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.
Leading Like Lasso: Leadership Skills That Build and Sustain Positive Organizational Culture
On his first day coaching English football, Ted Lasso, played by Jason Sudeikis, walks into the locker room with no playbook, no soccer experience, and no intention of pretending he
Deborah Erickson and Katie Fischer
September 2, 2025
