This article explores the concept of academic receivership in U.S. colleges and universities. Academic receivership occurs when control of an academic department or program is removed from the faculty and an outside chair is put in place by the college or university administration. A literature review is supplemented by a small survey to assess…

While there has been emphasis on the institution and individual classroom as loci of learning and reform, less attention has been paid to the academic department. However, precisely because its structure is so endemic to institutions of higher education, the academic department may be the most logical and potent site for change. Using a case study…

A discussion of conflict in academic departments describes current philosophies in conflict resolution, including a principled approach emphasizing positive benefits. Structures within organizations that inherently create conflict are identified, and various strategies for dealing with conflict are outlined based on one theory of response modes.…

A discussion of college faculty renewal looks at the word's etymology and at concrete ways for departments and their administrators to promote quality faculty research. It also describes four archetypal examples of faculty in need of research renewal, each related to literary history and the workings of a research committee. (Author/MSE)

Conflict in the university setting is an inherent component of academic life. Leaders spend more than 40% of their time managing conflict. Department heads are in a unique position--they encounter conflict from individuals they manage and from others to whom they report such as a senior administrator in the position of dean. There are very few…

Four prerequisites for college and university departmental change and renewal have been suggested: dedication to teamwork; collective dialog and inquiry about effective teaching; commitment to quality control and rewarding collective goals; and leadership of a purposeful chair. These are discussed in relation to conditions mitigating against…

An innovative curriculum, Twentieth Century Man, takes one traditional course from each of three academic departments and modifies the content presentation so that overlapping themes are emphasized, developed in parallel, and synthesized across disciplines in a team-taught seminar. This cost-effective approach integrates concepts while retaining…

While frank evaluation of instructional improvement needs is an important element in faculty development, it does not work well in a highly evaluative climate. Developmental and evaluative activities can be integrated effectively with a long-range perspective; when periodic evaluations are required, administration should reward effort without…

Issues and concerns associated with being the only African American female faculty member in an academic department and with being one of two or more African American faculty in a department at a predominantly white college or university are discussed. Positive and negative aspects of both situations are examined, and strategies for empowerment…

Describes use of a strategy adapted from the American Association for Higher Education's Peer Review of Teaching Project, the "reflective memo," to provide backward and forward view of post-tenure reviews in the chemistry department of the University of Wisconsin (Madison). The approach served as a guide in review of research, teaching,…

If faculty peer review of teaching is to overcome institutional marginalization, its formative and summative components must use rules, criteria, and standards for effective teaching that are agreed upon by faculty in the academic unit. This conversation clarifies expectations for curriculum, teaching, and student learning. Only such a process can…

A study of 564 college and university department heads investigated the most stressful situations, emergent themes, and differences between department chair and faculty stressors. Most stress came from heavy workload, time pressures, confrontations with colleagues, organizational constraints, and faculty duties. Faculty and administrative…

Approaches to college faculty peer coaching and peer review are described, including team mentoring, reciprocal class visits, teaching circles, departmental teaching libraries, teaching portfolios, course portfolios, pedagogical colloquia, and departmental reviews. Methods can be adapted, combined for different goals, contexts. All rest on faculty…

The University of Manchester (England) and University of Georgia adult-education programs established a listserv, a computer-based community in cyberspace, to create international links and experiment with new technology. The project failed to develop a sense of community among participants, which had its origins in assumptions about groups in…

In 1993, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte's governing board mandated peer evaluation for nontenured faculty. Participants in the American Association for Higher Education's peer review project feared the mandate would taint efforts to introduce faculty to collegial approaches to peer review. However, negative fallout from the mandate…