Deborah Borman glanced at her schedule for the day with a wave of anxiety. She was starting on one of the scariest tasks of her new department chair duties, a day of conducting annual reviews with her faculty with no idea how to prepare for these meetings, other than reading the professors’ self-evaluations. As a faculty member for 12 years, she had dreaded her own annual reviews with previous chairs because the conversations seemed so stilted, formal, and unhelpful. Now as a new chair herself, she kept thinking that there had to be a better way to help faculty monitor their job performance and achieve their dreams.
How Leaders Shape, Signal, and Build Cultures: A Discussion Guide for Academic Leaders and Their Teams
Among the many desired traits most prized in academic leadership, the ability to shape (or reshape) institutional culture is sometimes overlooked in favor of fiscal acumen, the ability to drive
Lisa Jasinski
May 4, 2026
