Dr. Pamela Eddy
Dr. Pamela Eddy, one of the new members of our faculty, will be
teaching courses on policy, higher education finance, and organization
and governance in the EPPL Program. “I hope to also offer a course in
women in education and another on community colleges,” remarked Eddy.
She comes to William and Mary after six years at Central Michigan
University (CMU) where she was an Associate Professor of Educational
Leadership and the Director of the Educational Leadership Doctoral
Program. "I am tickled that Pam has joined the higher education
faculty and those students who have gotten to know her also feel the
same way. She brings a joy to learning and a collaborative spirit that
are both infectious," commented Dorothy Finnegan,
Associate Professor of Higher Education. Dr. Eddy has been awarded a
Fulbright to study policy at the Dublin Institute of Technology in 2009.
Eddy’s educational background is in economics and higher education leadership. This coupled with her years in administration will help bring some theories to life in the classroom by providing examples and case study scenarios. Eddy has also worked in a community college. Two-year colleges serve as a bridge between K-12 and four-year colleges, providing dual-enrollment and transfer opportunities for students. She finds this knowledge particularly useful in teaching the core classes that contain administrators and practitioners from public school settings and colleges.
When asked how she became
interested in William and Mary, Eddy commented, “I met Roger Baldwin
while at Michigan State University. His reputation as a scholar was
first rate and I always thought it would be great to work at a place
that fostered such high levels of academic scholarship.” Also, Bob
Estabrook was on the faculty at Central Michigan University when Eddy
worked there. “Bob had worked at William and Mary early in his career
and spoke of the collegiality in the unit and the value placed on good
thinking.” Eddy observed, “the last leg in the stool was that I had
worked with Dot Finnegan when she was an evaluator for a program review
directed at CMU. As a result of that study, Dot and I stayed in touch
and always caught up at the annual meeting for the Association for the
Study of Higher Education. When the position became open, Dot called me
to discuss it. I was not in the job market, but this opportunity soon
changed that! I am quite excited about being here and all the
possibilities it brings.”
Eddy is very pleased with her
transition to life in Williamsburg, “This is probably the friendliest
place I have ever worked--right down to the clerks in local stores!
Everyone has been welcoming and extended offers to answer questions or
to offer help if needed. I was struck by the level of discourse at the
opening school meeting. Thoughtful responses were given and dialogue
allowed for dissenting views. Additionally, the students are very
engaged! They come to class prepared and willing to contribute to
discussion in meaningful ways. The conversations I have had with
students at the dissertation phase have highlighted the diversity in
topical areas of interest and a keen interest in contributing to the
field. The sense of community is quite obvious--convocation was quite
an experience!”
Eddy has three main projects on which she is currently working. The
first is a book on multi-dimensional leadership in the community
college. She is using interviews and data from nine case sites to
construct the background for the book topics. The main thesis of the
book is that leadership is not simply a list of traits or experiences;
rather it can take a variety of forms based on the individual. The way
an individual leads changes over time as they learn more about what
works for them and as they receive feedback from others. The case
examples will highlight different aspects of the model. The second
project Eddy is working on deals with leadership in rural community
colleges. The current study looks at leadership development and how
this intersects with the competencies needed by future leaders outlined
by the American Association for Community Colleges. Differences in
approach are found based on position, which can influence how the
profession thinks about the career pathway and the type of supports
needed for advancement. The final current project is work on a
partnership model. Eddy is working with colleagues and together they
have developed a three-stage model that outlines the phases involved
when educational organizations partner with one another. Their current
research is looking at the development of partnership capital, an
outcome of a successful partnership that creates a lever for change
that is beyond the individual members. Ultimately, they will develop
this into a book length manuscript that outlines the role of
leadership, relationship building, motivations, communication, and
social capital in each of the distinct phases.
Other projects planned in the near future will focus on the work she will be doing with data collection in Ireland. That project will investigate how higher education institutions are partnering. The higher education system in Ireland is undergoing a transformation which is centralizing and coordinating the system in ways not previously seen. The policy institute in which she will be housed has begun research on issues of mission creep within the system and this previous work will aid in providing a foundation for the research she will conduct. Mission creep is when expansion occurs beyond the initial project or mission goals. Eddy will look at the partnerships currently underway through the lens of the partnership model noted above. This research will provide international data for the further development of the model. “I am also going to do a follow up on faculty research I conducted five years ago,” remarked Eddy. The participants were new faculty in higher education programs and the question asked about how their socialization in their programs helped prepare them for faculty life. The assumption was that faculty in higher education programs would have an advantage over other discipline focused areas (i.e., psychology, history, biology) since our students study faculty life and teaching and learning issues. The initial findings showed this was not the case. On an intellectual level, new faculty felt they were prepared to conduct research, but felt underprepared in teaching. They also pointed out a "golden child" syndrome in which select graduate students in programs who were "tapped" for future faculty roles received preferential treatment. The pre-tenure participants also noted stress associated with gender and race. Eddy noted, “I am going to extend this study with a follow-up to determine what may have changed over time for this cohort of faculty. In particular, I will look at tenure status, if they moved institutions, or if they changed career lines. I am particularly interested in how they are dealing with being mid-career faculty. What is important to them now? What stress remains?”
Eddy has three children: Andrew is a junior at Hamilton College (New York State) majoring in environmental science. He has been quite active in services in Utica working with underprivileged youth and in creating a community garden on campus. The produce from the garden will be used in the cafeteria and a section of the garden is a heritage garden which replicates the type of garden that would have been maintained when the college was founded in 1812. Jeffrey is a sophomore at the University of Michigan majoring in computer science. He is on the Ultimate Frisbee team and has a business developing WebPages. Laura is a high school junior in Mt. Pleasant, MI. She is on the cross country and track teams and loves science and animals--particularly snakes. Laura will join Eddy in Dublin and go to school there. Her husband, David Pape is a professor and chair of Engineering at Central Michigan University and will hopefully be employed in Virginia so
