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Department
Leadership, Policy and Organizations
Office Location
205E Payne
Mailing Address
414 GPC
230 Appleton Place
Nashville, TN 37203-5721
Direct Phone
615-322-2355
Fax Number
615-343-7094
Email Address
Michael K. McLendon
Associate Professor of Public Policy and Higher Education
Ph.D., University of Michigan, 2000
Joined faculty in 1999
Short Biography
Michael McLendon holds a Ph.D. in Higher Education Policy from the University of Michigan. Professor McLendon directs the Program in Higher Education Leadership and Policy. Prior to undertaking his doctoral studies, Professor McLendon served as a policy analyst on the Higher Education Committee of the Florida House of Representatives and on the staff of U.S. Senator David Pryor, in Washington, D.C.
Professor McLendon's research and teaching focus on public governance and finance of higher education, particularly on the role of political institutions and postsecondary governance structures in shaping policy outcomes at both the state and campus levels. His recent research projects include studies of (1) the factors driving state appropriations and tuition patterns in public higher education, (2) the origins and spread of performance-accountability mandates for higher education, and (3) state reform of higher education governance. Dr. McLendon's research has appeared in The Journal of Higher Education, Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, Research in Higher Education, Review of Higher Education, Educational Policy, Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research, and as chapters in numerous books. He teaches graduate courses on state politics, policy, and organization of higher education.
Currently, Professor McLendon serves as co-principal investigator (with Will Doyle and John Braxton) on a national study funded by the Lumina Foundation that is investigating the impact of state policies on college-student retention, graduation, and success in public higher education. McLendon also consults widely with national policy organizations, state governmental agencies, governors, and legislatures.
Professor McLendon serves as an associate editor for Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research and as consulting editor for Research in Higher Education and Review of Higher Education. He is a former co-editor of the Politics of Education Yearbook. At Vanderbilt, he has chaired the academic policies committees of the University Senate and the Peabody Faculty Council.