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State Higher Education Governing Agencies and the Knowledge Brokering Process: Investigating Their Role as Multi-facing Organizations in the United States

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Abstract

State higher education governing agencies in the United States are uniquely positioned between the state government and public postsecondary sector. However, few studies have considered how this organizational characteristic influences these agencies’ role in the policy process. The current study seeks to contribute to this gap in the literature by investigating the use of information in the policy process and the potential role of statewide agencies as knowledge brokers. Through an examination of the state higher education governing agencies in Georgia, Tennessee, and Texas, findings highlight the influence of these organizations’ multi-facing position on the supply and demand of information regarding statewide college completion-related policies. Grounded by principal–agent theory, this analysis also contributes an emergent conceptual framework of the information flow process around state-level higher education policymaking in the United States.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the generous support for this project from the William T. Grant Foundation (“The Distinct Role of Intermediary Organizations in Fostering Research Utilization for State Completion Policy” PI: Erik Ness, Co-PI: James Hearn, University of Georgia). We also appreciate the data collection and analysis contributions of James Hearn, Denisa Gándara, Lori Hagood, Kristin Linthicum, Jennifer Rippner, and Tiffanie Spencer. All opinions, conclusions, and errors reflected in this manuscript are solely those of the authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Educational Leadership and Policy, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA

    Paul G. Rubin

  2. Institute of Higher Education, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA

    Erik C. Ness

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  1. Paul G. Rubin
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  2. Erik C. Ness
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Correspondence to Paul G. Rubin.

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Appendix 1

Appendix 1

See Table 2.

Table 2 Summary chart of interview respondents by state and sector
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Rubin, P.G., Ness, E.C. State Higher Education Governing Agencies and the Knowledge Brokering Process: Investigating Their Role as Multi-facing Organizations in the United States. High Educ Policy 34, 643–663 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41307-019-00155-z

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