With a shrinking pool of potential academic leaders, a growing number of institutions have moved to groom their own — or at the very least provide training to novices already on the job.
Many institution-based academic leadership-development programs focus on giving participants a behind-the-scenes view of various administrative roles through the eyes of those who hold them, while exposing the newcomers to the big-picture issues in higher education that senior officials grapple with.
Following are samples of what some universities are doing to prepare future leaders:
Rutgers U.
Rutgers runs an academy for mid-career faculty and staff, and it also gives Ph.D. students an early heads up about what the world of higher-education administration is like with its two-year Pre-Doctoral Leadership Development Institute. Participants in the program hear from academic administrators at Rutgers about what it takes to run a public research institution, learn about the university budget, and talk about the skills necessary for academic leadership positions.
Ohio State U.
To build pools of potential leaders, colleges are trying to change the negative ways administrative roles are viewed, and give faculty structured opportunities to learn behind the scenes.
The President and Provost’s Leadership Institute is designed to develop potential leaders from groups that are underrepresented in academic-leadership roles, particularly department chairs and directors of schools. The 18-month program focuses on tenured professors who don’t yet hold significant leadership positions but may be able to in the next two to five years.
U. of South Carolina
Fellows in the Pipeline for Academy Leaders, an invitation-only program, learn about budgeting and how to build networks outside of their discipline, among other things. The yearlong program is for directors, deans, and vice presidents. It includes a 360-degree feedback process, where they get anonymous comments from the people who work around them.
Stanford U.
Medical-school faculty are groomed to lead small divisions, sections, or teams at a medical center in the Stanford Leadership Development Program, which is jointly sponsored by the medical school and Stanford Health Care. Participants take on a three-month team project that helps improve operations in the school or hospital, or that creates a new program.
More reading about cultivating faculty leadership:
“Creating a Faculty Leadership Development Program,” by David H. Kiel, former senior leadership consultant at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Center for Faculty Excellence.
A Guide for Leaders in Higher Education: Core Concepts, Competencies and Tools, by Brent D. Ruben, Richard De Lisi, and Ralph A. Gigliotti.
“A ‘Grow Your Own’ Strategy to Develop Administrative Leadership,” by Leo M. Lambert.
Audrey Williams June is a senior reporter who writes about the academic workplace, faculty pay, and work-life balance in academe. Contact her at audrey.june@chronicle.com, or follow her on Twitter @chronaudrey.
