My first weeks as a dean were exciting, confusing, and a bit intimidating, as I imagine most people’s are. As the dean and director of education at a small, vocationally
The start of a new year seems like a good time to scan the higher education landscape and identify a few of the issues that academic leaders will need to
For a long time, scholarly debate has differed on whether leaders can be developed or leadership traits are inherent. Are leaders born to lead? Or do leaders develop into leaders
That paperless academic environment we’ve been promised for the past few decades never quite seems to arrive. Each year, academic leaders find themselves inundated with more and more forms. Although
Timothy Cigelske, currently the social media director for Marquette University, discovered the power of social media in his previous life as a journalist. “I stumbled on social media as a
Although workshops on academic leadership frequently devote sessions to the topic of “work-life balance,” that phrase is really misleading. It seems to imply that we’re either working or living but
Almost every institution of higher education has a strategic plan, but how many institutions actually make use of that plan? According to Wayne Smutz, dean of continuing education and extension
In a recent national survey, nearly 3,000 American academic leaders identified problem behavior of employees as their top concern. Lackluster performance was the most common problem; bullying and being passive-aggressive
It’s increasingly common for colleges and universities to offer programs designed to help chairs, deans, and other academic administrators become more effective. Sometimes falling under a center for teaching and
If asked to define minefield, most people would recite something similar to an area set with explosive devices or landmines. All would agree that minefields connote a sense of risk
