Free Sample Academic Leadership Articles from the Paid Journal

ONLINE TRAINING

3/8/2012 12:00 AM

Spring Series

Our two popular online seminar series are back for Spring 2012. Series One: The Essentials will equip new department chairs to succeed in their role. Series Two: Best Practices offers academic leaders the best counsel available on handling the key challenges of the chair position.

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BOOKS

The Heart of Higher Education: A Call to Renewal

From Parker Palmer, best-selling author of The Courage to Teach, and Arthur Zajonc, professor of physics at Amherst College and director of the academic program of the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society, comes this call to revisit the roots and reclaim the vision of higher education. The Heart of Higher Education proposes an approach to teaching and learning that honors the whole human being—mind, heart, and spirit—an essential integration if we hope to address the complex issues of our time. The book offers a rich interplay of analysis, theory, and proposals for action from two educators and writers who have contributed to developing the field of integrative education over the past few decades.

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JOURNAL

This quarterly periodical for department chairs and deans features practical advice, useful information, and up-to-date resources. Its applications, techniques, case studies, strategies, and guidance are directly relevant to today's academic leaders.

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ARTICLES

Leading from the Middle

by Lee G. Bolman and Joan V. Gallos

Higher education administrators juggle multiple roles and a myriad of expectations from diverse constituents. Squeezed from above and below, from inside and outside the university, they work in a world of conflicting cultures, pressures, and priorities. Spanning boundaries and cultures is a central leadership task in almost any administrative post. Read More.

Typology of Department Chairs: The Case of the Swivel Chair

by Walt Gmelch

Chairs swivel. Caught between the conflicting interests of faculty and administration, department chairs often don’t know which way to turn. They must contend with expectations from the dean to cut costs while dealing with faculty who demand more travel funds, instructional material, technological help, and research dollars to maintain their expected productivity. While mediating the concerns of administration, chairs try to champion the values of their faculty. As a result, they find themselves swiveling between their faculty colleagues and university administration. Read More.

Mending a Fractured Department: Strategies for New Chairs

by Randall McClure

Despite the efforts to better prepare faculty to assume the responsibilities of the chair role and in doing so provide stronger leadership for their academic units, new chairs only really learn their jobs by doing them. In stable academic departments with established policies and accepted practices, a strong sense of identity and community, and adequate support levels, learning on the job is likely a manageable if not enjoyable task for most new chairs. Read More.

What About the Department Chair Reappointment Process?

by Carol A. Mullen

The subject of chair reappointments is relevant to the leadership of academic departments across disciplines and institutions, yet it tends not to be talked about. Having now fared the reappointment stage as the department chair of an academic unit, it struck me that this topic needs coverage in academic venues, and that other chairs might benefit from the ideas shared. Insights about transitional leadership in this context will hopefully serve as a resource. Read More.

Accept and Embrace Your Role as Chair

by R. Kent Crookston

In a recent survey of America’s academic chairs (see Crookston, 2010), more than one thousand participants indicated they were struggling to accept their role as chair, to embrace and make the most of it. Females noted this 20% more often than males did. A quote from one chair respondent represents the frustration if not the despair that sometimes accompanies chairing: “I do not feel that anything has worked well for me [personally]. Practically I am throwing all my time into the job, my own research is the victim, and I could add my family too. Why do I do it? Read More.

Legal Issues in Faculty Evaluation: Avoiding Problems

by Jon K. Dalager

Evaluations have become a part of academia. We are evaluated by our students, by our department chairs, by our deans, and by RateYourProfessor.com. But when we become a department chair or dean, we must then evaluate our faculty. Because these evaluations involve people’s careers and their livelihood, as well as the quality of the department and institution, it is essential that the department chair be conscientious, informed, and prepared to do it well. Read More.