This guide is for key external stakeholder groups (policymakers, national associations, reform groups, accreditors, foundations, government agencies, business and industry) that support change and reform of the higher education enterprise. It presents a toolkit that provides advice for external stakeholders on how to be effective partners in…

The nature of the faculty has changed dramatically over the last forty years; and today's faculty model no longer meets the needs of students, faculty, or institutions. However, the issue of redefining faculty roles is extremely contentious. In this article we report our examination of open-ended, qualitative data from a larger survey study of…

In this article, we describe ways that the Delphi technique can be extended from its more traditional approaches and processes in order to make it a tool for scholars using participatory methods. This innovative proposed approach is called the change-oriented Delphi. We describe this innovative approach using an example from our own work to create…

In recent decades, the employment model in higher education has markedly changed. Tenure-track faculty now represent just about 30 percent of the instructional faculty across all non-profit institutions. Meanwhile, most faculty members who provide instruction at colleges and universities today are non-tenure-track faculty, the majority of them…

Government agencies, foundations, business and industry, and other important higher education stakeholders continue to invest in important and deep changes they think are necessary for the vitality and health of higher education particularly interdisciplinary teaching and research. But we know little about how transformational changes happen,…

Over a period of several decades, non-tenure-track faculty members (NTTF) have become a majority of instructional faculty among nonprofit higher education institutions. A growing volume of research points to a relationship between the poor working conditions or lack of support these faculty members often experience and adverse effects on student…

This article describes a study of the tactics used by faculty and staff grassroots leaders at colleges and universities to create important changes that increase the capacity for leadership. The study identifies how academic and administrative staff, as employees within an academic culture, have access to grassroots leadership tactics that honor…

Change is a perennial struggle for campuses. Trustees, presidents, policymakers, faculty, staff, students, alumni, and community groups all seek to alter some aspect of colleges and universities. Common wisdom is that higher education faculty, staff, and administrators do not want to change and are slow to innovate. This article examines the…