2nd Edition
A Guide for Leaders in Higher Education Concepts, Competencies, and Tools
FIRST EDITION SPECIAL RECOGNITION:Winner of the 2018 Sue DeWine Distinguished Scholarly Book Award, National Communication Association, Applied Communication Division REVIEWS OF THE FIRST EDITION“The book provides frameworks and resources that would be highly relevant for new and aspiring department chairs. In fact, this text is ideally designed to serve as a selection for a book discussion group.”—The Department Chair“Succeeds in providing accessible and useful resources to individuals across different leadership roles… As a midpoint between textbook and reference work, it is successful at both and provides a clear and unbiased background to issues facing current leaders.”—Reflective TeachingDuring a time of unprecedented challenges facing higher education, the need for effective leadership – for informal and formal leaders across the organization – has never been more imperative.Since publication of the first edition, the environment for higher education has become more critical and complex. Whether facing falling enrollments, questions of economic sustainability, the changing composition of the faculty and student bodies, differential retention and graduation rates, declining public confidence in the enterprise, or the rise in the use of virtual technologies – not to mention how COVID-19 and an intensified focus on long standing issues of racial and gender representation and equity have impacted institutions and challenged many long-standing assumptions – it is clear that learning on the job no longer suffices. Leadership development in higher education has become essential for advancing institutional effectiveness, which is the focus of this book.Taking into account the imperative issues of diversity, inclusion, and belonging, and the context of institutional mission and culture, this book centers on developing capacities for designing and implementing plans, strategies, and structures; connecting and engaging with colleagues and students; and communicating and collaborating with external constituencies in order to shape decisions and policies. It highlights the need to think broadly about the purposes of higher education and the dynamics of organizational excellence, and to apply these insights effectively in goal setting, planning and change leadership, outcomes assessment, addressing crises, and continuous improvement at both the level of the individual and organization.The concepts and tools in this book are equally valuable for faculty and staff leaders, whether in formal leadership roles, such as deans, chairs, or directors of institutes, committees, or task forces, or those who perform informal leadership functions within their departments, disciplines, or institutions. It can be used as a professional guide, a textbook in graduate courses, or as a resource in leadership training and development programs. Each chapter concludes with a series of case studies and guiding questions.
Foreword Preface Part One. Leadership in Higher Education. A Critical Need in a Complex and Challenging Landscape 1. Academic Leadership. Toward an Integrating Framework 2. Leadership and Leadership Development in Higher Education 3. The Higher Education Landscape. Navigating the Economic, Organizational, Social, and Strategic Terrain 4. College and University Missions and Stakeholders. Purposes, Perspectives, Pressures — Barbara Bender and Susan E. Lawrence 5. The Role of Formal and Informal Leaders in Governance. Locus of Power and Authority —Susan E. Lawrence and Richard De Lisi 6. Campus Cultures and the Leader's Role. Valuing Diversity and Enhancing Inclusion —Sangeeta Lamba and Brent D. Ruben 7. The Transition to Leadership. From Pilot to Air Traffic Controller Part Two. Leadership Concepts and Competencies 8. What is Leadership? Making Sense of Complexity and Contradiction 9. The Competency Approach. Integrating Leadership Knowledge and Skill 10. Leadership and Communication. Principles and Pragmatics 11. Conflict and Difficult Conversations. A Leadership Competencies Laboratory 12. Leadership Self-Assessment and Reflecting Practice. Always a Work in Progress Part Three. Applied Tools for Leadership and Organizational Effectiveness 13. The Excellence in Higher Education Model. An Integrating Framework for Envisioning, Pursuing, and Sustaining Organizational Excellence 14. Strategic Planning. Translating Aspirations Into Realities —Sherrie Tromp and Brent D. Ruben 15. Organizational Change: A Matrix Approach 16. Outcomes Assessment. Creating and Implementing Measurement Systems 17. Crisis Leadership. A Values-Centered Approach to Crisis in Higher Education —Ralph A. Gigliotti and John Fortunato 18. Leadership Development in Higher Education. Formal and Informal Methods 19. Leadership Succession Planning. The Missing Link in Organizational Advancement? 20. Into Uncharted Waters Appendix A. A Snapshot View of the American Higher Education Sector References About the Authors Index
Biography
