The Challenge of Leading Change: Some Remedies for Resistance (Part 2)
Other examples might be a decline in department majors, using instructional technology, adding research expectations, and initiating graduate programming. In each case, there is either a problem to solve or a new venture to consider. All will bring change and all will likely generate resistors. Again, some will be the...
The Challenge of Leading Change: Some Remedies for Resistance (Part 1)
The faculty in our colleges and universities are frequently portrayed as being the focal point of resistance to change within the academy. When one spends many years in the academy, one will realize that resistance to doing things differently is a trait that exists in administrative ranks as well. In...
Challenges Facing Community College Transfer Students
Over 40 percent of United States undergraduates enter postsecondary education through community colleges, according to the Community College Research Center, with four-fifths of those students indicating they intend to earn at least a bachelor’s degree. (1) These data highlight the need for community colleges and four-year institutions to ensure the...
Using Academic Retreats to Enhance Academic Affairs Performance
Every academic leader invests time in strategic planning groups, presidential cabinets, councils of department chairs, dean’s council meetings, and similar regularly scheduled meetings. Academic leaders occasionally leave the campus for meetings of professional societies or to participate with other academic leaders in retreats. What few institutional leaders do is develop...
The Art of Framing in Academic Settings (Part 2)
Viewing the change agenda through a political lens requires significant insight, careful forethought, and planning on the part of the leader. Regardless of the level of the leader, there are immediate clusters of personnel who represent the first wave of those who must be brought into the fold of supporting the initiative....
The Art of Framing in Academic Settings (Part 1)
Have you ever witnessed a keynote address in which a new university president shared such an inspiring and imaginative future strategy that you wished you were a part of that institution’s implementation team? Innovative thinkers who transform their vision into eloquent language can have that effect on their audiences. Assuming...
Highlights from the Magna Leadership in Higher Education Conference
More than 200 academic leaders attended Magna’s Leadership in Higher Education Conference in Baltimore, Md., for a two-and-half-day exploration of and best practices that define effective leadership in higher education. Here is a recap of the presentations given by the event’s three distinguished plenary speakers.
Overcoming the Challenges to Effective Faculty Development
Faculty development now more than ever is necessary to an institution’s viability. But as my fellow faculty developers know, the task is not an easy one. Before any effective program can be implemented, three major challenges must be overcome.
Seven Strategies to Grow Online Courses and Programs
As students continue to show interest in taking online courses, and faculty continue to be interested in teaching them, colleges and universities are, in many cases, expanding efforts to increase online programming for their students. This article discusses seven strategies to consider for growing online course and program offerings.
Strategies for Developing and Maintaining High-performing Teams
Administrative leadership roles are more complex and challenging today. Yet expectations remain high that campus and system leaders will handle both internal and external responsibilities with finesse and success. Twenty-first-century students also expect a quality education that guarantees a job, increased accessibility to resources and professors, and schedule flexibility. As...
