ABSTRACT

PATTERNS OF TIME ALLOCATION AND ACTIVITY

The Problem

 

IN THE ADMINISTRATION OF A CO-
EDUCATIONAL RESIDENCE HALL

BY

Robert Judson Carlberg

The purpose of this study was to explore the

utility of the participant observer method for delineat-

ing administrative time allocation and activity patterns

in a co-educational residence hall. The task was:

1.

To describe and analyze time, activity, and
personal interaction patterns in the student
personnel administration of a large university
residence hall;

To examine the topical content of activities
which consume the administrator's time;

To explore the existing conceptual and method-
ological underpinnings for studies of time
allocation in the behavioral sciences; and,
hopefully, to contribute additional concepts

and methods to this body of knowledge.

Robert Judson Carlberg

Methodology and Procedures

Using the diary technique, supplemented by other
indexes, the chief student personnel administrator in a
large residence hall (capacity 1,276) collected time,
activity, and information flow data during five repre-
sentative periods between May, 1969, and January, 1971.
Supplemental data were also collected by five other staff
members in the same hall. The observed time data were
analyzed according to how they were allocated to activi—
ties, to other people or groups, and to topics of infor-
mation. Administrative time patterns were then constructed

on the basis of the data.

Major Findings of the Study

Three generalizations may be drawn from the study.
First, the participant observation method is a viable
alternative for examining the time allocation and activity
patterns of a residence hall administration. Second,
information overload conceptualizes an administrative
problem: the administrator often receives two or more
information inputs simultaneously or he receives input B
before he has been able to process input A. Third, time
and values interact to influence an administrator's
behavior.

Several representative patterns which emerge from

the data analysis are:

Robert Judson Carlberg

1. The chief administrator allocated an average
10.7 hours per weekday and 2.5 hours per day
on weekends to professional activity.

2. The chief administrator's daily activity pat-
tern generally began prior to 9:00 A.M., con-
centrated on outputs requiring individual
effort early in the day, was diverted by
inputs from others, and ended after an even-
ing of professionally related activity inter-
spersed with personal pursuits.

3. Time allocations to topics of information were
influenced by seasonal pressures which devel-
oped during the academic year.

4. The chief administrator reduced his infor-
mation overload by delegating inputs to other
members of the professional staff.

5. If time is viewed as an index to values, the
chief administrator valued research and evalu-
ation activities most.

The patterns may be used to: (1) suggest alterna-
tive time allocations and staff structures which will
reduce information overload; (2) construct accurate job
descriptions; and (3) develop relevant in-service train-

ing programs.

PATTERNS OF TIME ALLOCATION AND ACTIVITY
IN THE ADMINISTRATION OF A CO-

EDUCATIONAL RESIDENCE HALL

BY

Robert Judson Carlberg

A THESIS

Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Department of Administration and
Higher Education

1971

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The writer extends to Dr. Louis C. Stamatakos, the
chairman of his doctoral committee, warm appreciation for
his time and helpful contributions. Deep gratitude is
expressed to Dr. Iwao Ishino who planted the seed thoughts
for this study, demonstrated a personal interest in it by
reading the manuscript, and offered many insightful com-
ments. The other members of the doctoral committee, Dr.
Samuel Plyler and Dr. Walter Johnson, made helpful sug-
gestions throughout the study.

. A heartfelt thank you is extended to the Holmes
Hall professional staff, Sarah Spaniolo, Susan Schurman,
Margo Schmidt, Dennis Grether, and Edward DeForrest for
their willing participation as observers during the study.

Special thanks is extended to Dr. Frederic Dutton,
Dean of Briggs College, and Gary North, Residence Hall
Area Director, for their consideration and encouragement
during the final weeks of writing.

To his wife, Jan, and daughter, Heather Dawne, the
writer expresses warm love for the patience and understand-
ing shown while living with a dissertation writer. Finally,
the writer is grateful to his mother and father, Dr. and

Mrs. R. L. Carlberg, for teaching him the value of time.

ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter
I 0 INTRODUCTION 0 O O O O O O O O O

The Need . . . . . .
The Purpose . . . . .
The Scope . . . . . .
Justification for the Study
Limitations of the Study .
Overview . . . . . .

II. A REVIEW OF SELECTED LITERATURE RELATED TO
TIME. I C C C O O C C C C C C

Time Theories. . . . . . . . .

Time As a Value Indicator. . . .
Time Use as Influenced by Environ-
ment 0 O O O O I I I I I O

Illustrative Time Studies. . . . .

Anthropology and Sociology . . .
Business and Industry . . . . .
Education . . . . . . . . .

Residence Hall Administration: An Over-
View. 0 O O I O O O O O O O
smary O O I O O O O O O O 0

III. DESCRIPTION OF SETTING, METHODOLOGY AND
PROCEDURE 0 O O O O O C O C O 0

Descriptive Characteristics of the Resi-
dence Hall. . . . . . . . . .

The Living-Learning Concept . . .
Administrative Structure in Holmes
Hall. . . . . . . . . . .
The Student Population. . . . .

Collection of Data . . . . . . .

iii

Page

H

NOKOU'IobN

Hra

13
15
18
20
22

26
27

37
39

42

42
44

48
52

53

Chapter

IV.

V.

Method Selection . . . .
Field Work Techniques . .
Schedule of Data Collection

Tabulation and Analysis Procedures

Parameters of the Analysis.
Classification of Data . .

smary O O O O O O O I

ADMINISTRATIVE TIME ALLOCATION AND ACTIVITY

PATTERNS--ANALYSIS OF THE DATA. .

An Overview of Time Use. . .

Time Allocation Among Activities.

Activity Patterns in the DSA's Pro-

fessional Day . . . . .
Time Allocation Among People

Topical Analysis of the Data .

Professional Development
Research. . . . . .
Unusual Occurrences . .
In-Service Education. .
Educational Programming.
Staffing. . . .
Police Matters. . . .
Governance . . .
Minority Issues . .
Personal Issues and Problems
Formal Group Activities.

Administrative Activity. .
Management Concerns . . .

smary O O I O I O O O

ADMINISTRATIVE TIME ALLOCATION AND ACTIVITY
PATTERNS--ANALYSIS OF COMPARATIVE DATA

Professional Staff's Time Allocation

Patterns . o o o o . . 0

Activity Patterns in the Professional

Staff' 8 Day. . . .

Professional Staff Time Allocation

Patterns Among People . .

Comparison of Topical Patterns

iv

Page
53
55
58
60

6O
61

64

66
66
67

74
84

92

94
95

98

99
100
101
101
109
115
117
117
118

119

121

122

126

129
133

Chapter

VI.

The New Staff Structure: A Comparison
of Administrative Patterns . . . . .

Activity Patterns in the HRA's Day .
HRA Time Allocation Patterns Among

People. . . . . . . . . . .
HRA Topical Time Allocation Patterns.

Topical Time Allocation in Professional
Meetings . . . . . . . . . . .
Written Communication Patterns: A Com-
parative Index . . . . . . . . .
Summary . . . . . . . . . .

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS . . . . . . .

Methodology and Procedures . . . . .
The Basic Time Patterns . . . . . .
Claims of the Study . . . . . . .
Practical Suggestions Emerging from the
Study . . . . . . . . . . . .
Suggestions for Future Research . . .

Suggested Changes in Procedures and
Techniques . . . . . . . . .
Potential Related Research . . . .

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . .

APPENDICES
Appendix
A. Holmes Hall Experimental Staffing Arrange-
ment--MoSoUo o o o o o o o o o o
B. Holmes Hall Time Allocation and Information
Flow Study Checklist. . . . . . . .
C. Holmes Hall Time Allocation Study Analysis

Checklist . . . . . . . . . . .

Page

137
141
142
145
150

154
157

162
162
164
169
171
177
177
179

182

187

188

189

Table

1.

10.

11.

LIST OF TABLES

Number of Professional Hours Observed by the
DSA for Four Periods . . . . . . . .

DSA Professional Time Spent in Work Activi-
ties I I I I I I I I I I I I I

Number of DSA Activity Segments Started Dur-
ing Each Hour Observed During Four
Periods . . . . . . '. . . . . .

Percentage of DSA's Time Budget Spent in
Interaction With Others According to
ACtiVity I I I I I I I I I I I I

An Analysis of Time Spent by the DSA on Topics
of Professional Concern . . . . . . .

Professional Staff Time Spent in Work Related
ACtiVity--May 25-27, 1970 o o o o o 0

Frequency of Occurrence of Segments of
Activity . . . . . . . . . . . .

Percentage of Personal Contact Time Allocated
to Hall Staff Members and Residents by the
Professional Staff, May 25-27 . . . . .

An Analysis of Time Spent by the Professional
Staff on Topics of Professional Concern--
May 25-27, 1970. o o o o o o o o o

A Comparison: Time Spent by the Head Resident
Advisor and Director of Student Affairs in
Various Activities. . . . . . . . .

Percentage of Personal Contact Time Allocated
to Staff Members and Hall Residents by the
Head Resident Advisor During May 19-23,
1969, and the Director of Student Affairs
During May 25-27, 1970 . . . . . . .

vi

Page

68

71

75

86

93

123

127

131

134

139

143

Table Page

12. An Analysis of the Time Spent by the Head Res-
ident Advisor on Topics of Professional
Concern as Contrasted with the Director
of Student Affairs . . . . . . . . . 146

13. A Time Analysis of Topics Covered in 101 Reg-
ular Meetings Attended by the DSA from
March, 1970, Through January, 1971. . . . 151

14. A Summary of Written Input Received by the
DSA During the Four Observation Periods . . 155

vii

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure Page
1. Percentage of Time Allocated by Director of
Student Affairs to Various Categories of
Activity During the Four Observation
Periods . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
2. Contrasts in Time Allocated to Topics: The
Head Resident Advisor and Director of
. 147

Student Affairs Compared . .

viii

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Time is an elusive resource. At term's end, col-
lege students often unsuccessfully attempt to extend it
with pep pills to accommodate the three research papers,
four finals, and unread texts which demand their attention.
Administrators seem to search endlessly for more time, but
it slips away at a steady rate leaving behind unmet dead-
lines, unsolved crises, and shadowy dreams of leisure
moments.

Time perspectives of the physicist, philosopher,
anthropologist, geologist, historian, astronomer, or
harried administrator vary significantly. Each measures
time differently in his professional role. But while
views of it may vary, time is a quantifiable measure with
certain attributes not present in qualitative analysis.

In this study, time is defined as a quantitative measure
of an activity performed by or engaged in by an adminis-
trator.

Effective administrators begin self-evaluation by
finding where their time actually is spent (Drucker, 1966).
In gathering forces to accomplish a task, the administrator

1

discovers that his scarcest and most unique resource is
time. Of the major resources, money is usually quite
plentiful, and more people can always be hired. "But
one cannot rent, hire, buy, or otherwise obtain more
time" (Drucker, 1966, p. 26). Time is not subject to the
fluctuations caused by supply and demand. Nor can it be

stored, for it is totally perishable.

The Need

For many years, money has been the resource used
to gauge effective administrative practices. Recently,
demands for broader accountability have been issued from
Washington to agencies using public funds. State capitols
are now modeling this example, especially as they scruti-
nize higher education's use of resources.

One resource which has fallen under the spotlight
is time. In most cases, investigators have been content
to look at the gross uses of time by an agency or adminis-
trative unit. The Program Evaluation and Review Technique
(P.E.R.T.) illustrates a macroscopic system analysis
approach employed to evaluate the allocation of resources,
especially time (Smalter, 1966).

Another systems analysis method has been proposed
for higher education to "describe quantitatively the way
in which university administrators collectively allocate
resources in an effort to meet demands placed upon them

' by a constantly changing student population, and to

provide a tool for experimenting with alternative allo-
cation policies in the face of these changes" (Koenig,
1966, p. 2). To meet this objective, Koenig prOposed
that the inputs of time, space, and money resources be
examined to determine how effectively each was being
used to contribute to the university's final output:

an educated student.

As if to underscore the need for broader evalu-
ation in higher education, Michigan State University's
Office of Institutional Research recently issued an
internal alert to administrators.

It is obvious all over the country that state budget
offices and legislatures are looking at higher edu-
cation with an ever more critical eye and are, each
year, demanding more and more detailed data to sup-
port budgetary requests. The university 1acks ade-
quate information for fully justifying its budgetary
request and for allocating resources within the insti-
tution in an equitable manner. We believe that it
will take some time before an adequate data system
can be developed and sufficient experience with it
acquired to make really effective use of it in
decision making. It is, however, clear that we

must gradually get more information on the manner

and effectiveness of resource utilization in our
departments and colleges (Dressel, et a1., 1970, p. 4).

The Office of Institutional Research staff sug-
gested that student credit hours generated no longer pro—
vide an adequate base for budget preparation, salary,
cost studies, and faculty records. A macroscopic analysis
of administrative and faculty time use was proposed to pro-

vide a more equitable distribution and reporting of

faculty responsibilities. The analysis is based on the

-......_.. .__ _._._ V

assumption that most faculty members spend about fifty
hours per week in their university-related activities,
divided among the following categories: instruction and
related activities, research and scholarly activity,
service programs, administration, and professional
development. When units (one hour equals two units) are
computed in each category, the university will be able
to describe accurately in macroscopic terms how its
faculty uses its time to produce measureable output
(Dressel, 3E_El,, 1970). Thus, the university will have
the capacity to respond to the demands for data concern-
ing faculty time use issued in the legislative rider to
the 1970-71 Michigan Higher Education Appropriation Act.
Indications are that careful scrutiny of pro-
fessional time use may become more microscopic in the
future. However, neither the state nor the university
has announced the development of methods to measure and
analyze time allocations in detail. The need exists for
the development of such methods. Both the quantitative
and qualitative aspects of time usage should be con-
Sidered to determine actual time budgets and their

meaning in the overall administrative process.

The Purpose

 

The purpose of this study is:
1. To describe and analyze time, activity, and

personal interaction patterns in the student

personnel administration of a large uni-
versity residence hall;

2. To examine the topical content of activities
or events which consume the administrator's
time;

3. To explore the existing conceptual and
methodological underpinnings for studies
of time allocation in the behavioral
sciences; and, hopefully, to contribute
additional concepts and methods to this

body of knowledge.

The Scope

 

The chief student personnel officer in a residence
hall is often assigned the title head resident advisor or
director of student affairs, (relations, activities, hous-
ing, deve10pment, programs, etc.). For purposes of uni-
formity, the title director of student affairs (DSA) will
be used in this study to designate the residence hall
staff member responsible for the supervision and coordi-
nation of staff, educational programs and student develop-
ment, and environmental concerns.

As used in this study, an "activity pattern"
refers to the ordering of tasks or behaviors which is
characteristic of a residence hall administrator during

his professional day. The presence of activities, their

repetition in a day, the sequence in which they occur, and
the time allotted to them all contribute to the formation
of a pattern (Nelson, 1963).

What activity patterns may be identified in the
administration of a residence hall student personnel
program? How does the DSA allocate his time? What types
of information input does he receive and process? Does
actual practice conform to philosophical objectives?

Are present in-service training programs adequate to
prepare the DSA for the responsibilities he faces? Ten-
tative answers for these questions may be uncovered in a
study of the time budgets constructed by a DSA in a col-
lege residence hall.

Few time allocation studies may be found in higher
education administration literature. Yet time allocation
by an administrator may be one of the most important
variables contributing to his success or failure. The
exploration of this resource must be considered by
researchers in education who are concerned with evalu-
ation, effective decision making or instruction, and
financing.

The residence hall can provide "an observatory for
human behavior, a laboratory for research in action" (Phil-
lips, 1964, p. 36). Lasswell (1967) maintained that
social science is deprived of data because of a bias

against using new methods of data gathering. He suggested

that researchers gather data in social observatories and
subsequently sift them into meaningful organized knowledge.
The residence hall fills the social observatory qualifi-
cations. Few circumstances in higher education provide
as many opportunities for twenty-four hour a day obser-
vation of an administrator's interaction with staff and
students in an educational and social context.

The study of a specific administrative process in
a residence hall may generate data which could be valuable
in the construction of patterns of administration. By
analyzing these patterns, one may identify various models
of decision making and delegation of responsibility,
administrative behavior, and student-administrator rela-
tionships. Although most educational research data is
derived from a statistical design, little seems to be
used in practice to construct formulas for day—to-day
decision making. When faced with demands for an imme-
diate decision, administrators often rely on previous
experiences or estimated consequences. This study tests
a model for gathering data on observed experiences and
for organizing data into meaningful patterns which might
influence future decision making.

For example, in a study of single student housing
on several large campuses, Titus (1970) reported his sta-
tistical conclusions in one and two-thirds pages. How-

ever, a discussion of the patterns and implications he

found through observation, inference, and analysis consumed
eight pages. While the statistical results of the study
are helpful, they would be relatively useless to the
administrator if not supplemented by pattern analysis
derived in large measure from observation.

This study used the participant observation
research method refined by anthropologists. In general,
the participant observer is a skilled researcher who
gathers data while participating in the daily life of
a group or organization. As he interacts in the group,
he watches the behavior of its members as they meet various
situations and he talks with other participants to deter-
mine their views of the events he has observed (Becker,
Gear, 1960). Having recorded detailed observations, the
observer then interprets his data by systematic pattern
analysis.

When using time allocation pattern analysis to
interpret data, the observer obtains a descriptive
account of the events which take place in the community.
He notes the time of each event, its duration, its
nature, and the number of people it engaged (Jantzen,
1967). After compiling and sorting his data, the
researcher may then base his conclusions on the pat-
terns he has identified.

One precise means of identifying and organizing

these patterns is the use of a time budget which provides

a tight control of data. In this study, time budget is
defined as the minute by minute recorded account of an
administrator's time allocation from the moment he begins
his first professional activity of the day until he com-
pletes his last.

Literature in residence hall administration is
hypothetical and incomplete. Little attempt has been
made to describe systematically the DSA's time allo-
cations or his exhibited behaviors. The standard used
to evaluate administrative effectiveness is usually
based on a speculative philosophy rather than on research
findings, whether statistical or descriptive (Phillips,

1964).

Justification for the Study

 

Time allocation study provides a means of inquiry
seldom used in educational research. Resistance to this
type of research may be attributed to several causes:
data gathering is time consuming and tedious, thus detract-
ing the administrator from matters he considers of higher
priority; a theory of time allocation has not been de-
veloped which is applicable in the higher education setting;
and the methodology does not coincide with the usual sta-
tistical designs embraced by educators.

Time allocation studies have important implications
for the entire administrative process. By incorporating

a participant-observer approach in the analysis of an

10

administrator's use of time, insights may be gained into
the values, phi1030phy, and daily time demands which
shape an administrator's decisions. While this study
was based on one hall and one staff, elements of com-
monality with other administrators or other halls may

emerge, revealing areas for future comparative research.

Limitations of the Study

 

Many limit scientific study to the production of
general propositions stating the relations between two or
more variables under a specified set of conditions. The
unique characteristics of any given case are not accounted
for, but to the contrary, only those variables contained
in the proposition are abstracted from each particular
case (Becker, Geer, 1960).

In contrast, to take account of as much of a
human organization's complexity as possible, this study
focused on one residence hall. To preserve the individ-
uality and uniqueness of the case being studied, charac-
teristics usually controlled or otherwise rendered irrel-
evant were included in the pattern analysis. Consequently,
generalizations and conclusions must be limited to this
case since they may or may not have commonality with other
administrative units. Only after the patterns and hypo-
theses have been identified and tested throughout a
broader sample may conclusions be drawn concerning their

generic value.

11

Since detailed data could not be collected and
analyzed every day during the nineteen months under
review, the participant observation method was used
to gather data during five representative periods from
May 19, 1969 to January 12, 1971. All professional
activities were included whether or not they occurred
in the residence hall. To avoid counting seconds, each
was measured in units of minutes and hours for easier
comprehension. Findings were not reported for activ-
ities of less than one minute.

Complete topical time budgets were also kept for
regular meetings attended by the DSA from March, 1970,
through January, 1971. Time budget data was not available
for special meetings or regular meetings the DSA did not
attend because of other conflicts.

Time used for thinking or creative reflection was
often difficult to quantify, thus only observed behaviors
were recorded. Obviously, time allocation cannot explain
the totality of human experience nor provide unlimited
data. Actually, reflective activity was usually absorbed
into other more easily defined categories.

The patterns themselves forced a limitation upon
the data. Each activity was assigned to a major time
sector containing several categories. When an activity
could fit several categories, it was assigned to the more

important or observable category in the time budget.

12

Overview

The foregoing sections of this chapter were
designed to introduce time allocation theory and time
budget analysis. Each subject will be developed further
in subsequent chapters. Chapter II will contain a
selected review of the literature relating to time
theory, time allocation field studies, and residence
hall administration.

A general explanation of the methodology and
procedure used in this study will be found in Chapter
III. The data uncovered from the DSA's time budgets
will be analyzed in Chapter IV. Additional data
gathered by other members of the hall staff and the
DSA will form the basis for the analysis of patterns
in Chapter V. Finally, Chapter VI will contain a
summary of the study along with conclusions, an eval-
uation of the time study method, and implications for

further research.

CHAPTER II

A REVIEW OF SELECTED LITERATURE
RELATED TO TIME

Time concepts permeate many segments of intel-
lectual inquiry-~philosophy, anthropology, sociology,
biology, and geology, to name only a few. To explore
the existing conceptual and methodological underpinnings
for studies of time allocation in the behavioral sciences,
this chapter first presents a brief sketch of time theory.
Next, the application of time theory is explored through
a review of time studies in sociology, anthropology,
business, and education. Finally, an overview of
research literature relating to the chief administrator

in a residence hall is presented.

Time Theories

 

Benjamin Franklin said, "Dost thou love life?
Then do not squander time, for that's the stuff life is
made of" (Poor Richard's Almanac, June, 1746). Men
before and after Franklin have wrestled with his state-
ment of harsh reality. Sorokin deplored the supreme role
which time plays in the Western WOrld mentality. Time
is a marking system for the punctuation of events; a

13

14

watch is the ball point pen. "We go to bed winding it;
we get up at the command of the hands or alarm of a clock;
we move, work, act, eat, sleep, love, quarrel, study,
pray, live by a watch" (Sorokin, 1959, p. 319). Sorokin
and others advocated social time as a research auxiliary,
not successor, to astronomical or watch time. Social
time is qualitative rather than purely quantitative. It
gains meaning from the events surrounding the beliefs

and customs common to the group of its origin and reveals
the rhythms, pulsations, and beats of these societies
(Sorokin, Merton, 1937).

In less complex cultures, the names of days,
months, seasons, or years are frequently fixed by the
rhythm of economic and social activities. Our society
often seems bound to the astronomical calendar with its
"objective" measurement of time. When one wishes to
speak of social time he uses terms like "a semester,"
"during the New Deal," or "in the Vietnam era" (Coser,
Coser, 1963).

Astronomical time is a valuable resource since,
as a quantity it is finite and once spent, cannot be
regained. This is underscored in the United States
where change is valued and alternative uses for available
time constantly compete (Heirich, 1964). Edward Hall
(1959) contrasted time as it is understood in America

with a culturally different perspective. Even the time

15

of day varies in meaning from one culture to another.
Americans hesitate to place a call after 11:00 P.M.
except under dire emergency conditions; but in the
South Pacific Islands a visit from neighbors in the
middle of the night is not unlikely. The majority of
Western World peoples think of time as fixed in nature,
stretching like a road into the future. Destination
points may be precisely sighted on the roadway as it
climbs the hills ahead. And once the hills are reached,
the traveler may turn and look back at the experiences
through which he has come. In the United States "Know-
how is one of our prized possessions, so that when we
look backward it is rarely to take pleasure in the past
itself but usually to calculate the know-how, to assess
the prognosis for success in the future" (Hall, 1959).
Although some feel it is unfortunate, American
society is generally locked into a narrow fixed concept
of time, with notable exceptions on American Indian
reservations and in city ghetto life. Thus, the iden-
tification of patterns of time use is important if our

society's institutions are to be understood.

