Faculty are essential to achieving the mission and goals of higher education. Their contributions often extend beyond research, teaching, and service to areas such as mentoring, and the mentors deserve consistent recognition. But department chairs face competing demands to grow and maintain student enrollment, balance budgets, seek new sources of funding, and evaluate the viability of academic programs and their outcomes, which bumps faculty development and mentoring toward the bottom of their priorities. These competing priorities may affect the availability of faculty development funds and time allotted for recognition from year to year, preventing the chair from making faculty appreciation of mentoring a top priority. Thus, faculty achievements too frequently go uncelebrated.
Ted Lasso’s Playbook for Higher Education Hiring Practices
The Emmy-winning Apple TV+ series Ted Lasso (2020–) has not only taught us that football is life; it reminds us that leadership can make a significant difference in sport and
Katie Fischer and Deborah Erickson
July 7, 2025
