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Blog Posts
Guns on College Campuses – Not A Good Idea!
It is hard to believe that the Columbine High School shooting was 19 years ago. The actions of the two suburban Colorado high school seniors who went on a shooting spree killing 13 people and wounding over 20 others before taking their own lives should have been a clarion call...
Red America, Blue America: A Country (Campus) Very Much Divided
Disclosing that I am a college professor conjures up its own set of stereotypes. While it is true that there has been an upward trend of liberal college professors on our nation’s campuses, especially in the social sciences, it is important not to paint all with the same brush. Just...
Failing Gracefully
Make no mistake about it: If you serve long enough as a university administrator, sooner or later you will fail at something—massively, undeniably, and embarrassingly. Either the result that you intended from an initiative never came close to being achieved, or you’ll have a new supervisor who feels you’ve wasted...
Becoming a Self-Aware Leader
Being aware of one’s strengths, weaknesses, and preferences enables leaders to decide where to focus their efforts and know when to seek help from colleagues. Becoming a self-aware leader involves a three-step process that Mabel Miguel, professor of organizational behavior at the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, explained...
Establishing, Maximizing, and Refining Your Advisory Board
An advisory board serves an important role for academic departments, units, and programs: board members are key campus allies who provide leadership, visibility, and advice for your work. “Advisory Boards provide a mechanism for faculty involvement, ownership and buy-in to centers’ institutional change vision,” suggests Susan Gano-Phillips at the University...
Zen and the Art of Higher Education Administration
One of the best books on how to be an academic leader actually has nothing to do with higher education administration. Daniel Levin’s The Zen Book (Carlsbad, CA: Hay House, 2005) is a combination of introduction to Buddhist practice and guide to daily life. It is also a wonderful summary...
14 Academic Leadership Myths
Some of the things that we assume will help us get ahead and be effective as academic leaders may in fact thwart our efforts, alienate colleagues, and lead to burnout. The following is a list of commonly held academic leadership myths and the corresponding truths I’ve learned as an academic...
Using Stress to Create Change, Just as Nature Intended
Organizations are often anthropomorphized— attributed with the characteristics of living things. One might describe an organization as strong or weak. Organizations might be said to flourish or wither. They might be said to experience periods of peace or other periods in which they are under attack and in a position...