Time as a Value Indicator

The way a society or institution allocates its
time can be an indicator of the changing value of one
activity over another (Heirich, 1964). Donoghue (1962)

found in his analysis of thirteen Japanese villages that

16

most people were not doing things they were doing a
decade earlier. Their time budgets were rearranged to
allow for more time in economic enterprises and less
time in traditional ritual activities.

In American society, time is usually allocated
according to immediate pressing needs and wants. Some
time is spent at work and some at play to satisfy the
demands placed on one's time budget. At the community
level, affairs are conducted according to a framework of
schedules and routines. Schedules provide meaning by
helping to space mutually exclusive activities so that
the practice of each will occur at the expected time and
with a fairly high net efficacy. Unscheduled activities
may indicate a low priority in the time budget, an unpre-
dictable crisis, or an activity which becomes pressing
only after a long period of time. However, the frequently
occurring scheduled activity is not necessarily the most
valued, although this is often the exception rather than
the rule when examining time budgets (Goodenough, 1963).

The study of the use of time provides a crucial
index of how, when, what, and how much of this valued
resource is devoted to various human activities (Don-
oghue, 1962). From the standpoint of "how," time provides
a means of determining the order of events in causal
sequence. If applied to "when," time becomes a quantita-

tive measure. To examine "what," a qualitative statement

17

of the outcome of an activity is necessary (Heirich,
1964). "How much" involves information from each index:
how, when, and what.

Answers to these questions become an index to
personal or institutional values. To allocate time to
one activity but not to another requires one to make a
choice. "Such choices presumably reflect some kind of
a value system, whether the relevant value be mere sur-
vival or some complex combination of desires and needs"
(Jantzen, 1963, p. 10). Thus, how a society or an indi-
vidual uses time reflects a variation in value orientation.

According to popular opinion, the American has
many hours of free time to expend each month, so much so
that his value system is challenged by the number of
alternative activities competing for attention. To
deGrazia (1962), this is not so. Although many desire
more free time, they do so because the duties that must
be completed after the business day still go undone.
Should they manipulate these tasks to provide additional
free time, it is soon spent, if not by the demands of
their value structure then through the pressures of
their social or physical environment. Topography or
landscape, climate, diet, population density, and all
forms of ecological imbalance influence a man's decision
making concerning the use of his time, whether it be in

leisure or in work.

18

Time Use as Influenced by
Environment

 

 

An illustration of the influence of the environ-

mental press upon man's use of time is supplied by studies

of the urban culture. In rural life, man spent long
hours working the soil, tending animals, or collecting

fuel. Social contacts were minimal on a daily basis.

When man migrated to the cities he was suddenly catipulted

into a world of social interaction; the market economy
with its salesmen and supermarkets, educational oppor-
tunities, voluntary groups clamoring for members, team
sports, and extensive and diverse public entertainment.
Activities and services were synchronized by the clock.
"Each person normally has only a few practical alterna-
tives open to him when he is forced to make a choice in

allocating his time" (Meier, 1962, p. 49).

Meier (1959) proposed that an urban population be

:studied by assembling a set of social accounts based
Iipon how people use their time. Basic data is already
collected by government: labor force statistics, school

arttendance records, traffic flow patterns, and public

health information. Private organizations have data
available on newspaper and magazine reading or the time
sEbent upon radio and television. Data on other private
5111(3 semi-private activities could be gathered by using
titlea survey technique with a limited sample. Meier sug-

9€3=£3ted that a wristwatch alarm be employed to stimulate

19

a cooperating individual to make several marks upon stan-
dard reporting slips at random times throughout the day.
The resulting observations are compiled into general
data accounts, much like the census reports. These
accounts, when combined with the other basic data would
assist city planners, public administrators, and members
of the business community's research teams in their
decision making processes.

Milgram (1970) combined the theory of time allo-
cation with systems analysis concepts in his examination
of pattern development in city life. In the complex
city, demands on a person's time are extremely competi-
tive, resulting in an overload in the system. Overload
"refers to a system's inability to process inputs from
the environment because there are too many inputs for
the system to cope with, or because successive inputs
come so fast that input A cannot be processed when input
B is presented" (Milgram, 1970, p. 1,462). To adapt to
overload, one may allocate less time to each input or
demand, or disregard the low-priority inputs, or filter
only certain inputs and ignore others. Whatever choice
is made, a value decision concerning the use of time is
involved.

In summary, the theory of time allocation, as
applied in this study, views time as quantified into units

of seconds, minutes, and hours, which are contained in

20

days, months, and years. On the basis of quantified
observations, qualitative judgments may be made. The

way time is used provides an index to the value structure
which influences individual and institutional decision
making. Time is a scarce and inelastic resource which is
manipulated by many inputs or demands. To illustrate the
principles inherent in this conceptual framework, methods
used to study time data in various disciplines will be

explored.

Illustrative Time Studies

 

Research design in higher education has tradi-
tionally relied upon the precise statistical tools
developed by the social scientists to analyze one
aspect of a broad research problem. However, "the
atomistic survey is particularly misplaced in the study
of organizations" (Barton, Anderson, 1961, p. 400). If
unwilling to rely on statistical studies of a particular
facet of higher education, one may consult experts who
base opinions on informal observation of the college or
university scene. While statistical studies may generate
precise data, and the expert's broad generalizations may
provide an overview of a particular segment in higher
education, are there still other methods which could be
used to analyze patterns in college or university life?

A legacy in research methods rarely considered

by members of the education community has been developed

21

by the anthropologist. Since most anthropological studies
have been conducted in cultures which are vastly dif-
ferent from ours, many often unconsciously assume that

the anthropologist's participant observation method is
designed to fit the subject matter of an alien culture.
However, a growing body of literature is being developed
in anthropology based on studies of our culture and its
institutions.

Skilled researchers who are able to observe and
interpret data enhance a participant observation study's
objectivity and reduce the biases that distort most
casual observations. According to Borg (1965), this
method provides one of the few logical approaches to
complex behavior. However, he maintained, "The practical
difficulties involved in observational research . . . are
of considerable magnitude and, as a result, relatively
few observational studies are carried out in education"
(Borg, 1965, p. 237). Several of these studies are
reviewed below.

Borg's contention is underscored by the paucity
of observational studies reported in the education liter-
ature. Time allocation studies using the participant
observation method are relatively rare. Consequently,
to understand the method in a research setting one must

first look beyond educational research.

22

Anthropology and Sociology

To the anthropologist, "observation is the indis-
pensable starting point," whether studying a Japanese
peasant community or the complex street life of midtown
Manhattan (Milgram, 1970). Several techniques may be
used by the participant observer to gather data. In his
study of street society in the ghetto, sociologist John
Horton (1967) accumulated time allocation data by using
taped interviews in addition to personal observation.

He constructed a general pattern of time use from his
twenty-five informants' self-reports and his own obser-
vations over a year's span. He concluded, "Negro street
time is built around the irrelevance of clock time, white
man's time, and the relevance of street values and
activities . . . watches are for pawning and not for
telling time" (Horton, 1967, p. 8).

In a similar study using the participant obser-
vation method, Liebow (1967) constructed a fascinating
account of street life in a Washington ghetto. He
included an analysis of the ghetto dweller's use of time
and the influence it has on his perceptions, values, and
human relationships. His method did not include any
questionnaires or structured interviews, but simply
recorded observations of the day-by-day routines of two
dozen Negro men as they frequented the streetcorner, the
alleys, hallways, poolrooms, beer joints, and private

houses in the immediate neighborhood.

23

An anthropologist, sociologist, and research psy-
chologist serving as a research officer in the Air Force
conducted "one of the few cases of real participant obser-
vation" (Sullivan, gt_31., 1958, p. 661). To reduce the
distortion which may occur when the investigator is an
outside agent, the research officer "enlisted" as a basic
trainee. His purpose was to identify problems viewed by
enlistees during basic and technical training, and to
uncover new areas for research by other methods. He
became a fullfledged member of the group under study;
his identity, mission, and role as a researcher were
unknown to everyone, even his own commanding officer.
During the week, the research officer made extensive
field notes which were subsequently typed and discussed
on weekends. According to the researchers, the study
"demonstrated that thorough-going participant observation
is very difficult, but not impossible" (Sullivan, g£_gl.,
1958, p. 667). Of course, the exact research design
cannot be duplicated in detail, nor can the sample guar-
antee representativeness. But this study offered new
approaches to observation and interpretation within
organizations.

Time has been studied by others using variations
of the participant observation method. Work sampling, a
technique often found in business and industry, is used
when samples are too large for continuous direct obser-

vation. Brookover and Back (1966) indicated that the

24

demand for many observers was too costly in their study
of 275 nursing students. Instead, each member of the
sample became an observer and reported their activities
and perceptions at eight intervals during the day. The
diary entry included information on whether the partici-
pant was at the moment being exposed to any type of com-
munication, who was present, whether she initiated the
activity or communication, and how she judged others'
reactions to it. Each of the eight observations took
only a few seconds, but the combined observations pro-
vided a comprehensive overview of how nurses spend their
time and how they perceive what they are doing.

In a longitudinal research program, a social work
agency applied the work sampling observation technique
for a year (Goldman, 1964). Rather than recording obser-
vations in a diary, each of thirty-five staff members
responded to a random phone call once a day and indicated
to the agency receptionist the general category of
activity in which he was engaged at the moment. A
total of 7,100 random observations were taken, revealing
that 76 per cent of staff time was spent on productive
activities and 24 per cent on non-productive activities.

Three studies completed by anthrOpologists serv-
ing as participant observers provide added insight into
the use of time as an index to human behavior and its

meaning in other cultures.

25

In describing his proposed study of an Arab vil-
lage, Jantzen (1967) used the concepts of time allocation
and perception as an index to cultural change. First, he
proposed to construct a detailed account of a village
time budget. Next he planned an in-depth description
and analysis of the cultural meaning attached to the
time budget by selected informants. Finally, he pro-
posed to examine historical changes to determine how
they affected the time budget and perceptions of it in
the community. By compiling this data on the village
time budget, Jantzen sought to understand the character-
istic structure and organization of a community.

How do the Indians of Panajachel Guatemala use
their time for twenty-four hours a day, 365 days of the
year? Sol Tax (1953) calculated the entire community
time budget for the year 1936 and produced a rough esti-
mate of time usage in relation to economic activities,
community service, personal and social activities,
eating-sleeping, and miscellaneous unaccounted for
time. Under each of these major sectors he estimated
several categories of time usage. His research enabled
him to describe with relative precision the hourly, daily,
and monthly time patterns which characterized the Indian
community.

In his study of Japanese villages undergoing rapid

change, Donoghue (1962) found that the utilization of

26

time underwent considerable modification at the individual
and family levels. In villages where extension agents
had introduced new machinery and crops, the status of
women in the family was affected appreciably over a
period of ten years. Their time formerly had been spent
in fulfilling household responsibilities but now was
divided between house and field. The daily time cycle
constructed by Donoghue illustrates the complicated
schedule recently acquired by the Japanese housewife.
The increased amount of time spent in agricultural pro-
duction also became an index to economic change. Time

was a crucial variable in Japanese village life.

Business and Industry

 

The business and industrial world has used a
microscopic derivative of the observation principle ever
since the early days of Scientific Management. Individual
motions were timed by a stop watch to determine the time
necessary to complete a task (Shultz, 1962). In these
time studies, motions were combined to form an element
of an operation, and a group of Operations made up a
total process. Other methods of observation like work
sampling had to be developed in many industries after
unions forced management to curtail its use of stop watch
observations (McQuire, 1962).

In applying the work sampling technique to execu-

tive management, NcNaughton (1956) suggested that

27

secretaries record samples of executive behavior and time
use in the job setting. By combining all the observations
made in a particular universe, a work analyst was able to
interpret the normal activity pattern at a specific level
in the organization. In this study, untrained observers
were asked to make fairly precise time budget observations,
and a specialist used their data to construct patterns
for interpretation.

Cook (1967) proposed that white collar workers
become participant observers. By using a structured
diary format to record the amount of time necessary to
complete their activities, they provide an effective
time measurement of their tasks. The cost factor is low
and large volumes of data may be collected without using
the unpopular stop watch. Of course, to gain a broader
comprehension of office relations, atmosphere, information
flow, or informal power structures, the observer would

have to use additional research techniques.

Education

 

Teachers, administrators, counselors, and students
have participated in time studies which use various tech-
niques to gather data. A cross section of these studies
is presented to provide an educational perspective.

A study of professional time use was conducted in
Ohio by 320 teachers of vocational agriculture during

seventy, ten-hour "working days" of the summer months

28

(Guiler, 1961). Each of the participants kept a daily
diary of his activities. A random sample of one-third of
the teachers then submitted their diaries for analysis
according to seven time allotment categories. The results
showed that the teachers spent 58 per cent of their pro-
fessional time in this way: in-service education 18 per
cent, vacation 15.6 per cent, county and state fairs

8.8 per cent, physical facilities 7.7 per cent, office
routine 4.2 per cent, individual or group conferences

2.1 per cent, miscellaneous 1.6 per cent. The balance

of their professional time was spent on: FFA activities
17.0 per cent, high school farm instruction 11.7 per cent,
teaching preparation 4.8 per cent, adult farmer program
2.9 per cent, community relations 2.8 per cent, young '
farmer program 1.5 per cent, and departmental program
planning 1.3 per cent. The participants were given the
results and asked to indicate how they would reallocate
their time during another summer. Little change was
noted, although some felt a need for more student con-
tact and less in-service education.

The research failed to describe the methods used
to construct and analyze the diaries or the manner in
which observations were made. However, the article indi-
cated that the results were submitted to superintendents
and the presidents of local school boards for comments

on "how well" the teacher used his time. If this step

29

were known prior to the completion of the study, one
questions whether the results are unbiased. On the

other hand, if the participants were unaware that the
results would be used for evaluation, an ethical question
may be raised regarding the study's propriety.

Diaries were kept by 126 homemaking teachers to
record the time distribution of their activities (Young-
mans, 1960). The study was conducted for an entire week,
twenty-four hours per day, and concluded that the teachers
spent an average of 48.2 hours per week on their pro-
fession. A fairly simple technique and method of analy—
sis was involved since the researcher was primarily
interested in establishing professional versus personal
time use.

A mechanical adaptation of the observation prin-
ciple was made by Withall (1956). The classroom inter-
actions between one teacher and twenty-six pupils in an
eighth grade art class were observed for twelve weeks by
time-lapse photographs and recordgraph. The data were
recorded at fifteen-second intervals throughout the class
period. An analysis of the film revealed that the teacher
focused attention on a minority of students while almost
ignoring others. After the teacher viewed the results of
the analysis, he was able to redistribute his time more
equally. This technique of data collection is highly
accurate but impractical for observing interactions in

more than one place.

30

A National Education Association (1958) research
program surveyed 2,421 urban principals in elementary
schools to determine how they spent their professional
time. The 55 per cent who responded reported that their
time was distributed in these ways: administration 55 per
cent, community work 18 per cent, supervision and curricu-
1um 35 per cent, classroom teaching 3 per cent. These
results are based on estimates of time use and not actual
diaries, questionnaires, or other data-gathering tech-
niques. Although this technique is inappropriate and
inaccurate for examining a very small sample in detail,
it has validity for collecting rough data from a large
population.

In a more complete research report, Thrush (1963)
described a two-month study designed to determine the
behavioral work activities of staff members in a uni-
versity counseling center and the time allocated to these
activities. The work sampling method was employed to
estimate activities without observing 100 per cent of the
counselors' time. Observations were made three times each
hour by clerical personnel. Admittedly, the method was a
compromise between guess and 100 per cent observation. A
total of 6,312 observations were categorized in the follow-
ing manner: time with counselees 31.6 per cent, non-
clerical tasks directly pertinent to counselee 5.3 per

cent, clerical tasks pertinent to counselee 9.6 per cent,

31

non-clerical work not directly pertinent to the counselee
0.3 per cent, non-work and personal activities 7.7 per
cent, and unclassified time 31.9 per cent. The results
were used by the staff to make decisions concerning future
time allocation.

Building time budgets by using the questionnaire
technique has been more widely practiced in educational
research. Ten Illinois high school guidance departments
cooperated for one month to determine how much time was
devoted to specific aspects of their total program (Gard-
ner, 1957). At the end of the day, each counselor esti-
mated how he had spent his time. Counseling received the
highest commitment (36 per cent) with testing second
ranked (26 per cent). Other results were professional
contacts 18 per cent, record keeping 14 per cent, research
3.7 per cent, and other miscellaneous 3.3 per cent. Gen-
eral patterns of time allocation may be drawn from these
estimates, but accurate conclusions regarding the details
of a high school counselors' time budget would have to be
made using other techniques.

According to critics, one weakness in the time
estimate technique is the element of human judgment and
memory necessary to record data after the fact (Lesper-
ance, 1964). Although only a few studies of the accuracy
of time budget estimates have been completed, two indi-

cate that human error is not as great as might be expected

32

(Carroll, Taylor, 1969). Evaluated was the ability of a
group of sixteen clerical workers to recall the proportion
of time each spent on various job activities during a
routine workday. Unknown to the clerical workers, the
researchers had an independent observer recording their
activities during the same period by a work sampling
method. The recall estimates of the women were compared
with the actual time observations made independently.

The results indicated that the self-reported times did
not differ on the average more than 5 per cent from the
time obtained by the observer using work sampling. The
researchers concluded that the two-time allocations as
determined by the two methods were quite similar, and
that "time estimates from a group of such personnel can
be of value since they are so easy to obtain and can be
accurate enough to serve as a general guide to the nature
of the work performed on various jobs" (Carroll, Taylor,
1969, p. 166).

In a similar study, Stogdill and Shartle (1955)
found a fairly high degree of correspondence between
estimated time of work performance recalled by thirty-
four naval officers and the actual time logged for spe-
cific activities like talking, reading, writing reports,
and operating machines. Subjective activities like plan-
ning and reflection were less accurate. While the human

element is influencial in this type of research, as in

33

all others, these studies indicated less inaccuracy exists
in time budget estimates than would be expected.

Youmans (1960) confirmed this finding in her study
of homemaking teachers. Each teacher was requested to
estimate how she allocated her time before she actually
constructed a time budget diary. A comparison revealed
that teachers estimated only one more hour per week was
spent on professional activity than was actually the case.

However, in the last three studies, estimates of
time use were required only for general categories of
activity. Other evidence indicates that when subjects
are requested to predict or recall a more detailed
account of their time use, greater inaccuracies occur
between the estimation and an actual observation (Nelson,
1963). Nelson observed nineteen randomly selected Costa
Rican homemakers to determine their pattern of activity
during a typical day. Before she made her observations,
she asked them to predict how they would spend their time.
Following her observation day, she requested the home-
makers to recall their activities from the previous day
in detail. She found that time use could be recalled or
predicted only in general categories. Specific activities
were often forgotten, leading her to conclude that esti-
mations were "not automatically valid representations of
behavioristic activity patterns . . ." (Nelson, 1963,

p. 107).

34

Using a similar method of observation, Carroll
(1963) observed fifteen selected Indiana high school deans
of girls to determine how they used their time during one
professional day. The data were gathered by observing
each subject for one day and recording observations on
an instrument developed by the author. The instrument
contained a minute-by-minute account of each activity
completed, the individua1(s) with whom the dean worked,
who initiated the contact, a description of the partici-
pants' behavior, and a classification of the activity.

The purpose of the study was to determine if the dean of
girls' time was being used effectively, whether school
size influenced time allocation, and whether professional
training made any difference in time usage.

Among the many findings gleaned from the 6,944
minutes of observation, the author reported that the
average dean of girls spent one-third of her time in
contact with students, although most of these contacts
related to non-guidance, administrative functions. Only
3 per cent of her time was spent in counseling individual
students. Most contacts with students were dean initiated
or a result of normal school procedures since few students
came to the dean voluntarily. Generally, professional
training had little influence on the results of the study.
The deans with two to five years of experience spent the

most time with student groups, teaching, counseling, or

35

working in guidance areas. As might be expected, the deans
with the most experience spent no time in teaching or
supervising, spent the least time giving educational or
vocational information, and the most time giving advice.
"The major conclusion of this study was that the time of
the dean . . . was not being effectively utilized"
(Carroll, 1963, p. 65).

Time estimates were used in two studies conducted
during the 1950's to ascertain how college students spent
their time. An interview survey of 503 English under-
graduates who estimated how they spent their time on the
day and weekend before they were questioned concluded
that an average of six and one-quarter hours per weekday
were spent in academic work (Thoday, 1957). On the week-
end, an average of four and one hours per day were spent
on academic work. Only one day was covered in the study
because "this was the longest period for which reasonably
accurate and detailed information could be obtained"
(Thoday, 1957, p. 172).

By using a questionnaire survey with 161 Uni-
versity of Hawaii students, Dole (1957) concluded that
"a 40-hour student week, about equally divided between
activities inside and outside the classroom, seems to
have been the mode for many years" (Dole, 1857, p. 633).
Dole held that fairly accurate time estimates could be

made for the entire previous week. Although this

 

36

contention contradicts Thoday's assertion, Dole's results
closely parallel the English study. He cautioned, how-
ever, that a respondent might distort his results because
of the influence of guilt, level of aspiration, pure
phantasy, or deliberate deception. He concluded that a
definitive study of time use would have to sample all
activity, even thought content, throughout the 168 hours
in a week.

This selected review of field studies in sociology,
anthropology, business and industry, and education under-
scores the many techniques which have been used to collect
time allocation data. With the exception of anthropology,
most disciplines have relied on questionnaires, structured
interviews, work sampling, time estimates, or mechanical
means for identifying time patterns. While anthropolo-
gists have not ignored these techniques, they have used
participant observation methods more extensively.

Although the term "behavioral research" is cur-
rently very pOpular, the study of actual behavior is not.
Pencil and paper data gathered from subjects in a class-
room are much easier to collect and correlate, even though
one's interest is in actual behavior in a residence hall
(Foote, 1961) . The participant observation method was
(filosen for this study because it provided a means of
gathering a broad range of data on the administrative

Patterns in one residence hall.

37

Residence Hall Administration:
An OverView

 

According to Betchkal, "Using time wisely and pro-
ductively . . . is a major responsibility of the adminis-
trator" (Betchkal, 1960, p. 49). Some administrators
assemble a team of clerks, bookkeepers, stenographers,
typists, and office machine operators to gather and
process information for them (Jones, 1968). Many adminis-
trators spend more time selecting, training, motivating,
coordinating, and controlling subordinate decision makers
than they would if they made all the decisions themselves
(Slaybough, 1967). Ideally, the amount of time and effort
applied by administrators should vary in direct relation-
ship to the importance of the activity or item being man-
aged, but the ideal often goes unfulfilled.

Admittedly educational administrators are working
with an elusive product: the educated student. Residence
hall administrators have an even more difficult task since
they cannot rely on cost per credit hour calculations nor
grade-point averages to measure their effectiveness. The
literature is overflowing with philosophical speculations
concerning the goals for residence halls. According to
the educational theorists, student personnel staff in
residence halls should affect the learning and develop-
ment of hall residents, helping them to feel mature by
valuing them as adults who must be respected for their

Opinions and treated with warmth and friendliness

38

(Poole, 1967). But what does this mean when lifted from a
professional journal and placed in campus reality? Does
the educational mission become secondary to food and room
provisions?

"Considerable disparity exists between what top
level administrators say about the functions of residence
halls and what they actually do" (Kilbourn, 1960, p. 205).
In his study a decade ago, Kilbourn surveyed 124 schools
having female head resident advisors. He found that they
distributed their time among these responsibilities: room
assignments, programming, room maintenance, interpretation
of certain policies and regulations, counseling of a
"minor" nature, referrals of serious emotional problems,
and "preventive discipline." Duties in the areas of
administration and discipline "tended seriously to reduce
their effectiveness as counselors" (Kilbourn, 1960, p. 205).
Since time allocation data was not reported, speculations
concerning competing time demands cannot be made.

