The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 45, No. 2 - 90

DeAndre Taylor

leader attributes (gender, degree, race/ethnicity, professional experience, and areas of expertise) and institutional/divisional characteristics
(size, type, public/private, reporting structure,
and organizational change) inform leadership
behaviors. In Chapter 3, Kuk and Banning interpret the daily interactions among leaders in
organizational environments by applying the
ecological patterning conceptual framework
to understand the actions of leaders in student
affairs. Specifically, the authors examined
the leadership behaviors of 24 SSAOs from
various institutional types and described how
they interact within sub-environments of their
institutions. The particular sub-environments
explored include social, cultural, physical,
legal/political, resource, and ethical.
Comprising elements from human ecology
theory and Wachs' (1987) ecological concept, Kuk
and Banning use ecological patterning to answer
the following question: "Under what kinds of settings . . . does what kind of SSAO . . . engage
in what kinds of leadership considerations/
behaviors?" (2016, p. 28). Applying the ecological patterning framework to interview data
from 24 SSAOs, the book presents professional
anecdotes of senior leaders in order to generate
predictors of what leadership approaches may
be useful in specific environmental contexts.
The authors posit that colleges and universities
are made up of six sub-environments in which
SSAOs interact to inform the development of
their leadership behavior. Through the use of
ecological patterning, Kuk and Banning present
applicable tools on how to develop forwardthinking leadership practice and leadership behavior to manage leadership challenges.
Kuk and Banning present a unique book
that contextualizes the leadership expertise
92

The ecological patterning framework
enables a critical examination of
leadership challenges that produce
relevant examples to assist current
leaders, especially aspiring SSAOs,
in crafting and utilizing leadership
practices to overcome various
organizational challenges.

and experiences of SSAOs to create a functional, professional leadership guide. The
ecological patterning framework enables a critical examination of leadership challenges that
produce relevant examples to assist current
leaders, especially aspiring SSAOs, in crafting
and utilizing leadership practices to overcome
various organizational challenges. Each subenvironment has a designated chapter in the
book that examines the ecological patterning
of the leadership behavior of SSAOs in a specific sub-environment. For example, Chapter 4
applies the ecological patterning framework to
cultural sub-environments and articulates how
SSAOs navigate their organizations' shared
beliefs. This chapter highlights how many
SSAOs became unofficial advisors to university presidents by advocating for students at the
institutional level. Chapter 5 applies the ecological patterning to social sub-environments
and articulates how leadership behaviors are
formed in this setting. Expressing how regular
communication with constituents develops
into relationships with constituents, Chapter 5
provides specific professional anecdotes about

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The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 45, No. 2

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