| The general problem observed is that even though PPhPs are a way of relieving the fiscal burden of higher education, a lack of formal policies, standards or guidelines governing the inter-organizational relationship between philanthropic foundations and public educational institutions has led to governance challenges in the philanthropic foundation (Birch, 2015; Roberts & Siemiatycki, 2015). The specific problem is clear, descriptions of stakeholder's experiences are needed to better understand how governance challenges in PPhPs in higher education including, (a) increased accountability and transparency, (b) decreased autonomy, and (c) increased inter-organizational tensions, have made the foundation vulnerable to political and economic changes at the government agencies. In line with the problem, the purpose of this qualitative multiple-case study is to explore the experiences of stakeholders on governance challenges in PPhPs operating in support of public higher education in the US. In line with the problem and purpose, the research questions of the study are focused on exploring the experiences of stakeholders on governance challenges in PPhPs operating in support of public higher education in the US in: (a) accountability and transparency, (b) autonomy, and (c) inter-organizational tensions. The theories to be used as foundation of the study will be resource dependence theory and stakeholder theory. Using six stakeholders from government agencies or philanthropic foundations as participants, the study focused on participants' experiences with governance challenges that made the non-profit organization vulnerable to political and economic changes from the partnered government agency. The analysis suggested communication, collaboration, and leadership skills formed a foundation that leadership may use to balance leader relations, board relations, and resource controls leading to an inter-dependent relationship between the two organizations. |
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