To determine the actual time spent in counseling
in contrast to administration in men's residence halls,
Harle and Gazda (1963) surveyed sixty-eight colleges and
universities in the mid-west. Their conclusions were
reported in macroscopic terms. In smaller schools, less
time was spent in administration (47 per cent) and more
time in counseling (37 per cent). The opposite prevailed
in larger schools where administration consumed 73 per

cent of the time and individual counseling, 13 per cent.

39

White (1969) questioned whether the goals set by
administrators in residence halls are relevant to students.
Administrators desire student togetherness yet "today's
students want to be left alone, not to be pressed to
identify with organizational activities or membership"
(White, 1969, p. 123).

Large, hotel-like physical plants and mass-like social
structures have made obsolete a primary, intimate,
interpersonal social organization in our colleges.

. . . To expect students to form a personal identifi-
cation with an organized residential life is incom-
patible with the academic purpose of higher education,
as well as with the student's interests, goals, and
reasons for going to college (White, 1969, p. 125).

Uncertainty, confusion, and contradiction appear
to characterize this sampling of literature on residence
halls. Administrators are charged with counseling too
little, administering too much, being concerned with the
physical plant, and not facilitating student development.
Although little in the literature empirically confirms
these charges, most intuitive hunches seem to support

them. But hunches must be tested and proved before they

become conclusions.

Summary

A selected review of the literature on time allo-
cation studies reveals a general weakness in the con-
ceptual and theoretical underpinning so necessary if
this type of research is to be accepted as a worthwhile

enterprise. Several theorists maintain that social and

40

chronological time make an impact on cultures and insti-
tutions, but their theories need further development and
testing. To understand this impact, others suggest that
time use be studied to provide an index to the value
structures of men and societies. Substantial theoretical
literature also proposes time study as an indicator of
which forces in a man's environment are the strongest
influences on his behavior.

Few studies could be found which pulled the theory
into the light of reality or which explored time allo-
cation and informationoverload concepts as they impinge
on administrative theory. When applied to administrative
patterns, information overload means that input B is
received by an administrator before he can adequately
process input A. Thus, the administrator's time allo-
cation and activity patterns are segmented by competing
inputs.

A review of actual research completed by anthropo-
logists, sociologists, business and industrial researchers,
and educators provides some evidence for a growing interest
in time allocation studies. However, experience in con-
ducting time studies is limited, especially in higher edu-
cation, and the methodology is weak in many disciplines.
Many of the organizational studies surveyed lacked depth
and specificity because time data was gathered by esti-

mation, work sampling, recall or one-day observations.

41

While these methods have merit for collecting time data
to be analyzed according to broad categories, they lack
the capacity to produce detailed longitudinal data to be
scrutinized through microscopic analysis.

The present study hopes to make a contribution to
knowledge in both the conceptual and methodological
spheres. Philosophical speculation related to residence
hall administration is plentiful, but few, if any,
empirical in-depth studies have been completed on the
implications of time allocation and information overload
in this area of student personnel work. In Chapter III,
a method and technique for exploring time use, activity
patterns, and information overload in a residence hall

administration will be considered.

CHAPTER III

DESCRIPTION OF SETTING, METHODOLOGY
AND PROCEDURE

This chapter describes the setting for the study,
namely, the hall selected for observation, the methodolog-
ical decisions made during data collection, and the pro-
cedures involved in observing, tabulating, and analyzing
the data.

Descriptive Characteristics of the
Residence Hall

 

Opened in Fall term, 1965, Holmes Hall is one of
Michigan State University's newest and largest residence
halls. The hall consists of two, six-story residential
wings with a capacity for 638 men and 638 women and an
academic and service wing which houses a cafeteria,
snack shop, library, classrooms, laboratories, faculty
offices, and the central administrative offices for Lyman
Briggs College, the residential college assigned to the
hall since 1967. When this study was initiated in May,
1969, the investigator had been the head resident advisor
in East Holmes Hall for three years. On July 1, 1969, he

accepted the post of director of student affairs

42

43

(hereafter referred to as DSA) for both East and West
Holmes and Briggs College and remained in this position
during the balance of the study. Thus, observations
reported in Chapter V are separated into two distinct
chronological periods: the first occurred during May,
1969, when the observer was the head resident advisor in
East Holmes, and the second transpired in 1970 and early
1971 when he served as DSA for all of Holmes Hall.

As noted in Chapter I and explained later in this
Chapter, the participant observation method was selected
for this study. Participant observation, in a narrow
sense, requires the researcher to fill a role in the
community or organization under study (Sullivan, gt_gl.,
1958). The primary reason for selecting Holmes Hall for
the study was the researcher's desire to use the partici-
pant observation method to analyze an administrative
problem in higher education. Since he was already
established as an administrator in Holmes Hall and
Briggs College, and since the observation of adminis-
trators in other halls for twenty-four hours per day
would have been awkward, if not impossible, Holmes Hall
was an ideal setting for a participant observation study.

Other characteristics of the hall contributed to
its desirability as a research location. Its large
student population, two coeducational wings, residential

college, and experienced student personnel administrator

44

combined to offer a setting where both unique and represen-
tative administrative patterns might be discovered. In
total campus perspective, the hall was one of the most

recent "living-learning" centers built at Michigan State.

The Living-Learning Concept

 

Michigan State University opened its first co-
educational residence hall in 1961 to provide a "living
learning" center which bridged the traditional separation
between the concerns of the classroom and those of the
dormitory and to enhance the cultural and intellectual
life of the students living in the residence halls.

By placing students in halls where academic
instruction and faculty offices also were located, the
originators of the living-learning concept envisioned that
personal interaction between students and faculty would
increase, academic programs would become an integral part
of the total living experience, and the general environ-
ment would become more intellectually stimulating. Of
course, few assumed that the traditional Saturday night
beer party or other social institutions of the campus
culture would be replaced by student-faculty seminars,
serious intellectual debate in the living areas, and
attendance at chamber music recitals. But many hoped
that the living-learning concept would provide an atmos-

phere which diverted some student energies into more

45

productive channels and wedded students more closely to
the academic discipline housed in the residence halls.

Reviewing the living-learning concept as it had
been developed in eight halls by early 1967, the uni-
versity's Committee on Under-graduate Education (1967)
reported, "By having classes taught within them, by
placing faculty offices in them, by scheduling lectures,
musical events and plays in the evenings, and by providing
advisory and counseling and library services in proximity
to them," the university has been "relatively successful"
in its housing experiment. But what appeared to be major
inadequacies in the living-learning program caught the
committee's attention. After offering its guarded optimis-
tic appraisal, the committee recommended substantial
changes in the living-learning program's central admin-
istrative structure, its academic plan, and even its
physical characteristics. By its proposals, the com-
mittee acknowledged some of the strengths and many of
the flaws in the living-learning system as it had been
developed by the faculty and top educational planners in
the administration.

Many conceptual and methodological problems con-
tributed to the slow development and implementation of
the original living-learning plan. Two reasons relevant
to this study will be cited. In conceptual terms, one

reason why the living-learning concept failed to fulfill

46

the glorious dreams of its originators was the problem of
information overload. The faculty and administrators
assigned to the living-learning units maintained pro-
fessional commitments to their departments and disciplines
located elsewhere on campus. The faculty rewards system
generally did not recognize extensive informal contact
with students in residence halls. Consequently, adminis-
trators and faculty responded to information input from
the source of their rewards, the central administration or
the academic department. Input from students in residence
halls was often relegated to low priority status by the
staff member because of the overload it placed on his
already crowded schedule.

The second reason arose out of a methodological
problem confronting those attempting to implement the
living-learning concept; sheer numbers had a deadening
effect on a residence hall program geared to thousands
of students in a complex (Garrison Committee Report, 1969).
Individuality, creativity, self-direction, and awareness
were all valued by the originators of the living-learning
approach. But, as the Garrison Report made clear, requir-
ing thousandsof students to sleep, work, play, and study
in close physical proximity with others naturally reduced
the possibility of these values being fulfilled. Instead,
the lowest common denominator in the student subculture

often became dominant.

47

The numbers problem also had implications for the
academic instructional programs assigned to residence hall
units. Experimentation and innovation was difficult
simply because too many students and too few staff mem-
bers were assigned to participate in the educational
process. In summary, student-faculty contact and aca-
demic innovation did not increase simply because a tra-
ditional academic discipline was assigned to offer some
of its courses in a residence hall.

The void in the living-learning concept was dis-
covered prior to the Report of the Committee on Under-
graduate Education in 1967 and the Garrison Committee
Report on Residence Halls of 1969. Partially to fill
the void, the university established three residential
colleges in the mid-sixties. Hopefully, by dealing with
a smaller number of students, all committed to a common
academic interest, and by rewarding faculty and staff for
involvement with students in the residential college, the
living-learning concept would be enhanced and extended
beyond its originators' intentions.

Lyman Briggs College, one of the three residential
colleges, was assigned to the academic space in Holmes
Hall in 1967 (Harden, 1969). Since opening its doors to
its first class, Briggs College's aim has been to offer

a liberal education centered on the natural sciences and

48

characterized by a concern for the needs of a technolog-
ically oriented society. The 1970-71 descriptive brochure
of the college states, "The programs of LBC have been
designed specifically for students . . . who wish to live
and learn in a collegiate setting sufficiently small to
afford each member the opportunity of a voice and a measure
of influence in charting the intellectual, ethical and
social direction of the college."

While not explicitly declaring so, this objective
implies that the residential college attempts to alleviate
problems brought about by large numbers and information
overload. Has it achieved its objective? Although this
study does not answer the question completely, it pro-
poses a theory which conceptualizes part of the problem
and a methodology for gathering evaluative data on infor-
mation overload, staff activity patterns, and administra-
tive time allocation.

Administrative Structure
in Holmes Hall

 

 

Three separate administrative structures operate
in Holmes Hall: the academic unit, the student personnel
staff, and management. In addition, the students are
represented through their elected student government
officers.

As already indicated, the academic unit, Briggs

College, was established, in part, to extend and modify

49

the original living-learning concept by reducing time and
information overload on staff and by creating a small
college atmosphere in the larger university setting.
Charged with overall administrative responsibility for
the college is a dean who is aided by an assistant dean.
The dean's staff reports directly to the Provost of the
university.

The fulltime student personnel staff is jointly
appointed by the residential college and the University
Dean of Students so its line of responsibility flows
through the college to the Provost and through the Dean
of Students structure to the Vice President for Student
Affairs. In addition to being responsible for Holmes
Hall, the staff fulfills student personnel functions for
Briggs College students, whether they live on or off
campus.

Holmes Hall implemented in 1969 an experimental
variation of the traditional approach to residence hall
administration. In the past, most co-educational living-
learning units maintained the separation of student
personnel staff responsibilities along sex lines, an
arrangement which led to many problems, including those
attributable to overload. In the fall of 1969, a
director of student affairs (DSA) was appointed in Holmes
Hall to coordinate and develop a unified student develop—

ment approach to residents of both sexes. Also created

50

were fulltime positions for an associate director, and
four assistant directors. The associate director is
responsible for coordinating all hall programs and
interest groups and for advising hall and college govern-
ment. The director and associate director live outside
the hall, while the assistant directors (two women and
two men) live in the hall. Each assistant director
supervises a unit of six resident assistants (RA's) and
approximately 320 residents (see Appendix A) and supports
the co-curricular program by advising one major hall
committee.

During the observations made at the outset of
this study, Holmes Hall was assigned a male and female
head advisor who lived in the hall and each supervised
twelve RA's and two graduate advisors. An RA was
responsible for one house and reported directly to the
head advisor of his wing. Assisting the head advisor
in program development, informal student contact, com-
mittee advising, and staff training, were the two grad-
uate advisors assigned on a half-time basis. The grad-
uate advisors had no direct line responsibility for
supervision of RA's. Consequently, aside from their
involvement in program development, the graduate advisors
found considerable ambiguity built into their positions.

On the other hand, the head advisor was subjected

to a high degree of "information overload." Phone calls,

51

student concerns, housing forms, staff issues, emergency
situations, college matters, and administrative details
were all channeled to his office for attention. Often,
information needing immediate consideration was not
handled adequately before additional communication on a
different topic was funneled to the head advisor. Mil-
gram (1970) expanded the information overload concept
derived from systems analysis and studied the adaptive
responses to overload made by the city dweller. The
parallels to residence hall life are striking. The
observed behavior of the head advisor in a wide range
of situations appeared to be determined largely by a
variety of adaptations to overload, as demonstrated in
Chapter IV.

To alleviate the overload problem and other
structural deficiencies, a revamped staff organization
was proposed and implemented. The planners of the new
staffing arrangement hypothesized that more efficient
administration would result by combining the two head
advisor positions into a directorship and by unifying the
separate staffs. The data reported in Chapter V seeks
to substantiate whether this hypothesis was upheld.

The management staff, the third administrative
structure in the hall, is responsible for food service,
building maintenance, bookkeeping operations, and other

service functions of the hall. Since the hall Opened

52

in 1965, four different managers have directed these oper-
ations. The management hierarchy reports to the Vice

President for Business.

The Student Population

 

Holmes Hall houses students from both Briggs
College and the university. All Briggs College students
electing to live on campus must reside in Holmes Hall.
Students qualifying to live Off campus may do so and
still enroll in the college. The proportion of Briggs
to non-Briggs students living in the hall moved toward
greater balance each year until roughly 50 per cent of
the residents were in the college at the time of the
study. Because of the unequal proportion of men to
women (two and one-half to one) in the college, the
men's wing of the hall had a heavier concentration of
Briggs students than did the women's.

The non-Briggs College p0pulation living in the
hall is drawn from varied academic majors. In most resi-
dence halls at Michigan State, freshman and sophomore
students tend to live on campus while juniors and seniors
seek alternate living arrangements off campus. However,
Holmes Hall has been able to maintain a higher proportion
of upperclassmen than most halls.

The Holmes Hall government represents all students
living in the hall. It administers a $9,000—$10,000

budget maintained through the collection of dues from all

53

residents. An extensive program of lectures, seminars,
movies, intramural athletics, student policy making,
social events, and other services supported by the stu-
dent government with the advisement of the student affairs
staff. The major student policy-making body is the hall
legislature which consists of one representative from
each of the twenty-four houses in the hall and several
officers elected from the hall population at large. Each
house is a physically separate unit with approximately
fifty student residents and one undergraduate resident
assistant (RA). Policy may be proposed by the hall
government, the student affairs staff, or the manager.
Ideally, all three structures must agree to the imple-

mentation of any hall initiated policy governing students.

Collection of Data

 

Several methods for collecting data on adminis-
trative patterns were reviewed in Chapter II. These
options were explored before the researcher selected the
participant Observation method. This section contains an
overview of the method employed, a survey of field work
techniques used by the participant Observer, and the

schedule followed in data collection.

Method Selection

 

Questionnaires, standardized tests, and short

interviews are the methods most prevalent in educational

54

research. To gain information which will provide de-

scriptions of the behavior of individuals in organi-

zations,
we must abandon our research approach of asking people
to check a blank or to write down on a piece of paper
the way they perceive themselves. . . . We need
descriptions of the behavior of administrators and
others as they work and live in their organizations.
. . . Rather than the experimental method, we should
be using the observational approach Of the physical
sciences and of some of the social sciences . . . the
anthropologist has adopted the methods of observation
of the physical sciences and has adapted these in a
way that is peculiarily beneficial (Griffiths, 1959,
pp. 34-35).

To meet this need in educational research and to
handle the data adequately, the participant observation
method was selected for this study. This method provided
a conscious and systematic sharing, as far as circum-
stances allowed, in the life activities of a group of
persons administering a residence hall. Data about
behavior was obtained through direct contact in specific
situations. Thus, the distortion that may result from the
investigator's being unfamiliar with the institution under
study was reduced to a minimum (Sullivan, et a1., 1958).

Distortion because of intrusion by an outsider was
also reduced considerably since the observer was well
established in the hall's administrative framework. How-
ever, as is the case in all participant observation

studies, distortion may result if the observer allows his

own biases to influence data gathering or interpretation.

55

Being sensitive to this, the investigator sought to reduce
biased observations, even when the facts in a given situ-
ation reflected negatively.

To further maintain objectivity, the researcher
did not identify his activities to those he was observing.
On occasion, members of the student affairs staff most
closely associated with the researcher became aware of
his data-gathering activity. Their patterns of inter-
action did not change appreciably as verified by sub-
sequent study conducted when the staff was unaware that
observations were being made.

The "participant-as-observer" method provided the
investigator with a means of systematizing and analyzing
data which was not generally available to an outside
researcher. An external Observer, using the traditional
methods of recording data in educational research,
normally excludes some input; but the participant Ob-
server strives to include all material relevant to an
understanding of the organization or social system under

study (Griffiths, 1959).

Field Work Techniques

Having chosen the research method to be used, the
investigator next considered the techniques to employ.
Anthropologists often prepare extensive field notes on
their observations, but how they gather and organize

material for the notes varies widely. Some rely on

56

diaries of individuals, informant interviewing, existing
reports, and personal notes recorded during actual Obser-
vation (Jantzen, 1963). All Of these techniques were
used in this study, plus others especially adapted for
the specific situation.

The primary field technique chosen for data
gathering was a "time budget" and "activity diary" which
was kept by the researcher during representative periods
in his administration (for example, see Chapter IV).
Observations were recorded by using portable dictating
equipment which was kept readily available in the admin-
istrator's Office. When someone else was in the office,
or when the DSA was working away from the office or in
meetings, thus prohibiting dictation, short written notes
were kept and dictated at the earliest Opportunity. Most
observations were recorded within a few seconds of the
event, and rarely did more than an hour elapse before
material was dictated.

Each entry in the diary indicated the time at
which the activity began, when it ended, if possible
who initiated the activity, what transpired, and whether
communication took place by phone, in person, or in
writing. The investigator attempted to indicate what
actions were taken as a result of the communication and,
on occasion, what his affective response was to the

interaction.

57

After the first two observation periods, the inves-
tigator developed a check list report form (see Appendix B)
to augment the taped Observations. The form was especially
useful during interviews, conferences, and phone calls
when note taking was normal behavior.

Second, to provide continuity and background, the
DSA also systematically observed all regular meetings he
attended from March, 1970, through January, 1971. Obser-
vations were noted on each topic discussed, the frequency
with which it was raised, and the total number of minutes
devoted to each topic per meeting.

A third technique used to collect data was the
daily filing of copies of all written professional com-
munications sent or received during each of the obser-
vation periods. Thus, an accurate account of written
information flow was created.

Finally, as the observations progressed, it became
obvious that some issues in the residence hall began
before an observation period commenced, continued through
the period, and terminated after the period was over.
Consequently, longitudinal descriptive anecdotal records
were compiled on various incidents to provide supplemental
material to activities recorded during the actual periods
of the study. These incidents are reported as case

studies to illustrate points in the data analysis.

58

Five other full-time student personnel staff mem-
bers in Holmes Hall also collected data using the check
list report form during May 25-30, 1970. Using the form
without assistance from dictating equipment Often proved
tedious and consumed up to one-half hour in additional
time per day. The staff also assisted in the research
by developing case studies relating to such issues as
student government conflicts, missing students, roommate
problems, drug cases, and emotionally upset students.
Their findings provided both a contrast to and a confir-
mation of the time budget and activity pattern data

reported by the DSA.

Schedule of Data Collection

 

Although many participant observation studies
reported in Chapter II are limited to a few days or
weeks, the seasonal activities and influences involved
in residence hall administration made it necessary to
sample time periods in each regular academic term. Since
the residential college and the residence hall did not
have a student p0pulation during the summer term, no data
was collected then.

The periods selected for intensive observation
were purposely determined rather than randomly chosen.
The first period (May 19-June 6, 1969) included the last
three weeks of a Spring term and the last Opportunity for

the researcher to record data as a head resident advisor

59

in the men's wing of Holmes Hall. The research idea had
been conceived and designed earlier in May, 1969. Pres-
sure existed to collect data while school was still in
session and while the investigator still held his head
resident advisor position.’ Thus, data collected under
the new staff structure the following year could be com-
pared with that collected during May, 1969.

The second period (March 9-20, 1970) was selected
to give comparative end-of-term data for Winter term. No
data had been collected during Fall term, 1969, when the
investigator was analyzing his data from the previous
Spring to determine whether additional study was fruitful
and whether improvements in technique would be necessary.

The third intensive observation period (May 24-30,
1970) was chosen to provide comparative data to that
gathered the year before during a similar period. A
three-way comparison was made possible by having the
other five members of the professional student personnel
staff record observations at the same time.

The DSA conducted his fourth intensive study
period during the middle of Fall term (October 30-November
6, 1970). This period was selected because it represented
the flow of events and information during a "normal" week
not heavily influenced by impending examinations. Finally,
the fifth observation period (January 4-12, 1971) was
chosen to provide data on activities and time demands

early in a term.

60

A total of fifty-two days were observed personally
by the investigator who recorded all work-related activity
he performed. Regular university work days accounted for
forty-two of the days studied. The other ten days were
either part of weekends or holidays. Observations made
by the other five hall staff members represent twenty-
five individual work days and eight weekend days or holi-

days during the May 24-30, 1970 period.

Tabulation and Analysis Procedures
This section contains a review of the decisions
made relative to analysis procedures and an outline of
the procedures. After reviewing the eighty-four days
upon which observations were made by the residence hall
staff, the researcher realized he had more data than

could be handled within the microscopic analysis planned.

Parameters of the Analysis

 

Several decisions were made which provided param-
eters within which the data could be accurately analyzed.
First, only university class days were to be subject to
microscopic, minute-by-minute analysis. Second, each
time period was to be no longer than one week. Third, a
time span would be studied from each of the five obser-
vation periods. Fourth, the observations of the five
other administrators in Holmes Hall who participated in

the May, 1970 period would be analyzed only for the first

61

three working days (May 25-27). Fifth, the January 4-12,
1971 observations of the DSA were atypical for several
reasons: January 4 and 5 were registration days; January
6, 7, 8 were class days Spent in Washington, D.C. at a
National Institute of Mental Health Conference on Sui-
cidology; January 9, 10 were days on a weekend. There-
fore, only January 11, 12 were within the parameters of
the analysis. The decision to go to Washington was
hurriedly made just hours before departure and after the
January observations had begun. Consequently, data were
gathered while in Washington but the researcher decided
that to use it would skew the overall results of the
study toward the professional development sector and the

topic of suicide.

Classification of Data

 

The major part of the analysis centered on the
time budget diaries. A total of 953 observations was
made and subsequently analyzed within the parameters
cited above. Each observation represented a specific
time segment or activity. In this study, a segment was
defined as the period of time between two specific
events. The DSA or head advisor had a total of 664 seg-
ments drawn from twenty-two days of analyzed observations.
The five other staff had a total of 289 segments drawn
from fifteen days (three days each) of analyzed Obser-

vations.

62

Each segment was analyzed according to time, mode,
person, group or agency involved, and activity or topic.

A check list analysis form was developed to aid in speedy
classification of each segment (see Appendix C). The
original check list used to supplement the dictation
proved to be too general for analysis.

After each segment was recorded on the analysis
form, the data was coded by number and punched into Bur-
roughs' Unisort Analysis edge-notched cards to increase
the accuracy of information storage and retrieval. Where
additional explanations were required, they were written
directly on the card. Total time consumed by each segment
was also noted on each card. The Unisort system consists
of a card with ninety-one edge-notched holes which may be
used in various combinations. The central portion of the
card is left empty for writing in or attaching a desired
text.

The indications to be recorded are associated with
particular holes, according to a coding system. A
card is prepared for use by converting into notches,
opening to the edge of the card, whichever holes
correspond in it to the desired indications. When
. . . a long needle is inserted through the hole
that corresponds to any desired indication, running
through a whole pack of cards, and the pack is lifted
on this needle, all those cards which have had that
particular hole converted to an open notch fall off
the needle (Scheele, 1961).

