Jayne Marie Comstock, PhD, a tenured professor of communication, is on sabbatical for the 2012-2013 academic year. She served as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Butler University from July 2008 to June 2012. While on sabbatical, she is working as the Director of the Executive Leadership Group at the American Council on Education in Washington, D.C. As Butler’s Provost, Comstock led the university’s 339-member faculty as chief academic officer, with responsibility for delivering high-quality liberal arts and professional programs to students in 54 undergraduate and 20 graduate degree offerings. The university’s academic programs are distributed among six colleges: Liberal Arts and Sciences, Education, Business, Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Communication, and the Jordan College of Fine Arts. Comstock had a central role in drafting the University’s 2009-2014 Dare to Make a Difference Strategic Plan, creating a new College of Communication, overseeing record-high retention rates, expanding international education, and launching an Early College Program that, through Butler’s partnership with Indianapolis Public Schools, provides access to Butler University education to underserved high school students.
Articles
Self-Study Leveraging: The QPC Model for Comprehensive Academic Program Review. (with Kathy Booker), Accountability and Organizational Leadership (2009)
The past twenty years have brought about a paradigm shift in higher education. During that...
Shaping the Future: Strategic Planning for Small Colleges and Universities. (with Rand Ziegler), Becoming a Learning Focused Organization: Organizational Distinctiveness and Effectiveness (2005)
This paper addresses the importance of strategic planning as a precursor to assessing organizational performance...
An exploratory investigation of jealousy in the family (with Krystyna S. Aune), Journal of Family Communication (2001)
A self-report instrument assessed an incident in which respondents experienced a threat to their relationship...
Appropriate Relational Messages in Direct Selling Interaction: Should Salespeople Adapt to Buyers' Communicator Style? (with Gary Higgins), Journal of Business Communication (1997)
Study One determined that buyers are more interested in the task, rather than the social,...
Effect of Relationship Length on the Experience, Expression, and Perceived Appropriateness of Jealousy. (with Aune K. Strzyzewski), Journal of Social Psychology (1997)
The effect of relationship length on the perceived appropriateness and intensity of the experience and...
Presentations
Hot Topic #1 - Access and Student Success, Presentations of the Provost (2010)
This presentation is the first in a series of Hot Topic discussion platforms used (a)...
Hot Topic #2 - Local Impact, Global Reach, Presentations of the Provost (2010)
This presentation is the second in a series of Hot Topic discussion platforms used (a)...
What's love got to do with it? Could it lead us to the "Great Colleagues" triangle?, Presentations of the Provost (2010)
I used this presentation to close a two day Provost Advisory Council (PAC) off-campus retreat...
Professional Blog Posts
The Value of a Liberal Arts Education: A Self-Evident Truth, Advancing the Higher Education Agenda (2013)
We hold this truth to be self-evident: The best preparation for 21st Century workplace challenges...
College Completion: Performance-Based Funding Can Enhance Individual Investments and Promote the Public Good, Advancing the Higher Education Agenda (2013)
College completion is both an individual investment and a public good. College graduates can count...
Higher Ed "International Exchange Rate" Leaves Intellectual Capital Behind, Advancing the Higher Education Agenda (2012)
The higher education “international exchange rate” is unfavorable and improving at an alarmingly slow rate,...
We Should Have High Standards for all Students, Not Just Those at Harvard, Advancing the Higher Education Agenda (2012)
After nearly a decade as a chief academic officer, I got used to people asking...
Avoid False Dichotomy in Higher Education: Be both Mission-Driven and Market-Smart, Advancing the Higher Education Agenda (2012)
Amid all the drama associated with the departure and reinstatement of the UVA President, there...
Conference Papers
Managing Diversity: Establishing an Agenda for Organizational Change, International Communication Association conference (2001)
Managing organizational diversity requires managing change. Contemporary organizational leaders must prepare people to adapt to...