Abstract
This dissertation examined the role of leadership communication in shaping faculty trust of administrators in higher education institutions. Higher education institutions face multiple, complex challenges including funding issues, working to promote anti-racism and deconstruct structural racism, and unpredictable crises like the COVID-19 global pandemic. Successfully navigating these challenges will require trust between faculty and administrators, whose relationship has been characterized as conflict laden, fragile, and complex (Del Favero & Bray, 2010). Trust has been found to be a critical factor during times of crisis and challenge (Mishra, 1996; Tyler & Degoey, 1996; Webb, 1996) and is key to encouraging collaboration and effective problem-solving (Makiewicz & Mitchell, 2014). Trust is created, sustained, and potentially diminished through communication (Tierney, 2006). Using a phenomenological qualitative design, interviews with 33 faculty members from one of three campuses that are part of a large, western, public university system were conducted. The theoretical framework guiding this study was comprised of a multidimensional view of trust (Mayer et al., 1995) and the theory of communication satisfaction (Downs & Hazen, 1977). Findings reveal communication satisfaction is a foundation for trust, but the existence of a presumptive distrust may make satisfaction with communication uniquely challenging. Transparent, two-way communication that conveys caring, empathy, as well as shared values and purpose is necessary to build perceptions of leader competence, benevolence, and integrity. However, the decentralized, loosely coupled nature of higher education institutions presents communication challenges. Findings indicate that communication is the vehicle the two groups must use in order to share meaning about the guiding values and purpose of higher education.