Navigating the New Normal

Author(s):  
Mark Edward Fincher

The higher education world within the US changed markedly and permanently with the COVID-19 shutdown in March of 2020. The exact impact of this change will vary by institution and be evolving for years, but higher education leaders will need to negotiate this changed environment in the most effective way possible for their individual institution. Unlike previous major changes, the COVID-19 shutdown greatly restricted options and resources at the disposal of higher education leaders. This presents an unprecedented challenge to those who are tasked with preserving and furthering their institutions. However, in the midst of this unexpected challenge to the very existence of some institutions, many now have developed the necessary capabilities to carry out their missions more broadly than ever before. It is the purpose of this chapter to explore the changes that are influencing colleges and universities in the US and to propose ways that chancellors and presidents can navigate these conditions to allow their institutions to survive and even thrive.

NASPA Journal ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael D. Parsons

One of the enduring and unfortunate trends of the 1980s and 1990s has been the wholesale adoption of business language and methods by higher education administrators. Responding to public pressure to be more accountable, a changing environment, and the reality of having to do more with less, higher education leaders have looked to business methods and techniques for ways to rationalize the intellectual work and methods of discovery characteristic of the academy. In the process, they have alienated the faculty, won few friends in the business community, and impoverished the language of higher education administration. "Strategic Change in Colleges and Universities" represents one of the latest offspring of a literature whose lineage can be tracked backed to George Keller's (1983) "Academic Strategy."


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 269
Author(s):  
Dimitrios Vlachopoulos

This study investigated perceptions of organizational change management among executive coaches working with British higher-education leaders and factors that make leaders effective when managing change. This basic qualitative research used semi-structured interviews with eight executive coaches selected through purposeful sampling. As main challenges to efficient, inclusive change management, participants mentioned leaders’ lack of a strategic vision or plan, lack of leadership and future leader development programs, and lack of clarity in decision-making. They recognized that leaders’ academic and professional profiles are positively viewed and said that, with coaching and support in leadership and strategic planning, these people can inspire the academic community and promote positive change. Additional emphasis was given to the role of coaching in the development of key soft skills (honesty, responsibility, resiliency, creativity, proactivity, and empathy, among others), which are necessary for effective change management and leadership in higher education. The paper’s implications have two aspects. First, the lessons of the actual explicit content of the coaches’ observations (challenges to efficient change management and views of leaders); second, the implications of these observations (how coaching can help and what leaders need).


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristen Betts ◽  
Brian Delaney ◽  
Tamara Galoyan ◽  
William Lynch

In March 2020, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic disrupted education worldwide. In the United States, the pandemic forced colleges and universities across the nation to adopt quickly emergency remote teaching and learning. The ability to pivot instruction seamlessly and effectively across learning formats (e.g., face-to-face, hybrid, online) while supporting student engagement, learning, and completion in an authentic and high-quality manner challenged higher education leaders. This historical review of the literature examines distance and online education from the 1700s to 2021 to identify how external and internal pressures and opportunities have impacted and influenced the evolution of educational formats pre-COVID-19, and how they will continue to evolve post pandemic. This historical review also explores how instructional design and pedagogy have been and continue to be influenced by technological advancements, emerging research from the Learning Sciences and Mind (psychology), Brain (neuroscience), and Education (pedagogy) science.


Author(s):  
Tak Cheung Chan ◽  
Evan G. Mense ◽  
Mindy Crain-Dorough ◽  
Michael D. Richardson ◽  
Kenneth E. Lane

Global higher education leaders face the most explosive political environment in the history of higher education in the world due to decreased financial resources coupled with increased accountability. As revenues become scarcer, calls for accountability continually increase the five often-competing forces driving change in global higher education. In order to gain a more holistic view of accountability, the authors focus on five major shifts in global higher education: 1) Supply: financing; move from state-supported to state-assisted; 2) Demand: students; by 2020 minority students will be the majority; 3) Delivery: competition; faculty, f2f, online, technology, etc.; 4) Structure: new structures in different locations, internationalization, no longer brick and mortar, brick and click; 5) Productivity: management by objectives and results orientation.


