June, 2006

Academic Leader - June, 2006 - Full Issue PDF
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Forging a Partnership with Your Assistant
When Stephen Ainlay became dean of the College of the Holy Cross, he inherited an assistant with a long history in the dean’s office who was able to mentor him on the history and culture of the institution and who “let me see early on what the benefits of a partnering relationship—as opposed to some sort of hierarchical relationship—really could be,” Ainlay says.

Assessment Methods Should Match Institutional Goals
Learning outcomes assessment, once a “spontaneous, authentic intellectual activity” focused on understanding student learning and seeking ways to improve the learning experience, has in the past 20 years become an activity driven largely by accreditation requirements, with little regard for an institution’s unique missions, says Karl Schilling, associate director for the Center for Teaching and Learning at Miami University in Ohio.

Setting Academic Priorities, Identifying Signature Programs
What are your institution’s signature programs—those programs that epitomize your institution’s mission and define its distinctiveness in the marketplace? It’s a question that every institution should address, particularly when faced with increasing competition and decreasing resources, says Jonnie Guerra, vice president for academic affairs at Cabrini College in Pennsylvania.

GMU’s Alternate Paths to Tenure Reward Teaching
Until recently, George Mason University’s tenure requirements were typical of most research institutions: research was the primary activity; teaching and service, though important, were secondary. Over the past six years, GMU has created new paths to tenure that recognize the different types of contributions that faculty can make to the university.

Taking a Holistic View of Student Retention
Distance education has opened up opportunities for more nontraditional students than ever. With this increase in nontraditional students and the growing use of online course delivery methods comes a need to develop student retention strategies that are tailored to these students’ experiences, which often are quite different from those of traditional-age students in face-to-face settings.

Parting Shot - ‘Assessmania’ and ‘Bureaupathology’ in Higher Education
By Thomas R. McDaniel, PhD
This is not a rant. As a college administrator, I am fully aware of the importance of assessment, and the bureaucratic efficiencies mandated in higher education in our country today. However, I do think it is important for academic leaders to be able to step back from the fray and the daily demands of administration and think about the philosophical and educational implications of the standards movement in higher education. Most college and university administrators are keenly aware of the standards movement in K-12 public school education, a dominant theme of contemporary education reform that has now moved to the college campus.