Leveraging University Expansion: An Examination of How University and Government Stakeholders Utilize University Expansion to Achieve (Competing) Agendas

• In Event: 26.042 - Academic Careers, Faculty Productivity, and Expansion in Higher Education

Abstract

As more universities engage in physical campus expansion, court cases and negative publicity reflect the ongoing tension between large, urban universities and their surrounding communities. This study examines how university perceptions of external stakeholder salience influence strategies used by universities to obtain state and local government approval of campus expansion projects. This paper specifically looks at the relationships between the university stakeholders who are primarily responsible for implementing the physical expansion plans for an urban-situated campus (i.e., university real estate development officers, campus planner and government relations officers) and the government stakeholders charged with ensuring that such plans comport with local and state laws (i.e., city planners, elected and appointed government officials and transportation officers).

Authors

• Rick Wagoner, University of California - Los Angeles

• Dorine Lawrence-Hughes, University of Southern California