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The Indiana Daily Student

academics & research

IU assistant professor earns prestigious honor

When it comes to being a leader, Matthew Baggetta is guiding the way.

Baggetta, an assistant professor in the IU School of Public and Environmental Affairs, won a national award for publishing an article on leadership.

He and co-authors Hahrie Han and Kenneth Andrews wrote “Leading Associations: How Leadership Teams Generate Leader Time Contributions,” published in the American Sociological Review. The article was named recipient of the Outstanding Academic Publication on Membership Organizations Award by the American Society of Association Executives, according to a press release.

Baggetta, Han and Andrews will receive $5,000 with the award. According to the release, it is only available to scholars publishing academic research related to membership or member-driven associations.

“We’re honored to receive the award and grateful for the opportunity it presents,” Baggetta said in the release. “We hope one result is wider distribution of our research and that proves beneficial to associations struggling to maintain the best possible volunteer leadership.”

Baggetta, Han and Andrews analyzed data collected from 1,616 Sierra Club volunteer leaders and the 368 chapters and groups they led, according to the release. They found the commitment of leaders is shaped by the way teams work together, share the workload and share meetings.

-Makenzie Holland

The more time leaders spend in meetings, the less time they are willing to give to the organization and the more formal training leaders receive, the more hours they’re willing to contribute are some of the things Baggetta, Han and Andrews found, according to the release. They also found associations are better off changing current leaders and getting them to act as an interdependent and fair team than by finding new leaders.

“While this topic is certainly worthy of more research, the bottom line of our analysis is encouraging for organizers,” Baggetta said in the release. “Improve how you work, share and meet and you just might find the leaders you already have are the ideal volunteer leaders you were wishing for.”

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