ACADEMIC LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE OF HIGHER EDUCATION

Abstract

Academic Leadership and Its Consequences Ifacademicinstitutions functioned in a stable environment, the demands for leadership would be modest. Vision, mission, programs, and policies could simply be put on automatic pilot. For colleges and universities, however, automatic pilots don’t work. The environment is in continual flux, and the implications and consequences of these changes for the future of colleges and universities are often profound. Sound, authentic, creative, empowering leadership is indispensable, and it spells the difference between healthy, productive, sustainable academic institutions and programs and those that are in continual crisis, vulnerable, and failing. One need only reflect on the change that has come about in higher education over the last century. The very mission and scale of colleges and universities have been transformed. Institutions are altering the ways and means of teaching and learning. New directions in research and service to society are evolving. The costs and benefits of the academic enterprise are in continual fluctuation and open to challenge. The roles of faculty are differ ent, as are campus cultures. The very definition of precisely who is served and touched by academic institutions is in transition. Amid this whirlwind, the authors of this handbook on academic leadership make a conscious effort to think afresh about the challenges and opportunities of leadership. The main themes of the book are grounded in the argument that successful higher education institutions embrace three essential principles: 1. Sound institutional decisions must be based on a clearly articulated mission and set of core values. 2. Successful institutional adaptation to a changed environment must be grounded and aligned with the fundamental mission and core values. 3. Successful academic leaders must be able to create and foster partner ships, bringing diverse individuals and interests together around a shared vision and mission based on common values.