How To Lead Academic Departments Successfully

It is an old cliché that leading and managing academics is like herding cats. This book challenges this myth and presents a way to deal with the many challenges of academic leadership, from managing departments, research groups and teams to managing tensions between research and teaching. The book is a practical and stimulating guide to different pathways to successful academic leadership, both in personal and organizational terms.

The future success of our universities depends on academics' capacity to respond energetically to change. To help academics face new and uncertain demands, we need an entirely different approach to their management and leadership. This book shows academic leaders how to increase resource productivity and enhance teaching quality. It also demonstrates how leaders can help their staff through momentous change without compromising professional standards. Drawing on ideas from the world of business leadership as well as research into what makes academics committed and productive, Learning to Lead in Higher Education provides heads of departments and course leaders with practical tools they can use to improve their management and leadership skills. It shows academic and university leaders at all levels how they can turn adversity into prosperity.

A clear, systematic road map to effective campus leadershipdevelopment Building Academic Leadership Capacity gives institutionsthe knowledge they need to invest in the next generation ofacademic leaders. With a clear, generalizable, systematic approach,this book provides insight into the elements of successful academicleadership and the training that makes it effective. Readers willexplore original research that facilitates systematic, continuousprogram development, augmented by the authors' own insight drawnfrom experience establishing such programs. Numerous examples ofcurrent campus programs illustrate the concepts in action, andreflection questions lead readers to assess how they can applythese concepts to their own programs. The academic leader is the least studied and most misunderstoodmanagement position in America. Demands for accountability and thecomplexities of higher education leadership are increasing, andinstitutions need ways to shape leaders at the department chair,dean, and executive levels of all functions and responsibilities.This book provides a road map to an effective development program,whether the goal is to revamp an existing program or build one fromthe ground up. Readers will learn to: Develop campus leadership programs in a more systematicmanner Examine approaches that have been proven effective at otherinstitutions Consider how these approaches could be applied to yourinstitution Give leaders the skills they need to overcome anychallenge The field of higher education offers limited opportunity todevelop leaders, so institutions must invest in and grow campusleaders themselves. All development programs are not created equal,so it's important to have the most effective methods in place fromday one. For the institution seeking a better way to invest in thenext generation of campus leaders, Building Academic LeadershipCapacity is a valuable resource.

It can seem at times as though all of academic administration today is focused only on the need for continual change and the endless pursuit of "the big idea." But most academic leaders, from department chairs and program directors through university presidents and chancellors, are far too busy helping their institutions flourish for them to divert critical energy and resources to yet another untried theory or management principle. Academic Leadership Day by Day takes an entirely different approach to developing your proven academic leadership: It introduces one practical and field-tested idea each day for an entire academic year. Rather than requiring you to devote days or even weeks to administrative training (which may prove to be of little use in the end), this manual gives you no-nonsense suggestions that you can consider on even your busiest days. Experiment with the suggestions made each day, discover what works for you, and then build on your successes for the benefit of your institution and its programs. Significant improvements often result from small, gradual, and consistent efforts, and Academic Leadership Day by Day is your guide to becoming a more accomplished, confident academic leader a few minutes at a time.

As the responsibilities entailed in being a department chairperson are ever evolving, those who occupy the position must continually adapt and build upon their skills in order to meet new challenges and expectations. In the first edition of Academic Leadership, Deryl R. Leaming helped thousands of chairpersons navigate changes in higher education and effectively lead their departments. While maintaining its focus on practical application, this new edition has been significantly revised and expanded to address new aspects of the role of department chairs. Now organized into six parts, the second edition contains best practices and ideas from some of today's leading scholars. It also incorporates information on emerging challenges and expectations for department chairpersons, including Developing a departmental vision Working with constituents Retaining students Conflict management Mentoring faculty Post-tenure review Written to assist chairpersons in carrying out their duties, each concise chapter offers advice and practical suggestions for aspiring, new, and experienced chairpersons. Readers are provided with the expectations of the chair role as well as examples for handling specific tasks. In addition, this book encourages chairpersons to analyze their departments in order to effect improvement and develop their own approaches to solving problems. Featuring useful checklists, tables, and sample forms, this book also provides practical tools on the key areas of chair work—departmental management; interacting with faculty, students, and upper administration; financial matters; legal issues; assessment and evaluation. This invaluable resource will help guide chairpersons through the many responsibilities of their position.

Third edition of a handbook for the academic administrator promoted from the faculty ranks with little administrative skill or know-how. Provides an depth examination of the typical duties and responsibilities of a department chair that covers an awful lot of ground: from curriculum management to co

While serving as a department chair can be one of the most rewarding leadership positions in higher education, it is also one for which most people are not adequately prepared. Given the significance of this position and its impact on students, faculty and staff, this book provides a practical approach to leadership based upon the notion that the best way to improve organizations and the lives of those within them is by improving their leaders. As a result, readers will first be challenged to identify their true intentions for leading as a department chair which means acknowledging that what makes one a successful faculty member does not, by itself, equate to being an effective leader. In addition, readers will learn how to establish a healthy culture, the importance of hiring, how to courageously address conflict, the value of mentoring and developing others along with the significance of effectively leading students. In addition, readers will learn about crisis leadership and how to effectively assess if and when it’s time to move on from the chair position.

The result of half a century of research and experimentation in economics and management, this Treatise is intended for management practitioners. Socio-economic management (SEAM) makes the demands of humanism in professional life and sustainable economic prosperity compatible. It is illustrated with numerous cases from 2,150 companies and organizations from a wide variety of sectors and presents observed and measured results. Most of these chapters are written jointly by managers or executives of companies and organizations, and scholars or consultants involved in the pilot actions. This book is the work of 193 authors, from 16 countries and 4 continents, practitioners or academics in management sciences and management. This reflects the diversity of national and sectoral contexts of SEAM applications. Some chapters situate this concept in relation to the major currents of current thought. Each chapter is preceded by abstracts in French, English and Spanish. The prefaces, signed by Herman Aguinis and Rene Ricol, show the scope of socio-economic theory and management beyond the borders of the company. The book illustrates the international influence (48 countries) of the innovative and robust methods created and developed by the ISEOR team. Socio-economic theory constitutes a "breakthrough innovation", both in terms of its conceptual contribution and the practical methods and tools of its applications. This holistic approach touches on the different functions of the company and its multiple problems. It provides a structured change management method, focused on stimulating Human Potential and on self-financing the development of the company or organization, through the periodic recycling of hidden costs.