An analysis of the chief student affairs officer as a boundary spanner

Little research has been conducted on the role of the Chief Student Affairs Officer as a partner in institutional decision making processes. This exploratory study investigates institutions of higher education and their division of student affairs as modern organizations, a rich context in which to explore the role of the chief student affairs officer as a boundary spanner. Boundary spanners are individuals who operate on the periphery of their organizations and become brokers between constituents within and among the internal and external environment of their organizations. (Boundary spanners manage the face of the organization, process environmental information, and manage relations with environmental elements and constituents.) Boundary spanning by the chief student affairs officer can result in positive or negative personal and professional outcomes for the organization and the individual.; The purpose of this study was to examine the type and extent of boundary spanning activities engaged in by chief student affairs officers at selected, large, public universities. This study also examined the relationship of chief student affairs officers' boundary spanning activities to their perceived environmental uncertainty, perceived job conditions (role conflict, role ambiguity, and job related tension) and perceived job outcomes (job satisfaction and role legitimacy).; A 108 item Boundary Spanning Activity Scale for chief student affairs officers was administered to 50 chief student affairs officers at large Southeastern public doctoral degree granting universities. The survey yielded 84% usable surveys. The findings of this study suggest that chief student affairs officers participating in this study were moderately (on the scanning, monitoring, protecting, processing and gatekeeping, and linking scales) to highly (on the representing, transacting, and administering scales) engaged in boundary spanning activities.; Inter-organization, intra-organization and student boundary spanning were reported as essential to the chief student affairs officer's overall job performance; while extra-organizational boundary spanning was found to be "moderately essential" to their overall job performance. An analysis of the patterns of associations of boundary spanning activities suggested that if chief student affairs officers participated in one boundary spanning activity, then they often participated in the other boundary spanning activities, with the exception of administering.; Significant relationships were found between specific boundary spanning activity scales and perceived environmental uncertainty; the job conditions of role conflict, role ambiguity, and job related tension; and the job outcome of role legitimacy. No relationship was found between boundary spanning and job satisfaction. The highest correlations were between specific boundary spanning activities with role legitimacy and job related tension.; The primary contribution of this study is to the advancement of the chief student affairs officer's role in institutional decision making processes. Further, an exploratory view of the origin (perceived environmental uncertainty), the type and extent, and the role conditions (role conflict, role ambiguity, job related tension) and outcomes (job satisfaction, role legitimacy) of engaging in boundary spanning by chief student affairs officers is revealed.