Institutional policies can promote, or undermine, a healthy intellectual culture of a college or university. HxA explores how priorities, policies, and budgets translate into broad or narrow exchanges of ideas.
Institutional policies and budgets influence who can be a member of the academic community; the rules for day-to-day work and interactions among faculty, staff, and students; which departments will grow or shrink; who holds formal and informal power and influence; and how officials respond to crises and controversies.
In an age of constant communication, the messages shared by institutional leaders is a policy area of special importance. How leaders describe the purpose(s) of a college or university, and to what extent they take positions on social and political questions, can shape the ethos of the institution in profound ways.
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