Communication Center Journal - Volume 4:1 - 2018 - Life in a Fishbowl: The Evolution of the Communication Center as a Sustainable Component of Institutional Culture

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by kopisore

Explores how a communication center evolves into a sustainable part of institutional culture, drawing on prior research and emphasizing that “clients” are multi-faceted across students, faculty, staff, administrators, and the institution. Establishes organizational culture as the analytical lens, discussing how culture comprises artifacts, values, and assumptions and how campus needs can drive change. Presents “The Fishbowl” as an institutional space and cultural icon designed for collaboration and student-led learning, aiming to reduce disciplinary ownership and support interdisciplinary inclusion.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages10

Reading Time25 min

AccessFree to download

Literature Review

Organizational Culture

The Fishbowl

The “Campus” Communication Center as an Institutional Space and Cultural Icon

Communication Center Journal 13 Volume 4:1, 2018 Life in a Fishbowl: The Evolution of the Communication Center as a Sustainable Component of Institutional Culture Michael G. Strawser Bellarmine University Shawn Apostel Bellarmine University In 2015, Kathleen Turner offered several benefits of Communication Center research and mentioned areas for future study. Turner (2015) believes that communication center directors would benefit from research that crosses institutional boundaries and contexts. Further, it is important that communication center directors demonstrate what clients have gained from the center. We must continue to recognize that “clients” are multi-faceted and our communication center spaces serve students, faculty, staff, administrators and the institution. Thus, this manuscript will, as Turner (2015) pleaded, help others think through how to “enhance their communication centers with clients, colleagues, and communities”(p. 3) . Ultimately, it is important for center staff, as well as affiliated faculty and administrators, to concern ourselves with how the center integrates itself as part of the institution’s culture. Literature Review Organizational Culture. Communication centers are not immune to the challenges of higher education. The systematic nature of higher education is penetrating and pervasive. This begs the question, how, then, should the communication center become a valuable institutional asset in a system ripe with challenges. In order to remain salient, communication centers must prove their institutional worth often in the midst of budgetary crises and changing expectations. Like a group of individuals who develop a culture amongst themselves, the“typical” higher education institution also has a culture devoted to student engagement similar to a stereotypical corporation or other organization, on a college campus new initiatives, learning spaces, faculty, staff, and administrators allow the culture to evolve and grow (Schein, 1990) . The communication center, as an institutional sub-culture, can help the campus evolve and grow to meet student needs and further develop a culture devoted to student learning. As such, organizational culture is an appropriate lens to examine the center’s place as a culture reflecting and culture defining learning space. Cultures are difficult to change yet change is necessary, at times, for survival. To be even more specific for our purposes, how, then, do we think about the communication center as apart of institutional culture as well as a catalyst for enhancing organizational culture? First, it is important to define culture and, more specifically, organizational culture. Schein (1990) gives two distinctions that are helpful. Culture, for Schein (1990), is what a “group learns over a period of time as that group solves its problems of survival in an external environment and its problems of internal integration”(p. 111) . When analyzing culture, researchers typically focus on three components. These fundamental levels include artifacts (i.e. Communication Center Journal 14 Volume 4:1, 2018 physical layout, smell and feel of a physical space, emotional intensity, etc.); values (i.e. norms and philosophies); and assumptions (i.e. perceptions and thought processes) . These intangible phenomena (Shafritz, Ott,& Jang, 2011) are necessary to diagnose and serve as initial distinctions for this study. In order to determine culture, Schein (1990) encourages researchers to combine insider knowledge with outsider questions to bring assumptions to the surface. In many ways, this is what we believe we have accomplished in this manuscript. College campuses can be identified as, what Maximini (2015) called, a personcentered organization. This means the organization exists to serve the needs of its members. As such, the ability of the communication center to continually meet student needs, through artifacts, values and assumptions, becomes prima

FAQs

Why does the manuscript emphasize Communication Center research across institutional boundaries and contexts?

It argues that communication center directors benefit from research that goes beyond isolated practices, helping clarify what clients gain from the center. It also highlights the importance of integrating the center into the institution’s culture.

What framework does the manuscript use to analyze organizational culture?

It uses Schein’s view of culture as what a group learns over time, focusing on artifacts, values, and assumptions. It also stresses surfacing assumptions by combining insider knowledge with outside questions.

How is “The Fishbowl” described as supporting institutional culture?

It is presented as a multimedia, collaborative space that is technically managed by the School of Communication but open to all students and faculty. Its design and location aim to push back against disciplinary ownership and foster interdisciplinary, inclusive learning.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by kopisore