Explaining Variation in University Responses to New Legal Mandates in an Uncertain Legal Environment

Regents Of The University Of Michigan - Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor MI

Investigators

Abstract

This study examines how universities seek to comply with new federal laws in the context of an uncertain legal and social environment. The degree to which universities comply with legal mandates is shaped not only by enforcement agencies, rewards and penalties, but also by public pressure from social movements and the media, the availability of resources, and by a desire to achieve or maintain status in the field of higher education. This research engages important questions about why some schools go well beyond compliance with the law while others seem to struggle to comply. The project will make intellectual contributions to the study of 1) law and organizations and 2) processes of institutional change. Hypotheses for how universities respond to new legal mandates are derived from research on law and organizations. To test these hypotheses, the study will construct and analyze (1) an original quantitative data set capturing the publically available policies of 382 American universities at two points in time, and (2) a secondary data set of independent variables measuring school rank and resources, together with external pressures universities face with regard to litigation, administrative oversight, media attention, and social movement activism. Quantitative analyses will help researchers understand how administrators in higher education make decisions about how -- and to what extent -- they should revise policies and practices to accord with the requirements of laws. The longitudinal research design seeks to capture university responses to new legal mandates over time. The study also involves a set of six in-depth university case studies which will generate further insights into the decision-making processes of administrators.