside the university, their own field of practice, and with the university. The impact of scholarship on scholar-administrators goes beyond publications. Continuation of being a scholar-practitioner has significant impact on networking scope of administrators keeping the educational entities they lead abreast of environmental trends to adapt to. Future research should replicate our study to increase the generalizability of its findings.

Keywords

Scholar-Administrator, Higher Education Administrators, Impact of Scholarship, Synergies in Higher Education, Academic Administration, Interpretative Phenomenology

Author Bio(s)

Dr. Aaron Coe is Program Dean, Office of Scholarship Support, School of Advanced Studies, University of Phoenix. He oversees the competitive financial grants and awards to promote research and scholarship throughout University of Phoenix, and has spearheaded the establishment of ten research centers to enhance research productivity among faculty and students at University of Phoenix. Correspondence regarding this article can be addressed directly to: Aaron Coe at, aaron.coe@phoenix.edu.

Ravi Chinta, Ph.D., is currently Department Head, College of Business, University at Montgomery, AL. Ravi has 37 years of work experience (15 in academia and 22 in industry). Ravi worked in venture-capital industry, business start-ups and large multi-billion global firms such as IBM; Reed-Elsevier; LexisNexis; and Hillenbrand Industries. Ravi has over 57 peer-reviewed publications in journals such as Academy of Management Executive, Journal of Small Business Management, Long Range Planning, Management Research News, Journal of Technology Management in China, and International Journal of Strategic Business Alliances, etc. Correspondence regarding this article can also be addressed directly to: Ravi Chinta at, ravichinta@hotmail.com.

Acknowledgements

Authors acknowledge the support from University of Phoenix for this research.

Publication Date

3-7-2016

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

DOI

10.46743/2160-3715/2016.2265

Recommended APA Citation

Coe, A., & Chinta, R. (2016). The Ontology of Scholar-Administrators: Empirical Inferences from Five Senior Administrators Who Published. The Qualitative Report, 21(3), 474-484. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2016.2265