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

• Published in: Higher education policy Vol. 34; no. 3; pp. 643 - 663
• Main Authors: Rubin, Paul G., Ness, Erik C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Palgrave Macmillan UK 01.09.2021; Palgrave Macmillan
• Subjects: Education; Education Policy; Educational Policy; Educational Policy and Politics; Government agencies; Graduation Rate; Higher Education; Information; Information sharing; Institutional Characteristics; Knowledge Management; Original Article; Policy Formation; Policy making; Public Schools; State government; State Policy; Supply & demand; Tennessee; Texas; Georgia; United States > US; governing agencies; knowledge brokering; information use; college completion; principal-agent theory
• ISSN: 0952-8733; 1740-3863
• DOI: 10.1057/s41307-019-00155-z

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.