In this project we (Verna Case and I) sought to answer the following question through an Expert Interviews method research approach (semi-structured interviews): What do campus leaders think about the importance of place when it comes to the institutions they lead?

We interviewed ten leaders in higher education to better understand the power and relevance of ‘place’ to the leaders of these institutions. Five of the leaders were presidents of these institutions at the time of the interview, one was a former president, and four were vice-presidents. We conducted 10 one-hour interviews. We decided to create a concept map based on these interviews. After creating the concept map, we had follow-up conversations with nine of the interviewees in order to receive their feedback.

Overall, our results align with Cresswell’s (2019) definition of place:

“Place as an assemblage of materiality, meaning, and practice; place as a necessary social construct; place as a crossroads of roots and routes, where pasts become futures—this is where the possibilities for certain kinds of truth are formed, and this is why they are powerful.”

An overview of the project was published as a post “Today’s Colleges and the Power of Place” on the AAUP Blog Academe. The full 2024 article (open access) “Why Should College Leaders Consider the Power of Their Place?” can be found here.