The analysis cards were separated according to the

observation period from which they were drawn. For the

May 25-27 period, each individual's Observations were

63

coded and analyzed independently. The cards for each
period were then sorted several times to determine dif-
ferent combinations of data. The first sorting yielded
the following information about each segment:
Personal Interaction:

Phone

Meeting

Class related

Group Contact

Individual one-to-one contact
Individual Effort:

Activity

Research related to this study

Reading

Writing

Administrative routine

As each card was sorted according to the above
categories, the data it contained was recorded on a mas-
ter sheet. The initial sorting yielded information on
time spent on the segment and with whom or on what activity
it was spent. The total time recorded on the master sheet
was equal to the time spent on professional matters during
the observation period.

The second sorting through the same cards revealed
the amount of time spent on each topic during the obser-
vation period. Various other card sortings combined the
data to yield the results reported in Chapters IV and V.

The analysis of topics covered in meetings over

a period of eleven months (excluding summer term) was

less complicated. The minutes of meetings attended by

64

the DSA were condensed according to topic and recorded on
a meeting analysis form developed for this study. All
meetings of a specific group were contained on one sheet
which included the date of the meeting, the topic dis-
cussed, and how long it was discussed. By adding the
rows and columns on the meeting analysis form, the total
length of any meeting and the topics which received the
most attention were ascertained. A topic's frequency of
appearance or the length of time it was discussed was an
indicator of its importance. In addition, the meeting
analysis form provided an index to which topics were
seasonal, recurring, infrequent, or of an emergency nature.
The third general area requiring classification
involved the input and output of written information.
The investigator recorded which written input was received
on what topic, when, from whom, and with what result, if
any. Similarly, written output was categorized according

to its type, on what topic, when sent, and to whom.

Summary

This chapter surveyed the development of the
living-learning concept and the residential college at
Michigan State University. Two problems were identified
as impeding the realization of the living-learning con-
cept; in conceptual terms, the faculty and staff in
residence halls were bombarded with "information over-

load” which strained their time budget. From a

65

methodological perspective, sheer numbers of students and
lack of staff inhibited innovation and eXperimentation

in traditional academic programs in residence halls. The
residential college was established, in part, to alleviate
these problems and to extend the living-learning approach
in residence halls.

Secondly, the methods and techniques used in the
collection of the time and information data were pre-
sented. Finally, the parameters drawn in the analysis
Of the data were considered, the types of classifications
used were described, and the analysis procedures were
outlined. Patterns of administrative information flow
and time allocation will be uncovered in Chapter IV and

V through the use of these basic analysis procedures.

CHAPTER IV

ADMINISTRATIVE TIME ALLOCATION AND ACTIVITY
PATTERNS--ANALYSIS OF THE DATA

The patterns of time allocation identified in
this chapter represent one way of interpreting and eval-
uating administrative activity in a large co-educational
residence hall. The data are presented from the general
to the specific: (1) Broad sectors of the administrator's
time use are identified, (2) his daily pattern of activity
is scrutinized; (3) patterns of interpersonal interactions
are presented; and (4) a topical analysis of information

flow is explored.

An Overview of Time Use

 

To maintain clarity, only the data gathered by
the investigator while he served as the director of stu-
dent affairs (DSA) are presented in this chapter. Com-
parative data recorded while he was a head resident
advisor and comparisons made with the data generated
by other staff members will be offered in Chapter V.

By placing the data analysis in separate chapters, one

can first examine the DSA's time budget and activity

66

67

patterns and then compare them with the indexes given in
Chapter V. All time not reported was assumed to be allo-
cated to personal pursuits.

As seen in Table 1, the DSA consumed an average of
53.5 hours per five-day work week or 10.7 hours per day
in professional activities. A total of 182.1 hours were
observed and subsequently analyzed from representative
time periods in the months of March, May, November, 1970,
and January, 1971.

Not reported in Table 1 is the DSA's time allo-
cation during weekends. During the eight weekend days
observed, approximately 2.5 hours per day were profes-
sionally allocated. Thus, the average professional
seven-day week for the DSA lasted 58.5 hours. Although
time was spent by the DSA on a variety of issues and
with a wide range of people, a nearly constant number
of professional hours were consumed during the week,
regardless of the issues, problems, or emergencies con-
tributing to information overload in the DSA's schedule.

Time Allocation Among
Eti—vities

 

Figure 1 presents a summary of how time was allo-
cated over the four periods among various activities.
While "group contact" includes any activity, other than
meetings or classes, which involved the DSA with two or

more people in face-to-face interaction, "individual

'—

68

 

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69

Individual one-to-one
Contacts

   
    
  
   
  
      

23.7%

21.5%
14.9%

Meetings Group Contacts
Class
4.8%

Administrative . Phone
Routine
ing _

Reading esearch

Figure l.--Percentage of Time Allocated by
Director of Student Affairs to Various Categories of
Activity during the Four Observation Periods.

70

contact" refers only to one-to-one interactions. "Admin-
istrative routine" denotes individual effort such as
filing, record keeping, or preparing educational mater-
ials for presentation to the staff.

Overall time allocation patterns were surpris-
ingly similar in each of the time periods reported in
Table 2. The DSA spent the most time in contact with
others (71.9 per cent). In contrast with the usual
stereotypic concept held of a "paper shuffling admin-
istrator" neatly secluded in his office, the DSA only
spent 28.1 per cent of his time in solitary individual
effort, including time devoted to reading and study in
his professional area. Time devoted weekly to phone
contacts, group contacts, and individual contacts changed
little from period to period. Almost one-quarter of the
total time observed was devoted to individual one-to-one
contacts and over one-fifth of the DSA's time was allo-
cated to meetings. The fact that the DSA allocated over
70 per cent of his total time to personal interaction
activity partially reflects his values. However, further
analysis will show that time allocation patterns were
also influenced by the frequency of input from others.

An average of 21.5 per cent of the total time
was dedicated to attendance at meetings. Why was the
March figure so highly inflated (31.7 per cent)? A

prime concern of staff and students during this period

 

 

 

 

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72

centered on a co-residential housing proposal for Holmes
Hall. Regular weekly meeting channels proved inadequate,
and additional hours were spent in ad hoc meetings con-
sidering the issues surrounding this controversial topic.
The DSA also attended meetings not normally on his sched-
ule to discuss the issue with concerned faculty and stu-
dents.

The indication that no meetings were held during
the two days studied in early January is characteristic of
the first class days in any term. Class schedules were
not confirmed in some cases, and students were still reti-
cent tO make time commitments to additional activities
which might demand their regular weekly attention.

Individual contact and writing was highest during
the January 11-12 period, thus providing another idio-
syncrasy and underscoring the information overload con-
cept. Since the DSA had been away from the Office
attending a conference on the three previous work days,
individuals wanting to see him had had to wait for his
return to campus. Issues and decisions which would
normally have been disposed of during the three previous
work days were also held in suspension. Thus, 38.6 per
cent of the time was allocated to one-to-one contact with
individuals, almost twice as much as the overall average
for all periods combined. ,In addition, since written

input had accumulated, the DSA spent another 8.6 per cent

73

of his time during these two days responding to letters,
reports, and memos. Administrative Office routine was
almost entirely neglected. The other individual effort
which received significant attention was a staff research
project being designed to meet a calendar deadline.

A review of the individual effort sector of
Table 2 reveals that the DSA's reading pattern was
uneven, varying from 2.6 per cent to 26.1 per cent. The
lowest percentage occurred during the March period when
the DSA was enrolled in a research seminar which encouraged
experimentation with anthropological research methods and
techniques. The highest reading percentage was registered
in November when the DSA was not enrolled in a class but
was preparing for comprehensive doctoral exams. Through-
out the study, a fairly constant time span was devoted
each day to reading mail, the campus newspaper, and daily
or weekly bulletins. In general, time allocated to read-
ing was elastic, expanding, and contracting as other
demands fluctuated in the DSA's time budget.

In summary, the DSA established contact patterns
which were fairly consistent from week to week. Almost
three-quarters of his time was allocated to personal
interactions and the remaining one-quarter spent in
individual or solo effort. More interaction time was
consumed by individual one-to-one contacts than any

other category, (23.7 per cent of total observed time),

74

and meetings followed in a close second (21.5 per cent).
Generally, variations in overall time allocation occurred
because of seasonal influences or pressing issues. For
example, if a category under interpersonal interactions
increased, one of the categories under individual effort
might decrease. The total number of professionally allo-
cated hours in each five-day work week remained nearly
constant (53.5 hours).

Activity Patterns in the DSA'S
Professional Day

 

 

Although the results analyzed up to this point
reveal how much time was allocated by the DSA to each
major activity category, no daily pattern of activity
can be inferred from the data. To confirm this, the
investigator recorded when each segment in the daily
schedule began. The hourly total for each activity is
given in Table 3. Within limitations, the patterns in
these figures provide an accurate reflection of the fre-
quency with which each activity occurred. The limitations
are: no inference can be made as to the length of each
segment; the four categories under "individual effort"
were combined since they did not provide as distinct a
pattern when viewed separately; and only five segments
occurred during the study under the "class" category,

too few for a pattern to emerge.

75

 

 

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76

When the data in Table 3 were examined and compared,
a clear configuration of the DSA's day emerged. In gen-
eral, his professional day began between 8:00 and 9:00 AM
when he arrived at the office, picked up his mail, and
read the campus newspaper.

The DSA often initiated his day with segments fal—
ling in the "individual effort" sector. Reading mail,
scanning the newspaper, writing memos and reports, or
answering letters were typical activities at the start
of the day. In fact, fifty-three individual effort seg-
ments were begun by the DSA in his office before 11:00 AM
during the seventeen days Observed, but totals generally
decrease for each succeeding hour. The decrease reflects
the increased pattern of activity in the DSA's schedule
caused by phone calls, individual one-to-One contacts,
group contacts, and meetings. Increased activity in
interpersonal relations usually meant that individual
effort segments had to be ended before they were com-
pleted. When possible, individual effort activities
were returned to later in the day or evening. When
"people inputs" were received by the DSA, "individual
output efforts" were almost always cut off. People won
the battle over paper.

Many of the individual effort segments which fell
between the hours of 4:00 to 6:00 PM reflect the DSA's

attempts to elaborate on the day's observations in his

77

time budget diary. Since notes had been hurriedly made
every few minutes as the day progressed, they needed to
be compiled and checked before additional input could
blur them in the DSA's mind.

As already mentioned, phone contacts and individual
cOntacts generally seemed to increase as the day pro-
gressed. However, closer scrutiny reveals that both
categories were relatively strong between 9:00 AM and
11:00 AM, slacked off during the noon hour, and built
through the afternoon to a crescendo between 4:00 and
5:00 PM. Why? Residence hall staff personnel and stu-
dents usually worked late into the night or early morn-
ing. Few of them began their professional day before
9:00 or 10:00 AM. As pointed out above, this gave the
DSA an Opportunity to begin projects in the individual
effort sector. However, just prior to 10:00 AM, phone
calls and visits became more frequent as staff members
and students called or dropped in to discuss the previous
night's activities or to review the work for the day.

A lull in this pattern occurred during the noon
hour when offices closed and staff and students con-
verged on the cafeteria. For this reason, small group
contacts reached a secondary peak during the noon hour
when the DSA frequently ate with other staff members and
students.

Phone, group, and individual contacts generally

increased throughout the afternoon so that more segments

78

(seventy) began during the 4:00-5:00 PM hour than at any
other hour throughout the observation period. This infor-
mation overload pattern was caused by several variables.
Students and student staff members returned from classes
late in the afternoon and desired to make contact with
the DSA. For this reason, the DSA also attempted to
return to his office from meetings and other responsi-
bilities by 4:00 PM to receive input. In addition, more
meetings were held in the hours between 10:00 AM and
3:00 PM than at any other time of day. Since the average
meeting consumed almost two hours in the time budget,
DSA hours in the heart of the day were less available
to individuals trying to reach him. However, in each
category, new input segments appear in the pattern after
5:00 PM, a signal of the high information overload con-
ditions which had existed in the previous hour. Not
wanting to interrupt the DSA, others waited until he
was free after the 5:00 PM hour to initiate contact. .
As explained in Chapter II, the information over-
load concept conveys that inputs are received more quickly
than they can be processed or subsequently generated as
outputs (Milgram, 1970). Although this is not specifi-
cally signified by the data reported in Table 3, it is
implied by the general decrease in "solo effort" out-
puts during the day and the increase of phone, individual,

and group inputs. A check of the 124 phone segments

79

reveals that eighty-two phone inputs were received by
the DSA during the four Observation periods, while he
only generated forty-two phone outputs. In addition,
the daily field notes show that about two-thirds of the
individual and group contacts Observed were inputs ini-
tiated by others and only one-third were outputs begun
by the DSA. Thus, the DSA's input pattern forced him
to spend more time with others than in solitary effort.

Although fewer segments are noted in the evening
hours than during the day, their appearance underscores
the daily time span inherent in residence hall adminis-
tration. After 6:00 PM during the seventeen days Ob-
served, the DSA attended five meetings, participated in
fifteen phone calls, eight group contacts, twenty-two
individual contacts, and began thirteen segments of
individual effort. Rarely did his professional day
end before 10:00 PM, and on several occasions, segments
occurred between 11:00 PM and 1:00 AM. However, his
activity pattern was not as heavily weighted during the
night as were the patterns of the associate and assis-
tant directors. Comparative data will be presented in
Chapter IV.

In summation, the DSA's professional daily effort
generally began prior to 9:00 AM, concentrated on mat-
ters requiring solitary attention early in the day, was

diverted to contacts with people, and ended after an

80

evening of professionally related activity. No day may
be labelled as "typical" in the DSA's schedule. Activi-
ties followed a general pattern, but so many exceptions
were identified when each day was viewed independently,
that the researcher could not construct a "model day."
For illustrative purposes, an actual day (November 3,
1970) has been included from the DSA's time budget diary.
Where necessary, names and incidents have been altered
to protect confidentiality. Aside from the fact that
this was a national election day, November 3 was not
unusual, either in the topics covered or the time con-
sumed. This entry is typical Of the field notes made
daily in the time budget diary.

An illustration: Day taken from DSA Field Notes

8:50-9:15 AM I arrive at the office, pick up the
(25) campus newspaper and morning mail--
I scan both until 9:15.
9:15-9:20 I prepare an agenda for a 10:00 AM
(5) meeting with the full-time professional
staff of the hall.
9:20-9:21 I receive a call from Dr. Spock's
(1) office indicating that he is ready

to talk with me immediately about the
judiciary hearing conducted the night
before. Since the case involved a
student in our hall and since I was
party to the case, I prepared to go
immediately to Dr. Spock's office to
hear his full explanation of the
judiciary's decision.

9:21-9:22 I notify secretary of my departure and
(l) where I can be reached.

9:22-9:25 In transit to Dr. Spock's Office.
(3)

9:25-10:10
(45)

10:10-10:15
(5)

10:15-12:30 AM
(135)

12:30-1:05 PM
(35)

1:05-1:15
(10)

1:15-1:50
(35)

1:50-1:55
(5)

1:55-1:58
(3)

1:58-1:59
(1)

81

I discuss the judiciary decision with
Dr. Spock.

In transit back to hall.

I conduct the regular weekly meeting
with the members of the Holmes pro-
fessional student affairs staff. Dis-
cussed in the meeting were problems
related to enforcement of policies

in the residence halls, the co-curric-
ular program of hall government and
Briggs College and several items com-
municated from the Dean of Students
Office.

I eat lunch with the professional
staff. Most of our conversation re-
lates to personal matters.

Our group is joined in the cafeteria
by the area director and the hall man-
ager to discuss the implications of
the judiciary's decision from the pre-
vious evening.

I have an individual discussion with
area director regarding staffing
changes in the residence halls, cur-
rent evaluation of the residential
college concept, and changes being
contemplated in the Dean of Students
staff organization. Another member
of the professional staff in the hall
joins us for the last few minutes of
the conversation.

Have an individual discussion with one
of the assistant directors regarding

a roommate conflict. A mother has
reported the problem to us--we are

not sure the student feels the problem
is as acute as the mother claims it is.
Assistant will clarify with student.

Dictation of time budget from written
notes.

Phone call from assistant director who
reports his secretary needs work to
keep her busy.

1:59-2:05
(6)

2:05-2:13
(7)

2:13-2:19
(6)

2:19-2:23
(4)

2:23-2:25
(2)

2:25-2:32
(7)

2:32-2:48
(16)

2:48-2:50
(2)

2:50-2:51
(1)

2:51-2:55
(4)

2:55-3:00
(5)

3:00-3:10
(10)

82
I take a break.

Place a phone call to Dr. Spock's
Office for further discussion of the
judiciary hearing in light of new
information.

Receive a call from the area director
who is looking for a head advisor re-
placement and wants my recommendation.

Have discussion with the associate
director regarding the afternoon
schedule.

An R.A. comes to my office to request
a recommendation from me for medical
school.

Receive a call from the Dean of Stu-
dents Office for information relating
to a hall student government financial
account.

Complete administrative paperwork--
filing day's mail and organizing
schedule for the afternoon.

Call another head advisor who had
earlier requested that I talk with
him about research I had conducted in
my hall on traffic patterns in the
public lobby during the night.

An assistant director stops in the
office to inform me that some lost
money has been found.

Pick up and scan afternoon mail.

Call my major committee professor to
set up a luncheon appointment for
tomorrow.

Look through my files for a report from
the educational policies committee
(EPC) regarding residence halls and
residential colleges.

3:10-3:20
(10)

3:20-3:22
(2)

3:22-3:25
(3)

3:25-3:29
(4)

3:29-3:33
(4)

3:33-3:45
(12)

3:45-4:30
(45)

4:30-4:50
(20)

4:50-4:55
(5)

4:55-5:05
(5)

5:05-5:50
(45)

83

Continue search in the faculty library-
1ounge where I have discussion with a
faculty member concerning recent devel-
opments in higher education reported

in the Chronicle.

 

Have picture taken in my Office by a
student for the college file.

Continue looking for and then find
EPC report in my files.

Chat with the associate director re-
garding voting conditions.

Break

Talk with associate director in my
office regarding the demands made by
the black students of Holmes Hall for
$1000.00 to aid them in furnishing
their black culture room. These de-
mands were made the previous evening
and have received negative reaction
from some members of hall government.
We consider alternatives to reduce
tension. I also convey information
from my previous conversation with the
member of the Dean of Students Office
regarding the closing of a financial
account.

I go to the Off campus location to
cast my ballot.

Go to another residence hall to explain
to the head advisor the research con-
ducted in my hall earlier in the term.

Return to the hall and receive a mes-
sage to call the manager--he is not
in his Office.

Talk with an assistant director and
the associate director regarding the
demands of the black students for
the $1000.

Talk with the same assistant director
regarding his future vocational and
academic goals.

5:50-5:55
(5).

5:55
7:25

7:25-7:30
(5)

7:30-7:45
(15)

7:45-7:51
(6)

7:51-7:58
(7)

7:58-8:30
(32)

8:30-8:35
(5)

8:35

84

Dictate the rest Of the afternoon's
observations.

Depart for home and dinner.
Arrive back at hall.

Read the EPC report which I found in
the afternoon.

I have phone contact with a student
who served on the committee which
wrote the EPC report. He gives me
background information on how the
evaluation of residence halls and
residential colleges was completed.

Receive a call from an assistant di-
rector who had just taken an injured
student to the health center.

Receive a call from an R.A. who asks
me to write a letter of verification
for him indicating that he is an R.A.
in our hall and that he is competent
to help a former resident in the hall
who is in legal difficulty. I discuss
the implications of this and together
we decide not to pursue the matter
further.

Talk with the College Dean concerning
future staffing arrangements in the
college, summer orientation staffing
needs, and the report on residential
colleges and residence halls from the
EPC.

Dictate evenings events.

I depart for home.

Time Allocation Among People

 

Definite patterns of interaction emerge from the

data contained in the inter-personal activity sector.

Who the DSA communicated with, by what mode, and how

85

frequently provide a clue to the priorities he established,
the pattern of administration he sought to implement, and
the physical proximity of others to him.

Four categories Offer evidence of time allocation
among people: phone calls, individual contacts, group
contacts, and meetings. The data for each are presented
in Table 4. Each segment of phone and individual contact
time involves only one person. Since group contacts and
meetings, by definition, involve more than two individ-
uals, the percentages reported in Table 4 for these cate-
gories indicate what portion of the DSA's time was shared
with members of the campus community in these settings.

As illustrated in Table 4, of the 12.7 hours
devoted to phone contacts, 43.7 per cent of the total was
used for talking with the four assistant directors, only
4.2 per cent was consumed by the associate director, none
by the Briggs College Dean, and only 4.6 per cent by
other Briggs faculty or staff members. These results
underscore the influence which location has on personal
contacts. The assistant directors were located in apart-
ments and offices near the living areas and the main
entrances. Since the DSA was assigned an Office some
distance away on the floor below and in the rear of the
building, routine contact with the assistants was easiest
via phone, explaining why almost 44 per cent of all calls

involved an assistant director. On the other hand, the

86

 

 

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87

associate director and other Briggs staff members had
offices near the DSA's, making phone contact often un-
necessary and person-to-person contact more frequent.

Location of the DSA's office also somewhat con-
trolled which people saw him personally during the 43.1
hours devoted to individual contact. Having an adjoining
office made the DSA easily accessible to the associate
director. Thus, 13.6 per cent of his total individual
contact time was spent in discussions with her. Another
24.4 per cent of the time was consumed by Briggs College
staff members, including the dean, to whom the DSA re-
ported (12.5 per cent), and the assistant dean (10.2 per
cent). The four assistant directors used 22.3 per cent
of the DSA's time and the student affairs student staff
captured 6.4 per cent. On the other side of the ledger,
students only consumed 8.0 per cent of the DSA's total
individual time.

Thus, an administrative pattern and priority
clearly emerges. The DSA communicated in person and on
the phone primarily with his staff or other college and
university staff members. Relatively little individual
contact was with students by phone (4.3 per cent of phone
contact time) or in person (8.0 per cent of individual
contact time). The DSA, although his position concerned
students almost exclusively, allocated little of his
time to them directly. He made a conscious choice to

relate to students, influence their environment, deal with

88

their concerns, and provide educational experiences for
them through the student affairs and Briggs College staffs.
Location also determined the extent of contact
the DSA had with his superiors in the university structure.
Since he reported to the Dean of Students Office through
the area director and to the residential college through
the Dean of the College, one might expect some equality
in the time spent with both individuals. As illustrated
in Table 4, the DSA spent almost no time with the area
director and much more with the Dean of the College. How-
ever, the area director's office was located almost a
mile away and the dean's Office was a short distance down
the hall. Also, the everyday concerns of the hall's
administration effected the dean more directly than the
area director. When the unusual occurred (a suicide
attempt, a student demonstration, an irate parent),
the area director sometimes became involved. However,
the day-to-day pattern of administering the hall usually
involved the DSA with his staff, the Dean of the College,
and occassionally, the hall manager.
The hall manager was in contact with the DSA pri-
marily in group settings or in meetings and rarely on
the phone or individually. But these groups and meetings
usually provided sufficient time for the manager and the

DSA to discuss mutual concerns.

89

The DSA spent proportionately more time with his
professional staff than with any other category of people,
reflecting his philosophy of delegation of responsibility.
The DSA understood that he could not relate effectively
or personally to twenty-four RA's and 1,278 students. Yet
he knew that the assistant directors could work more
effectively with six RA's and approximately 300 students.
The information overload problem was reduced considerably
by adopting this administrative pattern. If the DSA had
responsibility for direct involvement with all staff,
student government, students, and college personnel, he
would have been constantly inundated with unmanageable
quantities of input. By assuming overall direction
through staff members, each delegated the responsibility
to administer specific areas, the DSA was able to estab-
lish a balanced administrative pattern.

Students had contact with the DSA in meetings
and in groups more than on the phone or as individuals.

To maintain effective communication, the DSA relied on
other professional and student staff members to do much
of the informal advising, counseling, and negotiating
with individual students. After the other staff laid

the groundwork, the DSA then met with students to finalize
decisions or review issues. DSA group contacts with
students Often involved conflict resolution, especially

during negotiations over policy changes or over student

90

attempts to cut "red tape." As a consequence of the
administrative hierarchy, the professional staff usually
examined these issues with students but referred them to
the DSA if the conflict could not be resolved.

