Abstract
This study examined the effect of institutional size, hierarchical levels, and span of control on new housing professionals development of mid-level administrative skills. The study was based on seven mid-level administrative skills identified by Jordan (1980) as: personnel skills, interpersonal and communication skills, conceptual skills, decision-making skills, leadership skills, process management skills, and program management skills. The population was limited to the 253 new housing professionals who were members of the California Association of College and University Housing Officers (CACUHO). The Skills of Effective College and University Administrators Questionnaire (SECUAQ), developed by C. A. Jordan (1980) and adapted by this researcher, addressed to what degree the new professionals felt they had developed mid-level skills in their present positions at their present institutions using a five point Likert scale. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, analyses of variances, and the Scheffe post hoc test. With the exception of personal skills, there were no significant differences (.05 level) between the institutional size, number of hierarchial levels, and span of control and the degree to which new housing professionals' developed mid-level skills. However, the data did show that span of control did significantly (.01 level) effect personal skill development. New professionals in spans of control of one to three fulltime new professionals had a significantly lower score than those with six or more. There were four conclusions: (1) Institutional size does not significantly effect a new professional's development of mid-level skills; (2) The number of hierarchial levels does not significantly effect a new professional's development of mid-level skills; (3) Span of control does appear to effect a new professional's development of mid-level skills and to have a significant effect on the development of personal skills; and (4) New professionals in departments where four or more new professionals report to a supervisor developed mid-level skills at a higher rate than new professionals in departments having one to three new professionals reporting to a supervisor.