Despite online backlash, Queen\u2019s administrators who authored \u201cAgency in a Box\u201d argue the model\u2019s meant to promote collaboration among University administration and faculty.<\/p>\n
Bill Nelson, ArtSci associate dean (teaching and learning), and Jenn Stephenson, former ArtSci associate dean (studies) until June 2025 and current professor in the Dan School of Drama and Music, have published two articles in the Academica Forum as part of the Illuminating Hope in Higher Ed<\/a> initiative. The articles<\/a> outline a framework they call \u201cAgency in a Box<\/a>,\u201d a framework for academic change in which administrators set broad constraints while faculty develop collaborative, implementable solutions within existing governance structures.<\/p>\n This model unfolds in three stages: First, \u201ccreating the box,\u201d where leaders outline the core requirements and constraints of a solution; second, \u201ckicking the box,\u201d where faculty and staff test and agree on the parameters; and third, \u201cdevelopment in the box,\u201d where faculty build tailored solutions with administrative promise that if the solution follows the guidelines set, it will be supported.<\/p>\n In an interview with The Journal, Nelson and Stephenson stated that the model can be applied to university issues, such as program redevelopment, as well as to recurring academic challenges and situations shaped by external constraints, including funding pressures.<\/p>\n The articles and framework, though, have sparked online discourse on Reddit<\/a>, where one user characterized the work as policy writing for academic consulting firms and as limiting faculty autonomy.<\/p>\n In response, Nelson and Stephenson said their work isn\u2019t policy writing or consulting and isn\u2019t being done on behalf of Queen\u2019s University.<\/p>\n Instead, Nelson explained that the model emerged from his and Stephenson\u2019s experience working within university governance structures, where ideas for change were frequently generated but rarely implemented.<\/p>\n According to Nelson, faculty, staff, and administrators frequently bring forward ideas, but institutional systems were poorly designed and \u201carticulated,\u201d which is why they have created the new Agency in a Box model.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we realized is that the system that we\u2019re using to work together was not really well built [\u2026] And so the agency in a box is a way for groups of people in the University to work together.\u00a0It\u2019s a collaboration model,\u201d Nelson said.<\/p>\n Stephenson described the \u201cAgency in a Box\u201d work as a \u201cscholarship of leadership,\u201d an academic approach that studies leadership practice within universities. Modeled on the scholarship of teaching and learning, their research aims to examine how collaboration functions within collegial governance, using case studies from Queen\u2019s and other Canadian institutions.<\/p>\n \u201cVery often professors will engage in scholarship around what\u2019s happening in their classes. And so they might ask a research question about their teaching and then, through their classroom experience, do some studies on it and then write about it, publish and share their results. [\u2026] We\u2019re taking a similar approach to think about scholarship of leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n Similarly, Stephenson explained that after years of engaging in leadership work, they\u2019re now critically examining that experience to understand what was effective, what wasn\u2019t, and what lessons were learned.<\/p>\n Nelson said the \u201cbox\u201d refers to \u201ca set of constraints,\u201d but \u201calso a promise\u201d that solutions built within the constraints will be implemented. According to Nelson, the framework is designed to prevent project stalling by ensuring that solutions developed within established constraints proceed.<\/p>\n Additionally, he said the model\u2019s designed to avoid limiting faculty voices by ensuring the \u201cbox\u201d remains broad enough for meaningful academic design. He explained that while the framework sets \u201chard operational constraints,\u201d it must not prescribe outcomes.<\/p>\n \u201cThat box has to be really wide. It [\u2026] can\u2019t be prescriptive because faculty members, if they don\u2019t see themselves in it and they can\u2019t create their discipline and the culture within it, they\u2019re never going to have agency,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n To include student voices, according to Stephenson and Nelson, the model is intended to follow existing university governance structures, meaning student representatives and leaders will collaborate through channels such as the Senate and Faculty Board.<\/p>\n Looking ahead, they plan to expand their research by collecting case studies from other universities, tracking how participants experience collaboration over time, and applying for external funding to support the work.<\/p>\n Tags<\/p>\n \n Administration<\/a>, Agency in a Box<\/a>, faculty<\/a> <\/p>\n All final editorial decisions are made by the Editor(s) in Chief and\/or the Managing Editor. Authors should not be contacted, targeted, or harassed under any circumstances. If you have any grievances with this article, please direct your comments to journal_editors@ams.queensu.ca<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Despite online backlash, Queen\u2019s administrators who authored \u201cAgency in a Box\u201d argue the model\u2019s meant to promote collaboration…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":128821,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[5160,55540,55541,9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-128820","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-administration","tag-agency-in-a-box","tag-faculty","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128820","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128820"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128820\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/128821"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}