By examining the group contact pattern more closely,
one sees that student affairs and college staff contacts
preempted the largest percentages of total group time.
Generally, as the topical analysis will demonstrate,
many group contacts were for planning, evaluation, and
reflection purposes. Typically, before any formal
decision was made in a meeting, its consequences were
weighed in the informal group setting.

Looking at Table 4, one sees that at least one
member of the student affairs staff, and often more,
were present 72.9 per cent of the time at meetings where
the DSA was in attendance. The high percentage is
partially explained by the number of meetings also
attended by the associate director who served as the
staff's information link between most formally recog-
nized student groups and the administration of the hall.

Another significant factor emerged from a review
of the meeting contacts. The area director had propor-
tionately more contact with the DSA in meetings than
through any other activity. In fact, during the periods
studied, he had twenty minutes of group contact with the

DSA, only an hour of individual contact, and ninety

91

minutes of phone contact. During the same periods he had
8.7 hours Of meeting contact. Since the area director
served as the DSA's immediate supervisor and link with
the central administration, the quality of meeting con-
tact time determined the adequacy of communication and
feedback between the DSA and the area director.

Aside from the associate director, the person who
spent the most time (16.6 hours or 42.5 per cent of the
total meeting time) with the DSA in meetings was the
Dean of the College. Virtually no college-related meet-
ing was attended by the DSA where the dean was not present.
The amount of time spent by the dean in contact with the
_DSA in contrast to that spent by the area director is a
clue to communication patterns, differences in adminis-
trative styles, value hierarchies, and overload problems.

The March 9-13 period provided an unusual meeting
contact pattern. During most weeks, the DSA attended
five or six meetings which averaged slightly less than
two hours per meeting. Because of the co-residential
housing proposal being considered during March, 1970, and
because several other unusual events (see Table 5) hap-
pened during this observation period, the DSA attended
several unscheduled ad hoc meetings in addition to his
regular weekly meetings.

What sector was depleted to allow for more meet-

ing time? As might be expected, the individual effort

92

area, specifically reading, was influenced most heavily.
To accommodate normal inputs and increased meeting time,
the first activity which the DSA had to eliminate was
professional reading and the scanning of newspapers, news-
letters, and general distribution memos.

In summary, the DSA's contact time with others
was heavily weighted toward his professional staff and
the staff of Briggs College. The implications of this
finding were examined in light of the DSA's administra-

tive philosophy and the concept of information overload.

Topical Analysis of the Data

 

Up to this point, the analysis has dealt with
which activities and people.consumed the time of the DSA.
This section of the analysis provides a detailed glimpse
of what topics competed for his time and why. More than
in the previous analysis, the variations brought about
by crisis, natural seasonal cycles, or the unexpected
will be evident. The same 10,923 minutes will be examined,
but from a perspective which will present contrasting pat-
terns of time allocation and information flow.

To organize the data, the investigator selected
thirteen broad sectors within which all topical content
in the study fell. The sectors were then subdivided
into thirty-nine topic categories. For example, one
sector was designated for research and subdivided under

the topic categories general research, evaluation, and

93

 

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94

dissertation research. Table 5 presents the sectors and
categories for each Observation period with respective
time and percentage data.

The percentage totals in the sector column of
Table 5 indicates that topics concerned with research
consumed the greatest amount of the DSA's time (17.5 per
cent). In second place were topics related to governance
(16.9 per cent) followed by those in the professional
development sector (11.7 per cent), and the personal
issues and problems sector (11.0 per cent). All other

sectors were below 10 per cent.

Professional Development

 

To gain a precise definition and understanding of
these sectors, an analysis of the topic categories will
be made. Sectors and categories are discussed in the
order in which they are listed in Table 5. The first
sector, professional development, included all time
spent in classes or seminars, time spent preparing for
them, and professional reading time not directly related
to administrative responsibilities. With the exception
of the November period, between 6.4 per cent and 9.6 per
cent of the time in each period was allocated to these
pursuits. As explained above, the November period was
unusual since it preceded by one week the DSA's compre-
hensive doctoral exams, accounting for the 21.1 per cent

of his time spent in exam preparation. Generally, the

95

DSA found that he used about 10 per cent of his total
professional time in keeping abreast of developments in

the field of higher education administration.

Research

The next sector, research, was divided into three
categories, general research, evaluation, and dissertation
research, and commanded 17.5 per cent of the DSA's total
time. General research involved participating in uni-
versity research projects by filling out questionnaires,
assisting others in data gathering, or conducting specific
hall research designed by the DSA and implemented through
his staff (2.6 per cent of the total budget). Of the
three categories in the research sector, general research
received the least time allocation.

When a research project was not actively underway,
time was often spent in evaluation (7.2 per cent of total
budget). The evaluation pattern took several forms: an
examination of individual staff performance during Winter
term in preparation for making commitments for the follow-
ing year; the review of hall and college programs in the
Spring in anticipation of year end annual reports; and
studies of the residential college concept which seemed
to appear frequently throughout the year because of
questions asked by faculty committees, student groups,
national studies on innovation in higher education, and

Briggs College's own evaluation program. The DSA was

96

drawn into each of these areas, especially because of his
responsibility for supervision and evaluation of the staff
and hall program.

The third category under the research sector, dis-
sertation research, includes all time allocated during
the four observation periods to gather and organize data
for this study and to read literature on other partici-
pant observer and time allocation studies (7.7 per cent).
The data for this research was gathered in about 2.0 per
cent of each week's time budget with the remaining 5.7 per
cent of dissertation research time devoted to background
reading.

Since more time was allocated to the research sec-
tor than tO any other in the topical time budget (17.5
per cent), one may conclude that a major goal of the new
staffing arrangement was being achieved. When the hall
was administered by two head resident advisors, the over-
load problem was so acute that research and evaluation
had to be severely limited. The new centralized system
provided adequate time for these activities. Thus, as
hypothesized by Jantzen (1963), when high value is placed
upon an activity and intervening barriers are removed,
more time will be devoted to completing the valued

activity.

97

Unusual Occurrences

 

Unusual occurrences (student disruption, fire drill,
tornado, illness, suicide, accident) comprise the next sec-
tor analyzed. Less time was taken to handle unusual occur-
rences than the DSA estimated before completing the time
study. Perhaps because the unusual stands out in one's
mind, one is apt to feel it preempts more time than is
actually the case. Also, the supporting staff assumed
much of the responsibility for direct involvement in
unusual occurrences. Thus, although he thought other-
wise, the DSA only allocated 2.7 hours (1.6 per cent) of
his total time budget to these problems.

As might be expected, the unusual occurrences
often fell into a seasonal pattern. Spring term brought
tornadoes and warm weather. Warm weather allowed fire
drills to be conducted, and student frustrations to erupt
in mass outdoor disruption. Also, by this time in the
month, the mass outdoor disruptions which had occurred
during the first week of May had subsided into monotonous
grumbling.l

In summary, the new staffing arrangement again
appeared to fulfill one of its designers' intentions.
Unusual occurrences had previously been disruptive and
had limited the hall administrator's effectiveness. By

redesignating responsibilities, inputs in this sector

98

were shifted to staff personnel other than the chief admin-
istrator, thus freeing him to attend to more general con-

cerns .

In-Service Education

 

In-service education includes the categories of
staff training and graduate practicum (3.0 per cent of
total time budget). Since much of the implementation for
staff training was delegated to the assistant directors,
the DSA was involved only in the initial planning stages
and subsequent evaluation. Since the time spent by the
DSA in attendance at training programs was allocated in
Table 5 according to topic, only general planning for the
overall program shows in the staff training category.

The other category in the in-service education
sector, graduate practicum, was assigned to the DSA dur-
ing both the November and January periods. This activity
involved the supervision of two masters degree candidates
as they worked in and observed the program of the resi-
dential college (1.3 per cent of total time budget).

Through the in-service education program, the
DSA became directly involved in the classroom educational
process. On occasion, this involvement included assigning
grades to student affairs staff members who completed

requirements for independent study credit under the DSA's

99

supervision. As an educational administrator, the DSA
benefitted from this exposure to the formal'academic

teaching process.

Educational Programming

 

Also related to the teaching process was the
sector, educational programming, with its three cate-
gories; academic assistance and programming, co-
curricular programs, and orientation and recruitment.
Together, the three categories consumed 6.6 per cent
or 12.2 hours of the total DSA time budget. Of the
total hours in the sector, most were devoted to academic
assistance and programming (5.6 per cent of total DSA
time budget). The DSA's responsibility was to prepare
the staff to help needy students in their quest for
academic assistance, especially during March.

Neither of the other two categories under edu-
cational programming generated many hours to occupy the
DSA. The first, co-curricular programs, was assigned
to the associate director and other staff who informed
the DSA of progress but did not involve him in day-to-
day operations. The second, the orientation and recruit-
ment program, primarily took place during the summer
months and early fall. It appears simply because of pre-
liminary planning which transpired during the May obser-

vation period.

100

Staffing

The staffing sector required 12.7 hours or 7.0 per
cent of the DSA's time and was split between the cate-
gories of staff structure and staff selection. Staff
structure involved conversations and meetings which
reviewed the viability of the new staffing arrangement,
alterations which could be made to improve its effective-
ness, and human barriers which impeded progress. The last
subject is an informal part of most organizations and
must be recognized as consuming a portion of the total
time budget. A glance at Table 5 reveals that the most
time spent on these topics was in May, the month when
new staffing arrangements and personnel changes received
final approval in the residence hall system.

On the other hand, staff selection stood out in
the time budget during March 9-13 (7.1 per cent of total
budget). This finding supports a seasonal pattern which
annually demanded time from the DSA during the hiring
months of late February, March, and April. Time demands
made on the DSA for staff selection during March 9-13
were moderate when compared with the latter part of
March or early April when the DSA devoted up to 40.0
per cent of his weekly time budget to final staff
selection. Of course, when this occurred, a highly
irregular pattern was interjected into the time budget,

resulting in the complete abatement of activities in

101

some categories. Selection activity was not intense
enough during the March Observation period to cause

serious disruption in the overall pattern of activity.

Police Matters

 

Moving to the next sector, one sees that vir-
tually no time was given to matters involving the police
during the observation periods. Again, this was a con-
sequence of assigning responsibility for confronting the
unusual to the assistant directors who called for police

assistance several times a month.

Governance

 

Of the sectors used in this study, governance
was the most complex and second highest in total time
consumption (30.8 hours, 16.9 per cent of total budget).
Because of its complexity, each category under govern-
ance will be examined separately.

The first, policy interpretation, alteration,
and establishment, became a recurring time demand on the
DSA when university policies were undergoing deep scrutiny
by students, faculty, and administrators. Discussion and
debate on several of these policies preempted thousands
of university staff hours over a period of months. In
the residence hall, two issues consumed the majority of

the DSA's hours in this category; 24-hour visitation and

102

co-residential living. Both matters were campus wide,
and in some respects statewide, in their political
implications.

During March, students in Holmes Hall approached
the DSA with a prOposal that the hall be allowed to
institute co-residential houses where men would live in
one suite and women in the next. The implications of
the prOposal were so great that the normal channels for
considering it were inadequate and ad hoc meetings and
discussions were quickly called. The DSA could no
longer delegate to his staff the responsibility for
representing the administration point of view. By be-
coming directly involved in negotiations with the stu-
dents submitting the proposal, he committed 12.0 per
cent of his time to this topic during the March period.
The DSA's communication with students suddenly increased,
and he was expected to transmit the students' reactions
to men several steps removed from him in the administra-
tive hierarchy. While irregular, this pattern of
changed expectations and altered communication patterns
commonly occurred whenever crises situations with wide
implications developed. To illustrate, a case study of
the DSA's involvement in the consideration of the Holmes
students' co-residential options proposal has been

included.

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

103

Case Study: Steps toward change in residence

hall living arrangements--Winter, 1970

Early February: Three male students from the
hall came to my Office to suggest that a new
housing policy be implemented in our hall which
would allow men and women to live in alternate
suites in the same house or in other co-
residential patterns. They had drawn up a
survey which they proposed to distribute to

all members of the hall to ascertain support
for their plan. We discussed the proposal,

and I made several suggestions which they in-
corporated into their housing survey. I
encouraged them to question residents in coop-
eration with other interested students and with
Holmes Hall Government support. They followed
this suggestion by including others and the gov-
ernment in their subsequent planning.

Between the date of our conversation early in
February and February 9, one of the students
discussed the proposal with the Dean of the Col-
lege and members of the hall student govern-
ment. In these discussions the students tried
to formulate a survey which would identify
reservations and concerns surrounding the pro-
posed housing policy.

On February 9, 1970, the three students, now
called the Human Liberation Front, went to the
student government legislature and asked for
permission to use the Holmes Hall duplicating
machine to prepare their survey questionnaire
for distribution to the residents of Holmes
Hall. The following motion was passed by con-
sent: "I move that the Holmes Hall Legislature
allow the Human Liberation Front to use the
Holmes Hall mimeograph to duplicate and to dis-
tribute their questionnaire concerning co-ed
living."

February 16, 1970. The survey was completed
and stenciled. A mimeographed letter to house
student presidents was added to explain its
purpose. The house presidents were requested
to distribute and collect the questionnaire.

Step 5

Step 6

Step 7

Step 8

Step 9

104

Now that the intent Of the students was clear,
the proposal became an issue for discussion at
various administrative meetings. The Holmes
Hall administrative luncheon group (a weekly
meeting of the DSA, dean, manager, student pres-
ident and associate director) discussed the
proposal on February 25, March 4, and March

10. Likewise the proposal was discussed by

the Briggs Administrative Group on February 27
and March 6. The Holmes Hall professional staff
discussed the substance of the proposal on
March 11. Likewise a report was given to the
Cedar WOods Residence Hall Administrators on
March 10 concerning the proposal. However, in
none of these meetings were direct plans of
action determined. More information was needed
on the central administration's reaction to sim-
ilar proposals being made elsewhere.

On February 27, 1970, I wrote a letter to the
student leader of the Human Liberation Front
expressing my views on the co-residential
housing idea and asking to see the results from
the survey when they became available.

On March 5, 1970, in response to my letter, the
student came to give me a progress report on
the survey. He assurred me that the results
would be available very shortly.

On March 6, two student leaders of the Human
Liberation Front (HLF) brought the results of
the survey to my office. The results indicated
that the students supported co-residential
housing on an alternating suite basis in at
least two houses in the hall. On the basis of
this response, the HLF committee would establish
a proposal for co-residential housing and sub-
mit it to the Holmes Hall Student Affairs staff
by 4:00 PM on Monday, March 9, 1970.

On March 9, 1970, the HLF leaders set up a 4:00
PM meeting with the Student Affairs staff. Prior
to the meeting informal discussions were held
with the associate director, the dean, and assis-
tant dean concerning the proposal. I also
checked with the area director for his percep-
tions on how to proceed. He stressed that hall
and central administrators should discuss the
matter before any commitments were made to the
students. At the 4:00 PM meeting, various
specific aspects of the proposal were discussed

Step 10

Step 11

Step 12

Step 13

Step 14

105

but no major changes or commitments were made.
At 8:00 PM, the legislature considered the pro-
posal and passed a resolution which approved
the concept. This was not considered to be
binding final action, however.

On March 10, 1970, the associate director re-
ported to me the legislative action from the
previous night. I discussed the proposal at
the Residence Hall Administrators Area Meeting.
Another student came to my office and spent one
hour outlining his views on the procedures by
which participants would be selected to live in
the co-residential houses.

On March 11, 1970, the matter was discussed again
at the Holmes Hall Administrative luncheon and
Opposition was expressed to the selection pro-
cedures contained in the proposal.

On March 11, 1970, an unusual meeting of hall,
college, and central university administrators
(just below the vice presidential level) was
held in the hall. No students were present.
The minutes of the meeting reveal that several
housing proposals were currently being drawn

up on campus. NO one in the administration
wanted to give approval to them until the Uni-
versity Board of Trustees voted approval. This
could not be done before the latter part of
April, if it could be done at all, too late for
implementation in the Fall of 1970. For the
record, the dean of students agreed to submit
the proposal on behalf Of the HLF and Holmes
student government to the V.P. for Student
Affairs who would consider it and respond in
writing to the students proposing the policy
change.

On March 12, 1970, an informal discussion was
held with the assistant dean, the associate
director and an assistant director to evaluate
the results Of the administrator's meeting.
Although it was to have been a closed meeting
(with the conclusions held confidential) the
results of the meeting were released by one
administrator present to the student government
president. Students were then clamoring for
more information.

March 17, 1970. I called the dean of students
to determine whether a statement was forthcoming

Step 15

Step 16

Conclu-
sions

106

from the V.P. for Student Affairs concerning

his decision on the co-residential proposal.

The issue was discussed with the university
president, and the president indicated that all
four co-residential prOposals should go directly
before the Trustee Board at the April meeting.
It was suggested that the proposals should be
brought to the Board by the students who had
originated them. The dean of students suggested
that I contact the students in Holmes Hall who
had originated the proposal and alert them to
this suggestion by the president.

March 23, 1970. I called the area director to
ask whether or not he was aware of the change
which had taken place since our March 11th
administrative meeting. He was unaware of the
new development and cautioned that students
might be inadequate spokesmen on this issue.
His main concern was that they would not be
articulate when appearing before the Board of
Trustees.

March 24, 1970. I sent letters to the HLF stu-
dent leaders asking them to come in and discuss
their latest thinking on the co-residential
housing proposal. After this discussion I
would be able to recommend whether they appear
before the Board.

The student leaders never came to discuss the
proposal. They had spent two months of time

on the housing change effort, to the detriment
of Winter term grades in some cases. Their
work had led them to a possible direct confron-
tation with the Board of Trustees, a prospect
few of them enjoyed considering. Also, by

this time, another hall which had worked both
within and outside of regular channels was get-
ting publicity in the press because of its
militant stance on housing policy changes. It
was this hall which eventually appeared before
the Board, but the co-residential aspect of
their proposal was turned down. Repeated
attempts were made by students and administra-
tors during the next year to receive Board
approval for co-residential living--but as of its
March 19, 1971 meeting the answer was still
"No"! Long before the end of the 1969-70
school year, the HLF in Holmes Hall lost its
initiative. And during the turmoil of Spring,
1970, the residence hall administrators were
happy it did.

107

While not as complex, the second controversial
policy matter related to 24-hour visitation rights in all
residence halls. Students had won the right to unre-
stricted open houses over a period of years. Finally,
during the May, 1970 period, each residence hall staff
member was asked to file a report of the policy's imple-
mentation and effect. Each resident assistant wrote a
report covering his or her house and submitted it to the
DSA, who studied the twenty-four reports carefully and
compiled a summary for the Dean of Students Office, thus
accounting for almost 4 per cent of the May time budget.

Policy development, evaluation, and implemen-
tation was an important and time-consuming part of
governance within the institution. If change in major
policy was requested by students, staff members knew
that thousands of man hours might be consumed and normal
patterns of activity altered before change became
reality. With all their negative aspects, perhaps the
autocratic days of university administration were less
time consuming when policy formulation was involved.

The second category under the governance sector
was administrative-judicial enforcement, another highly
irregular time-consumer. As demonstrated in Table 5,
only the November observation period had a significant
amount of time (9.8 hours, 18.2 per cent) devoted to

this area. Usually, enforcement of regulations and

108

policy was conducted at the lowest staff or student
level possible. Occassionally, a student was involved
in repeated violations, forcing his case to be referred
directly to the DSA and into the university judicial
system. This occurred during Fall term, 1970, after the
staff had worked with the student in question for over
one year. Under the due process procedure applied in
such cases, the DSA was asked to prepare and present
detailed information about the student's background and
his violations of policy to a formal hearing conducted
by the Student-Faculty Judiciary. The hours reported in
Table 5 as devoted to this case were a small fraction Of
the hundreds of man hours consumed previously in an
attempt to rehabilitate the student. November 2-6 was
the culmination of months of staff time and effort
offered to one student. Of all the hours reported in
this study, those devoted to this case appear to signify
the poorest return on time invested. In an ideal pattern
of administrative activity, the time invested should
yield positive results. However, in actuality, most
administrators who evaluate their time investment pat-
terns realize that by choice or by mandate from superiors,
at least a small portion of their time budget will be
unproductive (Drucker, 1966). To keep this poor return
to a minimum was not always a goal attained by the DSA.
Hall and college student government were the

next two categories in the governance sector. The

109

associate director, who was assigned to advise both
groups, made periodic summaries of their activity to
the DSA. Her efforts reduced the possibility of infor—
mation overload on this topic flowing into the DSA's
activity pattern. Thus, a skillful staff member screened
the many hours of deliberations which took place in stu-
dent government meetings weekly and distilled them into
manageable information bits which consumed slightly over
2.0 per cent of the total time budget.

Finally, the faculty affairs category consumed
4.8 hours Of the total time budget (2.6 per cent); mostly
in time spent by the DSA in college faculty meetings.
Since he had faculty rank in the college, the DSA was
expected to attend faculty meetings, keep current on
faculty issues within the college and university, and

represent the student affairs staff to the faculty.

MinoritypIssues

 

The DSA spent 18.0 hours (9.9 per cent) of the
total time budget on the minority issues sector. In
May, some of the 8.6 hours consumed by the topic of
minorities were part of a staff training program on
racism. However, time was also allocated to helping
the black students of the hall locate and equip a black
culture room within the hall. Possible conflict over
the issue was averted through negotiations with the

College Dean, student government, central management,

110

and black student representatives. Although negotiations
began during the May observation period, tangible

results were not attained until far into the summer,

and the black culture room was not operational until

late in Fall term.

Once the black students were granted a room, they
next sought funds for books, magazines, and decorative
accessories (the university provided furniture) to place
in it. Their efforts reached a peak during the November
observation period when the black students sought and
received $1,000.00 from the hall student government. As
an illustration of the negotiations surrounding the black
request, a diary of events kept by the associate director
is recorded below.

An Illustration: The Black Action Committee Issue
Issue: Whether Hall Student Government should recognize
the existence of the Black Action Committee of

Holmes Hall and allocate $1,000 to their budget.

(Notes compiled by associate director)

Monday, November 2, 1970

8:00-10:00 PM I attended legislature meeting--

(120) the issue is proposed and discussed

by the black students of Holmes
Hall. Outcome--(l) the house pres-
idents will take the issue to house
meetings to: (a) discuss the pro-
posal; (b) decide if any houses
will apprOpriate money towards the
$1,000; (2) an ad hoc committee
of the Legislature is established
to: (a) prepare a written pro-
posal describing the relationship
between hall government and the

Black Action Committee; (b) inves-
tigate sources of hall funds from

111

which the $1,000 could be drawn;
(3) a special legislature meeting
is called for Monday, November 9,
1970.

Tuesday, November 3, 1970

10:00-10:30
(30)

1:00-3:00

(120)

3:30-4:00 PM
(30)

In the professional staff meeting,
I give a summary of the legisla-
ture's impressions of student feel-
ings and atmosphere within the
hall.

I meet with hall president. A
meeting with the ad hoc committee
and the black representatives is
planned. President outlined a
general purpose for the meeting
and the desired outcome of the
meeting. He prepares a list of
questions to ask the black stu-
dents about their proposal.

In a discussion with a male assis-
tant director I request that he
advise the joint meeting with the
ad hoc committee and the black stu-
dent representatives. I bring him
up to date on the latest occur-
rences within the hall.

Wednesday, November 4, 1970

3:00-4:00 PM
(60)

I have another discussion with
hall president. Further plans
are made for the joint meeting.
We give each other the most cur-
rent information we have on the
general feelings within the hall.

Thursday, November 5, 1970

11:30-12:30 PM
(60)

12:30-2:00 PM
(90)

Meeting is held with dean, hall
manager, DSA, two assistant direc-
tors and myself. One assistant
director gives a summary of the
joint meeting held Wednesday
evening.

