Dr. Vat Kam Hou

The mission of any good faculty development program is to assist and support faculty in their professional development. From developing strategies that enrich student learning to fostering a campus culture that values innovative teaching and learning, quality faculty development is the cornerstone to educational excellence.

Countless workshops, seminars, retreats, and other faculty development courses are offered under the assumption that they can positively affect how faculty teach, which in turn will help students learn.

However, there’s evidence that short-term interventions, such as an afternoon faculty development workshop, don’t have much of an impact when it comes to sustained behavior change. On the other hand, data suggest that well-designed, on-going faculty development programs are worth the time and effort.

If you’re looking for effective faculty development strategies, you’ll want to get a copy of 12 Tips for Improving Your Faculty Development Plan. This 24-page report offers inspiration and practical (often inexpensive) ways to accomplish the goal of improved teaching and learning.

Inadequate preparation, unrealistic expectations, and increased workload can create undue stress on faculty members making the transition to department chair or other levels of administration. All too often new administrators are left to fend for themselves when it comes to discovering and developing the skills they need to succeed in their new position.

Making the leap from faculty to administration will never be easy, but this report will help new administrators navigate the potential minefields and find their voice when it comes to leading effectively.

Remember how you felt during your first semester of teaching? Excited? Nervous? A little over-whelmed? At times you even might have wondered how the school could give you a job with so much responsibility and so little training.

Now you’re a seasoned educator making the move from faculty to administration. And guess what? You’re excited, nervous, and a little overwhelmed. And, once again, you wonder how the school could give you a job with so much responsibility and so little training.

It’s been said that no one dreams of someday becoming an academic administrator. It’s a tough job that’s only gotten more challenging as budgets shrink, public scrutiny rises, and responsibilities continue to grow. It requires a unique skill set – part field general, part mediator, part visionary, and part circus barker – to name just a few. But what does it really take to be an effective leader?

Featuring 13 articles from Academic Leader this special report seeks to provide answers to your biggest leadership questions give guidance to anyone in a campus leadership role.

Whether you’re an experienced administrator, or just starting out, this report will give you an inside look at what it takes to succeed.

For example, in the article “Leadership and Management: Complementary Skill Sets,” Donna Goss and Don Robertson, explain the differences between management and leadership, and share their thoughts on how to develop leadership skills in yourself and others.

In “Zen and the Art of Higher Education Administration,” author Jeffrey L. Buller shows how the Buddhist practice features many principles for daily life that could benefit academic leaders. Such advice includes “Walk gently, leaving tracks only where they can make a difference.”

In “Techniques of Leadership,” authors Isa Kaftal Zimmerman and Joan Thormann outline specific leadership skills for effectively running meetings, building consensus, and communicating across the institution.

The article “A Formal Approach to Facilitating Change” explains how Northwestern University’s Office of Change Management is structured as well as its operating principles for effectively managing change at the university. The key is to articulate how a change can benefit those directly affected and others not directly affected, to be accountable, and to provide clear criteria for measuring success.

Few issues have more powder keg potential than academic tenure. Not only is applying for tenure a nerve-racking, time and labor intensive process for faculty, but the resulting tenure decisions can cause discontent for tenure candidates and ill will in departments. Tenure even carries the potential for costly lawsuits for institutions.

It’s no wonder then, when it comes to faculty promotion and tenure policies, colleges and universities tread lightly while at the same time are always seeking new, better ways to bring more transparency and clarity to this critical system.

New academic tenure and promotion processes, often developed to reflect changing needs (i.e., how to reward online faculty) or dispel old assumptions (i.e., research is more important than teaching and service), cannot and should not be implemented overnight, but they are worth close examination to see if similar processes would make sense for your school.

The Essential Faculty Focus Free Reports: Academic Leadership

12 Tips for Improving Your Faculty Development Plan

Academic Leadership Development: How to Make a Smooth Transition from Faculty to Administrator

Academic Leadership Qualities for Meeting Today’s Higher Education Challenges

Faculty Promotion and Tenure: Eight Ways to Improve the Tenure Review Process at Your Institution