Education Commons^™

Building And Sustaining A Healthy And Thriving Department, Laura Trujillo-Jenks, Gina Anderson

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

Learning to delegate and build leaders among the faculty and staff, and mentoring and modeling how to manage difficult situations are integral to building and sustaining capacity within a department. Building a department culture that is healthy and thriving, while also creating a climate for faculty and staff to safely develop their own leadership potential are important characteristics of a healthy department. Also, helping faculty and staff learn to mitigate difficult situations is a powerful form of leadership development. Building a culture of success, a climate that nurtures respect, honesty, and loyalty, and engaging in Crucial Conversations© are the foci …

The Challenges And Rewards Of Co-Chairing A Department: Lessons Learned From Leaders In The Middle, Laura Trujillo-Jenks, Gina Anderson

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

Newly appointed Department Chairs are often on their own to learn “on the job” the knowledge and skills they will need to succeed. One way to mitigate the challenges of this high-stakes approach is to identify a second leader who can serve in the role of mentor, coach or Co-Chair alongside the new Chair. The Co-Chair may be a leader who has served as a Department Chair in the past and/or who is serving in another middle-management position such as a Chair from a different department, Director, or Associate Dean. During a time of tremendous change and uncertainty, the Co-Chair …

Effective Communication In Academia: It Goes Both Ways!, Domenick J. Pinto

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

This workshops explores both the positive and negative aspects of communication with faculty, staff and administration. It emphasizes the effectiveness of GOOD communication skills as well as the dangers of MISCOMMUNICATION. Case studies, audience participation, and excerpts from literature on the topic will be presented.

Administrative Chairs And Decision Making, Dean J. Laury Ed.D

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

Presenter and participants will discuss decision-making strategies and best practices via case studies available to chairs (new or veterans) to support the decision making process within department operations.

A Voice In The Wilderness, Jeffrey Marzluft

OER From Vision to Action

“A Voice in the Wilderness”

Whether you live on an actual island or just feel like it, starting and driving an OER program on your campus can feel like a lonely business. When Jeffrey Marzluft started at University of Hawaii - Maui College, most faculty had never heard of OER, let alone utilized them in their classes. Employing a variety of tools including the library’s positive brand, resources from local consortia & the open community, some grit, and a little good old-fashioned librarian knowhow - he raised adoption levels across campus bringing measured savings to students and initiating a cultural …

2.0 Academic Management: "Disruptive Innovation" For The 21st Century, Don Chu

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

This workshop will focus on assisting educational leaders to re-imagine academic departments and how they are managed in the 21st Century. Re-imagining the academic department will strengthen them as the foundation upon which college and university change may be built. Led by the chair and the faculty-administrative leadership team, departments will be primarily responsible to set and reach their goals, as well as manage their own resources and professional development. Themes that will be discussed include curriculum development, course schedules, student services, personnel and ‘political’ issues, department resources and more.

Department Leadership In Action: Enhancing Your Leadership And Academic Team, Dr. Walter H. Gmelch

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

This workshop will explore four key leadership questions: what is an academic leader and why should you serve; how to develop as a leader; how long is long enough to serve; and what legacy will you leave? Participants will develop strategies for effectively developing your team through shared leadership, consensual decision-making, constructive conflict, collegiality and more. The workshop also includes a discussion of exploring the “road less traveled,” managing transitions to and from academic leadership.

Rethinking Cultural Competence: The Chair's Leadership Role, Edna Chun

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

The seminar would focus on the ways that department chairs can strengthen the attainment of cultural competence through curricular offerings, course-based service learning, and faculty development.

Critical Questions Related To The Influence Of Academic Advising On Student Success: Setting A Research Agenda, Wendy Troxel

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

Academic leaders, faculty, and academic advisers are uniquely positioned to describe complex scenarios related to student success that need further systematic examination and analysis. This highly interactive session will engage participants in a brainstorming and consensus-building activity to generate a list of "critical questions" in related to the relationship between academic advising and student success that leads to meaningful research across disciplinary contexts and partnerships. The resulting document will be useful to faculty and staff who desire to engage in research that will inform the scholarship of advising and implications for advising practice in all levels of higher education.

Succeeding With Problem Faculty: A 6-Step Guide, Kent Crookston

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

In Crookston’s recent national survey, 3,000 academic leaders identified “dealing with problem faculty” as the issue with which they most wanted help; it was their stand-alone top concern. Problem colleagues in any organization include bullies, jerks, passive-aggressives, poor performers, and those who are psychologically distressed. Crookston draws from best-selling business and leadership literature, and presents six calculated steps for effectively dealing with a challenging colleague. Participants leave this workshop with sound practical guidance on how to act when things go wrong, but more importantly how to ensure that things go right.