Same meeting with the addition of
hall president who came to announce
his resignation from hall govern-
ment. He also gives his opinion

2:05-2:06
(1)

4:30-4:45 PM
(15)

4:45-5:00 PM
(15)

5:00-5:20 PM
(20)

9:00-9:10 PM
(10)

11:10-11:35 PM
(25)

Friday, November 6, 1970

11:10-11:45 AM
(35)

112

of the week's events since the
Monday night legislature meeting.
Outcome: (1) assistant and I agree
to meet with the black students

and discuss their views of the pro-
posal and the week's events. (2)
hall president agrees to remain in
office.

Call to black student aide to set
up a meeting with the black stu-
dents.

Discussion with DSA. I give an
account of what had transpired
that afternoon.

Discussion with third assistant.
She offers her perspectives on
the situation in the hall. I
asked her to work with black
female leader to discuss (1)
Opening the Black Culture Room;
(2) donating an amount of Schol-
astic-Culture Committee's budget
to the $1,000 fund.

I have a discussion with male
assistant and DSA. I give a
report of my talk with female
assistant. We discuss plans for
Friday's meeting with the black
students.

Call to hall treasurer--I request
that she give me a complete and
up-to-date report of the hall
funds.

Call from hall president reports
that he had incorrect information
concerning the present status of
the hall funds. He also wants
approval to initiate an all-hall
referendum concerning the allo-
cation of money. Approval is not
given.

I hold another discussion with
male assistant director. We

1:30-2:00
(30)

3:00-3:10
(30)

3:15-3:20
(5)

3:30-3:45
(15)

4:00-5:15
(75)

7:30-9:15
(105)

PM

PM

PM

113

discuss alternatives that the
black students might take if
their request for money should
fail.

Briggs Administrative meeting--a
discussion takes place on the
proposal and subsequent events
in the hall.

I call other assistants to request
that they call the R.A.s to find
out how houses had voted on the
issues at house meetings held the
night before.

Hall treasurer brings current
written report of hall funds.

I have discussion with female
assistant who provides a general-
ized accounting of the current
feelings of the black students

in the hall.

I hold a discussion with hall
president. We exchange new infor-
mation that we had received during
the day.

Meeting with representatives from
the black students and male assis-
tant. The discussion revolves
around the following issues:

(1) current feelings within the
hall (black and white); (2) means
of control for the financial
account; (3) alternative measures
for the black students if the
request for money and recognition
should fail.

Saturday, November 7, 1970

11:15-11:30 PM

(15)

I receive a call from president
who wanted a clarification on
whether he could change the time
of the special legislature meet-
ing on Monday. Outcome: since
the time had not been officially
established during the meeting, he
had the authority to change the
time.

Sunday, November 8, 1970

7:30-9:00 PM
(90)

Monday, November 9, 1970

3:00-3:30 PM
(30)

4:00-4:25
(25)

4:30-4:50 PM
(20)

4:50-5:05 PM
(15)

8:30-10:00 PM
(90)

Note:

114

Ad Hoc Committee meeting. The
committee prepares a proposal
stating the $1,000 fund should be
made up from three sources:

house funds, committee funds, and
the general fund.

I chat with hall manager about
special meeting tonight, and
explain week's previous events.

I call Ad Hoc Committee chairman
and relay the idea that he would
need to be flexible with the ad
hoc committee's proposal because
the amount of committed house
funds was uncertain. He decides
to poll each house before the
special legislature meeting
officially opens.

I hold a discussion with hall
president. We go over last
minute details for the special
legislature meeting.

I have a discussion with DSA. I
give a description of where the
hall stood on the proposal as
well as summary of the prepar-
ations that had been made for

the special legislature meeting.
All seems to be ready for a show-
down.

I attended the special legisla-
ture meeting. The Black Action
Committee is recognized by the
legislature and is allocated
$1,000 after little discussion.
The week's efforts have paid off!

Total time associate director
spent on issue in eight days2
19.2 hours.

As with the 24-hour open house and co-residential

I living issues, the central administration in both

115

residence hall management and the Dean of Students Office
expressed concern over the implications of the black
requests. Once again, the hierarchy above the local
residence hall watched with interest, and perhaps some
apprehension, as the cross currents prevalent in the
larger society buffeted another segment of the campus.
The DSA was expected to devote considerable attention to
the conflict resolution process to insure that an impasse
was not reached. On the other hand, the DSA was hesitant
to lift the reigns of involvement from his staff and
student government and to enter the negotiations unless
requested to do so. The investment of 12.1 per cent of
his November time budget, and many more student affairs
staff hours in informal strategy and evaluation sessions
was rewarded with a compromise accepted by student

government and the black students.

Personal Issues and Problems

 

The personal issues and problems sector (20.1
hours, 11.0 per cent) was a conglomerate of categories
ranging from roommate conflicts to drug abuse. Cate-
gories were chosen which reflected frequently occurring
problems of students, and sometimes of staff. As revealed
in Table 5, the DSA spent little time on most of the cate-
gories, with one exception, others' personal concerns

(15.3 hours, 8.4 per cent).

116

In most organizations, matters of personal inter-
est are Often discussed on a casual basis between co-
workers. Perhaps a wedding is being planned; an impor-
tant job interview has occurred; or a new stock tip has
been received. The investigator observed and recorded
time spent in these conversations to give a fair picture
of his actual time allocations. Many conversations about
others' personal concerns transpired during one of the
five or more meals per week the DSA ate in the hall. Per-
haps this recurring pattern of activity was an indicator
of good staff relations. Informal personal discussions
relieved tensions and diverted minds from the problems
of the day. Especially for staff members living and
working in the hall twenty-four hours per day, conver-
sations like this were actively sought and enjoyed.

The other categories in the sector were handled
by the assistant directors and resident assistants to
decrease overload and to increase personal attention.
About once a week, a student or staff member approached
the DSA directly with a personal problem. If the matter
could be disposed of in one counseling session, the DSA
usually dealt with it. But if the issue was too complex,
the DSA usually referred the student to a fulltime
counselor.

The pattern confirmed by the time data in this
sector was sought by the DSA throughout his administrative

tenure. His charge was to develop a staff which was

117

empathetic, understanding, and skillful in relating to
others and their concerns. To establish himself as a
counselor or to interfere in a staff-student relationship,
except in rare instances, would have been negatively
viewed and probably would have reduced his overall

effectiveness in guiding the organization.

Formal Group Activities

Receiving only 1.5 per cent of the total time
allocation was the group activities sector as divided
into two categories: hall or staff athletic and social
events. Time segments devoted to this sector expanded
and contrasted, depending on the age of the student staff,
their social interests, financial limitations, and the
men's athletic prowess. Since few social or athletic
events were held during the observation periods, this

is not an accurate time allocation pattern portrayal.

Administrative Activity

The administrative activity sector (16.6 hours,
9.1 per cent of total time budget) included three cate-
gories of general administrative routine. First, 4.7 per
cent Of the total observed time was spent by the DSA
attending to the mundane details of the organization:
filing, sorting, giving instructions to secretaries,
preparing equipment for staff training, and many other

minute matters. Second, during the peak application

118

months, several requests for recommendations a week were
usually processed, but each only required five or ten
minutes. Finally, the DSA spent 7.0 hours (3.8 per cent)
of his total observed time reading the flood of mail,
professional organization literature, campus newspapers,
and general distribution memorandums which came to his

office daily.

Management Concerns

Finally, the management concerns sector completes
the consideration of Table 5. Only one category, hous-
ing, occupied more than 3.0 per cent of the total DSA
time budget (5.4 hours). Although a housing clerk man-
aged the paper work; vacancy rates, roommate conflicts,
personal problems, and other influences combined to make
the task of determining housing procedures complex.
Several times a week, especially near the beginning
and end of each term, judgments about specific problems
encountered by the student affairs staff were required.
Without the help of the four assistant directors and
others, management concerns, especially housing, might
have consumed a large majority of hours available to the
DSA.

This section of the analysis has examined how and
why the DSA allocated his time among various topics.
Research consumed the highest proportion of the budget

':(l7.5 per cent) and unusual occurrences (1.6 per cent)

119

and hall athletic events (1.5 per cent) were at the other
end of the continuum. Reasons for this distribution were

explored.

.Summary

Reported in this chapter were the data observed
and analyzed by the investigator during four periods con-
taining a total of seventeen days. The observations were
made while he served as director of student affairs (DSA)
in a large co-educational residence hall. First, a
general overview of how he allocated his time among nine
categories of activity was presented. Of the 182.1 hours
observed, 71.9 per cent were spent in activities which
required interaction with others and 28.1 per cent were
allocated to individual or solo effort.

Secondly, a pattern of professional behaviors was
drawn by plotting the DSA's daily activity schedule. His
daily effort generally began before 9:00 AM, concentrated
early in the day on outputs requiring solitary attention,
was diverted by inputs from staff and students, and ended
after an evening of professionally related activity.

Thirdly, interpersonal interactions between the
DSA and other members of the university community were
examined. The DSA allocated 23.7 per cent of his time
to individual one-to-one contacts, 21.5 per cent to
meetings, 14.9 per cent to group encounters, and 7.0 per

cent to phone contacts. In each of these categories,

120

the DSA reflected his philosophy of administration by
interacting with members of his staff more than with any
other group or individual.

Finally, the chapter ended with a survey of how
the DSA divided his time among various tOpics of infor-
mation which clamored for his attention. Topics con-
cerned with research, including this study, consumed
the greatest amount of time (17.5 per cent). Governance
tOpics were second with 16.9 per cent of the total time,
followed by those in the professional development sector
(11.7 per cent), and the personal issues and problems
sector (11.0 per cent). All others were below 10 per
cent in the total time budget. Each category included
in these sectors was scrutinized for clues to administra-
tive patterns.

Chapter V will provide comparative data to deter-
mine how other members of the hall's administrative staff
allocated their time in contrast to the DSA. Explored
also will be the time budget of a head resident advisor
contrasted with the one reported by the same person
serving as a director of student affairs exactly one
year later. Verbal information flow content, as observed
in meetings, will be presented. Finally the flow of
inputs and outputs through the DSA's office will be

examined.

CHAPTER V

ADMINISTRATIVE TIME ALLOCATION AND
ACTIVITY PATTERNS--ANALYSIS OF
COMPARATIVE DATA

Since the time allocation and activity patterns
identified in Chapter IV were based upon one administra-
tor's Observation, comparative data are presented in this
chapter to provide a broader perspective of the hall's
administrative activity.

First, five other fulltime professional administra-
tors in the same hall recorded observations from May 24-30,
1970, using the same techniques as the DSA. Analysis pro-
cedures and incomplete reports at the end of this period
allowed only three full days of activities to be scruti-
nized. As in Chapter IV, broad sectors of time use are
identified; daily patterns of activity are established;
patterns of interpersonal interactions are presented; and
a topical analysis of information flow is completed.

Secondly, to provide longitudinal data, the inves-
tigator reports observations he made one year earlier while
serving in East Holmes Hall as head resident advisor and
compares these with data he gathered while serving as

director of student affairs (DSA). In both cases, the

121

122

observations were made during the ninth week of classes
in Spring term to insure comparable seasonal influences
and conditions.

A third index to time use in residence hall admin-
istration is based on topics discussed in weekly meetings
attended by the DSA over an eleven-month period. Obser-
vations were made of the topics discussed, the frequency
of discussion, and the time spent on each topic. Topical
time allocation in meetings indicates which items of infor-
mation received high priority attention and were of greatest
concern.

Finally, all written input and output received
and sent by the DSA during the four observation periods
are categorized according to type, topic, and action
taken. Since the analysis up to this point centers on
verbal interaction, the examination of written material
completes the view of influences impacting upon a resi-
dence hall administrator's time.

Professional Staff's Time
Allocation Patterns

 

 

Do the associate and four assistant directors
allocate their time to major professional activities
differently than the DSA? Table 6 provides an answer
to this question by reporting comparisons of the May 25-
27, 1970, time allocations of each staff member and the

DSA's total time use in all four observation periods.

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124

To simplify the table, the individual time budgets of the
assistant directors were combined, and an average time
budget for the assistant directors was computed. Finally,
to demonstrate another use Of the data, salary cost allo-
cations were made for each category. The salary cost per
hour was determined by estimating the yearly income for
each position and dividing it by the number of hours
worked in a year (excluding vacations, based on an assumed
fifty-hour professional week). These cost estimates are
relative since no staff member worked exactly ten hours
each day.

Although the activity and time patterns in Table 6
are based on only three days of observation, they indicate
trends and differences which would most likely prevail
should the obserVations be made for longer periods. From
a broad vantage point, the total staff allocated 65 per
cent to 75 per cent of its time to interpersonal activity.
with the balance to individual effort activities. The
pattern is confirmed that residence hall staff members
spend over two-thirds Of their time with others.

Looking at the inter-personal activity results,
one sees that the associate director spent almost one-
quarter of her time in meetings, the DSA 17.0 per cent,
and the assistants only 8.9 per cent. This pattern of
time allocation to meetings follows from the responsibil-

ities each one was assigned.

125

Since the assistants attended fewer meetings,
they were able to devote more time to others, both indi-
vidually and in informal groups. One of the reasons for
implementing the new staff structure was to make profes-
sional staff more available to students and student staff
members. Under the previous structure, the head advisor's
time was preempted by meetings, phone calls, and fixed
time commitments in his schedule, leaving little time
available for informal relations with others, especially
students.

In the individual effort sector, the supporting
staff's research category is relatively low and the writ-
ing category high when compared with the DSA's time allo-
cation. This pattern was seasonal and, in fact, was
reversed later in the month. The supporting staff mem-
bers were preparing their annual reports for the DSA
during the May 25-27 period. He wrote his annual report
after receiving theirs, thus boosting his writing time
after the observation period was completed. In the mean-
time, the DSA "traded Off" writing for reading until
schedule requirements forced him to write the annual
report.

The administrative routine category was slightly
higher for the supporting staff than the DSA, even though

it remained surprisingly low for all staff. Matters

126

involving administrative routine usually required inter-
action with others and, therefore, were not allocated to
the individual effort sector.

ActivityPatternsin the Pro-
IESSional StaffTs Day

 

 

The investigator recorded when each segment of the
professional staff's activity began and compared the
resulting patterns with those reported in Chapter IV.
Although there are limitations on the data, a decided
difference in daily activity patterns emerges, as illus-
trated in Table 7. Comparisons must be limited because
fifteen days were analyzed for the supporting staff (four
assistants and one associate observed the same three days)
and seventeen days were analyzed for the DSA (seventeen.
different days).

The data indicate that the supporting staff began
only fifteen segments in their professional day before
10:00 A.M., while the DSA initiated seventy-four segments
before that hour. The reverse was true during the even-
ing. The DSA commenced few interpersonal activity seg-
ments after 8:00 P.M., while the five members of the
supporting staff increased involvement with others until
late into the evening. This activity pattern confirms
that the goal of making professional staff more available
to students throughout the day and most of the evening

was being reached.

127

 

 

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128

One curious pattern is the decrease in late after-
noon segments for the supporting staff and the increase
for the DSA. As noted in Chapter IV, more segments
(seventy) were initiated with the DSA from 4:00-5:00 P.M.
than at any other hour of the day. However, for the sup-
porting staff, the l:00-2:00 P.M. hour contained the
largest number of segments initiated (thirty-four). Why
the supporting staff was not also bombarded with infor-
mation overload late in the afternoon is difficult to
understand. Perhaps students knew they could contact
in-hall staff later in the evening; or perhaps staff were
unaVailable during the 4:00-5:00 P.M. hour. A check of
the field notes confirms that several assistants ate
dinner early on the days observed.

In summary, this portion of the study reveals that
at least one staff member was available from the beginning
of the professional day through the early morning hours
of the following day. Since unpublished questionnaire
research conducted in Holmes Hall indicated that 88.2 per
cent of the residents go to bed at midnight or later on
week nights, the staff must be available late into the
evening (Holmes Hall Housing Alternatives Questionnaire,
March, 1971). The Holmes' administrative activity pat-
terns seem to demonstrate that this goal is being
achieved.

Research may produce unintended consequences or

unexpected findings. When the researcher plotted each

129

assistant's activity segments on a time scale, he found
noticeable gaps appeared during the professional day,
indicating that the typical day for the assistant was
fragmented into personal and professional segments. One
who was unfamiliar with the residence hall schedule might
conclude that the assistants were failing to meet their
responsibilities during the 8:00 A.M.-5:00 P.M. profes-
sional day. The fragmented daily schedule was a conse-
quence of living and working in the same location for
twenty-four hours per day.

Professional Staff Time Allo-
cation Patterns Among People

 

 

With whom did the supporting staff members spend
their professional time? To answer this, their inter-
personal interaction time was computed and compared with
the DSA's time budget. In general, the assistants spent
the most time in interaction with students, student staff
members, and other professional staff members and the
‘ least time with staff members of the residential college
and larger university community.

The associate director had a similar pattern of
interaction, although she did have some contact with other
members of the residential college staff. During the
three May days observed, only the DSA had a wide range of

contacts with students, faculty, university, and college

130

staff. A similar pattern emerges when the DSA's field
notes are reviewed for the four observation periods (see
Chapter IV, Table 4).

Table 8 illustrates how each member of the pro-
fessional staff allocated his time in personal contacts
during May 25-27, 1970. The percentage totals for the
assistants were determined by analyzing each one's field
notes separately and then averaging together the results
to form a composite pattern. Time allocated to inter-
personal contacts with other than the student affairs
staff and students is not included.

The data in Table 8 confirm that the DSA did not
spend more than 10.0 per cent of his time with one indi-
vidual or group of individuals. In addition to those
included in Table 8, the DSA also spent time with the
Dean of the College (9.5 per cent), the assistant dean
(5.4 per cent), the area director (8.4 per cent) and
other university staff members (20.6 per cent). On the
other hand, the assistants allocated one per cent or
less to each of the categories not reported in Table 8.
The associate director's pattern of contact was heavily
concentrated on interaction with students in meetings
(22.5 per cent).

According to Table 8, the assistants and associate
spent much more time with students and student staff mem-

bers than the DSA did. Thus, the pattern which emerged

131

 

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132

in Chapter IV indicating that the DSA had a wide range of
contacts with individuals and groups throughout the uni-
versity is confirmed by this data. The converse, that

the DSA had relatively little time in contact with hall
residents and student staff is also confirmed. But the
administrative structure did not ignore students. The
data supports the claim that the student staff members

and hall residents primarily related to the administrative
structure through the assistant directors, and, in the
case of meetings, the associate director.

Although the data was gathered during a limited
period of time, the overall interpersonal interaction
patterns which are identified probably would be supported
by observations over a longer period. Since the assis-
tants each supervised six student staff members and six
houses of residents, and since their offices were located
near the living area, it follows that their contacts with
students and staff would naturally be higher. Since the
staff usually transmitted information to the dean and the
area director through the DSA, they had fewer opportuni-
ties for direct contact with the college staff or the
Dean of Students Office.

One of the unintended consequences of the new
staffing arrangement was the relative isolation which
developed around the assistants, and to some extent, the
associate director. The DSA was delegated the responsi-

bility for coordinating the total program of the hall as

133

it related to the college and the larger university. Thus,
his contact time with staff members in the college, in
other residence halls, campus agencies, and the Dean of
Students Office was much higher when compared with the
rest of the staff.

A second unintended consequence of the staff
structure was the relative isolation the DSA had from
students. Contacts he did have were usually with dele-
gated student representatives or with residents in
serious difficulty. As the supporting staff relied
on the DSA to keep outside channels of communication
open, so the DSA relied on free-flowing input from the
student subculture through his staff.

Comparison of Topical
Data Patterns

 

 

Table 9 provides a topical analysis of data pro-
cessed by the DSA during all four observation periods and
during May 25-27, 1970. For comparison, the topical data
processed by the assistants and the associate director
are also delineated for the May 25-27 period. The assis-
tant directors' field notes were first analyzed separately,
and then a group percentage was computed for each topic.
Although topic categories were analyzed for each of the
six administrators, only the sectors are given in Table 9
to simplify reading.

Do pronounced patterns emerge from the data? A

comparison of the DSA's percentage totals for four periods

134

 

 

 

 

 

 

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135

(I) with the DSA's percentage totals for May 25-27 (II)
shows that the topic content which was processed by the
DSA during the May period varied substantially from that
handled on the average. Reasons for this have been
explored extensively in Chapter IV. However, with some
slight exceptions, sectors which are higher than average
for the DSA from May 25-27 are also higher for the sup-
porting staff. Thus the seasonal influences which regu-
lated total input to the DSA had similar effects upon the
rest of the staff.

Rather than examining each sector in detail, only
the extreme divergencies will be surveyed. The research
sector commanded at least 10.0 per cent of all staff mem-
bers' time during the May 25-27 period. The DSA (25.3 per
cent) and associate (23.4 per cent) were higher because
the former was coordinating the collection of data for
this study and the latter was completing an extensive
annual report on her activities. Unusual occurrences
occupied about the same amount of time for the DSA as
the assistants as a result of student disruptions which
occurred on campus.

The governance sector was low for the DSA (2.2 per
cent) and assistants (2.9 per cent) and nearer the average
for the associate DSA (15.6 per cent). Few incidents
involving judiciary or discipline action took place dur-

ing the period; policy changes were not being made so

136

late in the year, and no student government issue was
demanding the attention of the DSA or assistants. How-
ever, as her role in the structure required, the associate
DSA continued to attend student government meetings, thus
contributing time to this sector of the time budget.

Minority issues were high for everyone because of
the staff training program on racism being conducted by
the professional staff and black leaders of the hall.

As pointed out in the section on personal issues
and problems in Chapter IV, the DSA rarely was directly
involved in student personal concerns. The assistants
exercised a greater responsibility for direct involvement
in personal issues and problems brought to them primarily
by students. The individual field notes reveal that
several hours were spent in counseling and referral
activities, a very rare task for the DSA and associate
DSA. Again, the pattern that the support staff, and
not the DSA, dealt with student problems is confirmed by
the data in Table 9.

Group activities is the last sector which shows a
high degree of divergency. Neither the DSA nor associate
participated in hall social or athletic events during the
three days of observation, but the assistants spent 12.2
per cent of their time in these activities. This pattern
is typical of staff members who live in a residence hall
and, therefore, build close relationships with students and

student staff.

137

Generally, except where job roles defined a dif-
ferent time allocation pattern, each member of the staff
devoted a similar proportion of his time to the sectors
studied. Topics of concern for one staff member often
were shared with the others, as confirmed by Table 9 and
by an examination of the patterns of communication in the
field notes.

Overall, the assistants were directly involved in
many sectors requiring conflict resolution behavior, such
as minority issues, personal issues and problems, and the
administrative-judicial category of governance. The
resolving of conflict between roommates, individuals,
student organizations, and races occupied up to 20.0 per
cent of the staff's total time.

The New Staff Structure: A Comparison
ofiAdmInIStrative Patterns

 

 

All of the foregoing data was collected under the
new staffing system implemented in Holmes Hall in Fall
term, 1969 (see Appendix A). This section will compare
data gathered by the investigator from May 19-23, 1969,
with data he collected during the same week of the aca-
demic term one year later. When he gathered the May,

1969 data, he was the head resident advisor in Holmes Hall
rather than the DSA. What were the consequences of
changing to the DSA system? Did the administrator become

more efficient and less personal?

138

To explore these and other questions, the inves-
tigator compared the head resident advisor's (HRA)
activity patterns with the DSA's. Table 10 contains
data divided into two major sectors, interpersonal
activity and individual effort. To offer a third com-
parative dimension, the overall totals observed by the
DSA are also given for the four periods analyzed in 1970-
71.

As demonstrated in Table 10, the hall's chief
administrator, whether filling a DSA or HRA position,
allocated two-thirds to three-quarters of his time to
interpersonal activity. Although the HRA spent 76.6 per
cent of his time in personal contact, and the DSA allo-
cated only 68.1 per cent during the same week a year
later, most of the difference is explained by a vari-
ation in class load. Thus, whether a HRA or a DSA, the
observer allocated approximately the same overall per-
centage of his time to various activity categories, with
the exception of the "class," "meetings," and "research"
categories.