Brent D. Ruben is a distinguished professor in communication at Rutgers University, where he also serves as senior university fellow, advisor for strategy and planning in the Office of the Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, and was the founder of the Rutgers Center for Organizational Leadership. He is also a member of the faculties of the Rutgers PhD program in higher education and the Robert Wood Johnson School of Medicine. Brent is author or co-author of numerous publications in communication, organizational leadership, planning, assessment, and change, including Excellence in Higher Education Guide (Stylus, 2016), What Leaders Need to Know and Do (National Association of College and University Business Officers, 2006), and Communication and Human Behavior (Kendall Hunt, 2020). Ruben was a founder of the Rutgers Department of Communication, and first PhD program director of the School of Communication and Information. He was a founder and first president of the Network for Change and Continuous Innovation in Higher Education (NCCI), served as Rutgers inaugural liaison and is a frequent contributor to the Big Ten Academic Alliance leadership programs, and serves as an adviser to colleges and universities has and nationally and internationally. Richard De Lisi is an emeritus university professor of developmental psychology at Rutgers University and a Senior Fellow at the Rutgers Center for Organizational Leadership. Richard was a faculty member at Rutgers University in New Brunswick for 43 years and had more than 25 years of experience as a formal leader at the Rutgers Graduate School of Education including chair of the Department of Educational Psychology, graduate program director for the Ph.D. in Education Program, graduate program director for the Ph.D. in Higher Education Program, and dean of the Graduate School of Education from 2003 to 2014. Under De Lisi’s leadership, the Graduate School of Education increased its on-line course offering
“If universities want to improve and be prepared for the inevitable turbulences in the future, they must commit themselves to developing a new generation of leaders who possess analytic, strategic, and operational skills. The best way to do so is by identifying industry-wide best practices and then inculcating them into one’s own institution. This is precisely where A Guide for Leaders in Higher Education intervenes. Brent Ruben, Richard De Lisi, and Ralph Gigliotti with a seasoned and insightful roster of contributors who understand the nuances of the higher education landscape, identify the challenges and opportunities that leaders will encounter, and guide the reader through case studies that will move the pursuit of leadership from the abstract toward the concrete.
We are living in an unstable age in which colleges and universities come under withering and relentless attacks for any number of shortcomings, real or imagined. Higher education leaders, if identified and trained properly, can thwart these attacks and change the narrative, ensuring their institutions continue to engage in the essential activities they do best. A Guide for Leaders in Higher Education is a major intervention, and it is appearing at precisely the right moment.”
Jonathan Scott Holloway
President, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
“Academic leadership is one of the few professions with absolutely no formal training. Leaders in higher education come to their position without leadership training, without prior executive experience; without a clear understanding of their roles; and without understanding the cost to their academic and personal lives. With only 3% of universities and colleges providing professional development for its academic leaders, the time of amateur administration is over. Too much is at stake in this time of change to let leadership be left to chance. A Guide for Leaders in Higher Education is a ‘must read’ and centerpiece for current and prospective academic leaders—and university professional development programs.”
Walt Gmelch
Dean Emeritus and Professor of Leadership Studies, University of San Francisco
“After an award-winning 1st edition, Brent Ruben, Richard De Lisi, and Ralph Gigliotti are back with a 2nd edition of A Guide for Leaders in Higher Education Concept, Competencies, and Tools. This book could not come at a better time given the leadership challenges facing society like COVID-19 and issues of equity and social justice. The authors not only address higher education’s role in meeting these challenges, but they expand their treatment of the book’s core concepts and tools. As a result, they bridge theory and practice and underscore the communicative foundation of academic leadership in sophisticated fashion. The continuing importance of their work cannot be underestimated. It is a resource that all academic leaders need—and will thoroughly enjoy.”
Gail T. Fairhurst
Distinguished University Research Professor, University of Cincinnati
“This book is unique in providing both frameworks and vital information needed for successful leadership in higher education. I recommend it to all of our department chairs and use it in our leadership development program. Coverage of essential topics such as the changing landscape of higher education, perspectives on leadership, and communication strategies for academic leaders makes this an essential resource for aspiring and current academic leaders.”
Eliza K. Pavalko
Vice Provost for Faculty & Academic Affairs; and Allen D. and Polly S. Grimshaw Professor of Sociology, University of Indiana, Bloomington
“There is an urgent need for leadership in higher education to confront the complexity of interdependent issues with the relevance and criticality of higher learning. This book offers leadership concepts and competencies for leader development and organizational effectiveness with the greater purpose of impacting higher education for a better society.”
Cynthia Cherrey
President and CEO, International Leadership Association