Author(s):  
Wayne Perry Webster ◽  
Zach P. Messitte

This chapter will examine emerging new norms across higher education in the United States following the recession of 2008-09. Colleges and universities face an environment increasingly made up of prospective students and their families shopping and bargaining for the best college deal; institutions are struggling to control student costs by raising discount rates; administrators are seeking to find new sources of revenue and programmatic niches; and faculty are increasingly focused on how to make their curriculum more unique and relevant. Finally, higher education leaders should closely examine long-held recruitment and financial aid strategies, cost structures, academic calendars and mission to meet the new situation. This chapter will summarize the development of the new landscape in public and private higher education, including the growing similarities facing public and private institutions including their common efforts to keep higher education affordable and accessible, and conclude with recommendations for administrators as they navigate their way through the new norm.


Author(s):  
Jerrid P. Freeman ◽  
Karen J. Haley

Higher education is changing in significant ways and cannot continue to operate in the same ways it once functioned. This multifaceted complexity requires leaders to manage and lead not only the business enterprise of higher education, but also societal demands within the context of multiple institutional structures and values. Every leader must understand their role in managing and how to be nimble enough to respond and adapt to the needs of society, students, and business while also developing the quality of education and experience that restores the faith of the public in higher education. Higher education leaders must be willing to take on the management quandary before them—maintain a strong business acumen, manage the multiple relationships inside and outside the Academy, and address the needs of society and business in knowledge and skill acquisition. The current climate presents a scenario where it is difficult for a leader who focuses heavily on only one element and lacks the historical perspective of higher education to be successful.


2022 ◽  
pp. 253-268
Author(s):  
Jean Cushen ◽  
Lauren Durkin

This chapter evaluates the rising significance of transversal competencies and the implications for higher education assessment practices. Transversal competencies are expected to play a definitive role in future of work scenarios. This chapter evaluates the decisions and impacts surrounding the integration of transversal competencies into higher education assessments. In particular, the chapter explores the commitments and adjustments that higher education leaders must make to build the competence assessment infrastructure and supports required. The guiding role ‘student-centred learning' pedagogies can play is discussed. Relatedly, early-stage competence frameworks are offered as insight into how student-centred learning can deliver novel, active, reflective assessments that embrace competence diversity and target meaningful development. Finally, a roadmap is offered for higher education leaders to guide them in this challenging but pertinent transformation of university teaching and learning.


2022 ◽  
pp. 94-110
Author(s):  
Matthew Williwam Hurtienne

There are many diverse demands and pressures on institutions of higher education. We are now at a time where innovation is required for many higher education institutions' survival and sustainability. However, university leaders should not look to old archaic change models to determine a way forward. Institutional leaders should look for methods to engage all generations of their workforce and decrease the level of resistance to the proposed change. This chapter looks at employee engagement and provides a model that higher education leaders can deploy to stimulate employee engagement and innovation. Framing Your Future is a model that can easily be deployed at a team, department, or even organizational level.


2019 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon L. McNaughtan ◽  
Brooke Wilson DePue ◽  
Elisabeth D. McNaughtan

Purpose Turnover of presidents in colleges and universities occurs frequently and new presidents are rarely trained to handle communication with the range of stakeholders involved in a campus community, which is one of the most complex tasks their job requires. New presidents need guidance and insight to prepare them for this vital aspect of campus leadership. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach This paper analyzes interviews with sitting presidents and vice presidents of communication at flagship universities in the USA to identify themes and best practices for presidential communication. Findings Analysis of interviews resulted in five consistent recommended practices: be informed about your issue and audience; utilize multiple communication channels; know when to speak; identify and use a communication team; and when you speak, use your own authentic voice. Originality/value Limited research exists on the communication process and skills needed to effectively lead colleges and universities. While incoming presidents often lack backgrounds and training in communication strategies, such strategies are required to effectively engage both internal and external audiences. The study provides new leaders with tips from seasoned leaders to enhance their communication strategies.


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