Each exception is directly attributed to the new
staffing arrangement. First, the total time spent in
meetings was reduced for the DSA. As a HRA, the observer
was expected to attend a number of meetings which were
delegated to others when the new staff structure was

implemented. Throughout the four DSA observation periods,

139

 

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140

time allocated to individual contact increased and time
spent in class and in meetings decreased. Since one of
the recurring complaints received by the HRA had been
that he was "never available," the trend toward more
availability time under the new structure was welcomed
by both staff and students.

Time allocated to research is the second exception.
Almost no time had been available to the HRA to complete
research or evaluation activities (2.2 per cent of total
time budget). The DSA, on the other hand, devoted 10.8
per cent of his total May, 1970 budget to research. This
reflects an intended consequence of the DSA structure--
increased time allocated to research and evaluation.

The administrative routine category was near the
1.0 per cent level where it has emerged in all the time
budgets constructed in this study, regardless of the time
of year. The low administrative time pattern may indicate
that residence hall administrators in the hall studied
have adequate secretarial and housing clerk assistance,
or that some administrative details are ignored. One fact
is certain, regardless of the staff structure, the staff
spent little individual effort attending to filing, typ-
ing, or other house-keeping chores.

In summary, the HRA allocated less time than the
DSA to individual contact and to research or evaluation

and more time to class sessions and meetings. The new

141

structure reversed the trend and caused a desired pattern

of behavior to emerge.

Activity Patterns in the
HRA’s Day

 

 

Because the HRA position required that the admin-
istrator live in the hall, his activity patterns were
similar to those of the supporting staff. A check of
the HRA field notes shows that he began his day after
9:00 or 9:30 A.M., unless forced to arise earlier. His
pattern of activity also developed the same gaps noticed
in the assistant director's day. Two or three hours at
a time were devoted to personal pursuits during the day,
but the evening hours were almost entirely filled with
. professional in-hall segments of activity.

Because of the nature of the position, subtle
information overload pressures often built upon the HRA.
He did not know at what hour of the day or night the phone
might ring, when someone might knock on the door, or when
an urgent message might be received. Often, a second
input would be received before the first one was ade-
quately handled. After several days on the job, the
HRA welcomed a weekend away to escape from the "avail-
ability anxiety" pattern.

The new staff structure reduced the information
overload problem appreciably. Inputs were shared by six
staff members, freeing more time for reflection and eval-

uation without fear of interruption.

142

HRA Time Allocation Patterns
Among People

 

In comparing the HRA's time allocation among
people with the DSA's, only deviations from the estab-
lished pattern will be discussed. Table 11 contains a
percentage description of the personal contact time allo-
cated to staff members and residents by the HRA during
May 19-23, 1969, and the DSA during May 25-29, 1970.

Under the HRA system, the male head advisor allo-
cated 18.0 per cent of his time to meetings where the
female head advisor was also present, resulting in sub-
stantial duplication of effort. Under the revised sys-
tem, the associate director attended many meetings for-
merly assigned to the chief administrator. Therefore, the
DSA was freed to pursue other responsibilities. As a HRA,
the investigator allocated 10.0 per cent of his total
budget to meetings involving students. When the associate
DSA assumed meeting attendance responsibilities, the
amount of time spent in meetings with students was cut
to 5.0 per cent.

Data on the HRA's attendance in groups show that
he spent 8.4 per cent of his time with students and 5.8 per
cent with student staff in the group setting, while as a
DSA he allotted only .9 per cent of his time budget to
students and 1.5 per cent to the student staff. Once

again, the responsibility for relating directly to

143

TABLE ll.--Percentage of personal contact time allocated to

staff members and hall residents by the head resident

advisor during May 19-23, 1969, and the director of stu-
dent affairs during May 25-29, 1970.

 

Setting For Contact

Male HRA
May 19-26, 1969

 

% of 64.3 Hours

DSA
May 25-29, 1970

 

% of 54.2 Hours

 

Observed Observed
Meeting at Which
One or More
of the Following
Were Present--
Female HRA 18.0% not applicable
Graduate Advisor 5.3 "
Associate Director not applicable 12.9
Assistant Director " 7.6
Student Staff 3.0 3.9
Students 10.0 5.0
Briggs Dean 8.4 7.0
Groups in Which
One or More
of the Following
Were Present--
Female HRA .9 not applicable
Graduate Advisor 6.8 "
Associate Director not applicable 5.2
Assistant Director " 4.6
Student Staff 5.8 1.5
Students 8.4 .9
Briggs Dean - 4.4
Individual Contact
Female HRA .5 not applicable
Graduate Advisor .5 "
Associate Director not applicable 1.8
Assistant Director " 4.4
Student Staff 3.4 2.8
Students 2.3 .7
Briggs Dean .3 4.2

 

144

students was shifted from the HRA to the supporting staff.
On the other hand, group contact time with college and
university staff rose.

The same shifting pattern is discernable in the
third category in Table 11. Again, more time was allo-
cated by the male HRA to individual contacts with student
staff and students and less to the college dean and other
staff members. The pattern reverses under the DSA approach
to administration so that more individual contacts were
with the professional staff and others in the college
community.

The data in Table 11 also offer a clue to the
informal communications patterns which developed among
professional staff members in a hall divided between a
male and female head advisor. Informal contact was very
low between the male HRA and his female counterpart when
compared with the informal contact a year later between
the DSA and others on the professional staff. Admittedly,
formal meeting contact was high between the two chief
administrators under the head advisor system, but meet-
ings afforded little time to develop informal relation-
ships and expedite personal interaction. By increasing
informal contact time between the DSA and other pro-
fessional staff, the new staff structure promoted another

value sought by its originators; increased communication

and coordination between the men's and women's pro-

fessional staff.

145

Formerly, the HRA tried to distribute his time
equally among students, student staff, professional staff,
and others in the university community. Input from each
segment seemed to vie for his time. Under the new
approach, students and student staff usually funneled
input through the supporting staff to the DSA. Thus,
inputs were received in more manageable quantities and
in more orderly fashion. In turn, greater responsibility
for direct output to students fell upon the supporting
staff.

In summary, one value held in esteem by many mem-
bers of the student personnel professional is direct and
individual contact with students. The new pattern of
administration in the hall appeared to counter this value.
However, less time spent with students by the chief admin-
istrator resulted in more time allocated to training and
evaluation of the professional and student staff. Thus,
even if professional staff contact time with students was
not quantitatively increased, perhaps greater quality was
interjected into these contacts.

HRA Topical Time Allocation
Patterns

 

Not only did the HRA distribute his contact time
among constituents differently than the DSA, he also
partitioned his topical time budget in a varied manner as

illustrated by Table 12 and Figure 2.

 

146

TABLE 12.--An analysis of the time spent by the head resident advisor on topics
of professional concern as contrasted with the director of student affairs.

 

 

 

 

HRA DSA
Categories Sectors Categories Sectors
Hours 8 Hours 3 Hours 8 Hours 8
Professional Development 19.0 29.5 5.2 9.6
Class-seminar-reading 19.0 29.5 . 5.2 9.6
Research 2.2 3.4 11.6 21.4
General 2.3 4.2
Evaluation .8 1.2 4.1 7.6
Dissertation 1.4 2.2 5.2 9.6
Unusual Occurrences 1.9 2.9 1.8 3.4
Student Disruption 1.4 2.6
Fire Drill .3 .5 .3 .6
Tornado
Illness
Suicide 1.6 2.5 .1 .2
Accident
In-Service Education 2.5 3.6 1.7 3.1
Staff Training 2.3 3.6 1.7 3.1
Graduate Practicum
Educational Programming 1.1 1.7 2.9 5.4
Academic Assistance
and Programming .4 .6 1.4 2.6
Co—curricular Programs .4 .6 .3 .6
Orientation and
Recruitment .3 .5 1.2 2.2
Staffing Concerns 7.8 12.1 3.8 7.0
Staff Structure-Design 6.4 10.0 3.8 7.0
Staff Selection 1.4 2.2
Police Matters .5 .8 .5 .8
Governance 8.0 12.7 5.1 9.4
Policy Interpretation-
Alteration, Setting .6 .9 2.1 3.9
Administrative-Judicial
Enforcement .9 1.4 .4 .7
Hall Student Government 4.0 6.4 .5 .9
LBC-SAC Student
Government .1 .2
Faculty Affairs 2.5 3.9 2.0 3.9
Minority Issues 3.9 6.1 3.9 6.0 8.6 15.9 8.6 15.9
Personal Issues and
Problems 3.1 4.8 4.7 8.7
Counseling and Referral .3 .5 .3 .6
Roommate Conflict 1.3 1.9
Male-Female Relations .2 .3
Alcohol
Drugs .3 .5
Family .7 1.3
Others' Personal Concern 1.2 1.9 3.5 6.5
Group Activities 3.4 5.2
Athletic Event
Social Event 3.4 5.2
Administrative Activity 6.8 10.5 4.4 8.1
General Administrative
Routine 2.9 4.5 3.2 5.9
Recommendations,
Approval .7 1.1 .1 .2
Reading Mail, News,
Etc. 3.2 4.9 1.1 2.0
Management Concerns 4.6 7.0 4.4 8.0
Room Reservations 3.8 5.8 .2 .3
Food Service
Maintenance 5 Security .2 .3 1.3 2.4
Housing Procedures .4 .6 2.8 5.1
Financial-Budget Matters .2 .3 .1 .2
Total Time in Each Period 64.3 100.0 64.3 99.7 54.2 100.0 54.2 100.0

 

 

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148

Major differences are obvious in the first two
sectors, professional development and research. First,
class attendance and related responsibilities account for
the HRA allocation to professional development. Second,
research was minimal under the HRA since other topics
preempted most of his time. Under the DSA structure,
research and evaluation was highly valued, as his time
allocation attests.

Other observations may briefly be made about sev-
eral sectors. Primarily because of his attachment to the
residential college, the DSA spent 5.4 per cent on edu-
cational programming in contrast to the 1.7 per cent of
the HRA. Although seemingly insignificant, the HRA allo-
cated .8 per cent of his budget to police matters which
underscores the frequent, but short, contacts "live-in"
staff members have with police. On the other hand, the
DSA spent almost no time in contact with police throughout
the subsequent two years, a decided shift in pattern.

Governance was higher for the HRA primarily
because of the student government advising function.
Under the new administrative approach, the DSA dealt
with student government concerns primarily through the
associate director.

Minority issues had a wider divergence in time
allocation than the data show. Most of the HRA time

credited to this category (6.0 per cent) was inflated

149

by his attendance at a "soul" dinner given for students

in the hall. The DSA accumulated 8.6 hours in this sec-
tor (15.9 per cent of total budget) by attempting to
resolve questions arising from racial conflict. Before
Fall term, 1969, the minority students in Holmes Hall had
generated few confrontations or issues. However, increased

time allocation by the DSA to this topic is evidence of a

 

newly formed administrative time pattern relating to
minority students.

Under the group activities sector, a pattern pre-
viously suggested when studying the support staff is con-
firmed; the HRA found himself attending more hall social
and athletic functions than the DSA. Since the staff liv-
ing in the hall formed closer personal relationships with
students and student staff, they felt more reaponsibility
to attend theSe group activities.

Administrative activity and management concerns
remained nearly parallel in their time consumption under
the HRA and the DSA systems. However, within the manage-
ment sector, the DSA allocated 5.1 per cent to housing
procedures since overall responsibility for this area was
delegated to him under the new structure.

In summary, topics related to professional devel-
opment, staffing concerns, police matters, governance,
and group activities captured a higher proportion of the

HRA's time. Changes in the staffing structure allowed

150

the DSA to concentrate on research and evaluation, edu-
cational programming, conflict resolution with minority
students, and, to a lesser degree, on the personal con-
cerns of professional staff members.

Topical Time Allocation in
Professional Meetings

 

 

To confirm patterns identified in preceding
sections of this chapter and Chapter IV, the researcher
kept a detailed account of all topics discussed in five
regularly scheduled administrative meetings he attended
over a period of eleven months. Recorded were the topics,
the amount of time devoted to each one, and the frequency
with which the topic was raised. A total of 166.2 hours
was observed in 101 meetings, starting in March, 1970,
and going through January, 1971. Contrasts and similari-
ties emerge when the DSA's total topical time budget is
compared with Table 13.

In these meetings the governance topic was allo-
cated more time than any other sector (22.3 per cent).

In comparison, it received the second highest time allo-
cation in the DSA's overall time budget (16.9 per cent).
Thus, in both indexes the governance topic was prominent.

The category of policy interpretation and alter-
ation accounted for most of the time allocated to govern-
ance in the Cedar Wbods Area Administrators meeting and

the Holmes Administrative Group. The area meeting was

 

 

 

151

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152

the chief formal communications link between the hall
administration and the central university administration.

The second meeting which allocated more time to
policy matters than any other group was the Holmes Hall
Administrative Group, the chief policy coordination and
implementation body in the hall. The heads of each of
the administrative structures operating in the hall met
weekly to discuss areas of mutual concern often centering
on conflict resolution in the areas of minorities,
policies, and management issues. This group had power
to explore policy changes, to resolve conflicts between
segments of the hall, and to agree to procedures effect-
ing those related to the hall. Although formal voting
was not characteristic of this group, clashes between
viewpoints and informal resolution of conflict most often
transpired in this setting.

Whether a topic was appropriate for discussion in
a meeting appeared to regulate its frequency of appearance.
Research and evaluation involved much solitary effort or
informal consultation with individuals, not lengthy delib-
eration in meetings. Similarly, discussion of personal
problems and interests was inappropriate in most meeting
settings. On the other hand, staff selection and
structural design was a common concern of administra-
tors in the college and the residence hall. Thus, more

administrative meeting time was allocated to staffing.

 

153

Additional patterns emerge when the meeting data
are viewed in overall perspective. Participants in meet-
ings determine their time allocations on the basis of the
constituents present. In-service education (9.1 per cent),
educational programming (14.0 per cent), staffing (25.2
per cent), and governance (20.9 per cent) captured the
highest percentages of the 56.5 hours spent in meetings

of the Holmes Hall professional staff. The same sectors,

 

with the exception of governance, consumed a much lower
percentage of the 34.2 hours spent in the Cedar Woods
Area meetings. Perhaps this underscores that the area
meeting was occurrence and crisis oriented, while the
hall professional staff meeting was centered on develop-
ing and implementing educational programs.

Although the data do not reveal the atmosphere
in meetings attended by the DSA, a brief description might
be helpful for interpretation purposes. In his obser-
vations, the DSA found that meeting agendas were hidden
or loosely organized, if established at all. Each member
of the group was expected to contribute comments on issues
or to suggest topics for discussion. As illustrated in
Table 13, topics were drawn from a wide range, depending
on the nature and purpose of the meeting. No votes were
taken to settle issues since consensus was usually the
goal. Meetings at which superiors met with subordinates

might be characterized by input and output sharing, with

154

final decisions being offered by the chief administrator
present. When administrative representatives of several
structures met in meetings, concensus was the goal. If
this goal was unattainable, the topic was usually dropped
and considered again after subsequent informal or private
negotiations transpired. The dominant pattern in decision

making seemed to be evolution rather than execution. While

 

less efficient and sometimes frustrating, the pattern
appeared to the observer to encourage support for
decisions from group members, to be more democratic,

and to build stronger bonds among meeting representatives.

Written Communication Patterns:
A Comparative Index

 

 

Everyday, written input and output passed through
the DSA's office. What was it, what impact did it have,
if any, and what topic did it involve? The observer cata-
logued all written materials received and sent during the
four observation periods studied to provide another index
to the influences which regulated the DSA's use of time.
Table 14 contains a summary of the DSA's written input.

A total of 241 letters, memorandums, general
announcements, minutes, and student records were received
by the DSA during the seventeen days of the study. Of
these, sixty-five (27 per cent) required either a direct
DSA response or the communication of information to

others. The balance of 176 (73 per cent) pieces of

155

TABLE 14.--A summary of written input received by the DSA during the four observation periods.

 

 

 

 

General
Personal Notes . . . Newspaper Student . Hall Staff
Distribution Minutes Totals
Correspondence Material Newsletter Records Memo
F l 4 5 I
Research and Evalu- I '
ation A 2 2
D
F 1 1
Unusual Occurrences i
D
Educational Programming 5 ll 22 2 3 4g
and In-Service A 3 3
Education
D
F 6 3 3 12
Staff n C I l 1
l g oncerns A 1 1
D
P 2 9 14 25
. I 1 2 3
Governance A 3 2 5
L)
1" 4 4
. I
Minority Issues A 2 2
D
F 1 3 4
Personal Issues and I 1 1
Problems A 2 2
D
F 4 2 6
Administrative Rou- I l 2 3
tine and Details A l4 14
D 6 1 7
F 6 3 43 1 53
Mana ement Concerns I 2 2
9 A 4 1 s
D
General Information, F 2 1 20 1 2 26
Announcements and I 2 2 4
Other Miscellaneous A
Items D 3 2 5
TOTALS 73 71 22 48 19 8 241
P - Filed
I - Information Relayed
A - Action Taken
0 - Destroyed

156

written material required no action and was either filed
for future reference or destroyed. An analysis of the
material according to tOpic sectors revealed that little
correlation existed between volume of input in any sector
and amount of time allocated to that sector by the DSA.

Thus, no pattern confirming the DSA's topical time allo-

“+2!

cation could be drawn from the analysis of written or

1'."

printed input.

Turning to output, twenty-five memorandums, notices,
or letters were written and sent by the DSA during the
seventeen days observed. Written material generally fell
in three sectors, research and evaluation (seven outputs),
educational programming and in-service education (seven
outputs), and administrative routine and detail (five out-
puts). Again, no correlation existed between outputs and
the DSA's topical time budget allocations.

The high volume of input does confirm one pattern
already established; the DSA spent 13.2 per cent of his
overall time allocation in reading input and only 5.5 per
cent in writing output. The higher number of inputs over
outputs was also characteristic of DSA phone calls and
individual contacts, as pointed cut in Chapter IV. The
input-output pattern underscores again the information
overload problem confronting the chief residence hall
administrator. Generally, all personal correspondence

'inputs were read; other inputs were scanned and filed

157

or destroyed, depending on their content and the infor-
mation overload conditions at the time.

In summary, aside from the information overload
problem confirmed by the written matter analysis, little
parallel can be drawn between the volume of material
received on any topic and the amount of time devoted
to the topic. Of the 241 inputs received, 27 per cent
required definite action or written responses from the
DSA; 73 per cent of all inputs were either filed or des-

troyed.

Summary

This chapter compared the director of student
affairs' time budget with several other indexes of time
use in the administration of one university residence
hall. First, observations made from May 25-27, 1970, by
five other fulltime professional administrators in Holmes
Hall were analyzed and compared with data supplied by the
DSA during the same period. In general, all staff members
spent between 65 per cent-75 per cent of their time in
contact with others and the balance of their budget in
individual effort activities.

When the DSA's daily pattern of activity was com—
pared with the supporting staff's pattern, striking dif-
ferences emerge. The supporting staff often began their
professional day after 10:00 A.M., interspersed personal

with professional activities throughout the day, and then

158

spent most of the hours after dinner and late into the

evening fulfilling professional duties. In contrast, the

DSA's professional activity pattern usually started before

9:00 A.M. and ended about 5:45 P.M. The DSA's evenings

were not as heavily committed to professional activities,

since he lived outside of the residence hall and was less p"
subject to calls and visits from students.

The DSA's contacts with others were compared with -
the contacts reported by the assistant and associate
directors. Generally, the supporting staff allocated
more time to students and student staff members than
did the DSA. On the other hand, the DSA had more contact
with faculty and staff both in Briggs College and through-
out the university. To combat isolation in their contact
pattern, the supporting staff relied on the DSA to keep
outside channels of communication open; and the DSA, in
turn, relied on the hall staff to provide free-flowing
input from the student subculture.

When the topical data for the DSA and the support-
ing staff were compared, the results show that each staff
member generally spent time on topics which were part of
his reSponsibility in the administrative scheme. The
assistants allocated more of their time (15.6 per cent of
total tOpical budget) to students' personal issues and
problems and to student group activities (12.2 per cent).

In contrast, the DSA and associate director concentrated

159

between 15.0 per cent and 25.0 per cent of their total
time to topics in the governance and research and evalu-
ation sectors.

A second index against which the DSA's time budget
was compared was developed from data observed by the inves-

tigator when he served as head resident advisor in East

'1" ‘5

Holmes Hall. Several generalizations may be made from

f”

the data. First, the head advisor allocated less time
than the DSA to individual contacts and to research and
evaluation and more time to class commitments and meetings.
Under the new staffing structure. the reverse was noted.
Second, overload was a persistent problem for the head
advisor. With the new staff system, inputs were shared

by six staff members, thus freeing more time for reflection
and evaluation without interruption. Third, the head
advisor had a high percentage of contact time with stu-
dents and student staff in contrast to the DSA, who dele-
gated much of this responsibility to the assistant and
associate directors. Fourth, topics related to profes-
sional development, staffing concerns, police matters,
governance, and group activities captured a higher pro-
portion of the head advisor's time budget. The change in
the staff structure allowed the DSA to concentrate on
research and evaluation, educational programming, con-
flict resolution with minority students, and, to a lesser
degree, on the personal concerns of professional staff

members.

160

The third index against which the DSA's time
budget was compared was the time allocated to various
topics in 101 meetings attended by the DSA from March,
1971, through January, 1971. Generally, topics were
allocated more time in meetings and less time by the
DSA if they were appropriate for group discussion and
resolution. Matters which involved individual conflict
resolution or personal matters were usually higher in the
DSA's topical time budget. Planning and programming
received comparatively equal time allocations in both
time budgets.

The fourth index used for comparison was the
amount of written input and output flowing through the
DSA's office during the four observation periods. In
seventeen days, 241 letters, memorandums, general announce-
ments, minutes of meetings, and student records were
received and twenty-five written outputs were sent. The
input rate confirmed the information overload problem
whiCh often existed in the DSA's office, but no parallel
can be drawn between the volume of material received on any
topic and the amount of time devoted to the topic in the
DSA's topical time budget.

A summary of this study will be discussed in the
final chapter. The methodology and procedures used to
gather and analyze the data will be presented. Basic

time patterns in the data and three claims arising from

161

the evidence will be considered. As a practical conse-
quence of the research, suggestions for future adminis-
trative practices will be offered, and suggestions for

future research will be explored.

 

CHAPTER VI

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

The summary contained in this chapter includes:
a review of the methodology and procedures used to gather
and analyze the data, the basic time patterns drawn from
the data, three claims related to time allocation method
and theory, practical suggestions for future administra-

tive practices, and recommendations for future research.

Methodology and Procedures

 

In this study, time was defined as a quantifiable
measure of an activity performed or engaged in by an
administrator. To provide a description of the behaviors
of a group of clock-bound administrators as they worked
and lived in a residence hall, the participant observation
method was selected for this study. The participant
observer method requires that a skilled researcher inter-
acts in the daily life of a group or organization and
watches and records the behavior of its members as they
meet various situations.

The setting in which this study transpired was

Holmes Hall, one of Michigan State University's newest

162

 

163

and largest (capacity 1,276) co-educational residence

halls. Holmes Hall was selected because of the researcher's
desire to use the participant observation method to analyze
an administrative problem in higher education. He was
already an accepted member of the hall community, since

he had served both as the head resident advisor and the

director of student affairs in the hall. Another char-

 

acteristic which made the hall desirable as a unique

research location was its designation as the home of

Lyman Briggs College, one of three experimental resi-
dential colleges on campus.

The investigator collected data during five periods
between May, 1969, and January, 1971, one during his
tenure as head resident advisor (HRA) and four while he
was director of student affairs (DSA). Also, for compar-
ative purposes, five other fulltime professional staff
members gathered data during one period. The DSA kept
a minute-by-minute diary of his activities throughout
each of the work days observed. A basic time allocation
budget was prepared using the data he gathered. To deter-
mine time patterns, the 182.1 hours observed and analyzed
in the DSA's portion of the study were viewed from three
perspectives: how they were allocated to activities, to
other people and groups, and to topics of information
flowing through the DSA's professional day. A fourth

perspective on the data was gained by noting when each

164

segment of activity in a professional day began, thus
providing the information needed to establish adminis-
trative activity patterns.

