September, 2008

Academic Leader - September, 2008 - Full Issue PDF
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Zen and the Art of Higher Education Administration
By Jeffrey L. Buller, PhD
One of the best books on how to be an academic leader actually has nothing to do with higher education administration. Daniel Levin’s The Zen Book (Carlsbad, CA: Hay House, 2005) is a combination of introduction to Buddhist practice and guide to daily life. It is also a wonderful summary of principles that are useful to any academic leader.

Developing Leaders through Formal and Informal Learning
By Rob Kelly
The Ohio State University (OSU) provides learning opportunities for potential, newly appointed, and experienced academic leaders through a variety of formal and informal programs, including workshops, peer collaboration, and consultation. The idea is to provide development that matches the needs of adult learners.

Principles of Shared Governance Revisited
By Bob Cipriano, PhD, Peter Madonia, PhD, and Richard Riccardi
A basic tenet of higher education has always included principles of shared governance. We believe that shared governance must be more than a catchphrase with different meanings to different people. After many discussions with our colleagues, we were struck with the overwhelming thought that relatively little is known about what full-time faculty perceive as shared governance. Therefore, we surveyed all full-time faculty members from two universities. The four-page survey was designed to elicit responses on perceptions and principles of shared governance (28 true/false questions). For those statements indicated as true, the respondents were asked to signify the level of importance attached to each statement. The survey also asked respondents to indicate, in rank order, the five most important qualities of shared governance.

Improving Faculty Development
By Brian D. Posler, PhD, and Linda Bennett, PhD
Recently, our campus embarked on an effort to improve our faculty development structure with the goals of broadening the scope of our center’s activities and diffusing developmental approaches into colleges and departments.

Gnothi Seauton (Know Thyself)
By Daniele C. Struppa, PhD, and Lisa Sparks, PhD
In fund-raising, like in most personality-driven activities, it is very important that we know who we are. If we want to succeed in this endeavor, we must be willing to take a hard look at ourselves, and see what we can and cannot do. At the same time, we should be willing to decide which parts of our personality can be improved and what aspects are probably impossible to change. As we engage in this analysis, our bet is that you will find that, with good coaching, you can improve in virtually all areas, though you may not be able to attain greatness unless you have natural abilities.