Tending to Your Mental Health while Leading through a Crisis
This article first appeared in Academic Leader on October 19, 2020. © Magna Publications. All rights reserved. Be kind. It’s my first pandemic. I saw this statement on a button as I was scrolling through social media, and across the past three months, I have frequently returned to it as my institution...
When Full-Time Faculty and Adjuncts Collide: Ideas to Maintain Departmental Peace
This article first appeared in Academic Leader on December 1, 2017© Magna Publications. All rights reserved. At the most recent Leadership in Higher Education Conference this past October in Baltimore, I gave a session titled “What Your Adjuncts Wish You Knew.” In it, I exhorted the deans and department chairs in attendance...
The Role of Emotions in Developing Trust: Why Charisma Is Not Enough
This article first appeared in Academic Leader on January 2, 2019. © Magna Publications. All rights reserved. What does it mean to be a leader? Interest in the study of leadership continues to grow, and colleges and universities are taking notice by rolling out new programs. Current degree plans include majors and...
Mindful Academic Leadership
This article first appeared in Academic Leader on May 1, 2014© Magna Publications. All rights reserved. Mindfulness, which we can define as giving nonjudgmental attentiveness to each experience as it occurs, has begun to receive a great deal of attention in academic circles. The health benefits of mindfulness are well established. Studies...
Academic Leaders as Introverts and Extroverts
This article first appeared in Academic Leader on January 1, 2013. © Magna Publications. All rights reserved. In a position such as department chair or dean where interpersonal skills are so important, you might think that all academic leaders would be extroverts. In fact, once while I was out on an interview,...
Creating an Effective Mentoring Program
This article first appeared in Academic Leader on March 17, 2017© Magna Publications. All rights reserved. Recruiting and hiring new faculty is time intensive and expensive. Despite the difficulties, hiring decisions are clearly among the most important that academic administrators ever make. Success of college programs and universities is directly correlated with...
Three Strategies to Improve Your Health in the New Year
This article first appeared in Academic Leader on January 2, 2019 © Magna Publications. All rights reserved. I’ve had the pleasure of working with hundreds of higher education administrators and leaders over the past 20 years or so. The health habits of those administrators in many ways mimic those of the general...
Seven Big Ideas for Academic Leaders: How You Lead Matters!
This article first appeared in Academic Leader on May 2, 2018 © Magna Publications. All rights reserved. During my time as a dean, I’ve learned a lot about budgets, fundraising, strategy, recruitment, retention, and personnel matters, but I’ve also discovered seven big ideas about how my outlook and approach influence my leadership....
Work-Life Balance: Managing Your Koyaanisqatsi
This article first appeared in Academic Leader on June 2, 2018 © Magna Publications. All rights reserved. A recent search prospectus for a provost position at a mid-sized institution listed a number of qualities and qualifications desired in potential candidates. The categories were typical for this type of cabinet-level post: “leadership,” “relationship...
Mind Your Ps and Qs: A Guide for New Administrators
This article first appeared in Academic Leader on August 1, 2019 © Magna Publications. All rights reserved. Have you ever been told to mind your Ps and Qs? The expression is often used to admonish children to be on their best behavior, to be polite. Thus, some say the P stands for...