The basic findings of this section were then com-
pared with four other indexes. First, the data gathered
by the five supporting staff members were analyzed from
the perspectives outlined in the previous paragraph and
compared with the DSA's data. Second, the data collected
by the researcher while he served as head resident advisor
were analyzed and compared with the DSA's data. Third,
in the 101 administrative meetings he attended over
eleven months, the investigator recorded each topic con-
sidered and the time allocated to it. This data was
analyzed and contrasted on a percentage basis with the
time and topics reported in the DSA's time budget.
Fourth, all written input and output which flowed through
the DSA's office were catalogued according to the infor-
mation they contained and were then compared with the
DSA's topical time budget. All four indexes were used,
where possible, to confirm the original time budgets
established by the DSA or to provide contrasting data
which contributed to a broader understanding of the hall's

administrative patterns.

The Basic Time Patterns

 

Since this is a descriptive case study, many bits

of information contained in the original diaries and

165

other indexes cannot be detailed in the summary. Never-
theless, an attempt is made to cite sufficient data from
which administrative patterns may be constructed.

Basic Patterns in the DSA's time budget are:

Pattern l

 

The director of student affairs (DSA) allocated
an average of 58.5 hours per week to professional
activity or an average of 10.7 hours per weekday and
2.5 hours per day on weekends.

Pattern 2

 

The DSA allocated 71.9 per cent of his activity
budget to interpersonal activity; phone (7.0 per
cent), meetings (21.5 per cent), classes (4.8 per
cent), informal groups (14.9 per cent), and individual
one-to-one contacts (23.7 per cent).

Pattern 3

 

The DSA spent 28.1 per cent of his time budget in
activities requiring individual effort; research (8.4
per cent), reading (13.2 per cent), writing (5.5 per
cent), and administrative routine (1.0 per cent).

Pattern 4

 

The DSA's daily professional activity pattern
generally began prior to 9:00 A.M., concentrated on
outputs requiring individual effort early in the day,
was diverted by inputs from staff and students, and
ended after an evening of professionally related
activity interspersed with personal pursuits.

Pattern 5

 

The DSA allocated substantially more time to the
professional staff and Briggs College staff in all
categories of interpersonal activity than he did to
students. (See Table 4 for detailed comparisons).

Pattern 6

 

Approximately two-thirds of all interpersonal
interactions were inputs from others and only one-
third were outputs generated by the DSA. For example,

166

data on phone contacts indicate that eighty-two phone
calls were received and only forty-two were initiated
by the DSA.

Pattern 7

 

From a different perspective, the DSA spent most
of his time handling topics of information related to
research and evaluation (17.5 per cent), followed by .
governance (16.9 per cent), professional development
(11.7 per cent), personal issues and problems (11.0
per cent), minority issues (9.9 per cent), adminis-
trative activity (9.1 per cent), staffing concerns
(7.0 per cent), educational programming (6.6 per cent),
management matters (4.2 per cent), in-service edu-
cation (3.0 per cent), unusual occurrences (1.6 per
cent), and informal group activities (1.5 per cent).

 

Pattern 8

 

Topical time allocations were influenced by
seasonal pressures and by the professional respon-
sibilities the investigator and the supporting staff
fulfilled in the administrative structure.

Pattern 9

 

Conflict resolution was a major time consumer
which cut across at least four topical sectors;
governance, personal issues and problems, minority
issues, and management matters.

Basic Patterns in the supporting professional

staff's time budget are:

Pattern 10

 

During the three weekdays observed by all six
professional staff, the assistant directors averaged
8.9 hours per day and the associate director averaged
8.6 hours per day in professional activities.

Pattern ll

 

In the same period, the assistants Spent an
average of 74.7 per cent of their time in interper-
sonal activity and 25.3 per cent in individual effort.
The associate director allocated her time between
interpersonal activity (65.5 per cent) and individual
effort (34.5 per cent).

167

Pattern 12

 

The associate allocated more time to meetings
(24.2 per cent) than any other category; the assis-
tants spent more time in group contact (33.8 per cent);
and the DSA allocated more time to individual contact
(24.4 per cent) during the three days observed.

Pattern l3

 

The professional days of the five members of the
support staff were fractionalized into segments of
professional activity interspersed with personal pur-
suits. Their professional days often began after
10:00 A.M., and continued intermittently late into
the evening.

Pattern l4

 

Since the supporting staff allocated more time to
students and student staff and less time to contact
with faculty and staff both in Briggs College and the
university, and since the DSA's pattern was the
reverse, the supporting staff relied on the DSA to
keep channels of communication open to the outside;
and the DSA relied on the hall staff to provide free-
flowing input from the student subculture.

Pattern 15

 

The assistants generally spent about half of their
time responding to topics which directly related to
student concerns or conflict resolution: minority
issues (21.1 per cent), personal issues and problems
(15.6 per cent), and student group activities (12.2
per cent). The associate director spent more time
in professional development (23.6 per cent), research
and evaluation (23.4 per cent), governance (15.6 per
cent), and minority issues (19.7 per cent) than in the
other eight topical sectors.

Basic Patterns in the head resident advisor's
time budget are:

Pattern 16

 

The head resident advisor (HRA) allocated more of
his activities budget to class commitments and meet-
ings and less time than the DSA to individual contacts
and to research and evaluation activities.

168

Pattern 17

 

The HRA was burdened by the overload problem since
his diary shows that a second input was often received
before the first one could be processed adequately.

Pattern 18

 

The HRA had a higher percentage of contact time
with students and student staff in contrast to the
DSA who delegated much of this responsibility to the
assistant and associate directors.

Pattern l9

 

From the topical analysis perspective, the HRA
divided his time among the sectors of professional
development, staffing concerns, police matters,
governance, and group activities in contrast to the
topics capturing the greatest proportions of the DSA's
topical time budget (see Chapter V, Table 12.)

Basic Patterns observed by the DSA in 101 meetings
over an eleven-month span are:

Pattern 20

 

Time allocated to topics in meetings depended upon
the nature of the topic. Topics were allocated more
time in meetings than in the DSA's tOpical budget if
they were appropriate for group discussion and reso—
lution and less time if they involved research prob-
lems, individual conflict resolution, or personal
problems (compare Table 5 and Table 13).

Pattern 21

 

Educational planning and programming received com-
paratively equal time allocations in both the meeting
and DSA time budgets, indicating that some topics
were mutual concerns in both meetings and in the indi-
vidual administrator's time budget.

Pattern 22

 

Meeting agendas were hidden or loosely organized,
if established at all. Each member of the group was
expected to contribute comments on issues or to:
suggest topics for discussion.

169

Pattern 23

 

The dominant pattern in decision making seemed to
be evolution rather than execution, since group con-
sensus on an issue was usually the goal.

Pattern 24

 

If consensus was unattainable, the topic was
usually tabled and considered again after subsequent
informal or private negotiations transpired.

Basic Patterns of DSA written input and output

during the seventeen days observed are:

Pattern 25

 

Since a total of 241 inputs were received and
only twenty-five outputs were sent, the information
overload problem was confirmed by the analysis of
written material.

Pattern 26

 

Of the inputs received, only sixty-five (27 per
cent) required either a direct response from the DSA
or the communication of information to others.
Seventy-three per cent of the materials received
were either filed for future reference or destroyed.

Pattern 27

 

No correlation existed between the volume of input
or output on a topic and the amount of time devoted to
the topic in the DSA's tOpical time budget.

Claims of the Study

 

The study of one residence hall does not produce
representative data which may be generalized to other
residence halls on the same campus or elsewhere. Admit-
tedly, the personality idiosyncracies of the chief inves-
tigator or the supporting staff influenced what adminis-

trative patterns emerged.

 

 

170

However, three claims may be generalized from the
evidence reported in this study. First, the time allo-
cation and activity patterns of a residence hall admin-
istration may be examined by using the participant obser-
vation method. While the participant observation method
is not completely absent from educational research, very
few studies in higher education have used it (Borg, 1963).
This study has attempted to take the general principles
of participant observation and apply them in a pioneering
approach to an administrative problem.

Second, the information overload idea offers a
viable means for conceptualizing an administrative prob-
lem. Once an administrator becomes aware of the impact
each input has on his professional time allocation, he
may give greater consideration to which input he rejects,
which input he delegates to others, and what priorities
he assigns to an input he chooses to process himself.

For example, Patterns 4, 6, 17, and 25 illustrate
the problems one administrator had trying to balance
inputs and outputs. When serving as the head resident
advisor, the administrator was burdened by inputs from
students asking questions about housing procedures (Pat-
tern 17). By designing a new administrative structure,
he was able to delegate these inputs to the assistant
directors (Pattern 18). Since he was not responding to
housing input, the administrator was able to concentrate

on the hall's research and evaluation program (Pattern 7).

171

A third claim supported by the evidence in this
study is that time and values interact to influence
administrative behavior. How an administrator allocates
his time can even be an index to his values. The DSA
valued students, but his time budget indicates he actually 1
spent little time with them in personal interaction (Pat-

tern 5). The administrative pattern also shows that the

 

DSA valued the concept of delegation of authority and
responsibility (Pattern 18). Therefore, he had to make
a decision between two values. The DSA chose to relate
to students more effectively by delegating the personal
contact responsibility to his staff and by spending more
time on research and evaluation (Pattern 7). Thus, he
reduced his own personal contact time with students but
increased the time, and perhaps the quality of contact,
his staff had with them. Perhaps this was an inappro-
priate way to allocate time, but it illustrates how
values and time interact to influence behavior.

Practical Suggestions Emerging
From the Study

 

 

Based upon the patterns identified in this study,
several suggestions for the administration of the resi-
dence hall may be cited. First, changes in information
overload conditions can be made over a period of time.
For example, the HRA spent more time in meetings in

May, 1969, than the DSA did in May, 1970 (Pattern l6).

172

The DSA was able to reduce information overload by dele-

gating the responsibility for some meeting attendance

to others on the staff. Perhaps information overload

could be reduced by requesting that more staff be available

during the peak input hours of the day (see Tables 3, 7, ,
Patterns 4, 13). ?‘

Second, the DSA's contact pattern was not only .
dominated by interaction with the fulltime professional
staff in the hall, but also with Briggs College and uni-
versity faculty and staff (Pattern 14). On the other
hand, the supporting staff spent much of their contact
time interacting with students and student staff members.
Perhaps the supporting staff should work jointly with
several other staff or faculty members on at least one
research or educational project per term to insure a
broader range of contacts.

Third, the topical time budgets indicate that
the professional staff allocated an average of a few
minutes of time per week to unusual occurrences in resi-
dence halls: drugs, suicide attempts, student mental
health problems, alcohol problems, student disruption
(Pattern 15). However, all indications from past exper-
iences are that such occurrences transpire regularly.
Most professional staff members estimate that they allo-
cate several hours a week to these matters. Obviously,

the data do not support this notion. Since student staff

173

members, especially resident assistants, usually report
heavy involvement in resolving these issues, perhaps
through even more thorough in-service education, the
professional staff should prepare resident assistants

for the front line responsibility they will face in
dealing with unusual occurrences. (Of course, the three-
day observation span may have been too limited to present
an accurate pattern of staff involvement in unusual or
emergency situations.)

Fourth, all staff members, especially the associate
director and DSA, reported that time was spent in several
meetings and many groups each week (Pattern 2, 12). Per-
haps all professional staff members should study the
dynamics of the group process and participate in a semi-
nar experience which would help them understand their
role in facilitating the group experience.

Fifth, the patterns of activity and time allo-
cation provide an overview of the behaviors exhibited
by administrators in the residence hall structure. Per-
haps job descriptions which no longer portray what is
actually transpiring in residence halls should be re-
written. Where job descriptions are lacking, they might
be developed on the basis of the behavioral patterns
identified.

Sixth, different patterns of administrative

activity were evident at varying times in the year

 

174

because of annual time consumers (Tables 5, 9, 13, Pat-
tern 8). For example, the DSA only allocated time to
student disruptions during the May observation period
when unrest and mass demonstrations were commonplace on
campus. By advanced planning, the residence hall staff
members might reduce overload conditions if they redis-
tributed their time allocation budget in anticipation of
the advent of other unusual seasonal forces such as staff
selection, Spring room sign up, Fall opening, and annual
evaluations.

Seventh, the staff member living in a residence
hall is faced with a segmented activity pattern charac-
terized by input at any hour of the day or night (Pattern
13). When inputs increase to an intolerable level, staff
members should be strongly encouraged by superiors in the
administrative structure to seek a more integrated life
pattern by leaving the hall and its information overload
conditions for a period of rest. Also, when potential
staff members are being interviewed for live-in-hall
positions, the information overload problem should be
discussed.

Eighth, the six participant observers' diaries
and time budgets illustrate the frequent occurrence of
situations requiring decision-making behavior (Patterns
7, 15). Since good decision-making procedures are

learned both in the classroom and through practical

 

175

experience, perhaps each new residence hall professional
staff member should have the opportunity to model the
decision-making behaviors exhibited by an experienced
staff member as he interacts on the job. These obser-
vations could be supplemented by informal group contact
with other staff members to exchange ideas, conclusions,
and case studies.

Finally, the study of administrative patterns had
unintended consequences for those who were involved. Each
of these consequences have implications for job performance.
The researcher saw the need to delegate inputs to other
staff members. Also, he evaluated time patterns more
closely to determine if his time investment was worth the
return. Finally, the participant observation method not
only proved helpful in gathering a wide variety of data,
it also became a vehicle of self-evaluation for those
using it. As illustrated below, after the participants
reviewed their data and comprehended how much time was
allocated to trivia and how little was spent talking with
Briggs College faculty, they began to alter their values
or rules which governed decisions about time use.

To illustrate some of the unintended consequences
and effects of this study for its participants, four
statements written by the professional staff members
who recorded time and activity data in May, 1970, are

included:

 

176

Participating in the time study made me constantly
aware of what I was doing from day to day. I began
to realize that some of the trivial issues were
demanding more of my time than I would have liked,
whereas more substantive issues were not receiving
enough of my time. The study also revealed to me
that I did not have enough contact with faculty mem-
bers of Briggs College.

Because the time study was conducted almost at the end
of Spring term, it did not affect my behavior sig-
nificantly. However, the results of the time study
did make me determined to have more contact with Briggs
faculty and Holmes Hall students during the next aca-
demic year.

Associate Director

When I began working as an assistant director in
Holmes Hall, I was sure that individual student con-
tact would be the most time-consuming and most impor-
tant facet of the job. After the first two terms
were over, I began to suspect this.

The time study verified my hunch. Other responsi-
bilities demanded more time but were not necessarily
more important to successful functioning in the
position. In other words, I thought functional
importance and time consumed were highly correlated.
In fact, sometimes the inverse is true.

Discovering this, I attempted to alter my behavior to
emphasize student contact and its importance. While
the amount of time spent in this manner may not have
increased significantly, each individual encounter
with a student has become more important to me, and

I hope, more meaningful to the student.

Assistant Director

Prior to participating in the study, I did not have
an accurate perception about the way my time was
being spent. I felt that I was Spending many more
hours in specific job-related activities than I
actually was. It was interesting to discover that
one's perception of and feelings about the nature
and quality of time spent is more important than
actual time spent.

Also, when I felt I was having a good time on the job,
I felt like I was spending less time on the job.

 

177
When job problems got me down, I thought I was spend-
ing more time on the job than I actually was.

Assistant Director
It made me aware of the number of student contacts
which had formerly been made "unconsciously"--i.e.,
much of the time I was not aware of unscheduled con-
tacts and did not "present-self" in a professional
manner. I, therefore, became more aware of the
totality of involvement that a live-in position
requires.
Secondly, this realization helped to get me organized
and off the tread-wheel of the mundane--I was able
to sort out contacts into categories and priorities
that were formerly viewed as "all being equal."

Assistant Director

Suggestions for Future Research

This study has explored the utility of the partic-
ipant observation method for delineating administrative
time allocation and activity patterns. While the method
has proved viable as a research alternative, several
changes in procedures and techniques are suggested for
future participant observer research conducted in a sim-
ilar setting. Finally, several potential studies related
to time allocation research in residence halls are
suggested.
Suggested Changes in Pro-
cedures and TechnIQues

1. The participant observer diaries provided
more data than could be adequately analyzed using activity

and time allocation patterns. Therefore, future research

 

178

should include the exploration of alternative tools for
quantifying and conceptualizing the raw data.

2. The selection of sectors and categories in
the time budget was, of necessity, an arbitrary act. If
information concerning different patterns is sought, one
should consider alternative budget designs. One might
examine sectors receiving higher time allocations in
this study and attempt to create additional categories
or sectors on similar topics. Sectors in this study
which appear to be insignificant in the total adminis-
trative pattern might be eliminated or incorporated into
other sectors.

3. The checklist (Appendix B) used to supplement
the minute-by-minute diary proved to be inadequate. If
categories and sectors could be established before the
data were collected, they could be incorporated into
the check list form, thus reducing the need for a
detailed diary and eliminating unnecessary steps in
analysis.

4. As illustrated in Chapter V, once time data
have been determined, cost data may also be calculated
on the basis of salaries paid to the people involved in
the activity under study. To accomplish this, one should
note all of the persons present at a given event (for

instance, a meeting) and the length of time the event

179

lasts. Cost data could only be calculated in this study
for the six participant observers.

5. Since this was a descriptive case study, all
observed data was recorded and much of it was analyzed by
using the edge-notched punch card technique. If the need
to record written information on the punch cards could be
eliminated, one might use computer cards to store and to
retrieve the observed data in numerous patterns. This
analysis system would also allow data to be gathered and

analyzed for much longer periods of time.

Potential Related Research

 

1. Patterns identified in this research should
be explored further to confirm or question whether they
can be generalized to similar residence hall adminis-
trative structures. As of the completion of this
research, a study is being conducted in other Michigan
State University residence halls to determine what topics
of information consume portions of the staff's time. The
researcher's topical time budget was adapted for the
study,and some suggestions listed above were also incor-
porated into it.

2. Once patterns of administrative time allo-
cation and activity are established, an attempt could be
made to determine what influence an administrator's

personality type has on determining these patterns.

180

3. One might wish to explore the impact which
advisory staff members have on the resolution of conflict
among individual students or factions in residence halls.
The basic methodology used in this study might be helpful
in gathering such data, but the analysis would include
sectors and categories geared to identify conflict reso-
lution situations.

4. Again, using the same basic methodology, one
might study the specific decisions an administrator makes
over a period of time and the various forces, including
time, which shape those decisions.

5. Since some doubt exists that a person's per-
ceptions of what he is doing can be equated with observed
behavior, an instrument might be devised to obtain an
administrator's perceptions of his activities in the
residence hall setting. The questionnaire data could
then be compared with actual participant observation data
to determine the similarities and differences in per-
ceptions and behavior.

6. It would be of interest to know if students,
staff, and faculty perceive an increased or decreased
effectiveness in the total student personnel program in
Holmes Hall under the new staffing arrangement implemented
in September, 1969. Since the data indicates that the
DSA is spending more time in research, evaluation, and
educational programming, has this emphasis resulted in

altered perceptions of his role in the community?

181

7. If the methodology suggested in this study
were expanded to examine other administrative roles on
this campus and elsewhere, perhaps common patterns would
emerge. Hypotheses could then be generated from these
administrative patterns and could be tested by additional
research methods.

8. In this period of turmoil in higher education,
many are questioning the role and responsibility of stu-
dent personnel administrators, especially in relation to
their use of time. Perhaps research should first be con-
ducted to determine what are the most frequent criticisms
leveled by the public and segments of the university,
including trustees, against the student personnel estab-
lishment. Second, participant observation studies might
then be made of the actual time and activity patterns
characteristic of administrators in student personnel.

As a result, the administrators would be in a more secure
position from which to make necessary alterations in
their time budgets and activity patterns or to justify

them to the critics.

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SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Betchkal, James J. "Budgeting the Administrator's Time."
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Borg, Walter. Educational Research. New York: David
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Brookover, Linda, and Back, Kurt. "Time Sampling as a
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Carroll, M. A. "Analytical Description of a Dean's Pro-
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APPENDICES

APPENDIX A

HOLMES HALL EXPERIMENTAL STAFFING

ARRANGEMENT-~M.S.U.

APPENDIX
Holmes Hall Experimental Staffing Arrangement - HSU

 

Director of g
Student Affairs

 

 

 

 

 

Associate
Director

i f i

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Assistant Assistant Assistant Assistant
Director Director Director Director
l 71 '-
liiili /ii1i\//lli\/llli\
RA RA RA RA RA RA RA RA RA RA RA RA RA RA RA RA RA RA RA RA RA RA RA RA

Former Staffing Arragement - East and West Holmes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hall - MSU
East Holmes West Holmes
Head Advisor lHead Advisor
- ‘1: ' o ‘1. 1'
[Grad Advisor Grad Advisor‘ Grad Advisoq Grad Advisor
liililfl1'lli‘ .Tgiiiilllyl
RA RA RA RA RA RA.RA RA RA RA RA RA RA RA RA RA RA RA RA RA RA RA RA RA

187

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APPENDIX B

HOLMES HALL TIME ALLOCATION AND

INFORMATION FLOW STUDY

CHECKLIST

Holmes Hall Time Allocation and information Flow Study

Date

 

Initials

 

Time at Start of Activity at end of activity

 

 

Total minutes

 

Check either input or output:

Input (Contact or information received by you)

 

Output (Contact or information initiated by you)

 

if neither input, or output seem appropriate, specify why

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Check one:
Phone NeWSpaper Rap Session - -
Memo Book Meeting
Letter Other (specify) Class
Article Counseling Session Chat (5 min orzlessy’

 

informal Group Conference (Over Five Minutes

 

Name of person(s) or group involved

 

Topic discussed or decision made:

188

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APPENDIX C

HOLMES HALL TIME ALLOCATION STUDY

ANALYSIS CHECKLIST

Time Allocation Study Analysis
Holmes Hall

Mode:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Written matter l2
Letter-Memo l3
Personal notes lh
Newspaper-Newsletter 15
Phone I6
In person contact 17
individual A
Group contact l8
more than l0 A
Meeting(scheduled) l9
Class-Seminar 20
related session A
2l
Person Group 25_Agency:
Director SA 22
Associate Dir. 23
Assistant Dir. Denny 24
Assistant Dir. Ed 25
Assistant Dir. Sue 26
Assistant Fir. M-R 27
Holmes Grad Avisors_______;28
R.A. 29
Female 30
Black Aide 3i
LBC Dean . 32
LBC Administrative Staff___33
Briggs Aide 39
Faculty 35
Secretary #36
Manager 37
other mgr. staff A '
Receptionist 38
Central 00$ 39
area director A
Other Res. Hall admin. #0
Other U. staff hi
Counseling Staff 42
Police #3
Student AA
Hall Officer #5
presidenti A
Committee__ #6
Legislature #7
Parents #8
#9
50

 

5i

p.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

l-3 A Time start a/p
Date W/V Time and a/p
Place Output 6
Input 5 LBC 3
Holmes 7 Non-U l0
All-U 9 Initials
Personal ll
geplanation, decision_e£ remarks:
Mam:
Counseling 52 Alcohol 76
Admin. routine 53 Drugs 77
Research 5A Family 78
dissertation A Financial 79
Writing 55 Academ. prob. 80
report A Minority issue 8i
Signature 56 Front off. respr__82
Coverage or off. 57 bookings A
Staff SGlGCthD 58 Food service 83
Reading 59 Building maintfl___8h
Orientation 60 Housing 85
Policy 6i Athletic event 86
Evaluation 62 Social event 87
Recommendation 63 Staff training 88
Referral 6h 89
Practicum 65 90
Fire drill 66 9|
Tornado 67
Illness 68
Accident 69
Rommate conflict 70
Male-female relat. 7l
Suicide attempt -__72
Student disrupt. 73
Discipline prob. 7h
Personal-others 7S

 

189

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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