Myles Brand and the Responsibility of Leadership

In his first address to the NCAA convention in 2003 Myles Brand outlined two key objectives: academic reform and fiscal responsibility. This article by someone who worked closely with Brand in NCAA leadership between 2003 and 2009 describes Brand's leadership style and how he led the planning and execution of these two important inititaives, one of which succeeded and the other which largely failed, despite Brand's best efforts. The article examines the causes of both the success and the failure and their influence on intercollegiate athletics.

Myles Brand: A Leader Deeply Committed to Diversity, Inclusiveness, and Social Justice

Myles Brand: A Leader Deeply Committed to Diversity, Inclusiveness, and Social Justice Myles Brand will probably always best be remembered as the Indiana University president who fired legendary basketball coach Bobby Knight. It is unfortunate since Brand, as a scholar, president of two major universities, and Executive Director of the NCAA, accomplished a great many things on behalf of students and as an enthusiastic proponent of the educational value of intercollegiate athletics and sport more generally. At all times and in everything he did, Brand exhibited as a leader a deep commitment to diversity, inclusiveness, and social justice. It was especially noticeable and on full display during his time as Executive Director of the NCAA, a position he held from 2002 until his untimely death from cancer in 2009. As this essay illustrates, Brand’s commitment to diversity, inclusiveness, and social justice was made clear through the academic reform movement he helped initiate and in fights to eliminate Native American mascots and other disparaging images, secure more head coaching positions for Blacks, and maintain original Title IX guidelines that had allowed women increasing opportunities to participate in highly competitive athletics. Although not always successful in these efforts, especially in seeing more Blacks hired as head coaches, Brand was largely effective in leading the effort to implement academic reform measures, rid sport of insulting Native American imagery, and guard against those who were

Academic Reform in Fractured Disciplines – On the Interaction of Bologna, New-Public-Management and the Dynamics of Disciplinary Development

At the intersection of science studies and higher education research, this contribution looks at the way in which the requirements of universities as organizations release development dynamics in academic disciplines and it analyses the interaction between discipline and organization. We will analyse German educational science, bearing in mind it is an example of disciplines that are fractured and consequently have little consensus in terms of fundamental theories and basic concepts. Firstly, we take on a quantitative approach and analyse the changes in degree courses at the structural level and the symbolic boundaries or conceptual distinctions following the transition to the Bachelor and Master system. Secondly, we take a close look at the negotiating processes and practices, as well as at the disciplinary orientations that determine these boundary shifts, using a qualitative approach that focuses on the actors. In group discussions with representatives of the German educational science at different universities it stood out that actors involved in course design are compelled to find an equilibrium between the demands of the discipline and those of the organization, and do so in very different ways. Finally, we discuss the extent to which close interaction between higher education reforms and academic disciplines can be figured out, particularly for disciplines seen as fractured and which do not have consensual common disciplinary standards.

Boundary Work

The first chapter lays a foundation for the book by defining boundary discourse in crossdisciplinary and cross-sector work. It begins by distinguishing spatial and organic metaphors of boundaries, with initial emphasis on disciplines. It then combines the two metaphors in a composite concept of an ecology of spatializing practices, illustrated by the evolving nature of disciplines as well as trading zones and communities of practice. The chapter then describes structures for interdisciplinary work, followed by the concept of heterarchy, changing character of higher education, platforms for communication and collaboration, and role of the built environment. It turns next to boundary objects, illustrated by construction of a natural history museum, an academic reform initiative, a project on waste management, and the relationship of objects and their description in climate modeling, regulatory discourse, genetic toxicology, and human ecology. The chapter ends by examining boundary organizations and agents in two cross-sector case studies.

Residency Education Reform Program in Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care: An Academic Reform Model

Background: Reform in medical education is a basic process in every academic department, especially in residency programs. Objectives: This study was designed to assess the indices of education and research as part of the Medical Education Reform program (MERP) in the Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care (DACC), Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences (SBMU) for four years. Methods: MERP in DACC, SBMU was designed and implemented as a modern academic reform model; different outcome measures in education and research were assessed to demonstrate the effects of the reform plan in academic improvements. Results: there were significant improvements regarding education indices (i.e., teaching methods, passing comprehensive exams, mentorship, assessment methods, faculty development, professionalism in medical education, integration in education, and crisis management) and research indices (targeted research activities, innovation in research approaches, increasing the impact of research). Conclusions: Based on the experiences of DACC, SBMU regarding clinical anesthesiology residency, reform could be achieved using painstaking plans and continuous efforts with tangible documented outcomes. Often, the management period is not durable, and these reforms require meticulous care to sustain.

The Glass Door of Academia: Unveiling New Gendered Bias in Academic Recruitment

Gender statistics and studies on gendering mechanisms have been developing over recent years on two parallel tracks. This research reveals the need to rethink the standard indicators used in European comparative analyses to identify (1) gender-related mechanisms responsible for the production and reproduction processes of gender asymmetries, (2) their specificities in different local contexts, and (3) the profound transformations that have characterized the academies and the research system in Europe in recent years. The paper analyses the data on the composition of Italian academia provided by the Italian Ministry of Education, universities and research from a gender perspective. The introduction of the glass door index, specifically designed to measure gendering processes taking place in the recruitment stages in Italian academia, discloses new forms of gender segregation in Italian universities after the last academic reform (Law 240/2010), despite the emphasis placed on the neutral and meritocratic criteria of the new recruitment and career progression rules.